Image of
the Month
It's
Springtime!
Spring
is one of my favorite times of year. As the trees start budding and the
dormant grasses of winter start to turn green again nature seems to be
in its prime. But after a long winter with little in the way of
photography, when
I first pick up the camera it doesn’t have that feeling of being a
natural extension of my body. More importantly, I may not have
thoroughly checked all the settings on my camera.
With
today’s modern SLR’s having main command dials, sub command dials,
auto focus toggles and multiple metering modes, it’s very easy to
inadvertently change one or more of these settings without ever knowing
it. Is exposure compensation dialed in? Is the dynamic auto-focus turned
on? Is the exposure set to matrix mode? I’ve found that when I’m out
in the field things tend to happen very quickly and unexpectedly and
I’ll admit that I’ve been bitten more than once by failing to check
these settings.
Before
your next outing take some time and refamiliarize yourself with your
camera. I like to dig out the owners' manuals and read back through
them. I always learn something that seems new, or that I've just
forgotten over the winter months. It helps to keep the camera in a
location where you can just pick it up and fiddle with it. I put mine on
the coffee table so while I'm watching television I can pick it up and
go through some of the functions during the commercials. By doing this,
the feel of the camera in your hands and the changing of settings starts
to feel very natural.
Hopefully
this will give you some insight on developing a routine for yourself to
be ready for any situation. Simple exercises like these can help you to
achieve the consistent results in your photography that we all strive to
achieve.
Travel safe and Good
Shooting!
Nikon
D1, Nikon 400f2.8 AFS, Gitzo G1548 tripod w/ Arca Swiss B-2, Lexar 160
10X FlashCard
