Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Ongoing Lessons- 3 (Sort Of)

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As much as I intended to write about my new found understanding of "photo talk", once again, it seems to have seeped from the sieve that is my brain.

I want to thank all of you for your many suggestions as to where I might go to understand the terms that escape me; however I guess I need to explain something.

I've read all the links, studied the books, watched the online videos, but I really, really believe that I am missing a link in my brain that lets me connect all these elements when I actually have a camera in my hand.

I've written about this before and it seems to not have changed much

Just so you know, I'm also missing the brain link for understanding electricity. Watts, amps, volts, they occupy the same non-space as aperture, ISO and shutter speed (not to mention depth of field)

Let me be clear here, I understand aperture, it's the size of the opening of the lens, bigger equals more light. I understand shutter speed, it's how fast the shutter opens and closes. Fast, equals less light, slow equals more light. ISO relates to how much light the sensor collects (lower numbers are for when you have more light and large numbers are for when you have less light).

It's how they all interact that gets me confused.

So I will continue to study and maybe one day a bolt will shoot from the sky into my head and Voila! I will magically understand all these interactions.

Until then, I guess I'll just keep shooting and posting my pictures.

The night I thought I had the epiphany, I shot quite a few pictures in poor lighting. In this one, my goal was to have Terry in focus with the background blurred. I later removed the color and gave it a slight blue cast.

All pictures can be clicked on for larger versions.


I'm pretty pleased with this one.
Not too much noise for such a dark shot.


Another dark shot,
the Casino at the Boardwalk
as seen from the wharf.


Now It's the next day
and I had full light.


I intend to take more shots
of Christmas lights.
Here's my best attempt.
So far.


And here's my favorite shot
of the last couple of days.
I went to shoot the rose,
and was excited to see the grasshopper.


So that's it for now,

I'll keep reading and studying and shooting.

This weekend I'm off to San Francisco.
Maybe I'll get some good shots while I'm in the city.


6 comments:

Unknown said...

I can SO relate to your confusion! I amm still reading and learning, and there is so much to learn, about my Nikon. My settings are still on Auto.

When I see an opportunity for a great shot I want it NOW and not have to worry about the settings.

I also like candid shots of people rather than posed - plus most people are camera shy.

Your shots are great!. Just keep doing what you are doing. Enjoy.

Sharon

Eileen White said...

As usual...the pictures are beyond belief....not just great quality, but so interesting. I am relating (in a very deep way) to the misbehaving brain. I spent all day today trying to make sense of picture files....and just made things incredibly worse. So what a pleasant experience to have your pictures to enjoy. Thanks!

Donna K said...

Great pictures. I love the reflected lights by the casino and the Christmas lights and the grasshopper is so great. You have such a good eye for seeing the shot, don't get overly concerned with the technical. After all, you don't have to understand internal combustion engines in order to operate a car. You seem to be doing quite well with the knowledge that you have!

Gaelyn said...

Don't feel bad, I suffer from the same problem. I think it's the number thing for me. I'll stick mostly to auto and experiment once in a while. But like anything else, practice makes better. Have fun in SF.

photowannabe said...

Boy, can I relate to the missing brain link. that's why I still have my point and shoot. The brain sieve just lets every thing just fall through. I understand it but putting it all together is a problem for me.
Have a great time in The City.

Russ Krecklow said...

Kate, you know I'm the same way with those things. You still get some darn nice photos, since you really have a good eye and catch such wonderful and interesting shots.