Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Photography 101: Lesson #1

A couple of weeks ago, my blogger friend, Mortimer's Mom, mentionned that she was taking an on-line photography class. So I decided to join her on this 4-week journey as it has been probably 10 years since I've wanted to take a course. Now with my new Canon Rebel XTi, I decided it was time to finally learn how to get off the automatic mode and onto manual mode. There are a lot of little buttons on this camera that until now have always been a mystery to me. Sure it comes with a manual, but who reads them past the initial set-up and automatic photo taking!

Our first assignment came in last Wednesday and due to lack of time, I only started reading the lesson on Sunday night. Unfortunately for me, my best subjects are at the cottage (lake, snow, trees). And with 2 sicks kids and 1 husband out of town, I had a really tough time taking photos at home. While one was a school and the other was napping, I managed to snap some shots in my backyard. Nothing too interesting. Then I tried some flower shots indoors. Nope. No good either. Then some of Cara-Li's Chinese dolls. These were good but did not depict the lesson quite right. I will reuse this subject at a later time as they are cute! Finally, as I was in the bathroom, I looked out the window to see the temperaure on the thermometer and there it was. My photo! I must have shot this exact photo 50 times at different times of the day. Finally, in the late afternoon as the sun was setting, I got my picture. And it was shot in many different settings to be able to clearly understand the difference. I e-mailed my photos just in the nick of time a they are due tomorrow. Here is my personal favorite. And if anyone cares, it was shot in P mode, no flash, daylight WB, f/32.



1 comment:

Sophie's Mom said...

Great picture! I have the XTI, and need to get out of auto mode. Where can I find this class? Thanks!