Library Tutorial

I packed a notebook, a magazine, a novel and an I-Pad and went to the library Friday afternoon.  I love our library.  It used to be an elementary school, and has soothing green walls and huge Palladian windows to let in tons of natural light.  Every once in a while I treat myself and camp out there for hours.  This time I snagged a table in a sunny spot and decided to write in my notebook about whatever popped in my head until I’d completed three pages.

  

By page two, I found myself writing about photography.  Earlier in the day, I’d taken my camera off its trusty auto setting, and tried a few of shots of Meeting Pond before running into work.  A few came out okay, a couple came out too dark, but in that three minute burst I learned a little more about my camera.  

 As I’ve said before, I’m not schooled in the technology behind taking pictures, and there, in the library, I decided it was time to learn more.  Out came the I-pad, and I turned to a photography site I discovered last week, and gave myself a lesson in apertures, depth of field and film speed.  I wrote everything down I learned, (bringing me to three pages) and then, since I had my camera in the car, I went out to test what I absorbed. 

My favorite cemetery/photography spot is only a few streets away which is where I discovered that while  my research tutored me in basic principles and settings behind taking a good picture, I have a long way to go to understand the exact buttons to push to make my particular camera perform.  Time to get out the owner’s manual, but I liked this shot.