The Beauty of Simple Things

There are a lot of reasons to take pictures.  We all want to capture that special moment, share it, preserve it, keep it forever. 

We want to hold onto those fleeting, un-holdable moments.

That is all true for me as well, but there is another aspect of photography that has come to mean a lot more to me.  

More even than the pictures themselves. 

You'd think that the pictures would be the whole point of photography, but they aren't. 

 They are a nice side benefit - tangible, beautiful evidence of the effort and time that goes into it.

It may sound almost sacrilegious, but the thing I love most about photography isn't the pictures.  Don't get me wrong, I love them. I love it when I get it just right. 

When I manage to capture that elusive combination of light, angle, shadow that can transform even the most boring of objects.  Somewhere in there is what I love about photography.

It is the way I look at the world when I have a camera in hand that I love most.  It is so easy to get lost in all the miseries of the world.

A camera and a cold, frosty morning filled with sunlight can help lead the way out of that darkness.  Photography is the search for and conscious recognition of the beauty in simple things and that is what I love about it.   

I think I'm winning....

...the camera battle anyway.  I finally managed to take some bright-sun shots with the new camera that I like. 

I've always been interested in photography, but was also always turned off by the technical jargon and seemingly endless rules that went with it.  Not to mention the expense, inconvenience and delayed gratification of film cameras. 

A friend gave me my first digital camera four or five years ago.  It was this blog though that actually got me out taking pictures.  Before that, I kept the camera in its case and only took it out for "special" occasions.  I was VERY bad at taking pictures. 

It was liberating when I finally decided that there was no point in having a camera that I wouldn't use and keeping it safe and clean defeated the purpose.  It's a bit like getting that first ding in a new car or finally starting that dirty job you've been putting off.  The best thing is to just plunge in, get dirty and the job is easy after that.  Photography is like that.  You have to accept that, yes, the camera will suffer for being carted around in a pocket every day and used extensively, but pictures don't take themselves.

I still don't understand the technical stuff.  I don't think I could tell you the definition of an F-stop except to say that when you get to the point that you're using the F-bomb too much, you should stop and put the camera away for a little while. 

I think it's just the way my brain works, I won't understand the jargon until it has context.  My hands need to learn it before my mind can.  Having worn out three cameras in the last few years, I can usually tell when a picture is going to work or not and that is enough for me for now.  I still find myself annoyed and baffled by all the technical gobbledygook of camera speak, but I think it will come on it's own in time.

My previous cameras were all given to me and I simply accepted them as-is and learned to work with what I had.  I think I have learned more from their limitations than their abilities.  Learning to work around them has shown me the key to photography:  get a camera, any camera, and go out and use it. A LOT.

As for "Rules of Photography"...I don't really know what the rules are or what works for other people so I've come up with my own set of "rules":

1. The number one rule according to me is: ignore all the rules.  

If you want to shoot directly into the sun, go for it.  You might like what happens.  

I have come up with some of my own guidelines for taking photos:

Take pictures of things you love.

Take pictures of ordinary, everyday things.  Take pictures of boring things you wouldn't normally think twice of.  I think it's the best way to develop an "eye" for photography.

 Take pictures of big things....

and tiny things.

Take pictures of things you don't think you can take pictures of.

Play with the buttons and dials on your camera.  It doesn't matter if you know what they mean, just pay attention to what happens. 

Carry your camera with you.  Take A LOT of pictures.

I want to thank everybody for your camera input.  I can't say I am in love with my new camera, but it has taught me some new things already.  I doubt I could return it now regardless, but at least it isn't making me feel stupid anymore.  Given that I do carry it around in my pocket all the time, I doubt it will be too terribly long before I am looking for a new one.  I think I'll check in with you guys first next time:)

PS - I am off from work this week for a desperately needed "vacation".  I probably won't be posting much either.  Have a good week!

Into the Sunset

I finally broke own and bought a new camera, a Cannon S110.  It's not what I wanted to buy, but those pesky financial details got in the way again.  I am having a love/hate relationship with it so far.  It takes great photos in low-light and indoor light, but not so great photos in bright light.  The exact opposite of my last two cameras.  It's loaded down with a bunch of gadgetry like GPS, WiFi and a touch screen that seems totally redundant as it only does the same things that the buttons do.  It makes it nearly impossible to hold the camera without hitting the screen and changing something inadvertently while also making it difficult to change the setting when you actually want to.

I've definitely come to believe that you can take good pictures with just about any camera.  I took some of my most favorite portrait photos of Ramsey a couple weeks ago with my old, broken, scratched, dirty camera that is literally held together with duct tape and can no longer change its focus.  However, I do think this new camera, which is just the "updated" version of my old one has traded some photo quality for useless (to me) gadgets.  I guess that's only to be expected when you buy a the cheap camera.

I've been messing around with it during the day all week and nearly packed it up and sent it back a dozen times.  The colors seem all wrong, everything seems too sharp, but fuzzy at the same time, but then I have a night off from work and evening comes, the light dims and suddenly, I'm not so sure.....

  

Just in case I do send it back, does anybody have any suggestions about a not-too-expensive camera that will fit in my pocket, take great shots day and night and be easy to use?  Oh, and it would be nice if it could cook dinner too.

*sigh* Maybe I am asking for too much.

Birthday Girl

This week's Sunday Still's challenge was to take any photo and do something with it in Photoshop or similar software.  Since it was Emma's third birthday today she had to be the subject.  I decided to make her a birthday card.

This was the original photo, which I liked OK, but was disappointed in as the lighting just isn't right.

I fumbled around with the effects in Picassa and came up with these, I'm not sure which I like better.

It is hard to believe that Emma is just now turning three, she often seems ageless to me.  A visual contradiction with her greying coat and her young eyes.  It goes beyond that though to who she is.  Perhaps it is a donkey thing, perhaps because she is already a mother, probably a bit of both, but she is both old as the hills and young as a butterfly.  I love her dearly.

Happy Birthday my sweet Emma-Girl.

Sunday Stills - Best of 2012

This week's challenge is: best of 2012.  I took a LOT of photos this year.  These are some, but certainly not all of my favorites from this year.  All were taken with my Canon PowerShot A570 point-and-shoot camera, which was given to me as a gift 4 or 5 years ago.  I carry the poor thing around with me in my pocket where it suffers a lot of abuse and near constant barn dust.  I know it is not good for the camera, but I also know that if I didn't have it in my pocket, I just wouldn't take pictures.  I don't have time to set aside for photography and most of the photos I take are opportunistic, spur-of-the moment shots that I could never duplicate or re-capture.  I decided some time ago that it is better to risk the camera then leave it pristine and unused.  I probably won't ever own a really expensive, high quality camera for just this reason.  I would be afraid to use it.

Aside from some rare cropping, all of my photos are SOC and are usually taken on the "auto" setting on the camera.  I do play around with the settings and have learned a lot, but I have found that, with this camera, they don't make that much difference.  The things that I have the most trouble with are action shots (the camera thinks slowly), macros (you have to be at just the right spot to get anything up close), and low light (it just doesn't do low light, end of story).  Still, I am happy with it and I have taken a lot of photos that I like.  They may not measure up to professional standards, but I like having them, sharing them and I have enjoyed taking them and learning more about photography in the process. 

Those of you who have been following along for a while will probably recognize many of these.  Some of them are not great shots, but have significance to me regardless.  In no particular order...

 

 

For more Sunday stills or to join in, visit http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/