On Photography...

This post has been a long time coming.

To say I love taking photographs would be an understatement.

My ideal - travelling the globe taking thousands and thousands of photographs! But, that's not going to be likely (any time soon at least!)

I finally bought a compact digital camera - my trusty Sony W90 Cybershot - with my first job way back when in 2007. I had a ball of time learning to use all its features, and a short while later - I had it sorted.

It got to a stage though when I wanted to do more and I just couldn't - not with a compact. I uhmmed and aahed so so long over getting a slr - being undecided about what to get and what to look out for. And then of course taking costs into consideration.

Important for me was getting something that will last a good few years at least - these things don't come cheap and we all know how the minute something electronic is released on the market it's already old.

My trusty sony - it has treated me well, and I've taken some awesome photos with it... I recall standing on top of the Norman Keep at Cardiff Castle - I was trying - unsuccessfully - to capture the view of the horizon and the autumn leaves. A girl and her friend came up to the top - by this time I'd already been there 10-15min just taking in the view before even starting to take photos, and the girl said to her friend how people should stop trying to take pictures the entire time and enjoy the view and the moment and whatever else.

(This from a girl who spent about 5min on top before walking back down the stairs - but hey, that's not the point is it?)



I stood there for a while longer, having given up trying to capture it the way I saw it in my minds eye but wasn't seeing on my camera.

Then a few months later - I decided to just go for it, spend the money and buy the slr!

An early christmas present to myself - my new baby - Nikon D90 with 18-105mm lens.

It's amazing how people take you far more seriously with a massive camera around you neck and you're taking photos of the view than when you're standing there with a compact camera.

Not fair really - because you can take really great photos with those little ones! It's when you want to do more than just capture the view or a moment that you run into a wee bit of trouble.

I've been sharing a lot of my photos here - anything pre-Scotland is with my trusty Sony, and everything post (well, most) is taken with my new baby!

Scotland was used to figure out how to do what - I managed quite well. Our tour guide was telling me about another group he had - and one man - basically had his eye glued to his eyepiece, viewing Scotland through a lens.

Scotland cannot be adequately appreciated through a lens.
At all.
Ever!

This of course did not stop me filling a 4gig memory card in 10 days - but - there are times when you have to stop. Enjoy the view, enjoy the moment - without the camera - because life cannot be lived through a lens.

Now I wonder, whether the girl a-top the Norman Keep would've told her friend the same thing if I had been standing there with my slr and it's huge-ish lens?
A couple of weekends ago I did my first photography course - and I fell in love with the discipline even more than I already have! I learned so much in TWO days...and there is still so much more to learn. Maximising on all the features and making my baby work for me - just wow!

Ever since then, the terms aperture, ISO, shutter speed, depth of field, light metering have been running through my head - looking at things and trying to think how and when I would use which ever setting. My camera has not always been at hand (having to go to work and all) but I've been trying to see the world through new eyes.

Trying.
Not sure how successful I've actually been.

Then there's blurring motion and freezing motion and playing with light and using light to produce shadow, keeping in mind things like a fast shutter speed you'll only get with loads of light....and and and.



I know it's the basics - and some concepts I've already used - unknowingly - the 'science' behind it, understanding why one thing will work in one situation but not in another - just awesome.

The only way to truly ingrain any of this is of course to get out there and take photographs! Lots of them!


I did my weekend course with the London School of Photography - and the teachers were both photojournalists - it was a great experience learning from people who have chosen photography as a career. The one teacher was Alex Mita- he discussed some of his photographs on his website - and what he used and what kind of things he kept in mind.

I could go on and on and on about my love for photography...but there's no better way than saying it in pictures :)



So, some new tricks I learned with my baby...