Tuesday, March 6, 2012

New Toy

Did you guess? Yes, I finally got myself a fancy-dancy real-live grown-up actual digital SLR camera. It was half a birthday present from C (he gave me the cash from selling his car, which I had bought in the first place--but it all goes in the same pot anyway, right?). I'm so excited I just want to loll about all day reading the 1/2-inch thick manual.


I've just gotten as far as trying out the various automatic settings. I figure I'll delve the manual settings here and there over time.


I took a photography class in high school, which was a very long time ago, and I hardly remember anything about apertures and shutter speeds.


But I do remember the feeling of having that old school-issued Pentax 35 mm camera in my hands,


and the way it was like looking at the world through new eyes.


I had just exactly that same feeling again when I took my new camera out into the woods on Sunday,


but with the advantage of not having to roll film or worry about having to develop the pictures in the darkroom,


so I could take as many as I wanted to (and believe me, I did).


Suddenly the same old trees and woods that I walk in almost every week were alive with new and unusual textures and beautiful colors that I'd noticed before.


I know I have a lot to learn, but it's going to be so much fun figuring it out along the way. 



What are your favorite photography tips?

5 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm so happy for you!! That is such an exciting milestone. What kind did you get? (Maybe you mentioned? I don't think you did.)

    As far as tips, I am such an amateur that I really don't know. Oh yes, I do have one: don't use your flash. My brother has more photography training than I do (I also took one darkroom class, when I was 19, which I LOVED, but that was *cough cough* years ago).

    Two years ago I asked him for one good tip to improve my photos, and he told me not to use my flash. That was the last time I used it. I'm pretty sure I haven't used it at all in the last two years, but perhaps I have once or twice.

    What is your favorite tip?

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  2. PS I love the photo of what I think is a birch tree.

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  3. That is awesome! I love mine. I have had it for over 2 years and I am still learning new things. Your pictures so far are great. I suggest joining Flickr for feedback, inspiration, and tips. Oh, I want to know too. What kind of camera and what lens?

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  4. LOVE the cloud photo. I have 2 beautiful old-fashioned, i.e., film, Canon 35mm SLRs with many lenses, etc. that I hardly ever use. I just can't stand the idea of waiting a couple weeks to see how your photos turn out. One of these days it's going to be all digital for me!

    Tip: Take your camera everywhere. Take tons of photos. But don't be afraid to delete delete delete photos and delete quickly (do you really want to go through thousands of photos at one sitting?). It's so easy to hang on to them because you only kind of like them. Save the ones you love and dump the rest and soon you'll have an amazing set of photos.

    Play with light. Get up before sunrise to catch that morning light and dew on the spider webs in the field.

    Look for interesting patterns in objects (bark, buildings, moss, clothing, etc.) and focus very tightly so the pattern is the focus of the picture, not the whole tree or whole building or person wearing the clothing.

    Also talk to the southern boy next to me - he knows a LOT about photog.

    I'll shut up now...

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  5. IM, I just clicked over to your blog--what a fun theme! I love it!

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