On the D500

(low-light, slow shutter @ city museum)

This post is for Sarah! The photos in this post are from my St. Louis trip 2009. Some are from Missouri wine country, the zoo, the City Museum, and the roller derby.


Okay, so I am totally not a camera expert. I started using a Nikon camera in college and I really loved it. I will be keeping my old film camera and I will probably buy some film for it in the near future because I don't know how long FILM will be available at Wal-Mart...I am guessing that if it isn't a disposable camera, you won't be able to buy film unless you go to a camera shop in the next 5-10 years.

I had a lot of fun in the butterfly wing at the zoo:

Anyway, having a good quality digital camera is important to me so I have been saving up for one that will fulfill every need. I have a Fujifilm Finepix S700 that I will probably carry around for snapshots and other small events, but for the most part, I will be using my D5000 for most pictures.

If you are thinking about buying a Nikon, but you just aren't sure which one....I suggest reading the Amazon.com buyer reviews. Click here to read reviews for D5000. Read the good and the bad for 2-3 cameras so you can distinguish authentic critical information buyers remorse.

Nothing beats going into a store and trying the camera out for yourself before making a big purchase. I thought about ordering mine online, but when I went into Best Buy and realized how quickly the camera turns on/off, goes from one picture to the next, and how easy the 19 auto-settings were to use, I knew this was the camera for ME.

On the pet portrait setting:



While in St. Louis I had lots of time to play around with it, but I found myself wishing I would've brushed up on the tutorials over on the website before going to the zoo. I spent a morning in early July watching all the video tutorials and practicing with my camera, but remembering all of those things (when there is a lot going on around you) takes time to master, and practice!

On the flower detail setting:


Picnic lunch...I skipped the sandwich, in favor of a sushi roll...and I got to try out the food setting:





At the winery, this barn had an owl on the weather vane!



My friend Danielle and fiance David with vineyard behind them, portrait setting:




@city museum

This is why I don't play in the ball pit...this little name badge was a PIN--super sharp!


City museum, night landscape setting:



Again at the city museum, this was taken in low-light/no flash...long shutter speed. This is a wall covered in old stamps--metal ones...Next time, I will take some chalk and paper and do some rubbings, it was awesome!



This one was taken at the roller derby...I really wish I would've studied a little more about taking moving pictures...or at least had my big flash, it was hard to get a good shot here:



As you can tell, I had a lot of fun taking pictures on my trip-- lots to scrapbook! Overall, I really love my new camera, but I don't feel like I have fully mastered in yet, in the four weeks I have owned it...but I kind of like that....There is a cool stop-motion animation setting and an auto-tracking setting....lots to learn and play with!

Also, I ordered a custom camera strap for my camera and I bought a Swiss Diana bag to carry it in.