Today was a very exciting day for me: my new camera arrived, equipped with a brand new lens! Since I got involved with digital photography I had only two cameras, started with a Nikon D5000 and in the last two and a half years I was shooting with a D7000.
But I was always wondering about full-frame: would this make a difference with my images? And while I know that the photographer's vision is the most important component, in this art technology and vision have to work together to constantly to push for better and better results. After having my fare share of images with APS-C DSLRs, now it was time to move one notch up to the world of full-frame cameras.
So my new D750 arrived today, with the 24-70mm f2.8 professional lens, a big boy representing one of the Nikon "Holy Trinity" zoom lenses. With this lens the D750 really dwarfed the D7000, epecially with the 16-85mm DX lens mounted.
After un-boxing and holding the body for the first time, I instantly noticed how light it was. First I thought it was lighter than my D7000 - and certainly if feels lighter compared to its own size. The buttons and the ergonomics of the camera were instantly familiar to me since the D7000 practically has the same layout. The live view switch moved a little lower, and there is a safety lock on the main dial which switches between the various modes the D750 - this one seems to me a little superfluous, I never accidentally moved from aperture mode to shutter priority on my D7000, and I have to pay attention now not to force the dial without pushing down the safety lock. I will get used to it.
So, today is Thanksgiving Day. Why does that matter to me as a European? Most people on the continent (how the British call Europe:-) do not give a hoot about it, but once you have lived in the US for a while you realise that this is a great Holiday, which unites people over there despite differences in religion. And that is a good thing, especially in today's world with so many problems, hatred, suspicion and prejudice.
But I wanted to share my story. I worked in the US for over 4 years as a postdoc (a scientist who has not much money:-), arriving from a socialist country in 1996.
I was alone, just started a month before, all my possessions fitted into a single suitcase (many of them are my favourite books, obviously no E-book readers then!) worked in the lab all the time, and had no idea about Thanksgiving. My boss asked me one day before Thanksgiving where I was about to celebrate. I replied that most likely at home in my empty apartment, alone. She immediately invited me to join her family the next day and celebrate together.
"Nobody should be alone at Thanksgiving" -she said.
It was not a big party, really close family of hers only, yet I was welcomed as a stranger, and this is how I spent my first Thanksgiving with people I did not know before and strangely I found something there which I could only compare to a Christmas feeling with my own family.
I left the US a long time ago, but I celebrate Thanksgiving every year since then.
See you next time!
Everybody needs to start somewhere... I thought long and hard about having a blog, by now everybody has one, so it is not a trendsetting exercise for sure. The question was always whether I will have something important to talk about, and by now it is obvious: the blog will be about photography. Photography grew on me in the last 3 years - so much happened, I have learnt a great deal, maybe it is time to give something back... I am still not sure how I will like it, whether I will be able to keep at it, but one only finds out by trying.
So what will the blog be about? Currently I am thinking of our travels, photo blog, equipment reviews, post-processing, that sort of stuff. Come along this ride, let's do this together:-)
See you next time!
