Monday, March 11, 2013

I'm shooting pictures

About 2005 I got a digital camera. It was small and didn't have many features but a good learner camera. Then a couple years later I got my Canon Sure Shot SX20 and that put things in a whole new perspective.

I started noticing things I had never paid attention to... Would that make a good picture? But, I always shot on automatic, had no clue what all those other settings were.  Automatic was my comfort zone, don't ask me to figure out apertures, Fstops, white balance etc. Foreign!! Alien words!!

Saturday I bit the bullet and took a photography class. It was taught by Shirley Whitenack, an award winning professional photographer from Carrollton, Va.  There was a ton of information floating around in my head by the time the class was over. I will never, ever figure it all out but I am now more willing to program my camera to the setting needed to get the better shot. And, yes, I do know now about apertures, Fs, white balance and composition, lighting and much more. Wow!! But, it's gonna take some practice. We took some photos in the class room...


focus on closeup with other items in background
adjusting distance using Macro

whoops, wrong exposure setting


And, then we went outside. Wrong time of day to be taking pictures... 1 p.m. with bright, bright sunlight.
I just couldn't get the glare off the front of the pig... the back end was in shadow.

Got a great macro shot of this pansy. At least I thought it was.

A fence taken at an interesting angle.

Underneath this eagle sculpture's wing was in shadow. I used a piece of white paper to reflex the sun to that area.

Lighting, shadows and vertical lines.

This very unusual rock was lying in a flower bed on Main Street, Smithfield, Va.  Another Macro

It was fun...
 


9 comments:

  1. It would be great fun to take a class and try out what you learn. I love your photos, especially that last one.

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  2. You may be just learning some new techniques but these photos came out great!!!!!!!I can't pick a favorite.

    Susannah

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  3. Congrats, Latane. My hubby is the expert in this family when it comes to being a 'professional'photographer. I admire him ---and love watching him at work!!!!! You will enjoy your photography more now.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  4. Great work! You'll be a Pro in no time!!! I would welcome an opportunity like that!

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  5. I have a Canon Powershot sx30 and love it....on automatic. I have put it on macro and sometimes get a really good picture with it....but that's about all the adventuring I did with the button...never tried anything else...and when I accidentally took it off factory settings, I quickly read up on how to get it back and put it back! Scared me! Maybe I need to take a photography class.

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  6. I really should take a photography class. So much to learn, and it all just seems like Greek to me.
    I recognize those places! Especially that fence and little bird house!

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  7. Good for you taking the class and learning all those things. I would like to take a class but none have been offered around here. I do try to us some of the other settings on my camera, but really don't understand them.

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  8. Mom...these are fantastic! You did great! I love that you are getting more comfortable with your camera now and learning how to make it do its magic! What fun! Loved the pig, the fence, and the macros! You are just doing a fantastic job!

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  9. Years ago, I owned 35mm SLR cameras with an assortment of lenses. Later advanced to digital SLRs with another collection of lenses, macro to telephoto. Now, my cameras are a couple of Canon point & shoot models with no additional lenses. They are great and easy to use, but like yourself I tend to get lazy and use the auto setting. Kudos to you, Latane for learning more of what you and your camera can do.

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