Hi from St. Louis

[todjulmat]

Hi, Everybody!

My name is Todd and I live in St. Louis with my wife Julie and baby Matthew (hence my strange username).  I've known Rebecca since maybe 1991 and had the pleasure of meeting Keith and Evan when they all stayed with us for two days during their trip last year.

We recently bought a Nikon D300 and accessories in an attempt to create a "do it yourself" portrait studio to combat the costs of taking Matt to a "real" studio every few months.  I suppose time will tell whether or not that was a good investment.  I'll post some photos if I capture something exceptional.

Up until this month, the last time I used a SLR camera was in 1984 (I was the photographer for my high school yearbook when I was a senior).  Julie did something similar at her high school.  So we've both always been interested in photography.  Now that we finally came up with a good excuse to get a decent camera we can hopefully get back into our hobby.  It appears that SLR's have undergone some significant advances since the 80's.  We have a lot of catching up to do!  I haven't taken the time to read the 450-page manual, but can already tell you that the D300 will take some great snapshots even if everything is just set to "auto".

We enjoy the forums and newsletters and look forward to coming back often to share pictures and ideas!

Todd, Julie, and Matt

[keithsnell]

Todd, Julie, and Matt,

Welcome!  Thank you for introducing yourself.  Although Rebecca and I shoot primarily with a D3 and D2x, the D3 is VERY similar (at least in the way the controls operate) to the D300.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. 

As you mentioned, the D300 takes great snapshots even with everything set to "auto."  You will be AMAZED at what it can do once you learn all the different controls, and how to "tweak" your images in post processing.  I've been playing with the D3 for 6 months now, and feel like I'm still "learning" the camera.  If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Keith