An Intro - My Wife and Her Photographic Journey
By Cindee..The beginning photographer
Mushroom photograph in high contrast lighting
I am not sure where to begin.
I am as much a beginner in ‘photography’ as they come, and this blog is my husband’s who is currently trying to teach me how to use my camera, which he gave me after one of his upgrades. Of course I am using the term ‘teaching’ very loosely, he is teaching me, but only as much as I will allow him to, he would be teaching me more…but, you know, husbands and wives…need I say more? This all brings me to the reason I decided to write this article, the desire to learn photography is an extension of my drawing and painting. I thought photography would enhance my artistic nature, well it did something more than that…it brought another whole dimension to my art and it awakened a new passion. Now, would I say I am learning the technical aspects of photography…not so much! (And thank goodness for auto settings!) But everyone learns at their own pace and in their own way. I am not technically savvy and I don’t care too much for the technical side of things, (or at least I didn’t think I did), but as I am beginning to see some possibility in my pictures I find myself wanting to know more about my camera and what it can do. I seem to be outgrowing the auto settings and I am looking for something in between his level and the basic auto settings.
Photography, Learning One Step at a Time
My husband’s way of learning is very technically driven and he relishes the idea of sitting down and reading a manual, me not so much, it feels like you are pulling teeth without Novocain. For him there is no other way to learn, for me it is about the bite size pieces of information given at the time I need it. It tends to stay with me longer when there is a reason for the lesson and I can apply the lesson. I put off learning this art form from my husband for several years because it all seemed so daunting and hard to understand. There seemed to be a lot more to knowing how to use the camera and not as much toward the creative side of photography as an art form. Now, here is where my husband will tell you that knowing how to use your camera is the art form, but for me the aesthetics of the end result, the photo, is the art form. So I think in the creativity of balancing our ying and yang marriage, we have come to some sort of truce about it all. I will learn from him what I need to know by asking questions and he will answer those questions, with the understanding that if it begins to get too technical in nature I have to stop him because he loses me. So, there is hope for those of us who have to take the technical knowledge in bite size pieces.
After I learn what I need to know about how to work a specific function of my camera I will practice it by applying it to the photo I am trying to create through my lens. It all seems to be working. So, I guess what I am hoping to bring to the blog-site is the excitement I feel when I capture a photo with the camera that has some potential. It is even better if it is not an accident and I actually got the shot I wanted to get, (and dare I say it) by technically planning the shoot. I hope to bring the creativity and spontaneity that I feel about photography. I am not technically savvy, but I know what I want before I go out to take the shot and I am very good at framing the shot in both my mind and my lens. I enjoy taking macro shots of unusual subjects, I enjoy urban settings, the dirty side of the city, I enjoy architectural angles, repetitive patterns found in architecture. I really like the stark difference in textures found throughout the city, the softness of grass next to the hardness of cement. I enjoy steeples and dramatic skies. So photography has woke my natural awe at the beauty around me and developed it into a passion. I want to share with people how something so simple can be beautiful through a different set of eyes and a lens. My contributions will focus on making the auto settings work for you and approaching photography from the aesthetics ~ framing the shot and using that to make your family shots not seem so chaotic.
Tags: Beginner, camera functions, learning