Let me preface this by saying that I am approaching Project 365 a little differently than some. I'm not just doing it to capture memories of the year. I really REALLY want to get better at taking pictures and other aspects of photography.
I'm slightly annoyed however, that I couldn't get my new camera just 3 weeks earlier than I will be, because I will spend the first 3 weeks of the new year on my old camera which is really not very good.
No, seriously. Don't give me that talk about how a photographer makes the pictures, because I had an older, less mgpx, less zoom, less everything version of this same camera before, and this new one is just not as good. It's like it got shaken very hard at one point and something is just not right with it.
But, I'm taking this in great strides {sort of. with lots of crying, kicking, and screaming on the way} and am making do until that day when we can get my new camera and am trying to learn all I can about photography while using the manual settings.
So, for this week, I read three articles by Rachel over at I Heart Faces on ISO, Apertures, and Shutter Speed.
I even took notes. Because that's how serious I am about this {ha! I mean, I am serious, but for some reason that sentence struck me as funny.}
So here they are, with a little explanation:
I was sick as a dog this past week, but finally, on January first, Ian ran out and got me the correct medication. That generic brand Sinus mucinex worked wonders and in my half medicated state I wanted to sing its praises. SO. I took a picture of it. Actually, I took 32 pictures of it, as I worked my way through the notes, correcting poor lighting ( I did not use a flash and it was nighttime!) graininess, and getting the focal point just right. I wish that the background was a little more blurred but I will crack that up to the fact that my camera's aperture having a very limited variation. ( I couldn't get it to go below f 3.2. boo.)Right?
Alright, here's Saturday. I was still majorly sick, and spent the entire day in bed (except for a family trip to TooJay's and to see Avatar.) I read this entire book an kept my water bottle filled {via my very kind husband,} all day.The goal on this picture was to have great "depth of field," with not one item being in focused and the rest being blurred. I also wanted the lighting to be very even across the whole picture with minimal dark spots or shadows.
I got very tired about 3 minutes after being out of bed so I just gave up. This photo was pretty darn close to being what I wanted. The lighting is almost there and the focal point is on the book with just a little bit of blur on the bottom strip of the picture.
I'll call that a success.
This is in the same room as the other two pictures for this week, but like I told you, I was sick and didn't stray far from my bed.This actually happened because my wool socks slipped on this darn wood floor and I wiped out. Face first.
On the floor.
And then I thought... Wow, I love how you can see the reflections in these wood floors and I love how dark it is past that doorway. So I snatched my camera off of the bed and took this one picture. I'm pretty happy with it because I thought through the process before taking a picture. I knew that the lighting was pretty great so I set my ISO at 100. My dumb aperture will only go to f 3.2 so I left it there, and I brought my shutter speed to 1/8- to leave it open long enough to get this!
There won't always be these long lengthy explanations of the pictures....I just wanted to differentiate myself a little from other Project 365'ers and show the thought process behind it all.
I've found TONS of great websites for photography tutorials, and plan on reading through at least 5 articles a week for this first couple of months (or until I exhaust my resources!) to get a firm grasp on how this all works!
And hopefully my pictures will start to include things that aren't illness related!
9 comments:
I hope you feel better soon! I, too, am using Project 365 to work on my photography. I can't wait until I can get a new camera either! I know they say that the photographer makes a picture, but really, I can almost always tell whether a picture was taken with a p&s or a SLR camera, regardless of who the photographer was or how skilled they are. So I understand where you're coming from!
Funny pics, Britt! I'll have to check out the photograpy site because I no nothing of how to use lighting and focus for the proper subject. I'm always forgetting what setting I put the camera on then I get cheesed when my pics are all blurry! Sorry about the wood floor wipe out- we've all done it at one time or another here. It hurts like crazy, then you go out and buy socks with rubber on the bottoms!
What a cool project!
I am feeling sick right now too so if I were taking pictures they would look very similar to yours. Its not any fun at all.
I wish I would have thought about doing Project 365 this year. Maybe next year! Ha! I am glad you are feeling better! Sorry you fell, that is the worst! Especially when you're not feeling good!
Love it, love it!
I thought about doing the 365 last year, but that didn't happen...so hopefully this year! Just gotta get my act together. :)
Hope you're feeling better...
and hope you get that camera soon!
Nice pictures - how exciting tha tyou're doing Project 365! I like how you take pictures of everyday things and make them interesting.
Great job Britt! I just declared my 365 project to be revised....to 285 ROFLMBO! Seriously, that is how you learn- read, shoot, delete, re-shoot, repeat. ;-)
Great pictures! The one of the floor is cool- even if the circumstances getting there kind of stink. Sad story, but I got a new incredibly spiffy and fun camera two days before Christmas and I used it for a glorious week, then IT STOPPED WORKING. Not sure what happened. So now we are sending it back and getting it fixed.
We saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday and loved it! :)
Oh my goodness. I feel so special! You took notes on my stuff? I have reached a new level!
You're doing great and I can't wait to see what you come up with this year!
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