Nikon D5200 First Impressions

I decided I wanted to take better photographs so I got myself a DSLR camera. I wound up with a Nikon D5200. I've heard good things about Nikon's cameras and lenses and the price was right since it was on sale.

I'm still somewhat of a novice to photography with a real camera. Pretty much all of the photos that I have taken on this website were done with an iPhone 4S or one of the original Motorola Droids. Yes, the one from 2009. I'm still learning about aperature, shutter speed, focal length, and lighting. I'm using the automatic mode right now which in most cases is significantly better than the iPhone. I'm finding it awkward to use the camera's viewfinder. I've become very accustomed to using the phone screen to compose shots. It was also easier to get lower to the ground with the iPhone as it was lighter and better balanced. I'm not going to hold that against the Nikon. I'll get better at composing my shots as time progresses.

The only thing I wish I had now was a telephoto lens. I was pretty close to a few smaller birds I wanted to photograph, but you can't see much detail with the 18-55mm lens that came with the camera. That is the nice thing about the DSLR. You can swap lenses easily.

I look forward to improving the quality of my photography for this website. I like making beautiful images of the natural world and sharing them. I'm trying to make my way to Cook Forest in Pennsylvania. There are some amazing old growth eastern hemlocks there and I'm hoping that this new camera will do them justice. I also want to revisit Kendall Ledges in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and shot the Carolina and eastern hemlocks that grow there.

I'll post more of my impressions of the camera as I use it more.