The year 2013 marked the beginning of a new era in my photography:
I made the switch from point-and-shoot to DSLR.
2013
In January of 2013, a family friend was kind enough to loan her old DSLR to me while I saved up for my own. She also gave me the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro lens, which hailed from the year 2005.
The borrowed camera was the Canon EOS Digital Rebel, one of the first digital SLR (DSLR) cameras! Although it was manufactured in 2003 (the same year as the brick camera), and it only had a six-megapixel sensor, it was brand new as far as I was concerned! In addition, the lens, though fuzzy, was great according to my standards!
Here are a few photos I took with the Digital Rebel while it was still in working order. I greatly enjoyed testing its capabilities and experimenting with different aperture settings (such as the "starburst effect").
I used the Digital Rebel for several months - until its ancient shutter unfortunately broke. Then, I reluctantly went back to using my Olympus point-and-shoot for the time being.
In the meantime, I displayed some of my best photos at Cedar Hills' New Seasons Market and at Jade Teahouse & Patisserie in Portland. I sold some photos and saved the money toward my future purchase. I had decided on the Canon EOS 7D, due to its fast shutter (8 frames per second), high image quality (18 megapixels), and high popularity with professional wildlife photographers. I couldn't afford to buy it new, so I bought a used model on eBay. It already had quite a few photos on its shutter, but I didn't care - I finally had my camera!
Below are some of my favorite photos I took with the 7D in 2013.
As I snapped photos with my 7D, I kept my eye out for creative compositions. In July, I spotted three Mourning Doves perched in a triangular formation at a Vancouver, Washington park. I entered this photo in the Get to Know Contest, and it won an award (see photo near top of page).
I was absolutely thrilled with the Canon EOS 7D's performance!