Monday, July 02, 2012

Better Photos: A Little Bit of Everything

I've been working my way through the 31 Days to a Better Photograph tutorial for almost more than 31 days, now.  I'm getting anxious to move on to the next in the series (31 Days of Photo Tips) and to learning more about Photoshop.

Luckily, the last half of the series is less technical, and I can smoosh a few days together into one.

Day 16 talked about exposure compensation -- sort of a middle ground for those of us who may be hesitant to step fully into manual shooting.  I will likely try this out, as I still find full manual a bit clunky on my camera (too many buttons to push at the same time in order to gain control of the camera).  For now, though, I'm still utterly fascinated with Aperture Priority.

Days 17 and 18 spoke about the quality of the equipment I have.  I have a pretty basic, entry level dSLR. I do not need anything more complicated than this, as evidenced by the fact that I have had it for nearly four years and am only just now starting to truly understand it.  What I DO want, however, is a macro lens.  I love shooting close-ups, and my lens cannot really capture the image I want.  My Nikon also tends to jam up if I shoot too closely, and I have to turn the camera off and on again, often losing the perfect shot or the perfect focus in the process.  Hmm. This conversation inspires me to look for a used macro lens (much like the used basic lens I bought when I dropped and cracked the lens that came with my camera). Of course, there's always my birthday...

Day 19 focused on resources for lighting situations that natural light simply cannot cover. Blargh. I hate flash and extra light sources. I read this, clicked on the link to the flash diffuser and then moved on. I have loved how this series has showed me ways to take better photos in natural light, using the resources available on my camera. I'll avoid artificial light as much as possible!

No comments: