Photography

This is under construction and will be updated in the next few days….

I have always loved taking pictures. I think that I got it from my mom. When I was about 3 years old, she took a photography class and guess who was the subject of the majority of her pictures? You guessed it. I am blessed to have many beautiful black and white photos of myself as a child because of it.
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When I was in college, I took a photography course, but I can’t say that I actually learned much of anything. Maybe the basics of how to operate the camera and how to develop film and print pictures. Working in a dark room was kind of fun, but I walked away feeling like I still didn’t have a clue what I was doing. That semester was my only time with a manual camera (I was borrowing it from my mom). After that, I went back to cheapo point-and-shoots until this past year.

In late 2009, I finally bought my first D-SLR. It’s an entry level camera, not professional grade or anything, but it has lots of bells and whistles and I love having more control over my photographs.

Here it is:

I only have 2 lenses, an 18-55mm and a 55-200mm. I find that I usually have the zoom lens on. I being able to get close-ups of my kids from a distance – without them knowing. BTW – don’t buy this camera for the video capabilities. They are really disappointing. It doesn’t auto-focus and with moving kids, everything turns out really blurry. I use my other camera to take videos with.

Summer 2010, I took a 2-day community education course at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and felt like I made some great strides in learning put my camera in manual mode. I left wanting to learn more – especially about photo editing and workflow, but I can’t afford tuition at the school (over $25,000 a year – how does anyone afford that??) so I’ve been reading books and practicing at home.

I try to challenge myself by joining in on photo memes and contests. I even got chosen as a “favorite” one week.

I’m also trying to complete a Project 365 this year. I feel like I’m learning new things all of the time – a little at a time.

In my quest to learn photography on my own, I’ve come across many websites and books that I’ve found helpful. I hope that some of them may prove to be helpful to you also!

Books:

Cool Editing: