Sunday, November 27, 2011

Amateur Photography Blogging

When I started this blog, one of the things I hoped to focus on was photography. I'm a complete amateur, as amateur as it gets! Cameras run shrieking in fear when they see me coming. The overarching theme of my work to date is blurriness. Unlike my mother, however, I don't cut off people's heads, so I figure I must have some natural ability. There's something to build from.

So I did what I always do when I want to start something new; I got a book. Okay, I got several books. The one I'm going to share with you today is Digital Photography Workbook For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies)). "For dummies"! It's perfect! What I like about this book, is that it really is a workbook. It has assignments. I have other books that teach me what to do in an abstract sort of way. This book is very hands-on and gets to the exercises right away, starting with getting to know your camera settings. Exercise 1-1 is on page 5: Setting Image Size and Quality. Chapter 2 deals with light and exposure. Chapter 3 discusses the rules of composition. From there the book goes on to different picture taking situations. There is also a section on working in Photoshop Elements. There are exercises for every topic. According to the cover there are "more than 100 step-by-step tasks in full color!"

 We'll call this the official beginning of the photography part of the blog. I'll go through the book one exercise at a time and share them with you. I won't actually violate any copyright laws. I'll just share the results of my attempts to carry out the exercises. This will either be informative or hilarious. Time will tell.

Where are you in the continuum of photography from beginner to expert? How did you reach the stage you're in?  Do you have any favorite how-to books or sites you could share?

Other posts in this series:
Getting to know your camera
Focal Length
Changing Lenses