Cleaning a "vintage" SLR flim camera

Well a couple evenings ago I started to clean up my dad's Sears KS Super 35 mm SLR film camera that he let me borrow for a photography course I will be taking in the summer. I learned that you should not ever:

touch with finger, lens paper, air, or brush the inside of the camera body
(unless you know what you are doing, which of course I had not a clue)

The focusing screen and the mirror inside the camera body are very sensitive and can be easily scratched or smudged. If the mirror damper or rather the strip of black padding becomes dry rotted due to age, it can cause real problems once disrupted with the slightest touch as the residue could fall onto the focusing screen. The residue is sticky and will become a permanent reminder of your cleaning experience.

Some other camera models may be easier to clean but use caution when searching the Internet for solutions for your problem.

I Heart You

Happy Valentines Day!

Nikon D60

I got the Nikon D60 after Christmas. Wow-it feels so completely different in my hand different than my Fujifilm. I am glad I went with the D60 rather than the D40. No regrets here.

Attempted to go to a butterfly house to try the Nikon out. The butterfly's were tropical and I think they were on crack. They were so hyperactive and small, which made it so hard to get any decent pictures, so I went for still life.

I am also looking forward to attending a couple of workshops that the local university is offering for Photoshop. The workshops are for the CS version, but I figure that I can still apply the techniques to the Elements version of Photoshop. The books I mentioned are good but I need some actual guidance.

Training Wheels

I currently use an advanced point and shoot FUJIFILM Finepix S700. I got the camera a year ago, and I am so very ready for a DSLR or so I think. I can tell that I am limited, but I also know that I could stand to learn a little more about using my own cameras manual settings.

I started to research the type of DSLR I want and started thinking seriously about the Nikon D40. Initially I thought I wanted a Nikon D40. The Nikon D40's were on sale during "black Friday," but I did not indulge. Largely, the fact that the D40 is only a 6.1 mega pixels concerns me. I do not foresee myself needing poster quality prints, but what if I do? I'm glad I didn't buy it compulsively. Also I still need the training wheels of my Fujifilm. I am starting to feel that the Nikon D60 would be better in the long run. I will wait some more.

I am starting to feel and/or see the limits of my current camera (see the picture of my niece). I get that most all great photographers also are either really good with photoshop or has hired someone even better than they are at photoshop.

I just need to do some more work in Photoshop Elements and among many things learn more about lighting. Scott Kelby's The Digital Photography Book Vol 1 and Vol 2, are two great books that have a lot of useful information. The author's focus is more on specific tips and not so close on theory.

Kelby suggested some other helpful books to read and included was Rick Sammon's Complete Guide to Digital Photography 2.0. This suggested read caught my attention because it goes over Adobe Photoshop Elements. Once I get a few moments to edit in photoshop and like the results I will post an "after" picture of my niece. The book has given me some great ideas.

Flowering Dogwood

The Flowering Dogwood tree is one of my favorites. During May, the white petals are in bloom and are so pretty. I first discovered the trees a couple of years ago at Abraham Lincoln's Memorial Gardens. needed to take some pictures for a school project, and I choose to feature the Gardens. This moment was probably the first time I just went somewhere to go take pictures. Thus the reason I choose the name of the blog.

So after my tree discovery, I decided I wanted my very own Flowering Dogwood tree for my yard. To my discouragement it did not last because they are very particular trees. I have a new flowering dogwood tree and I hope this spring it will bloom.


Follow up:
The tree did not bloom and it did not make it. In it's place is a Kwanza Cherry tree. Not exactly a white flowering Dogwood~but it will suffice for now.

Starting Out

I recently became more interested in photography and decided to create this blog to help me arrange some thoughts and ideas.