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.
