Six Months with My DSLR. My Photography Journey.
My sweet friend Katie of Pickles&Paisleys inspired me to write this post. She paid me the best compliment ever. Katie told me she could tell how hard I have worked at improving my photography and that my pictures reflect my efforts. SO sweet. I have had my trusty little DSLR for six months. Let's see how far I have come. No laughing. Okay a little laughing is fine. :) May
Shooting in Auto in my mother's backyard. My husband had finally arrived from moving our things into our apartment in Ithaca. He was not amused with my latest purchase. I didn't care too much since I was so impressed with my camera's ability to actually freeze motion and capture all the bubbles. So. Impressed. I won him over. He is a nice guy that loves to see me happy.
Settings: ISO 3200 | f 4.5 | 1/320 | 36mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
June
Still shooting in Auto. I started venturing into other settings like 'Creative Auto'. This is straight out of the camera. No processing. I fiddled with a setting in CA and was so proud of myself. I love this shot. Pweezy was feeding Cmoney a frozen yogurt stick on a crazy hot day. Look closely at the left of Pweey's head. He was sweating bullets!
Settings: ISO 100 | f 5.6 | 1/200 | 55mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
July
At this point I began to take notice of the effects of light on my pictures. I was shooting in Manual if I am not mistaken. I knew enough to avoid the pop up flash but obviously had to crank the ISO way up. The picture is a little soft and fuzzy.
Settings: ISO 1600 | f 3.5 | 1/40 | 18mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
August
Awwww ya. I joined Clickin Moms and started taking my self paced photography education seriously. This is my current iPhone screen saver. To say I love this picture is an understatement. I *adore* it. Whenever Cmoney steals my phone and sees this image she gets the biggest smile on her face. Love. I processed this shot a bit in Photoshop. I don't remember which action I used. I know I chopped off some of his elbow but I don't care. This picture is perfect to me.
Settings: ISO 100 | f 4.0 | 1/320 |28mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
September
My sister bought me my first prime (non zoom) lens for my birthday in August. It is just a little 50mm f 1.8 II but it changed my life. I think I am a prime girl for life. After receiving some critique from fellow Clickin Moms I started paying closer attention to aperture. I kept reading to "shoot wide open" with my aperture as large as it would go but as it turns out all lenses have a sweet spot. I toyed with it a little bit. I also began shooting exclusively in RAW format. The files take up a lot of space so I only save my favorites in RAW and convert the rest to JPEG. I like to save my favorites in RAW because as I progress in my processing education I like to go back and play with older shots. It also gives me some beginner wiggle room. I can fix some of my mistakes when post processing. It was the first chilly day of autumn and we were outside having fun at the park as usual. I shot at 2.2 and although the picture is a little soft my sweet little garden gnome is clear enough. This picture is straight out of the camera with the exception of RAW to JPEG formatting that Photoshop does.
Settings: ISO 100 | f 2.2 | 1/125 | Lens: 50mm f 1.4 II
October
I am still a member of Clickin Moms and am addicted. I spend hours in the forum on my iPhone app when I am awake with a nursing/crying/fussy child. I have participated in a few great photography e courses, read a handful of great books, studied countless photography blogs, and signed up for my first Clickin Moms course. I have a long way to go but I am enjoying the journey. It isn't easy to devote time to my hobby. I have sacrificed some sleep and sanity but I enjoy every minute of it. It is worth it to me.
Settings: ISO 200 | f 1.8 | 1/3200 | Lens: 50mm f 1.4 II
Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I appreciate it so much.