The Evolution of a Photographer, Part III

We booked a "trip of a lifetime" in 2009 to see the Aurora Borealis in the Arctic Circle. 

After the initial flurry of planning, I started researching how to take pictures of the Aurora.  The more research I did, the more I was convinced I wasn't going to be able to capture any decent images on a point & shoot camera. 

I had been a Canon user for years, but always thought I might be missing out by not looking at Nikon. I researched a ton of cameras for my trip.  I finally settled on a Nikon D90 after talking with a family member about the luck he had with his.

The D90 was a lot of camera for me to learn.  I shot a lot of photos in "P" mode and let the camera do a lot of work for me.  I didn't know anything about file formats, so I ended up shooting everything in JPG format.

Over the course of six months, I went from 90% shooting in "P" mode and ended up shooting in "P" mode about 10% of the time.

I loved working with that D90, but it ended up walking away in 2012.

Some photos from the D90:

One of my favorite photos ever.

I would never have been able to time this with a Point & Shoot at least with any consistency.

One night I took the dogs on a walk downtown and played around with night photos.  I was lucky enough to get a bus passing by when I snapped this photo.

An Ice Sculpture in North Pole Alaska.

The only night we saw the Aurora in the Arctic Circle.

The CT State Champion shooting FITASC.