Time for an Upgrade

Most people may or may not know that I used to be big into photography as a profession, and even at one point was getting paid to shoot wedding and family portrait shots, throughout and after graduating from highschool. After I moved to Phoenix, the Dj’ing thing took off a bit more than photography,especially since I was doing it old school and developing my own film.

Once I got to phoenix I mainly concentrated on the 9-5 and making side money through picking up dj gigs here and there. In addition, I had no idea of where to find a dark room, already setup and ready to use like the ones provided at the high school and on the base. Even though I was never in the military, living on my own in a non military city was a drastic difference than living on or next to the base.

After a few years I came across my old trusty 35mm Nikon SLR and took a few snaps here and the spark was still there, dwindling without the constant use that I was accustomed to.  Along came the digital camera, a  much more convenient way to appease the thirst I still had for capturing those perfect moments. I pretty much stuck with the compact digital cameras over the years, only because the cost of a decent digital SLR with glass (lens) was equivalent or higher to the cost of my rent, car insurance, and car payment. Of course as time went on technology improved, and the compact were steadily improving and reaching almost the same level of professionalism as the digital SLR’s. There was still a few critical tasks that they couldn’t do, such a manually controlling how the camera takes the picture, through aperture, or shutter speed adjustments.

Fast forward 15yrs later, at a time that I’ve decided ironically to stop pursuing the musical side of things as a dj, and I’ve finally broken down and invested in a digital SLR, a Nikon D80 to be precise. It’s been a little over 2wks, and aside from the rocky re-introduction to aperture, shutter, and ISO controls, things are looking up, and I’ve shot well over 3000 pics.  Mainly thanks to DZ for really reigniting the spark that everyone else knew was there and especially with the help from a few books “The Digital Photography Book, Vol 1 & 2” from Scott Kelby and “The Nikon D80 Digital Field Guide” by David Busch. Essentially guiding me through getting used to the digital camera capabilities as well as showing me how to do some of the techniques I’ve always wanted to do, but couldn’t try previously due to lack of technology or massive amount of film for trial and error shooting.

I acquired the D80 off of Craiglist, for a a decent discounted rate, with a small carrying pouch/bag and Nikkor 18-135mm lens. DZ has a D90 with a 18-200mm lens and fixed 50mm lens, and SB600 Speed Flash. The 50mm lens and speedflash are the next items on my purchase list as well as light meter, as I tend to shoot alot at night and trying to get the right exposure is still a pain in the ass.

So pretty soon LiquidHeaven Photography and Rhedboa Photography will be providing affordable and convenient in home and on-location photographic services for the valley.