Two Birds One Stone

The Catch All

Tonight I read my books while I rode my stationary recumbent bike.  I had to uncover the bike first and put away all the folded laundry that was on the seat and all the clothes hanging over the back of the seat.   It has been awhile since I have been on it for a ride and since it is positioned at the end of my bed, it seems to be the catch all for what ever is ON the bed when it is time to go nite-nite.   I have not really settled on how to study photography and I feel like there is so much to learn that I am reading all over the place.  I am trying to focus on Aperature and how it works with light.

ISO and Me

f-7.1 and iso 1600

Well now, lets see,... I played around with the f-stop tonight sitting in my lazyboy and shooting pictures of the lamp beside the table.  Moving the f-stop up and down and changing the ISO.  I really need to figure out the symbiotic relationship between the Aperature and the ISO.  It almost sounds like a science fiction movie title.  The lighting was dim in the room except for the light from the lamp.  I was focusing on the lamp and making the fireplace rock in the background out of focus.

"Green Is Granny And Granny Has Got to Go!"

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f- 6.3  The leaves in the background are slightly out of focus.

I read this little quote in a photography book and it made me laugh.  It means that we all rely on the green rectangle setting, you know, the Auto mode setting where the camera decides what is best for you in every situation.  I spent today learning more about the AV mode (f-stop).  AV stands for aperature priority and it is used to adjust the depth of field.  Basically, the short and sweet version is: the lower the f-stop number, the shallower the depth of field, the less in focus.  The higher the f-stop number, the deeper the depth of field, the more in focus.  I took pictures of my blackberries today using my new tripod (Thanks Steve!) and I took a picture at every f-stop number.  It took awhile but I was finally able to see the difference, especially in the background.  On the top picture the f-stop is 18 and both the background and foreground are in focus. The bottom picture has an f-stop of 6.3 and the leaves in the background are slightly out of focus.

Photo Geek

One way to stand out as a "photo newbie geek" is to wear the strap that comes with the camera with the BIG print of the camera name eg. CANON.  You know the one I am talking about, it is the stiff uncomfortable one that feels like cardboard and is a foot wide obviously built for the Hulk's neck.  The other way to stand out as a tourist photo newbie geek is to wear it just around your neck.  If you want to look like a "seasoned" pro photographer you must wear it across your chest with the camera at your side. I know these are not the most important aspects of photography but one must start somewhere!  I will start out studying the most important piece to all photo takers- LIGHT.  Light is constant and in many forms.  Learning to identify the qualities of light becomes key.  Learning how it "plays" on everything and how to work with it using the f-stop (AV).  The lower the number, the more light in.  Bright sunny day? raise the f-stop, dark stormy day? lower the f-stop...

The Beginning

Jaryl entering one of the 9 tunnels on the Hiawatha Bike Trail.

Day one, September 4th, and I am turning 50 today.  I decided to start my project on my birthday so as I get older and seem to remember less, I won't have to remember when I started my photography project!  Today, we went for a bike ride on the Hiawatha Bike Trail and I had all my gear in tow.  I think I drove my husband absolutely nuts with all the stopping I did to snap all the little details of my day, but, it was a landmark day for me and perhaps I was trying to "record" eveything I saw so I would have a place to revisit in my mind.  I know the small details will become lost with time as my brain ages and maybe that is why photography is much more important to me now.  I bought a book called "Visual Poetry" by Chris Orwig and I read it during the car ride to Montana.   I don't really know where to start with my project.  I just have a list of things I want to accomplish and I think basically I want to learn how to use my camera...