General

Week Three

As this new-year long art challenge continues, so does my experimenting and learning about the different settings on my camera.

I’ve been very frustrated that I have a single lens reflex camera with two lenses and an array of settings and I still see better photographs online that have been taken with phone cameras compared to many of my photographs. 

Having said that, I do realize that quite a few of those photographs taken with a phone may look fantastic on social media but may not have the quality to look as good when printed in a larger size.

Realizing that to get the most of my camera I must learn how to use many of its settings, I have been reading through the manual and getting off the Auto Setting.

One of the more experienced photographers on Fine Art America suggested taking a notebook and writing down the way that you program the camera before taking a few pictures, change the settings, write down what your changes were and take a few more pictures to compare.

Well, reading the manual to learn how to use my camera in varying situations is like trying to translate a foreign language that I’ve never spoken!

Likewise, taking a notebook and pencil is something else to stick in my pocket or remember to use before pushing that shutter button.

This morning I set out with my new tripod, my camera, two lenses and my reading glasses.  There was no notebook or pencil so I’m really not sure how much “learning” there was but I did get a couple of nice captures out of almost 100 shots.  I even tried putting the camera in manual focus mode.  That worked out good for my flower shots but was a bust for my caterpillar to cocoon captures.

After deleting half of the photographs that were taken this morning I then chose one to process and upload for this week’s challenge image. That image is today’s featured image for this blog post.

If you would like to read the description that accompanies the image online and to view a larger version click here.

Tomorrow morning starts Week Four of this 52 week challenge and presents another week of opportunity to experiment, practice and learn.

Please feel welcome to comment or discuss in the section below.