Being that it looks like I'm doing this for real this time, I suppose I'll join in here.
Back in 2008 I got my first SLR, a Canon Rebel of some sort, and took a few classes. I really took to it and felt like I progressed a lot. But my instructors insisted on us using film and shooting in full-manual full-time. It was a great way to learn the fundamentals, but very creatively stifling for me. "See the photo before you press the shutter." They said. Well I got better at that than anyone else in the class but my photos still weren't good! I feel like I learned a whole lot, but it wasn't really scratching the itch.
Ultimately, I sold the camera. Not because I didn't love it, but because I was 18 and really big on just living life and trying stuff. It got away from me, sadly.
A couple of years ago now I came out of a really shitty, rotten relationship that cost me a lot of time and well-being. It's all good now, I came out a happier, more actualized person... while she basically threw her whole life away. After the shit she pulled, it serves her right! Since moving on I've been making up for lost time, just pursuing stuff I left behind that I realized really mattered to me. I had always regretted selling that camera. Wanted to pick up a DSLR but never felt like I could swing it between the money I sink into other techy stuff and making music. Not for everything I'd want to really get going. I wasn't gonna just get like, a T3 with a kit lens and a strap. Not enough for me to grow into.
Well, it just so happens that at some point way, wayy back there, I bought a used T3i! I was going through stuff I had in storage when I found the body, kit lens, strap, a battery/charger, and bag in pristine condition. The timing was so uncanny that I couldn't just ignore it. So I rounded out my setup with all of your typical accessories. I even bought a couple of lenses - the Canon 24mm f/2.8 STM pancake and 10-18mm f/4.5/5.6 STM. A good general-purpose and something for landscapes and the tight hiking trails I tend to frequent as-is. Super excited to get going with it.
I will say, the T3i is both mind-blowing and frustrating coming from a 35mm SLR. The flippy screen, live-view and such blows my mind - completely changes my whole vision of what composition is, not to mention all of the other cool features that film cameras can't have. Shooting RAW and using Lightroom is like god-mode to me. Being able to do HDR, fix exposures, change tones, add effects, correct lens artifacts/distortion and sensor noise - all non-destructively... this shit is crazy man, I can't even. I learn something that blows my mind every day! It is an overwhelming amount of just...
things... and...
stuff...
I'm enjoying actually using the semi-auto modes. I prefer aperture priority with manual ISO. I take in the light and settle on an ISO for the camera to choose decent shutter speeds at my desired aperture/DOF. It's like a whole new world compared to the way I was taught. Just feels a lot freer. Add in exposure compensation and it's just so quick and easy to dial-in whatever exposure I need on the fly. More time spent taking pictures and less time futzing needlessly with settings. I see it as a faster, more intuitive way to the same results I would get in manual mode.
I'm having trouble getting used to autofocus, though. I never really used it on my 35mm, and now I'm remembering why. All too often I find it forcing me to change my composition to put my subject or focal point on one of the autofocus points. Moving the point in live view is clunky, and the viewfinder doesn't have enough points to be all that useful. Can't seem to break the habit of tilting the camera instead. So I think I'll be sticking predominantly to manual focus, just to have one less thing getting in the way. Obviously there are times when that's kinda beyond simple preference and you should really use AF, which is why I'll still take the time to get acclimated. I think on a better body I'd love it... I don't know. It's really pretty damned fast with either lens through the viewfinder, but that's no good to me if I can't easily direct it to focus where I want it to.
The other weird thing for me with this being a crop sensor camera is the DOF itself. I know how the DOF usually is at 40mm on a full-frame. 24mm is pretty close to equivalent, but focusing it is completely different. Does that make sense?
At least the image quality is good with these lenses. Good enough that I do it no justice with my amateur crap. All I *really* want for is better high ISO/low-light performance. Clearly this is not older Canon crop-sensor cameras' strong suit. Don't get me wrong - the camera is awesome to me and I feel like I can do SO much with it, but I can see where I'm ultimately going to outgrow it.
I've only just begun to shoot and haven't really gotten any good pictures that I would call favorites. I have a spot picked out... went on a long mid-day scouting expedition. I knew the light would suck with it being a sunny afternoon, but I also knew there was an overwhelming amount of interesting stuff to look at, so I wanted to just kind of hand hold and get some ideas. Now I feel like I know what to do when I go back. Been chomping at the bit. But it has been pouring hard for days since then... the lightning is no joke. I have seen two pine trees explode and probably heard many more.
I had planned to go today after work. 5-8pm is a good window to hopefully get some nice shots. But it poured again. Between downpours I vented my disappointment by wandering the porch/front yard and taking little snapshots just to get more comfortable with the camera. I'm glad I did because that's when I realized I have issues to work out with AF. I'm otherwise very impressed with the setup. Didn't really get any keepers, though I hadn't expected to. I did get one little snapshot that I kinda like. And that's all it is. I wouldn't even call it a real photograph, or even a good picture. I do kinda like it, though. First I've taken that I liked at all tbh.
I swear it feels like I've forgotten everything. I guess this is one thing that isn't like riding a bike. See for yourselves lol
View attachment 122406
This was taken with my T3i, obviously. The Canon 24mm f/2.8 STM. Shot at f/2.8, 1/1000s, ISO 100. Raindrops collecting atop the elephant ears under glowing stormy skies.
The bokeh kinda surprised me coming from a $125 lens. Though I wish I hadn't shot wide open. The vignetting is an anomaly. I was using one of those rubber hoods and I must have bumped it forward, because it is the only shot even remotely like that. I opted to leave it in. I think it adds a little drama. It's definitely not exposed right. I wish I had shot at f/4 and actually composed the shot to get better coverage and depth with all of the droplets (I'll never know why I opted for so much headroom
) There's just something really pleasing about the perfectly spherical droplets strewn across the FOV, popping in and out of focus. It's a neat effect. Something I'll have to revisit next time it rains. I
want this to be a good shot but it isn't... yet. Next time, I'll approach it very differently. I should have plenty of opportunities, at least.
Well, I'll stop rambling now and just say "hello!" Really just wanted to put up something to be embarrassed about some time later.
nice shots
), I was bored, and thought to mess around with my boards, including the one I had just finished building on Friday night. Most of them were unimpressive and frustrating, with the exception of this one:
