# A year in pictures - my first DSLR



## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Around this time last year I took delivery of my first DSLR. What follows is a selection of my favourite photos taken over the year. I won't even try to tell you these are straight off camera as most, if not all have been worked on to some extent in my NX2 Capture editing program. That's something else I've had to learn and will strive to do better. However as there are many here on DW that have either just purchased or are thinking of purchasing a new camera, I thought I'd show you some examples of what can be achieved with a bit of effort.

So without further ado here's my favourites of 2009.





































































































Happy snapping in 2010 and thanks for looking.:wave:​


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## Ben_ZS (Sep 28, 2008)

Nice pictures :thumb:

Looks like you've been very busy this year.


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## ChrisJD (Apr 15, 2009)

Some very nice photos there. 

Chris.


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## Deniance (Jun 28, 2008)

nice photos, but where are the cars.......................................


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Deniance said:


> nice photos, but where are the cars.......................................


What cars?:lol:


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## ksm1985 (Dec 27, 2008)

they are all very good photos, loving the colours in the night shots of the clyde


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

Mate those pics are just stunning. :thumb::thumb:


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

chillly said:


> Mate those pics are just stunning. :thumb::thumb:


+1 :thumb:



ksm1985 said:


> loving the colours in the night shots of the clyde


That's my favourite too - I reckon that would sell if you got some prints done; I'd hang it on my wall :thumb:

Love the one of the wind turbines too - I think they look very graceful. The best shots of them though are ones taken in early morning mist (IMO of course).


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Thanks for the comments guys.:thumb: I like the night shots too.


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## Adam D (Nov 3, 2009)

Great shots!

I have seen lots of great pictures taken with DSLRs and it does make me very tempted to buy one, mmm, must resist 

Love the one of Gilmorehill. What a great building (and university!). So glad they took that scaffolding down they had up in the early 90's. My worry was that I was going to graduate from Glasgow Uni and photographs were going to be taken with the tower shrouded in metalwork. Thankfully it never happened.

I really like the macro shots. The colours are so vivid and the loads of detail.

Well done!

I look forward to seeing more of your shots in 2010


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Oh my word, these pics look professional FACT

Absolutely stunning mate, I now have even more reason to save up for a DSLR, but how did you get so good in a short space of time? lots of reading online or did you know a fair bit before buying your DSLR?

I'm very impressed and I agree that the night shots are the best


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Some lovely shots there


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## MattFletcher (Oct 27, 2006)

Can i ask what camera and lenses you used, great pictures!!!


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## Multipla Mick (Feb 5, 2006)

Cracking shots there, the night shots are stunning but I also like the third one, the Bee flying away from the flowers, you can almost hear it buzzing. Great stuff :thumb:


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

An excellent selection. You obviously have a good eye for a photo.

And a bit of talent to boot, you swine. 

Now how many photos did you 'file' this year?


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Eddy said:


> Oh my word, these pics look professional FACT
> 
> Absolutely stunning mate, I now have even more reason to save up for a DSLR, but how did you get so good in a short space of time? lots of reading online or did you know a fair bit before buying your DSLR?
> 
> I'm very impressed and I agree that the night shots are the best


Started off in photography as a teenager with an SLR film camera. Did a bit of B&W developing as well. The problem with photography has always been showing them. A club was the best way of doing that so I joined one for a year or so. I got married and for years the equipement was in the loft.:lol:I bought a digital compact for handiness some years ago which was great for viewing on computers. Finally going full circle, I got the DSLR. Computers have become so powerfull now the two now go hand in hand and make showing pictures fun again. Like all hobbies, the more time you can put into it the better you become. Subject matter is the hard part I find, you have to go out with something in mind or carry the camera everywhere so that you don't miss a shot when it arises.



WHIZZER said:


> Some lovely shots there


Thanks Bill



MattFletcher said:


> Can i ask what camera and lenses you used, great pictures!!!


Nikon D60, 18-55 Nikkor lens, Tamron 70-300 lens, Remote release, Manfrotto tripod and that's about it really



Multipla Mick said:


> Cracking shots there, the night shots are stunning but I also like the third one, the Bee flying away from the flowers, you can almost hear it buzzing. Great stuff :thumb:


The bee shot was mainly down to patience as you can imagine. Glad you like it


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Gruffs said:


> An excellent selection. You obviously have a good eye for a photo.
> 
> And a bit of talent to boot, you swine.
> 
> Now how many photos did you 'file' this year?


Jeez, I dunno, I'm guessing probably about 200-300. Many are crap, and many I'm happy with but wouldn't think of showing. You've got to be very critical of your own work. These picture are my favourites but I can still pick holes in them. I'd love to show professional work like top photographers do


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

That's a lot less than i have 'filed' i can assure you.


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

Gruffs said:


> That's a lot less than i have 'filed' i can assure you.


And me - by a factor of 10, if not 15 :doublesho

But that's the beauty of digital, you can take lots of shots of the same subject - different angles/zoom/exposure etc. - and pick the best. Not really practical with film and expensive too.


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2009)

Thankyou for posting, I realy enjoyed looking at those :thumb:. You've taken some cracking photographs.


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

parish said:


> And me - by a factor of 10, if not 15 :doublesho
> 
> But that's the beauty of digital, you can take lots of shots of the same subject - different angles/zoom/exposure etc. - and pick the best. Not really practical with film and expensive too.


So true, digital images are so much easier to work with. I guess the reason I don't have so many is that I delete those which don't come up to scratch. No point in filling up a hard drive with things I'm not happy with.


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

This year I'm up to 20000 shots, 2k of them are "keepers". 

My 23hq has 3300 pics on it.

800 of those are from a weekend in Dresden (3k taken) and around 500 of those were used in a book.

Bret


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

bretti_kivi said:


> This year I'm up to 20000 shots, 2k of them are "keepers".
> 
> *My 23hq has 3300 pics on it*.
> 
> ...


Excuse my ignorance Bret, what's 23hq?


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

spitfire said:


> Excuse my ignorance Bret, what's 23hq?


I think he means http://www.23hq.com


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## ntynan528 (Aug 20, 2009)

great pics


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

parish said:


> I think he means http://www.23hq.com


Ah, I see, thanks.


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

yep, a decent storage / viewing site that's not flickr and doesn't compress. Might be of interest to you, too... check what the size of a pic is when you upload it and after you download it again.

But yep, a keep rate of 10% is OK and much above 30% is rare these days - I'm always taking lots of different shots to compare and pick the best.

Bret


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Awesome shots very inspirational


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

bretti_kivi said:


> yep, a decent storage / viewing site that's not flickr and doesn't compress. Might be of interest to you, too... check what the size of a pic is when you upload it and after you download it again.
> 
> But yep, a keep rate of 10% is OK and much above 30% is rare these days - I'm always taking lots of different shots to compare and pick the best.
> 
> Bret


That's a fair amount of pics your shooting. Have you had any experience of shutter failure yet. I think it's something like 50,000 frames average life span, is it not?



Auto Detox said:


> Awesome shots very inspirational


Thankyou, if they inspire people, so much the better.:thumb:


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## S-X-I (Sep 6, 2006)

Great shots Dougie, very impressive.

I must get my camera out more in 2010!


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

> ... shutter failure yet...


No, mine's rated to 100k.

Bret


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## freon warrior (May 31, 2006)

A great selection, many thanks.


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