Tuesday Afternoon - The D70, Me & The Moody Blues

Anybody remember The Moody Blues? Days of Future Passed?

The rain predicted overnight dumped its load and vanished by the time I hit the road to run errands. Found a small footprint digital kitchen scale that was a real steal, so scooped it up.  I've been on the lookout for one for a very long time, so I was a happy camper. Yes, it IS the little things, isn't it?

And speaking of little things, I've been using a point-n-shoot digital camera for the past few years, thanks to a fellow blogger, and have been comfortable with the limited results. But, the "itch" is back.  So, I dusted off the Nikon D70 and took off to spend a few hours getting reacquainted with the camera, shooting dozens of test shots (I had forgotten just about everything I learned about digital shooting) around town using various modes at a few of my fave spots near the Atlantic and in the marshes. Some knowledge is slowly returning, but there are still blank places in my brain where info used to reside. I may sign up for a digital photography class, if one is nearby.  It couldn't hurt, right?

The camera felt good in my hands. I had forgotten how light it is compared to the film version. I used to have the Nikon F2AS with motor-drive and battery pack, which really weighed me down.I trudged up and down the west coast with that behemoth and lived to tell the tale. I sold the lot on eBay and purchased the D70,extra lenses, a flash, and remote.  I still have an old F body which I will probably hang onto until I die, or film is no longer available.When I shot film I never used a light meter,(thanks, in part, to my film professor at NYU, descended from a well known French film-making family) but had settings in my head for the images I wanted to capture. Since I shot transparencies (slide film) there was little room for error.

The buttons, modes, bells and whistles of digital photography were overwhelming, so I opted to shoot mostly in "Auto" mode when at a social function and reverting to shutter or aperture priority when out on my own.  With the old Nikon F I was able to choose both, but unless I am really dense, so far I haven't been able to figure out how to do that with the digital....it's either/or, not both.  (Any and all input would be appreciated.)

Still, it was a fun and informative afternoon and I was happy to be out and about - and near the ocean. Now it's time to download the 70+ images and find out how much I remembered, or not.

The really nice thing about digital is that images can be deleted at no cost.  Not so with film in the old days.  I wasted so much film "bracketing" to make sure the I got the shot.  Bracketing in digital is free, just discard the images and you're done.

Five on the Fifth is coming up and I plan to shoot everything with the D70, no matter what.  If the images are too bad, I will not follow this month's theme - Movement. We'll see.

And so it goes.
*