I got a camera. Now what? |
Bought a used DSLR on a whim. What's the point of owning a camera if you can't use it? My personal journey into the world of photography. Be prepared for scatter-brained randomness. |
Well, it's been a long time since I've written on this blog and, truth be told, this may be a trend. It's hard to find time to sit and sift through and edit photos. But, I've been foolin' around and so far this is what I did ended up with tonight.
My grandmother, affectionately known to the family as Gran, loves her bougainvillea plants. She affectionately calls them her "bogies". (Not to be confused with boogers!) This year, she was fortunate to have a great bloom. Each time that someone would walk in the door, she would ask them, "Did you see my bogies?" Then the story of her new fertilizer is shared along with stories of her previous blooms and it always ends with a walk outside to look at and admire them. To highlight her bogies, I decided to photograph a few of them so that she could admire them even more.
This past weekend, I was able to visit my grandparents while on a trip for work. It was a wonderful overnight visit complete with my grandmother's signature boneless fried chicken with brown gravy. But this trip was a little different than previous ones. This time I had a camera. I snapped pictures of my grandparents everywhere. And to my surprise, they were very cool about it. After a while, my grandfather would ask me how many pictures I had taken and my simple response was "not enough." My grandfather is 83 years old and my grandmother is - well, you know how that goes. Anyways, I anticipate them being around for a long time more, but the opportunities I have to photograph them is few and far between, so I snapped like photography was going out of style. I can't say that I got the best pics I've ever captured (in fact, technically, I think some of these photos are very poor), but I I managed to snap a few of them doing things that make them who they are. My grandmother is always waiting on my grandfather and talking with her sister or daughter over coffee. My grandfather plays solitaire EVERYDAY while watching some home improvement show. I love that my photography now has a lot more meaning to me than just trying to capture a nice photo.
In the past couple of months, I have inundated myself with photography books, blogs and podcasts. So many of them that I can't remember where I read a certain tip or technique, much less the person who said it. Yesterday, I listened to a podcast from Martin Bailey about his 10 favorite images of 2009. One of them included a Shinto gate overlooking the ocean. The ocean appeared to be covered in fog. But it wasn't. It was actually the movement of the water captured with a long exposure. I was floored. I always thought it was fog. I knew I'd have to try it someday. Then, when I opened my google reader this morning, I was greeted with a blog on Petapixel about a photographer named David Baker of milouvision. He's taken some stunning images of coastal areas using long exposures to create a silky effect on the surface of the ocean. I decided to try it out this evening. Considering it was my first time attempting such photography, I was somewhat pleased with the results. However, there were a lot a learning experiences along the way:
Recently, I stopped at a scenic lookout on the side of the road to snap a few photos. As I parked the car, I noticed the guy getting out of the car next to me holding what appeared to be a Canon 5D Mark II with what appeared to be a Canon 24-70 f/2.8L lens (thank you Canon for making that little red ring a symbol of status). I sat in my car unsure of whether I wanted to stand near him at the lookout with my teeny-weenie Canon Digital Rebel XT (350D) with my bargain priced 75-300 f/4.5-5.6 III lens. The whole, "Does size matter?" question came to my mind. And of course, having the smaller tool (pun totally intended), I had to tell myself, more like justify that "It's not the size that counts, it's how you use it." So the question stands: DOES SIZE MATTER? Should I feel intimidated shooting on my little Rebel XT while the guy next to me whips out his big 5D Mark II?
Each year holidays are assigned to specific families. Thanksgiving at that house, Christmas at this house, New Year at such and such, etc. My family's holiday? The Super Bowl. That's right, the Super Bowl. Family members even fly in from outer islands to attend. A tradition of the Super Bowl weekend is the laulau. Laulau is a steamed pork dish made by wrapping seasoned pork in luau leaves (young taro leaves), and then wrapping them in ti leaves. Our style is a little different (simply for efficiency reasons). We wad up the leaves and set them next to the meat on the ti leaf. Then we roll up the leaf and wrap it tightly in tin foil. The final step is steaming. This time varies, but a long cooking time will ensure that you cook the pork completely (In our case, this meant cooking all 63 laulau for about 8 hours) After the laulau is cooked, it is cooled and frozen until super bowl at which time, they will be reheated by steam again. I can't wait!
This morning, my son had a tee ball game. Too keep the kids organized we line up all their gear on name cards according to the batting lineup. When I saw all the helmets lined up neatly, I knew I wanted to get a picture of it. So I ran to my car to get my camera, only to return to complete chaos. The game had started and our team was up to bat first. They were all wearing their helmets! Once they finished batting and headed out to the field, I went back into the dugout, lined up all the helmets again, and captured my image. I know it's kind of boring, but I like it because for me, it captures, the anticipation before the game. Everything in it's place just waiting for the kids to get their game on!
Ever since I picked up this camera (remember, second owner), I knew my sensor was dirty. I had the same black spot in the same place on every photo. I would read online looking for ways to clean my sensor. The reviews seemed to be split down the middle. Half believed that a do it yourself kit at home was the way to go. The other half swore that touching your sensor was a bad idea and that it should be sent back to Canon for them to clean it. This decision weighed heavily on my mind because I knew that if I screwed up, I could kiss my camera (and the money it cost me) goodbye. Not convinced that Canon was my only option (especially the 3-week kidnapping of my camera) I continued to read user reviews. Finally, I decided to take the plunge and just try it. I found the Digital Survival Kit on Amazon for $23.49 (including shipping) from Cooper Hill Images. The anticipation was killer. But to my enormous surprise, Cooper Hill mailed it via Priority Mail on Tuesday and it arrived to me here in Hawaii on Thursday...awesome Cooper Hill. Awesome. Anyways, I took my camera, swab and Eclipse Cleaning solution to the bathroom - as recommended by a user online - and cleaned my sensor. I must say that I was a little worried by the directions. "Insert swab into the sensor chamber, press firmly until the swab handle bends..." I wasn't sure what to do. I can see all the online reviews saying "be gentle" and "don't scratch the sensor" while the product itself is telling me to press firmly. Aaaaaahhh! Well, I decided to err on the side of the swab manufacturer and went for it. Prepare to be amazed.
**I know the after photo isn't pristine, so I'll probably try a second treatment tomorrow. We'll see.
As I continue to delve into the world of photography, several books have crossed my way each talking about outdoor photography and the best times for good lighting. They all say that overcast or rainy weather make for great (more saturated) colors. It sounded a little funny to me that a gloomy day would produce bright colors, but today, as the gray skies sprinkled rain continually throughout the day, my eyes were opened to the wonderful colors around me. It was an epiphany of sorts. As I drove around the island, my eyes darted back and forth looking at any flower, leaf, or even mountain I could find. Everything just seemed to be popping with color. It was awesome! I wanted to stop and photograph everything, but work and other obligations seemed to get in the way. Finally, about 2 minutes from my house, I couldn't stand it any longer and took a detour to a local garden just to have the opportunity to capture some of the exciting colors around me. In the end, my procrastination led to less than vibrant colors due to the lack of ambient light (it was about 10 minutes before sundown and gloomy), but I am still grateful for the eye candy the Garden Island treated me with today.
So if you're already checking on my camera-shy blog, why not make a stop over at my ikaikap Project365 2010 blog. The plan is to take one photo per day for 365 days. I'm not exactly sure how long I'll be able to keep up with this or if it'll mean anything to me 365 days from now, but it sounded fun so here I go! Happy 2010 everybody. May it be a photogenic one!
I'm a husband, father, and teacher. My wife wanted a DSLR so we bought one second hand off craigslist. She put the camera down. I picked it up. Haven't put it down since. Only one problem, I've never used any type of SLR before. This is look into my journey into photography.
