New Toy!
A few days ago, I finally took the plunge and bought myself a REAL camera. Digital SLR. I have been wanting to do it for years and years, and now I am immensely glad that I finally did.
I got a Canon Rebel XT 350D. It came with a 17-55 mm lens, and I picked up a 55 mm f/1.8 as well. It's the low end of the SLR's, and a good place for me to start out. So far, I am really, really impressed with the camera. The way it handles, the general feel of it, and of course the pictures that it takes. Anything is an improvement over a point-and-shoot, of course, but I definitely feel that I made a good choice.
Why has it taken me so long to finally do this? I've always loved and admired photography, and there have been a few times in the past where I hovered around the edges of really getting into it, but my attention always got distracted for some reason or another. I guess the time just wasn't right.
A huge part of it though, was the BIG D -- DIGITAL! I never had the patience for film cameras. I love instant gratification. I love that I don't have to spend money on developing bad shots. I love the fact that I don't have to learn how to use a dark room. Film photography just had all these limitations that I wasn't willing to deal with, and digital gets rid of most of those.
But there is one aspect of photography that has always intimidated me, which digital does not get rid of -- the numbers. Shutter speed, f-stop, film speed....these are all things that you need to understand to be a good photographer and they are all measured in NUMBERS. The thing is, me and numbers do not get along. It's the reason that I never like math class, the reason I did not do well when I worked as a bank teller, the reason I have a hard time playing dominoes, the reason I let other people figure out the bill at restaurants, and the reason that I can't remember my friends' birthdays no matter how hard I try. Numbers just don't stick in my head. I can't really relate to them or attach meaning to them. So anything that requires me to deal with numbers is hard to do.
So as I was making the decision to buy my camera, I was worried that I would end up getting intimidated by the numbers and revert to setting it on Auto, thereby never really doing it justice. But I resolved myself not to let that happen and promised that I would use my time at home to learn how to properly use the camera.
Fortunately, I have a fantastic helper, my friend Michael. He knows a lot about photography, and he is a natural teacher. He also knows a ton about Photoshop. And, he's incredibly photogenic to boot, so I didn't mind when I ended up with dozens of photos of him after yesterday's lesson.
Yesterday's lesson...wow...I have already learned a lot. And so far, it's not as hard as I expected. The numbers aren't really so bad after all. I am at a point now where I can put the camera in full manual and manipulate the numbers to make the photo look good. The basics, essentially!
My goal is to learn how to use my camera well enough to be able to great photos by the time I leave in early October. Practice, practice, practice....and, as Michael said, learn how to use it well enough so that I'll be able to do it easily once it really matters.
Here are some of my favorite shots from the practice sessions of the past few days:
Andrea in her new car


The ground near SJ Pavilion
I got some lens flare on this one, but I still really like it because of the neat detail in the lamp post and the color of the sky.





See the face?









2 Comments:
congratulations!
have lots of fun with your new camera :) I'm always impressed how many pictures you take AND how often you update them on your blog!
Sun
Monday, September 11, 2006
Im so jealous! New camera! I think the lessons are showing already... do you think you are going to use that camera during your travels or the point and shoot?
Monday, September 11, 2006
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