Since the last time I took any photography instruction was when I took film photography back in high school, I wanted to take a series of shots with the Nikon D3100 before the start of the course.

There photographs are supposed to serve as baseline for myself, as there are the best shots I have taken with the camera so far. I also would like to revisit some of these photographs later towards the end of the semester so that I can compare my progress, if any.

This first series of photographs were taken at Northport Harbor during the evening of July Fourth. As is characteristic of me, I decided to do something I consider hard for a novice: firework photography. Now I say it’s difficult because as my images show, I had some issues and struggled with the lighting. That being said, these images can provide me with a baseline for my low light photography skills.

Now I do have to disclose that I did not go at this on a whim, I read up on the topic and watched some videos online. Armed with this “YouTube University ” knowledge I set out to take my very first photographs but nonetheless I was in way over my head. That being said I did manage to take some photographs that I liked, they are not great, but I like them regardless. I am specially proud of the images of the light pole; these were taken at regular time intervals and I tired to keep them all looking around the same by manipulating the exposure settings manually.

My next set of photographs is a series that I took when my girlfriend and I went to explore Glass Bottle Beach the following day.Despite it’s not so appealing look, Glass Bottle Beach is actually a state park that is off of Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn. This beach has a long and sad history that I hope I get to explore about in the future in a latter post when I get a chance to return, preferably when the weather is cooler.

This images serve as my baseline for day time photography in very bright conditions. As the Images of the beached boat can show, I once again had issues dialing in the correct exposure. After constant reassessing and playing with the exposure, I did managed to come aways with some decent photographs I liked. That day I learned that daytime photography was just as complicated as low-light photography. I also got to scout an amazing location for the future.

Lastly, I figured I would try my hand at indoor photography; almost a month after since my last photographs. But this was no ordinary indoor photography, true to my nature, I made it a lot more difficult my making Russel the Chinny my photography subject. Russel is our pet chinchilla and for those who may not know, they like to move! Hopping, running, and shaking around in his volcanic dust; he loves it all! This meant that he was going to make things a lot more difficult for me.

Right off the bat, the lighting was an issue. Unfortunately, trying to compensate for the lighting by decreasing the shutter speed wasn’t going to work this time because then Russel will be reduced to a blur. I could also introduce a flash but without a diffuser, the flash just ended up whitewashing the photographs. After many images playing with the exposure settings, these are my best shots. Needless to say, Russel made my job hard but I’m okay that he did because it gives me a good baseline for action and indoor photography. Lucky for me, he loves dust baths and so opportunities to revisit these images are not going to be scarce.

This is my baseline. I don’t consider myself terrible but I am not Ansel Adams or Eadweard Muybridge either. I do however, believe that I am not a lost cause and that I can improve

– J