Diana Genevieve

Utata Member

Bio

I picked up my first camera when I was very young, and owned a series of point-and-shoot cameras throughout my childhood. I never took very many photos back then, because of the inherent hassles of buying and developing film, until I obtained my first digital camera, a Canon PowerShot A40. I felt free to take as many crappy or weird or experimental shots as I wanted, because I didn't have to pay for film anymore. It was quite a liberating experience, but it ultimately led me to a desire for...more. Better zoom, better focus, better control, better photographs. My current darling, a Nikon D50 dSLR, has been a great learning tool and an introduction into "real" photography (f-stops, apertures, exposure, manual focus, etc.). I've also begun using a manual-focus Nikon FA (the first camera to have computer metering).

I've never taken a formal photography course, and I only know as much as I need to for the shot I'm trying to get. For several years, I pshawed anyone who would try to teach me about the manual functions my SLR had to offer, until I found myself needing to control silly little things like shutter speed. The art came first, then the technique.

I've also begun collecting vintage, toy, espionage, and novelty cameras... whatever I can put my hands on! I contribute to Camerapedia as Dhoulihan.

I use the following equipment:
* Nikon D50 dSLR (w/ 28-80mm lens)
* Mansfield Syklark (1963 fixed lens)
* Nikon FA manual focus w/ 62mm and 52mm lenses, remote cord, and external flash (Nikon Speedlight SB-16)
* Manfrotto adjustable tripod
* Minox LX subminiature (w/ box flash, measuring chain, and tripod)
* 35mm Quad-Cam sampler
* Canon PowerShot A40
* Motorola cameraphone