Connecting passion to faith, and wrapping the whole thing up

So as this semester comes to a close, you may be wondering why on earth I was doing a photography blog for Bible class... The reason for this is to bring to our (the students and readers alike) attention that your faith is connected to all parts of your life. Hobbies, passions, occupations, they all are completely relevant. As a Christian I am called to live for God in all aspects of my life, and this means finding ways that we can honour Him while doing that. Which is actually very easy, as you don't have to look very hard.
We spent time in class working through some biblical throughlines and how they can be applied to our projects. By using the passion for photography that God gave to me, I am able to connect it to many biblical throughlines, however I am choosing to write about the 3 that I find apply the most.

Creation-Enjoying
Photography is a fantastic way to enjoy and explore God's beautiful creation. By capturing the wonder and complexity of it all, we can learn to notice the glory of God in anything and everything. Not only does this apply to the photography of nature, but also when taking pictures of people, and even architecture, which is inspired by nature in many aspects. And what better way to enjoy and remember it than through moments captured through the lens!

Beauty- Creating
Photography is a form of creativity. We can "create" by capturing pieces of God's creation through photography, and as we do this we are reflecting and honouring the beauty of it all. In a way it is very similar to creating artwork. I heard somewhere that in order to be a fantastic photographer you need you "think like a painter", and I couldn't agree more. You learn to see the beauty in simple, everyday things, and set up the picture in a way that gives it the most potential.  Since God is the #1 creater, we reflect him when we create. I'd also imagine that it is pleasing to Him when we honour Him by doing so.

Community-Building
By meeting and discovering other people with similar passions, we can build friendships and a sense of community. Like many things, photography has a way of bringing people together. By honouring and valuing everyones gifts and hobbies, you can build friendships that otherwise never would have been, and since God has designed us to be in relationships with others, this is a fantastic way to do so and practice your Christian influence!

So I guess this marks an end to my grade 12 passion project! Looking back, I think I pretty much reached all of my goals. I experimented and practiced some new photography techniques/ types such as landscapes, portraits, different types of lighting, etc. My mentors for this project were my aunt and uncle, who also love photography and have quite a bit more wisdom than I do regarding the subject. I went to them quite a bit for their thoughts on the lenses I was researching, and they leant me their own lens (which has a focal length range of 55-200mm) so I could try it out and use it to help me make my final decision. So a big thanks goes out to them! :)
While I didn't quite get around to sunsets, that was replaced by some macro photography, so I did as much I expected I would. The goals I set for myself to accomplish didn't necessarily get reached at the times I had planned out (which I will talk more about at the end of this post), but I expected this. Photography goes hand in hand with inspiration and ideas, so its not really something you can set an exact time line for, in my case at least! My only regret for this project was that I didn't seem to have very much visual aspects to show, compared to the amount that I actually did. Things such as research (and more research and more research... :) ) can only really be shown to a certain extent. At least without boring the reader, not to mention the writer as well!

I learned a bit about myself too, I suppose. First off is that I have a hard time getting inspired. Either I feel like taking pictures or I don't, which isn't always the best when you have goals that need to be reached! However I also learned that if you simply pick up your camera and go looking for inspiration, you are bound to find some along with some fantastic opportunities. Also (although I sort of knew this before) I found that I am not the best at making decisions. Choosing something as big (for me, at least) as a lens is a rather large commitment, which is a big reason why it took me so long to decide. However  I suppose it is better than taking hardly any time and regretting my decision.

My goals for my new lens were reached, however not quite exactly the way I planned them to be. I did do a lot of research, and I did purchase a fantastic lens, but time wise I was a bit behind. This lead to me not being able to use my new lens for this project, however I will get the opportunity to use it for the rest of my life! My passion for photography is definitely not ending with this project, just as it didn't begin with it either.

A big thanks to all of you who have read this blog, I hope you enjoyed doing so!

A decision has been made!

I have finally decided on a lens! (About time, I know). My original plan was to have purchased this lens by December, however it turned out that thorough researching took a lot longer than I had thought. I also have a hard time making big decisions, so that also was a factor. So sadly I will not get to use it for this project, but I am not too bummed about that because I get to use it for the rest of my life anyways!

 I have decided on the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR, which is the one I was leaning most towards all along. The lens is extremely versatile, and has a metal mount, and a focal length range of 18-140mm, which is fantastic and perfect for me, as I don't like to stick to only one type of photography. Of course those aren't the only factors that I was looking at when I researched this lens, but for me they were the main ones. Reviews were great as well. The only thing that was putting me off about this one was the price, a rather scary $649.95. However I managed to purchase it on Amazon for about 200 dollars less, which is extremely exiting! So I will be waiting patiently (or not, we will see) for it to arrive and I can't wait to try it out. If you would like to read more about this lens, you will find I wrote my thoughts on it on my blog post titled "Choosing" (it is lens #1).

Choosing

Well as far as buying a lens goes, I'm a bit behind schedule. However I have narrowed it down (finally!) to 3 main ones.

1.  AF-S DX Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR                                                           
    $649.95

 

 

 

This is the lens that I am leaning most towards. I am a bit hesitant because it is the most expensive out of the 3, but after doing a lot of research and reading hundreds of reviews this seems like it is pretty much exactly what I am looking for.

- The Focal length range is 18-140mm, which is nice and versatile. I was originally looking for a higher maximum focal length of around 200mm, but most of those lenses have a minimum focal range of around 55m which can sometimes be difficult when working indoors. Having such a high minimum also lessens certain photography opportunities such as some landscapes, etc. Since I want a lens that I can use for many things without having to switch lenses often, I really like the 18-140mm range.

-It has a metal mount, as apposed to a plastic mount. This simply makes it stronger, and able to resist small bumps, and also gives it more strength to hold different lens ends that I have. Reading reviews there are dozens of stories about plastic mounts simply breaking off of the camera, and as I plan to this lens for travelling, I figured the stronger the better! Better to pay a bit more now than pay even more later to get it fixed.

-Has vibration reduction. Most do, but I consider it very important! Especially because I am not going to always use a tripod.

-It is fantastic for everyday shooting, and good for wide-range photographic opportunities. Very versatile. Which is perfect for me, as I don't really stick to just one type of photography.

 

-Reviews are the best out of all the other lenses I looked in to. Obviously this is not what I base my research off of, but it is nice to know that others were pleased with it!

2. AF-S DX Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6 G IF-ED

$329.95

 

 -The price is a bit less scary for this one, which is nice.

 

-This lens has a focal length range of 55-200mm. I really like the maximum of 200mm. However the fact that the minimum is 55mm is a bit of a turn off for me, seeing as this would make indoor shooting, or other kinds of photography, difficult in some cases.

 

-Has built in vibration reduction.

 

-Has a plastic mount.

 

-It is a great lens, with a great price, and the reviews are not bad.

 

 

3. AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR

$379.95



 

 

-I am liking the price for this one as well.

 

-The minimum focal length is 18mm, which is extremely nice, and the maximum range is 105mm, which is good. Not as high as I had hoped for, so this one is probably my last choice out of the 3.

 

-Has built in vibration reduction.

 

-Plastic mount. Which I could totally be happy with, however as you know I would much prefer a metal mount.

 

-Reviews are okay, however there are many that say the plastic mount caused it to break off of their camera very easily.

 

 

 

So its pretty obvious which lens I like the most (lens #1). It is a fair bit more expensive than the other 2, but I will be using it very often and (hopefully) will not regret buying it. However as it is not set in stone that I am actually going to choose that one, I figured I would post all 3 just to keep my options open. So hopefully I will pick one by the end of this week! If you have any thoughts or advice for me, feel free to comment, I would love all the advice I can get!

What I am looking for.

So what I am looking for is pretty much a lens that is a bit of a step up from the kit lens that I currently have (which is an AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR) So here are a few things that I am hoping to find in a potential new one!

Focal Length Range
One of the main things that I am looking for is one with a bit of a better focal length range (or "zoom") because as the 18-55mm is great for lots of everyday things, there are many times where a bit more zoom would be extremely helpful. Whether its for photographing nature or people, or anything really, it's always nice not to be so tied down with not being able to get as close as you like without physically getting closer to the subject. On the Nikon website I found an article that used a brilliant visual representation of different focal lengths.

http://en.nikon.ca/Learn-And-Explore/Article/g3cu6o2o/understanding-focal-length.html

So as you can see, my 18-55mm lens has some zoom, but I am hoping to upgrade to one that has a maximum zoom of around 135mm to 200mm. Once you start getting to the higher focal lengths you need to start using a tripod in order to avoid shaky or blurry pictures, and since I am looking for a "walk- around" lens I am not going worry about spending extra for a maximum focal length that I will rarely use, seeing as I am not going to carry a tripod around with me.

VR Image Stabilizer

A must for any lens that I am thinking about buying, is that it has to have VR (Vibration Reduction) Image stabilizer. Almost all lenses do, but it is definitely a great thing to have when you are not using a tripod (which is pretty much all the time in my case!)

 I also need an AF-S lens, because my camera does not have a built in focus motor.

 

Metal mount vs Plastic

Another (minor) thing that I am looking for in a lens is a metal mount, rather than a plastic mount. What that means is that the part of the lens that attaches to the camera will be metal, and thus a good deal stronger and able to withstand small bumps and such. While researching through some lens reviews I came across literally dozens of stories about the horrors of plastic mounts, and how, in some cases, the smallest bump will make the lens literally break off of the camera. (Yikes!) So considering I would like to keep this lens for a while and hope to use it for travelling and such, it would probably be worth the price increase to get a metal mount rather than risk paying more money later to fix a plastic one.

 

And as for the price range... Well I'm not quite sure yet. I don't really want to set one until I have an absolute idea of what I am going for!

 

So obviously this post did not include all  of the important aspects to a lens, but its a start! I have currently reduced the amount of lenses that I may be interested in to 5, and I will definitely be looking into much closer detail in order to pick the one that's right for me!