Dueling D7000s Downtown

My friend Fred Graham (aka Photobug Fred) has the same camera I do – the Nikon D7000. Since buying mine last summer I really haven’t had a chance to get out and learn how to use it. This fall in general I haven’t had a chance to get out and shoot at all. So, when Fred suggested a downtown photowalk, I jumped at the chance.

It started out as a perfect fall day with interesting clouds and bright sunlight. Our plan was to meet at 3:00 at Falls Park to take advantage of the late afternoon sunlight. However, as the time approached the clouds started building. I wondered whether or not the good lighting would stay with us. When the time came, the clouds had broken into interesting patterns, and it looked like it would be a great shoot after all.

I me Fred by the fountains at the top of Falls Park. The fountains had been colored purple for some sort of cancer awareness something or other.

It looked like half of Greenville’s population had joined us. What’s more, it looked like most of those were similarly armed with cameras. And, it wasn’t just camera phones – there were quite a few high-end cameras out and about. After awhile I stopped counting. Fred and I wondered how may thousands of photographs had been taken in the park just this afternoon.

So, here’s a game – click here to bring up the large version of the photo below, and see how many photographers you can spot…

Right off the bat Fred and I started sharing tips and tricks with the camera. He’s had his for over a year now, so I took advantage of his experience to learn about the various focusing modes and other goodies on the camera. This thing has lots more to worry about that my old D50, and I’m still learning.

The problem with visiting a spot like this multiple times is that you tend to take the same shot over and over. The challenge is to find some new angle, some new vantage point that hasn’t been covered be every other camera in Greenville. I knew I’d take some of the same shots today, but my goal was to see what new images I could create.

Fred and I started out by crossing the Liberty Bridge. We took a couple of the traditional shots of the falls.

From there we wandered under the bridge and joined the throngs of photographers there. I tried to catch some wide angle shots that included both the bridge, sky and falls.

It was impossible to get a shot without tons of people in it. We wandered to the other side of the park and took a couple of obligatory shots of the tree with exposed roots right below the Governor’s School campus.

I pulled out my little Lumix because it has a wider angle lens so that I could capture the yellow crown of the tree in addition to the roots.

I suggested to Fred that we climb to the top of the Springs Street parking garage. The top of the garage affords sweeping views of the entire Reedy River area, including Falls Park, Main Street, Greenville Skyline, and Liberty Bridge. The angle obscures the falls themselves, and the other vistas are well worth the climb.

From the parking garage we crossed the Reedy over to River Place and took some shots of the river upstream and across the river.

I did some comparison between cameras. Here’s a shot of the Peace Center taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5…

Here’s the same shot taken with the Nikon D7000…

Truth be told, I like the colors in the Lumix image better.

We took a couple more photos of the light coming through the yellow tree at the top of one of the fountains, as well as several of the lingering colors of in the trees.

Boggs Street is a small alley that runs parallel to Main Street. I like it as a photographic venue because it is off the beaten path, and there are often interesting textures. Fred and I headed in that direction. We did catch a couple of interesting shots.

However, even here we were not alone. Another photographer and model had scoped out the alley as a venue.

Fred and I made our way back to Main Street, next to the Army Navy Store.

Wandering back to our starting point, Fred and I parted ways. This was MUCH better than the last photo walk I went on with the Upstate Photography group. That group had so many competing egos that was not as pleasant as it might have been. Fred and I got along great, and we learned from each other about our cameras. It was an excellent photo walk, and we decided that this needs to be a regular outing with others of our Flickr friends.

Here’s a slideshow of my photos from the walk…

…and here are Fred’s photos from the walk…