4 hour flight = an opportunity for experimentation

I went to Seattle on business last week and took my office notebook (a PC) thinking that I could at least convert raw files to JPG in Photoshop and post them to this blog. Unfortunately, the raw conversion in Photoshop was not working, so I was unable to post anything. I also traveled very light photographically speaking. All that I carried was my Nikon D300 body with a Nikkor 18-135 lens--no tripod, no additional lenses, no speedlight, and no Macbook.

On the trip to Seattle (via Chicago) I left my camera in my backpack in the overhead compartment. However, on the way home (Seattle to Dallas/Fort Worth to Huntsville) I decided to keep my camera nearby so I could take photos and spend the four hours in flight learning more about my camera. There was a retired couple from Seattle sitting in the row with me and we had a good time talking photography, computers, and taking photos. Here are some of the shots I took. To see more, visit www.kennamer.net and click on the "Seattle" link.

Again, there is no magic bullet to learning to use a DSLR in manual mode, but practice like I got in this four-hour flight is most helpful.  The first photo was taken at ISO 320, F14, 1/200 sec. I also applied a preset in Lightroom from Seim Effects.

Here's another photo taken from my hotel room after a rain shower. It was shot at ISO 320, F9, 1/80 sec.

Until next time...