A Bee

I've been playing with my camera on the manual setting, trying to learn about ISO, shutter speeds & appeture. I scored this image this morning which I am quite proud of as this little bee is about 1cm in length.

ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/800
F2.8
Macro setting

I think I took about 20 shots to score this one & even then it is cropped. Still, I am very proud of it.

Watermarking

Over the weekend I have been reading heaps. Some of it has been going in & some of it hasn't. One if the things that has made it into my brain & stuck is how to make a watermark for my photos. When I read the tutorial, it was one of those light bulb moments of "so easy, why didn't I think of that?". It uses Photoshop, of course, which I have used before for various things. In the past I have always just used the text tool, & had to use it with each & every photo I wanted to publish on my blogs. Now I will be able to use the same one over & over without redoing it every time. My mind is racing with ideas of what I can use, something to make my pics uniquely mine. So watch this space to see what I come up with.

Learning

Remember I told you I found a forum? Well, what a forum it is! There is just so much information I can't take it all in. So I am going to follow their learning plan & start from the beginning. So far I have learnt how to hold the camera properly, why it is important to keep both eyes open when taking pics, and now I am learning to "follow my subject". I have done that before, especially when my cat is playing with something interesting.

OK, so why would I follow a learning plan when I have done something before? Simply because practice makes perfect, & the more I practice the more natural it will become. There are lots of holes ( huge ones in fact) in my photography knowledge, and I intend to fill them one by one.

So where is this forum? Try here.

Macro & focus

When I bought my camera, the sales assistant asked lots of questions ( which I can't remember now), but I remember telling her that I wanted to be able to take good photographs of my stitching and lace work. I wanted to be able to record fine detail. That's when I was introduced to the macro button. I've been practising with it lots and lots, but what I find is that the camera auto focuses, and not usually where I want it to focus. I have to find out if I can change this & how.

Take the photo above, the clear detail focus seems to be on the right & lower right petal, and I would really like it all over the flower, especially in the center. In this image the center is not clear at all. Something I have to find out how to change.

It's All new

Since I bought my little digital camera a few years back, I have been wanting to learn how to use it properly. Sure, it has an auto setting on it, but there are lots of other bits that I have no idea of what they are, mean or do. Yes, I have read the manual, & yes, I have played a lot, but I need to get better. Some of my pics are OK & some are downright disasters. Occasionally I score a really good one. I want them all to be good, with some being fantastic. I want to know about aperture, shutter speed and all kinds of things. So I am out to learn.

OK, now where to start. I could go & do a course, but I really like learning by myself with good resources. I am into Yahoo groups, & thought maybe I could get some help there, but searching one day found only one group which so far hasn't even answered. Then there is the internet, which is always a wealth of information. I had searched before, but obviously didn't quite have the right search words. I did find a book in my local library, but it was a bit heavy reading & way too much for me to comprehend. Then yesterday at my local library I walked past the magazine section, & glaring up at me was a copy of Australian Photography. There was actually quite a few, so two of them came home with me, any more would be too much.

These magazines are a wealth of information, the best of which to me was a page of internet addresses. There is other stuff too, but most of it I am not ready for yet. So yesterday I spent internet surfing photography places & today I found some tutorials as well as a forum.

So watch this space. I intend it to be a place where I can showcase my best images and maybe get feedback as to how I can make them better.