Photonerd

Yusuke was calling me an otaku (a geek) for about 6 weeks because I was carrying my camera every where with me. Not just my camera, but a also a bag for my camera, a little tripod & notes about white balance, lighting, etc.

I took the much-coveted Photography for Beginners with Candice Stringham course. A little on the expensive side, hard to get into as class size is limited, but so well-worth the price and effort!

With my new Canon Powershot G10, I learned how to use it on manual mode. This camera is in between a point 'n' shoot and a DSLR - you could potentially add change the lens, but the reviews are not so positive about the lenses. I didn't bother with that, but I did learn a lot about my camera settings, what all those difficult words mean, and most importantly how to get blurry backgrounds.

Here are some of my photos that I took for class assignments. I think you have seen some of these photos in my recent lay outs.

Week One: Shutter Speed

Fast shutter speed allows you to take photos of objects in motion. The object itself will appear clear in the photograph because it was frozen in time.

 

Slow shutter speed allows you to take photos of objects in motion as well, but you will get a lag...sometimes you want that effect. Most of time, you would prefer the fast shutter speed, esp when photographing toddlers or sporting events.

See what I mean about toddlers?

  

Aperture priority mode relates to the depth of field. This is how you can achieve the blurry backgrounds in photos. I really like this style, but it took me a while to get the hang of it. The photos I turned in for my assignment (above), you could barely see the difference.

Then, I went out and practiced a lot...for a whole day in Tokyo with Ailin. This turned out to be one of my favorite photos of her.

Week Three meant manual mode! I got this shot of Max and his incredible ears deep in thought at the park. This is where we put shutter speed and aperture together (along with a couple other minor things) to do a manual shot.

Then, I practiced some more on Ailin. She was dancing at the park with her friend Yako. I love this photo also.

Week 4: Focal Point was a little challenging for me, partly because I don't have a DSLR, but I think I did a fine job with this photo.

  

Week 5  was focusing on lighting, particularly indoor light because we often have to take photos indoors. I learned a lot in this lesson and it was so helpful. These photos were taken with no flash...simply by messing with other settings on your camera, you will not need a flash.

Week 6: Putting it all together. What can I say? I love this shot. It has all the elements I wanted to achieve, and Ailin's personality shines through. Can anyone guess what she was doing when I took this photo?

Creative Assignments

Each weekend, Candice gave us a creative assignment that we could shoot in any mode we felt like. I only did 2 of the 6 assignments as I was just so busy at that time.

Creative #1 - we were supposed to go out for a walk in the neighborhood and take photos of things from various angles. This is one of 5 photos I took.

I have shown this one before. It is my infamous "White is the color of stress" shot.