What a wonderful shot - your timing was perfect as well as your DoF to put the focus completely on this girl.
I had an opportunity to glance through your project although I did not take as much time to comment as I would have liked. Spring is a really busy time for me - and as you can probably tell my photography suffers because of it!
Your challenge is one of the first get pushed challenges I was given by a lady who noticed that I was a "recording" type photographer, reacting to my surroundings. I find that you are as well.
So, she challenged me to be pro-active and to bring some cut flowers into my home, set up a table near a window with the light falling sideways onto the flowers. Build a still life with a few more objects that are sympathetic to the flowers and take a photograph by natural light with as wide open an aperture as I could manage.
Have fun - and let me know if this does not work for you so I can issue a different challenge.
@farmreporter This works for me, I recently got a f2 that should fit the bill nicely. The still life will be fun, and the natural light only for still life is something new for me..
Most of the extras I see in that amazon kit looks bad, but here is my break down.
The good:
The case will likely fit the camera and lens
Extra batteries and chargers are nice
micro fiber cloths are always useful
remote shutters are useful, less so than a good shutterboss
The bad- thrown away money:
tripod (Never get one with leg connectors like that)
flash (you can get a quality knowck off for cheap, and that one looks REALLY cheap)
USB reader (a bad one will be significantly slower than a decent
one)
lens leash - these always get in the way of zooming and focusing.
I would buy from B&H with confidence, then use the extra $150-$400 to buy better things that you need, or save for a macro lens.
I would also suggest looking into a used camera with a low shutter count (you can read these off the exif data on all the photos) if you are interested in saving more money. I often have bought used with mostly good results.
@teriyakih Wow! Thank you for all the good info and breakdown of the good and the bad. I just found out I can't set up auto bracketing in the D3500. So it's out and I'll look at the D5600 and maybe the D7500. Looks like Nikon will quit making dslrs and continue with the mirrorless monsters I despise. What a rabbit hole to do down. LOL!
I have heard good things about the 7300 and above as a great alternative to the d500. I think that mirrorless needs to bake a little longer, the price needs to come down as well, that siad I would love a z7ii not ... 4k of love though.
@marlboromaam sorry, for got to tag you in the above. If you are planning on auto barcketing. Be sure to pick up a tripod that fits your needs and is light enough that you will actually take it out. I ended up with one like this ( https://store.sirui.com/collections/tripods/products/sirui-traveler-5a-5c) that works well will the center column removed and is small enough to backpack with if I want water or star shots.
I had an opportunity to glance through your project although I did not take as much time to comment as I would have liked. Spring is a really busy time for me - and as you can probably tell my photography suffers because of it!
Your challenge is one of the first get pushed challenges I was given by a lady who noticed that I was a "recording" type photographer, reacting to my surroundings. I find that you are as well.
So, she challenged me to be pro-active and to bring some cut flowers into my home, set up a table near a window with the light falling sideways onto the flowers. Build a still life with a few more objects that are sympathetic to the flowers and take a photograph by natural light with as wide open an aperture as I could manage.
Have fun - and let me know if this does not work for you so I can issue a different challenge.
Most of the extras I see in that amazon kit looks bad, but here is my break down.
The good:
The case will likely fit the camera and lens
Extra batteries and chargers are nice
micro fiber cloths are always useful
remote shutters are useful, less so than a good shutterboss
The bad- thrown away money:
tripod (Never get one with leg connectors like that)
flash (you can get a quality knowck off for cheap, and that one looks REALLY cheap)
USB reader (a bad one will be significantly slower than a decent
one)
lens leash - these always get in the way of zooming and focusing.
Unknowns
SD Cards (Thous could be fake and non-functional ones, or they could be decent, good ones cost $12 each https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-32GB-UHS-I-SDSDXXG-032G-GN4IN/dp/B01J5RHBQ4/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=32gb+sd+card&qid=1645472661&sr=8-4)
Car charger- seems good, but I have yet to use one.
Cheap lenses and macro converters - with a zoom, a bad filter can mess up your photos, I even had a "good" hoya ruin photos on 100-400.
I would buy from B&H with confidence, then use the extra $150-$400 to buy better things that you need, or save for a macro lens.
I would also suggest looking into a used camera with a low shutter count (you can read these off the exif data on all the photos) if you are interested in saving more money. I often have bought used with mostly good results.