Over the weekend I saw that JBHiFi was having its Christmas Sale. I was so excited because I had been eyeing out a camera and laptop for a long time but I promised myself that I would wait until it goes on sale. Luckily both were on sale but I only ended up getting the camera. 

I negotiated with my parents and they decided to get it for me as my joint birthday and Christmas present. So let's just say I have upgraded to a Canon 600D or the Canon T3i if you're American. 

I had done a lot of research before choosing which camera I wanted. I figured that the Canon 600D would be the most suitable since it takes good photos and has a video recording option. That gives me the luxury of filming videos if I wanted (this function wasn't in my old DSLR). It is comforting to know that a lot of Youtubers started out with the Canon 600D before upgrading to a Canon 60D or Canon 70D (so I must be a decent camera!).

I didn't get to fully test the camera out until yesterday. One of my school friends invited me to her party and asked if I could be the photographer. So I happily agreed to be the photographer of the night. Compared to my previous camera (Canon 400D) this one has better focus and copes well with difficult lighting situations. With that being said, there were a few photos out of focus. I guess it is enviable since I am still learning 

So here is what I have learnt when doing night party photography:

1. With the new camera, I can afford to increase the shutter speed and the photo won't be dim.

2. Don't ever use no flash option when you don't have a tripod - I think I will try using manual mode next time. There were a few photos that were out of focus despite being taken in natural light. I think main reason why it happened was because there wasn't enough natural light for the camera to fully keep up with the no flashing situation. I needed to have more control over the shutter speed in this situation. Definitely experimenting with Manual Mode next time.

3. When taking photos in a dark room, attempt to get as much ambient lighting as possible in the frame so that the camera can detect people's faces.

4. Make sure the focus points are correct before taking the photo!

5. I need to figure how I need to change the aperture and shutter speed for a group photo where people are two lines.

6. Low roofs are good for bounce the light (yay!)

It definitely was a good experience! Working with a DSLR makes me appreciate good lighting and the art of nightclub/night flash photography. There is always room to improve - learning how to master taking photos on a DSLR is not going to be easy. I do not want to be one of those people who keep their DSLR on the creative modes and use it like a point and shoot. I bought a DSLR to explore the photography world and learn how to properly adjusting things like the shutter speed, aperture, ISO etc... to get the right photo. 

Looking through the photos again, I found a few photos that I loved from the night. The best one would have been of a friend who was dancing in front of the bubble machine. I managed to capture the moment well with bubble floating around. It was beautiful lighting and you could see her enjoying herself. For that shot, I decided to slowed down the shutter to around 1/3 to capture the movement of the bubbles. I love it when you take action shots and it turns out perfectly!

That's all for now! Hopefully I can experiment a little more with the new camera.

Love,

Victoria