Dustyrobe: I got my first camera!

I was going to do my blog post on black and white photography after having shot in black and white for a month (well, almost), but I recently got a DSLR and I just wanted to share the joy with you guys. I've been wanting to get a DSLR for the past 1-2 years, but we all know how expensive it is to get one. So after many months of saving and some help from my dad, I bought one together with him.

I did a lot of research for the past few months before deciding which camera to buy. I watched reviews done by DigitalRevTV and I did some comparing on my own by going to Canon and Nikon's websites. And after much consideration and discussion with my dad, we decided to go for a Nikon D5500, an entry level DSLR. We felt that there was no need to get a semi-pro or even a full frame DSLR because we're not professional photographers (though my dad used to be one). We compared prices at multiple stores in order to get the best deal and we settled for Gain City. Why? Because besides the usual strap, 8GB memory card and camera bag, they gave an extra lens (Tamron 70-300mm), a camera backpack, a tripod, an extra battery, a remote control, a leather strap, a 32GB memory card and a cleaning kit! What a good deal huh!

I don't know if any of you who have cameras felt this way when you got it, but I felt super excited when I held it for the very first time! All I could think about was "this is mine now!" I know I sound like a kid, but that was really how I felt. Let me try and explain that feeling better. You know that feeling you experienced whenever you got a toy that you really wanted as a kid? Now imagine that feeling multiplied by a hundred times. That's how exciting it was for me.

I didn't want to use the camera on auto mode right from the start because that would take away all the fun and it defeats the purpose of getting a DSLR in the first place since it would be the same as using my phone. So the first thing I did upon getting the camera was to figure out what shutter speed, ISO and aperture meant. It would have been super difficult to understand all that if it wasn't for my dad, because the instructions manual that came with the camera was so vague (Nikon, if you're reading this by any chance, upgrade your instructions manual). Since my dad used to be a professional photographer, he taught me what all those meant and passed me all of his old photography books for me to read. He said he had kept them for over 20 years in the event that his kids might ever pick up photography. And true enough, I've followed his footsteps (though it's quite unlikely I'll ever be a professional like him).

And boy, is it difficult to learn about these settings. I couldn't grasp the idea of the shutter speed at first, so I kept getting underexposed photos (I was taking photos under warm lighting). It took me 2 days and an explanation from my dad before I learnt that having a slower shutter speed helps to expose the photo more because it allows more light to enter. Three weeks have passed since I gotten the camera, and I'm still in the process of learning what ISO and shutter speed to use under different lighting conditions. It'll probably take me a few more weeks or even months before I can finally have a better understanding of these settings. But that's the fun, isn't it? I keep taking out of focus photos as well. It's like, I look into the viewfinder and it feels like the subject is in focus, but when I take the photo, that's not the case. Any tips or advice? Hopefully, I can master the focusing soon enough so my photos will always be in focus.

Here are some photos I took with my camera!