Suddenly I See

I've had my D3200 for a little over 7 months now. I've been "joking" that it's time for a new camera because I'm starting to outgrow it. I thought eventually I would like to upgrade my camera to a full frame one, but probably not for another two years. A couple of days ago, I was presented an offer I could not turn down. So now, I am an owner of a full frame D700.

If you don't know the difference between Full Frame vs. Cropped Frame DSLR Cameras, here is a little write-up explaining the differences. 

One photog friend told me, "You are now on a whole different level of photography." Another told me, "You will see a big difference because the photos will look so much better and you will never be able to go back (to a cropped frame camera)." 

I'm actually seeing a big difference after just shooting with it for a couple of days now. Here are some photos I took with the D700 that I don't think I could've gotten with the D3200.

Taken with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 lens

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens
(Can you see the ants?)

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens

Taken with Nikon 60mm Micro f/2.8 lens
(Look at the legs on that ant!)

Taken with Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens
(I have an extremely difficult time shooting with this lens on the D3200, but I didn't
have the same problems while using it on the D700.  It was so hard for me to use,
that I always dreaded using it. I'm hoping that will change now.)

Live in Living Color

For several months, I've been wanting to go to the Korean Buddhist Temple (Mu-Ryang-Sa) in Palolo. A friend of mine had posted pictures he had taken there and they looked so awesome! Reese suggested that I try doing some photos in HDR. HDR with any of his cameras is easy. He just sets it to do bracketing and it will take 3 photos in 3 different exposures once he hits the shutter. For me, since my camera doesn't do bracketing, I have to do it "manually". First, I have to take the photo in the correct exposure, then I take the same photo underexposed and then one overexposed. In order for HDR to "work", the frame has to be identical and the only way to do it is to put your camera on a tripod. 

Here are a few sets of photos showing the correct exposure and then the photo transformed into HDR. I think I might get hooked doing this to my photos!  :)