I mentioned SLR cameras in my last post so I thought it might be helpful for anyone that is new to photography to include some information: A single lens reflex camera (SLR) is a type of camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence “reflex” from the mirror’s reflection) that allows the photographer to view through the lens and see what will be captured when the shutter is activated. In other words “what you see is what you get.” When the shutter button is pressed on most SLR’s, the mirror flips up out of the light path, allowing light to pass through to the film and the image is captured. I hope that was helpful.
My first SLR was a Pentax brand and I learned a lot about cameras and photography through reading their literature and ‘how to’ guides (before the internet!). My camera had interchangeable lenses and accessories that were screw mounted (i.e., screw off one and screw on another).
One of the things that I experimented with was a set of extension tubes that fit between the camera body and the actual lens. This allows for really close up pictures, called macro shots. An extension tube creates more distance between your lens and the image plane in the camera (the film), which will let you get closer to a smaller subject which then fills more of the image frame with a sharply focused subject. That produces fantastic close up photos.
I really liked close ups of flowers as you will see when you browse through my collections. This was fun and I enjoyed experimenting. One drawback, however, was that using 35mm film, I didn’t know exactly what I was going to get until I got the developed film back from the photo processor. And I threw away a lot of images that I did not like. Mainly ones that were blurred because of a little thing called camera shake. Taking macros requires that you have the camera absolutely still. If not you get a blurred image, no fun!
I worked with this set up for quite a while, and like I said, I learned a lot and I threw a lot of exposed images away. Then I moved on to my first Cannon camera.
