Know Your Limits

This week's photo class assignment (the last week of class--boo) was to set a small, mundane parameter for yourself and try to take some interesting photos. I chose the top of my dresser. I actually got a couple of neat shots of my necklace collection. This was a pretty cool exercise to train your eye to see things you probably never would otherwise notice.

To Market, To Market

Today I traveled to Eastern Market to use the new camera. My photo class has emphasized using "controlled experiments" to try out the manual camera functions so you don't have to worry about missing the shot (basically you keep shooting something that doesn't change much). The market presented a new set of opportunities and frustrations, since I frequently either did not have my camera ready at the right moment or if I did, the settings were wrong and the picture didn't come out well. Just gotta keep practicing! I did manage to catch this adorable shot of a little boy at a fruit stall, so the day was not lost.

Repeat: my camera is not smarter than me

Sometimes I am taking pictures and don't feel like dealing with the manual camera functions. I just want to put the camera on full automatic and get perfect pictures without thinking about it. This doesn't usually happen. Now that I know how to utilize shutter and aperture in different situations, it's not so onerous to keep the camera on manual (or at least priority), and the pictures really do come out better. Case in point: this shot of the master bedroom closets in my new house. When I initially took this shot in full automatic mode, it was totally underexposed because the light from the window was "tricking" the camera. Switching to shutter priority and lengthening the shutter time beyond what the camera thought was appropriate solved the problem and took no time at all!

A Capitol Idea

Our second class photoshoot was at the Capitol fountains. This was another opportunity to experiment with shutter speeds, aperture, and nighttime photography...D.C. is such a camera-friendly city!