My Quest for Better Pictures Results in a Nikon D300 SLR Camera

It seemed to take a long time to choose a camera for my as of yet to be “developed” photography skills. After deciding to upgrade my point and shoot to a dSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera, I had to decide which dSLR to purchase. So I did what any modern day consumer does, and hit the internet. I soon found that there are many digital camera review sights and even more “forums” where you can discuss the pros and cons with happy and disgruntled shutterbugs.

In the end, I probably could not have gone wrong with any dSLR, but I nevertheless wound up “focusing” on the Nikon D300 for no other reason than that it made every reviewer who touched it, swoon with giddiness. I too wish to be giddy.  Sadly, I know next to nothing about SLR photography, and what I do know, I learned simply by reading in anticipation of buying such a camera. So, when my camera does arrive, I probably will be no more impressed than I would have been with a camera that cost half as much.

One thing I was repeatedly told, the camera does not make the picture, the photographer does. Hopefully, having invested so much in a camera, I will be inclined to learn how to use it and become a decent photographer. Of course, if I don’t find myself using it on a fairly regular basis, slowly improving my skills, I always have the option of returning it. This is the main benefit to purchasing goods at Costco – their generous 90 day return policy. I could have saved over $70.00 had I purchased it from my other favorite retailer, newegg.com, since they do not charge sales tax in New York. I would have had the camera faster from newegg.com as well. However, there, you can only exchange the camera for another of the same model. That would hardly be useful to me if I lack the desire and aptitude to use the camera and want to get a less expensive model.

I am under a bit of time pressure, however, as I am going to swim with the sharks in July – so I have to either use my point and shoot, or make the considerable investment in an underwater housing for the new camera. That basically means I have to quickly fall in love with the camera buy an appropriate lens for underwater, and then set out to house everything, if I want to have all my gear ready to go in July.

Hopefully, I am up for the challenge, and the result will be some awesome underwater photography that I can call my own, hang in my home and office, and share with the world.

The Quest for Better Pictures

Before my last dive trip,  I spent $400 on an external flash to attach to my Sony camera, in the hopes that it would take much better pictures. Unfortunately, the camera overexposed everything.  I thought perhaps the flash was defective, so I sent it back to the manufacturer, and they confirmed that a circuit board had gone bad, and sent it back repaired (have not tested it yet).  So, again, I am hoping that I will be able to take much better pictures with the external flash.

For those who do not dive, or do not deal with underwater photography, being underwater removes the ‘red’ spectrum of visible light, which essentially makes pictures appear “bluish.” The way to solve that problem is to take pictures in shallower water (so the red is not filtered out as much) or to add your own artificial light while shooting close to the subject. Another method is to add a “red” filter to the lens, which works quite well in some circumstances.  In any event, the flashes are expensive and I was gravely disappointed that I ruined so many photos trying to get the expensive flash to work.

On the other hand, I am glad it turned out to be broken and not that I was simply too inept to use it properly.

For two weeks, I have been embarking on buying an entire new setup, camera housing and flash.  That is going to cost me thousands of dollars. My trusty sony will still be used for taking video and as a backup camera, but I have decided (without purchasing anything just yet) that it is time to shoot with an SLR camera.  The benefits of such a camera are the virtual elimination of shutter lag, so that the fish won’t be gone by the time the camera decides to snap the picture, and also, the potential for better picture quality overall.  The drawbacks, are that such cameras are very expensive, and very expensive to house because they are much larger than point and shoot cameras.  The “largeness” is also a drawback because you wind up with a camera system something that is difficult to pack and transport easily.

Thoughts About Owning Stock

I started thinking recently, “Of what value is a share of stock? I can do nothing with it, other then sell it or borrow against it. It is silly to call myself an “owner,” and other than an occasional dividend, I get absolutely nothing for tying up my money. Sure, if there is a greater fool who will pay more for my share than I paid for it, I can always sell and make a profit. But that hardly seems a sound basis for tying up my money.”

It makes little sense to me, why share prices go up when a company makes more money. The shareholder gets nothing when the company’s earnings increase. Therefore, why are people willing to pay more for that share? Yes, supply and demand. But is the demand even rational? It is not like land, where you can build something or grow something on it, and therefore has intrinsic value.

In the end, are we simply part of a huge tulip bubble? Will people one day “wake up” and say, “What the hell am I doing holding on to these shares that give me no real benefit, just hoping that someone else will pay me more for them than I paid somebody else earlier?”

Of course, one gets a right to vote a share, and one gets a dividend in certain stocks, but my point, to the extent I have one, remains. The entire stock market seems to be a game of the greater fool. We “value” companies and “pretend” that the shareholder owns the company and benefits from an increase in earnings, but in the end, the shareholder really gets no benefit absent a dividend unless somebody else agrees that they are willing to pay more for the share if earnings increase.

Again, just because people have been willing to do so in the past, is that a reason to believe they will continue to do so in the future? And is it even rational to expect people to pay for earnings when they don’t actually get anything as a result of the increased earnings? Its a huge circular argument – well, if the company earns more people will pay more for the company’s shares. That is generally what happens but is it rational for people to behave this way? The effect (increased share price) is assumed to be caused by the increased earnings. But there is no rational reason that I can tell which actually links increased earnings to increased share price, other than this is how people respond to the fact. It just seems (again) that the response is irrational. It would be rational, in my opinion, if an increase in earnings resulted in a direct payment being owed to the shareholder.

- One Diver’s Perspective.

I remember landing under sniper fire.

I remember landing under sniper fire. There as supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport but instead, we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base. – Hillary Clinton

I tend to see things as black and white, and given that upon landing in Bosnia Hillary Clinton a) Walked off the plane, b) Did not duck her head, and c) Greeted people cordially, I am forced to conclude that she is either delusional or has very poor judgment concerning the likelihood of getting away with telling outrageous lies.

I do not accept that she was simply “mistaken” in her account.

Do I want to have a president that is delusional or prone to telling outrageous and embarrassing lies?

So, was she lying or was she delusional?  The answer is, she was lying.  Liars lack the character to do the right thing.  If she had merely been delusional, she would be seeking treatment (now that she recognizes she was “mistaken”), and she would recognize she is not mentally ready to be President of the United States since she has trouble differentiating between reality and fiction.

Honestly, she should not be running for office after this incident.  Unfortunately, since she was lying, she has shown she lacks character, and therefore she will not “do the right thing” and withdraw her candidacy.

This is One Diver’s Perspective.

Divelove

Welcome to the birth of what could quite possibly be the most important Blog in the history of man. Whether your choose to return or not, I hope you enjoy your visit.

This is a picture of a smooth trunkfish.  Sometimes they are sold in aquariums.  However, they make poor pets since they may excrete a toxin when under stress, and this toxin can kill it, as well as all the other fish in the tank.  Of course, these beauties can be safely enjoyed in the open ocean by snorkelers and scuba divers alike!  I strongly encourage anybody who is interested in diving to take up the sport.

Edited: To delete reference to website which was too difficult to maintain. WordPress Blog is all I needed. Imagine that!

Sharkwater The Movie

For those of you who are afraid of sharks, and for those of you who love sharks, I cannot recommend highly enough, the award winning movie Sharkwater, directed by and starring, Rob Stewart.  You can watch the trailer or read about the film at Sharkwater.  Heck, if you wish to purchase the film on DVD and Blue-Ray, it can be ordered there as well.  There’s even a blog where you can write to the director.

If you have no feelings one way or another about sharks, then I also urge you to watch the movie. It covers some very important environmental issues. Destroy the shark. Destroy the oceans. The problem is very real, even if easily ignored. The least you can do is watch the movie. Even if you don’t want to do anything at all about the potential end of the world as we know it, you’ll enjoy the  movie. Its an adventure and an eye-opener, and who knows, maybe you’ll recommend it to somebody who is moved to do something to help save the planet. 

Turtle in flight

Turtle in flight, originally uploaded by davidscubadiver.

Sea turtles, like so many other marine animals are critically endangered. They are killed as “by catch” (the fisherman’s term for “collateral damage”), along with millions of tons of wasted (non-consumed) sea life, in the quest for earning a profit by selling seafood. Eat responsibly. Try not to consume fish that are caught irresponsibly. Ocean caught shrimp is notorious for killing a disproportionate amount of sea animals, including turtles.