Eric Cosky

I just returned from a trip to Alaska where I broke 10,000 photos on my Nikon D70. It's been a great camera during the past 20 months; it has been the source of a much frustration and eventually, great satisfaction. Hitting 10,000 photos inspired me to write a bit about my experience because prior to owning this camera I had next to zero knowledge about photography. My previous video experience gave me a leg up on composing and the bare mechanics of how to take a decent picture when I could use the automatic modes, but after a while I started seeing the shortcomings of the automatic modes and thus began the real learning process as I began experimenting with all the other settings this camera provides.

Here's a cropped portion of photo 9999. While it isn't the best photo of a breaching whale, I'm pretty happy with it because I've gone from being a full-auto user to almost complete manual control of all settings which is the case in this photo. I was pleasantly surprised to discover this was the lucky image, I still consider myself lucky to get anything resembling focus and decent lighting much less both with such excellent subject matter. I wouldn't have picked this as my best photo (obviously it's a bit dark and the whale isn't perfectly focused) it just happens to be the one that rolled the odometer over so to speak.



The full size version of this photo and many more can be seen on my gallery site.

The image was shot handheld from a ship at F/9 1/200 shutter at maximum zoom on my 300mm lens.

After 10,000 photos, the camera is still behaving as new as far as I can tell. I think it probably needs to get a professional cleaning (I'd like to learn how to do that myself) but aside from that I have no substantial complaints about the camera. The only thing I wish it had was an alternative to the infrared shutter release. Something as simple as a electronic release wire with a push button switch like the mechanical releases would be great. A higher resolution sensor would pay for itself by allowing me to avoid the cost of enormous zoom lenses while allowing me the same final DPI on the final printout (not to mention the burden of carrying more gear).

Some of the more useful things I've learned include:

• Bring supplies to clean your lens and sensor when you travel. Nothing is worse than having all your shots ruined because of some junk in there that could be blown away with an air bulb or simply wiped off the lenses.
• Always bring some kind of tear-off plastic food wrap that you can use when you absolutely have no choice but to get your camera wet. Maybe you'll never need it. If not, it's not much of a space commitment if you just wrap some around an index card.
• Bring a small white card for use with white balancing. As I transitioned to manual control, I had a lot of blue photos until I realized how often I had to calibrate the white balance.
• I find that a dual-use backpack is ideal for lugging around the camera, lenses, and assorted other junk. Backpacks that are dedicated only to holding camera gear are too specialized for my casual use. I had a shoulder bag for a while but it always became uncomfortable having the weight, what little there is, being attached to my body in the unavoidably unbalanced manner that shoulder bags require. I finally found the perfect pack for me with the National Geographic NG 5162. I can carry the camera, related stuff, and just enough room for those other things required when actually travelling.
• If you can afford it, get some kind of portable media player that can copy off your images and let you examine them closely for problems. All too often I go for days on a trip not realizing I have something on my sensor or lens somewhere that isn't big enough to notice in the camera viewer but more than big enough to annoy me when I get home and look on the computer.
• When learning how to use manual settings, get used to reviewing images and making adjustments between shots. Most of the time I find myself adjusting the aperture or shutter between shots just to improve the odds of getting one with the right balance.

Have fun, keep experimenting and don't get discouraged!