Sunset in my valley – Good Photographs
“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” – Ansel Adams
The picture above was taken with my new Nikon D-SLR camera on December 25, 2012. As you may or may not know, my husband gave me this new camera for Christmas. You can see my reaction to this awesome gift on Tiffany’s post, Christmas Surprise.
We (me and Tiffany) have been talking about each getting a better camera, in front of Charlie, for months and months – ever since we started this blogging journey. We both realized that we would need to improve the photo content on our blog site in order to keep our readership coming back for more. But, we also knew that new cameras were not on the horizon for awhile, because we needed other more pressing things for our business (yes, Toot Sweet 4 Two is a business, although we currently don’t have any revenue!!!).
So, a new camera was a far-off dream until my husband decided to make it a reality for me this past Christmas and enlisted Tiffany’s help. So, Tiffany was Charlie’s elf and she enlisted the guidance of her father, Joel, a professional photographer. You can read about Joel and his work (plus links to his sites) on my post, Jingle Ball 2012.
Up until I received this new camera, 90% of the photos I have taken and posted to this site were taken with my iPhone. Some of my photos (from a trip to Ireland 5 years ago and our house pictures in the Any Way the Wind Blows series) were taken with a Panasonic Lumix. I loved that point-and-shoot camera, but for some reason it is no longer working, so my iPhone became my camera. And, I have done all right with the iPhone camera. It is amazing what it can do, especially since I don’t have any photography apps on my iPhone, so I’m just using what comes with!
My new Nikon camera came with 3 manuals and 3 DVDs, so to say that I have much to learn about this camera is an understatement! Not only is it a still photography camera, but it also films videos! Plus, it came with 2 awesome zoom lenses! Right now I have it on automatic (for point-and-shoot mode) because I don’t know anything about Aperture, ISO, white balance, AF, metering, etc. and I’m learning slowly (time issue in my toot sweet life). But, I wanted to share with all of you the DIFFERENCE between a point-and-shoot camera and a D-SLR camera set on auto! So, here are some examples with flowers from my garden (amazingly, even though it is January, I still have flowers in my garden)!
Purple Queen Bougainvillea – Good Photographs
The pictures on the left in the above photo collage and the following photo collages, were taken with my iPhone. The pictures on the right were taken with my Nikon set on auto mode (point-and-shoot). I can take some close-ups with my iPhone, but not with this crispness of detail.
English Daisies – Good Photographs
Geraniums – Good Photographs
Cape Honeysuckle – Good Photographs
In the photo collage above, the Cape Honeysuckle on the left was taken with my Nikon and the 2 pictures on the right were taken with my iPhone.
Plumbago – Good Photographs
Now we are back to the iPhone picture on the left and the Nikon picture on the right.
African Daisies – Good Photographs
Floss Silk Tree – Good Photographs
Sage – Good Photographs
I love the velvety softness of sage flowers. They are like running your fingers over a bunny rabbit’s fur!
Hydrangeas – Good Photographs
In this picture (above), the Nikon photo is on the left and the iPhone photos are on the right. I love this collage because it shows the fading of the hydrangea flowers over time. This is the same plant – I only have one hydrangea. It was a plant bought in the grocery store in the spring and brought home to brighten my kitchen counter. Once the blooms, which were blue, started to fade, I planted it outdoors in as much shade as I could manage (close to the house). Hydrangea plants are difficult to grow here because of our intense summertime heat. But, this one struggles along and is only about a fifteen inches tall after 3 years in our harsh Southern California climate.
Flowering Succulent – Good Photographs
We have a cactus and succulent garden. In this collage, the picture on the left was taken with my iPhone and the two pictures in the middle and on the right were taken with my Nikon. I love this beautiful succulent and its bell-shaped flowers, but I don’t know what it is! If anyone knows, please share in the comments section!
Palo Verde Tree – Good Photographs
In the Palo Verde Tree photo collage above, the top two pictures (both left and right) were taken with my iPhone. The bottom two pictures were taken with my Nikon.
Roses iPhone – Good Photographs
All of these roses were taken with my iPhone.
Sunset Roses – Good Photographs
All of these roses were taken with my Nikon.
Carole’s Garden – Good Photographs
All of the pictures in the photo collage above were taken with my iPhone.
Mother of Pearl Roses – Good Photographs
All of these beautiful pictures of my Mother of Pearl rose bushes with raindrops on them were taken with my iPhone.
Carole’s Garden Polaroid – Good Photographs
And this fun picture, made to look like an old Polaroid, is the same photo collage above the Mother of Pearl collage. These pictures were taken with my iPhone.
Conclusion: the iPhone is a fabulous tool, full of wonder and amazing abilities! It takes wonderful photos. But, for fantastic photos, the Nikon is better – even if you just use the “point-and-click” automatic mode. I can’t wait to learn more and share spectacular photos!
Thanks, Charlie and Tiffany! I love you both!
P.S. The photo collages were made on PicMonkey! Have you used PicMonkey? It’s so much fun and partly free (you can upgrade, but it has lots of free applications). Do you know of other free photo enhancing software available on-line? If so, please share!
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts about my garden)
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