Yes, yes indeed, my camera arrived, at last. So I headed out to the prom to see what it could do. It's possible that I'll always be more impressed with it than you because I can zoom in to the fancy pictures on my computer and see how nicely detailed they are. Also, in reality, I don't think you'll be able to tell any difference between the photos I take from now on and those you've seen from me so far. And, I think Blogger makes photos a bit pixel-y so you don't get the full effect. But anyway, what you see hereafter will be a truer representation of what I see when I'm out and about – honest, it will. I've only the one lens at the moment, so I still can't zoom right in to those mountains in the Lakes, but that will be sorted once I've worked out which lens I need of the hundreds available!
But without further ado, let's look, shall we? First off, I wanted to see if I could get any closer to the waders in the bay. I can, but still not really close enough for me to tell what they are. But they are at least discernible as birds now, so that's good. Also, you might notice that the other side of the bay, albeit very faint due to the haze today, is brought somewhat closer by this camera. The iPhone flings everything in the distance even further away, which was the thing I never liked about it. Of course, if you're looking on your own phone, you probably still can't see the other side of the bay. Or the birds.
Next, I wanted to see if the Nikon would be realistic about distances. So I looked with my eyes, and then I looked through the viewfinder, and both views looked exactly the same. Hurray! This was all I wanted from my new camera. Well, no, I want to be able to take better photos of the moon and the mountains. But this was the main thing, that my photos before never looked the same as the view I saw with my eyes. The fact that this camera is more honest makes it worth its price, to me. iPhone cameras LIE!
Here's Baywatch Tower, looking splendid.
And, of course, this guy was here again, as he always is, running with his shirt off in all weathers. He had his mate with him today. They looked so happy. Probably because the beer gardens are open.
Wander, wander, wander, click, click, click. I wore my camera round my neck, and I had both hands free to use it. Ingeniously, if I do say so myself, I'd fashioned a hands-free lead contraption, made from one lead fastened around my waist, with Freya's bungee lead attached to her head collar fastened onto my waist lead. It worked brilliantly and meant that I don't have to fork out for yet another bit of kit. I didn't get any funny looks, which I was surprised about. I'm quite conspicuous, with my big, bonkers, barky dog, my touristy camera on display, my colour-changing hair and my generally cheery disposition that manifests as joyful grins whenever I catch the eye of anyone I pass.
We can get closer to some things, and they're quite nice and sharp. I call this masterpiece 'Seaweed on the Groyns'. I might sell prints on Etsy.
This one is called 'Freya Squinting at the Sun'. This was the one that confirmed for me that a proper camera is better than an iPhone camera, when I'm zoomed in on Freya's nose and could see individual hairs. In the grand scheme of things, that's not really much use to anyone, but it makes me happy.
What's a trip to Morecambe without a look at the beached boats? Nothing, I tell you. (Incidentally, I was looking at the differences between the brains of humans and dolphins yesterday. It's got nothing to with this walk, or the boats, or my camera, but you should totally look this up – fascinating!)
While I was photographing the boats (see, I photograph now, I don't just snap), I had a little play about with depth and composition, and I found that you can make completely different pictures of the same area, depending on where you put the horizon and which point you hone in on. This is not a revelation, of course, and it's what I've been wanting to do. But you can put the horizon high up in the frame and have a great big, deep foreground ...
Or you can put the horizon low down in the frame and have a huge sky. Brilliant! That is something that was very difficult to do with the iPhone, so camera – 1, iPhone – 0.
Accidentally, I seem to have made an image that looks like it was taken in the '70s. This could've been swiped from my mum's collection of old photos. Except that people didn't seem to take many photos of scenery then – it was all family, weddings and Christmas parties, school uniforms on the first day back in September, and trips to the seaside with ice-cream-covered faces. Good times.
See you anon!
Linda + Freya
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