Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Learning photography

While in Albuquerque, I bought my husband a new digital camera. See, I wanted one, and he thought I should get a really good one. But I know myself: I will take snapshots with it. What do I need a 10x zoom for? So, he gets the new Canon and I get the "old" Sony: 7 megapixels, 3x optical zoom. I am happy and so is he.

I have never considered myself particularly artistic. He is definitely the photographer in the family. But I have an urge to be more creative, to take more pictures. I look at the wonderful shots Teacher Dude posts on his blog, and I long to be able to do the same.

So today when I saw a post on Open Culture on the Nikon Digital Learning Center, I was really happy. I haven't done much more than just look at it yet, but I want to take some time and really check it out.

The hard part, for me, is the first step they talk about:
Find the type of photography that moves you!
How do I do that? It's the same problem I used to have with my writing, though, so I am fairly sure that if I explore photography enough, I will eventually figure it out. At least I hope so.

I have always been so focused on words. I want to break out of that, to become more image-oriented. Maybe this will give me a little guidance on taking pictures and maybe that will inspire me to move beyond the written word. At least I hope it will.

5 comments:

diane said...

Hi, Nancy!

My husband is an artist, and I always envied his gift. I love the fact that digital cameras and online editing give me my own creative outlet (along with my blogging, of course).

I frequently take 100-200 pictures while I'm out and about. Some of them are boring, some spectacular.

I have an Olympus Stylus 830. It's small and easy to use, and I'm still discovering how to use many of the settings.

My suggestion is to take pictures constantly, then play with a simple online editing site like Picnik.

You'll be amazed by what you can achieve!

Anonymous said...

Nancy, have you seen Amy Palko's blog Lives Less Ordinary: http://liveslessordinary.wordpress.com/? I'm just started to get interested in photography myself and finding that blog great inspiration.

Anonymous said...

Just back from flickr, I thought you had already uploaded your photos, I'll be waiting for them.
Taking photos changes the way you look at what surrounds you. Have fun.

Anonymous said...

Diane is right - never go out without your camera and click all the time. I had never photographed before and started when got a small Nikon E2100 from my son and joined Flickr - there are so many interesting groups to join and learn from. Check out the ones I belong to and you will understand my passion.

http://www.flickr.com/people/bee/
Go for it - it is such a joy!

teacher dude said...

Hi Nancy,

thank you for the wonderful compliment you have paid me. Like you I like the fact that photography is an escape from a job that focuses so much on words and language.

I started off taking pictures a year or so ago with a simple point and shot and I loved the idea that I could then turn those snaps into something else using programs such as GIMP. That changed things for me.

I definitely agree that you should take your camera with you wherever you go. You come across the most amazing stuff and people on your own doorstop.