Gone Digital

I've done it! A couple of weeks ago, I went out and bought a Nikon D70s, which is Nikon's mid-level (maybe low-mid-level) digital SLR!

I thank my parents and my husband for giving me birthday money early to help me make this purchase. I'm happy with my decision to go with the D70s, as higher-end cameras (the ones that do everything but make coffee and drive you to work) are quite a bit more expensive, and it would have taken several birthdays to make one of those possible! I can learn with this camera (and I have a lot to learn), plus it has more than enough features to make many a portrait customer very happy. All my old lenses work on the new camera, so it was really easy to narrow it down to Nikon. Plus, I simply don't speak Canon.

Slowly warming to digital photography, I have been using a little Nikon CoolPix point and shoot for the last year or so, really only sticking my toes in so far. But now I've jumped in, and I love it. I love the convenience of uploading photos to online printing services and getting prints in the mail. I love the fact that I can change settings as I shoot (and on the D70s there are SO many settings!). I'm really excited about being able to put photos online and let friends and customers order straight from the printers. Yes, I know some of you have been into all of this for a while now, but give me a break. I was very attached to my film camera and was waiting until digital could prove itself to me. Incidentally, I'm keeping my film cameras and might even use one once in a while. Though I haven't encountered one yet, I have heard that there are situations where digital just doesn't cut it. So, alas, until digital is perfect, my camera bag will probably still have at least one film camera in it.

I got to try out my new camera over the 4th of July weekend when Steve and I went to visit our friends C and J again near Cincinnati. In the photo above is a kestrel housed at The Raptor Center at Glen Helen Preserve, which is part of John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs, Ohio. We also went to the Newport Aquarium, and I got some pictures there, which, honestly, turned out better than I had hoped! When I have time to put them on, more photos will follow.