I bought my Canon Rebel xti on August 3rd and have been trying to take pictures as often as I can. I've grouped each day's pictures together and labeled them as "Lesson One", "Lesson Two", etc. Figuring "lesson" is so appropriate - I need to learn about photography (in general) and about how to actually use my new outlet to the artistic world. Saturday the 16th marked my ninth official "lesson" with the XTi.
Here is a general overview of the day: I bought a new lens (yay!!), I had some fabulous chicken masala & tandori chicken with some great company in West Seattle, continued adventures with great company via a nice stroll down Alki, spent a few minutes playing the "I don't know, what do you want to do" game, explored a few places on the Eastside, ended up along the shores of Lake Washington taking another round of sunset shots, reminiscing about high school days while enjoying thai food (bistro-style), hanging out on a dock in a serene Bellevue park taking pictures of the moon, and catching up on Buffy, season five, with a good friend. Not a bad day, eh?
I haven't given titles the pictures for this blog. Instead, I'll just tell you a bit about how I took them, and why I took them. One thing that might come up a bit is the phrase: "and then Del suggested..." because he helped me so much throughout the day. He commented this morning that I have really improved since I got the new camera; well, if you know him at all, you know that he is a great teacher. He is incredibly smart and can figure out anything that piques his interest; also, he explains things in a way that is understandable and ... here's the key.... easy to remember.
Ok, enough about that big weirdo... check out my pics ;)
-The one with the sunglasses -
I took this one at the Alki Starbucks. Yep, another one of those "lori went to alki and took a picture of something random instead of a nice, pretty landscape" type of shots. My new lens is a compact macro lens and is able to adjust to really close shots (um, macro) or nice portraity shots for things farther away (like Cole's lens that I had borrowed). I tried to take pictures of Del & Al, but Al told me that his image does not show up on pictures and Del gave me the "if you EVEN" look that translates into "i will make you walk home." So, I took pictures of my fancy sunglasses purchased from a fine retailer on the streets of DC. (thanks again, tandori al for your help with lens.. as of 11:30pm on 8/17 it is still intact, too!). At first, I had the glasses about a foot away from me. My new lens was confused. Is it near or far? neeeaar? faaaaar? Then Del said "why don't you shoot closer." duh. That did the trick & the result is macro supergirl history. Check it out - you can even see the dust on the glasses.
- the one that says "stabs" -
For the past few weeks, I have been trying to get a picture of the little "stabs" label in Del's truck. I tried the Lumix. That thing has an f2.8. No luck. I tried my cell phone. Nice try, but no luck. Thanks Nokia. I was about ready to dust off the Canon A520. It wouldn't let me down. Or would it? I figured my new compact macro lens could take it. So, while Del was getting acquainted with his new friend Garmin, I took a dozen shots of Stabs. The only challenging part was not getting my own shadow in the frame. Nice job, new lens.
-the three pics of dreamy branches by the shore -
I took the next three shots by a willow tree near the Kirkland waterfront. I had fun using different aperture settings and shutter speeds and getting different effects of basically the same spot.
The composition of the top pic is a little strange, the branch is at a weird angle and there isn't really a central spot to look at. But, I love the subtle outlines of the boats in the background, and their placement in the frame.
The center one is so dreamy and calming. It just feels like summer when I look at it. I like how the picture is kind of divided into two parts: the reflection of the setting sun on the left and the willow leaves are just chillin' (yes, that is a technical term) on the branch, enjoying the warm weather. I think you might be able to see some of the round sun circles (I am not sure what they are really called) on some of the branches because I was looking directly into the sun. I knew they would be there, and I wanted them in the pic to give it that nostalgic feel- you know they way that movies do that sometimes... like when someone is remembering a fond memory of summertime activities from childhood (like swinging or playing out in the pool or running through a field at sunset or something)...
I wish I had composed the bottom one a little bit differently; maybe one step to the right? I would have moved the branch a little bit to the left so it didn't blend in so much with the boat behind it. Although, then I might have had too much sun in the corner? hmm. I still like to look at it, though.
- the one with the sailboats -
As we left the dock and willow tree area, Del and I chatted about timed exposures for a bit. Here are his helpful tips: first, start out in a low ISO; then, figure out the composition; then, try different shutter options using this rule of thumb: "2, 4, 6, 8." Meaning, start at two seconds and see if it is the look you want. Then, go ahead and try it at four, then see what that looks like. You get the 6 and 8 right.... so, from these steps you can figure out how much time you will need. Just before we got to the Thai place, I spotted this row of sailboats. Del was such a good sport and defied his growling stomach in order to help me with this shot. I had placed my camera on the edge of the dock (while making darned sure that I was holding on to the neck strap). I wasn't even sure what it would look like, composition wise (unlike my other cameras, this one doesn't have a preview feature where you can see your pic through the LCD. no big deal, I am just explaining). So, I took my first shot at a fast shutter speed and was pleasantly surprised to find out that placing my camera at the edge of the dock yielded a nicely composed shot. Who knew? So, I adjusted the shutter using the "2,4,6,8" approach. Whoa! Too Bright! At the time, I really like shot I had with a 1/2 second shutter speed, but, once I got home, I found that I like the 1 second one better, because the water looks so glassy. Enjoy.
- the dark ones with two moons -
The next two pictures were taken at Phantom Lake in Bellevue. This was an exciting shoot. It was full of mystery (why in the heck did those people bring their many, many children to the park at night?), danger (my tripod fell over and the D300 was in certain danger), and intrigue (how do I get my camera to focus? it is a secret!). Broooohaaahaaahaaa. I learned a ton. a ton in this short side trip. I learned about using the flashlight to focus on something else then returning to the original shot when your camera won't focus. I learned about using manual focus. I figured out how to change the focal point of the shot. I learned that I was on track for figuring out the ISO/shutter combos of night shooting. It was great. Del also filled me in a bit on white balance. Look at the two pics below... the top one has a nice, warm glow in the sky while the bottom one is more of a cool blue. The difference is the white balance. For the bottom one, I had my camera on the "auto" mode, but Del suggested changing it to "sunny" in order to bring in more warm tones. Turned out nicer, eh? I left my shutter open for about 25 seconds for these shots (I think... off the top of my head I cannot fully remember & I am too stinking sleepy right now to look up the details...so, I could be making it up -even though I usually save that for Wednesdays).
-the one with a bunch of lily pads -
I had so much fun with the two shots above that I wanted to try my newfound skills on a slightly different view. After Del helped me figure out how to adjust my stinkin tripod, and after a bunch of attempts to use fancy flashlight work, combined with some manual focusing, I was able to capture the pic below (btw, tripod & I still aren't good friends, but it is getting better. someday. sigh. someday).
And that, my friends, is how I spent Saturday. It was a nice, relaxing day that in many ways reminded me of the del and lori show, season one. As always, thank you for reading all this stuff and for taking a peek at my pics.
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