Sensei’s Poker Dojo

Introductory notes for those of you who don’t play online poker: When you play a large number of hands online, poker sites will give you “frequent player points” because you are contributing many dollars in rake. Similar to comps in Vegas, you earn more points for playing more hands, and the players who put in the highest volume are rewarded with additional VIP promotions. Additionally, the sites have stores where you can spend these points on various items ranging from t-shirts and other branded trinkets to flat-screen TVs and even fancy cars. See Full Tilt Store, PokerStars Store.

Now most of the items in the store are things that I wouldn’t want, and of the remaining cool things (mostly electronics) I already own most of them. I don’t need another flat-screen TV, computer monitor, laptop, Xbox, or iPod. So my points tend to just slowly accumulate over time. However, one thing that I did not have was a nice camera, and so I spent a small portion of my points on this one:

I’ve never had an SLR camera, nor do I know the slightest thing about photography, but I figured it was about time to change both of those things. So now I’ve got one, and I’ve been asking all of my friends who have interest in photography to help me out, and I’ve started to learn some things. It is nice to have a camera capable of taking high-quality shots, and I’m enjoying learning how to use all of the intricate little features and settings to produce exactly the shot I’m looking for. Previously the largest impediment to my getting into photography was the idea that I’d be that guy behind the camera instead of the fun-having people in front of it, but I feel that with a more capable machine to work with those concerns are lessened. I’m still very much a beginner though, so if you have any useful advice on books I should read or anything else related to digital SLR photography, please let me know!