Day 4 - Midtown Atlanta on a cloudy day

John and I had planned on going into the city and I was going to experiment with my camera. Wake up and it's a very cloudy day. So being that I had been looking forward to this I decided we were going anyway.
We started off eating at a new BBQ place on Roswell Rd. Pigs and something or other..I have to admit..it was really good!

So after we finish a great lunch off to midtown we go. First off, very cloudy and 2nd..nothing really interesting to take pictures of!
With the thought of any good photographer can find a great shot anywhere..I decided I was going to try.
Guess we can now say I'm not a great photographer..not even a decent one! I did find one interesting thing...


Now I loved the colors of this..but my shot doesn't show the great colors, or even draw you in..it's boring..boring..BORING!

Here is a picture of our famous Fox Theater



Nothing really exciting about this one either!

Finally, after freezing I told hubby let's go..We stopped at Whole Foods and I decided to take a few pictures of the food. For this I used the Pre-Set close up mode..these turned out ok I thought..
Not very encouraging.. (the only pictures that turned out even close to OK..was taken with a pre-set mode!




Now though I am discouraged..I'm not beaten.
I am one of those stubborn people..who doesn't believe in the word quit.
I am going to learn to take awesome photos if it kills me!

Day 3 - Oh lord...I'm not getting any better

So day 3 and another day of PunkyT avoiding me like I was a terrible person. No greats shots to post..I do believe that I'm already getting discouraged! This is not good seeing I'm only into Day 3!
Here is a shot that describes what my once lovable dog now feels about me.



She is getting good at avoiding me and the camera!

Day 2 - Close Up Shots

I thought I'd start out using the Close up Basic Mode, take a picture, and then see if I could better the picture. I really need a book that says..put your settings on this, this, and this. Since I don't. This is the best way I thought I could learn.
After taking 50+ pictures here is the one I liked the best.



I thought wow, this is a great shot! Very excited and so sure of myself I uploaded the picture to the Digital Photography School and asked for critique.
Sure that I would hear..great shot! I was surprised and a little bruised when I heard "this is
boring"
boring?

Here was her advice...
1) You need to get on the dog's level. - Try putting the camera on the floor
2) Try to focus on the nose.
3) Get rid of the flash and try natural light
4) Try a wider aperture = smaller f-number

After the initial shock. I gave myself a prep talk..if you don't want someone's opinion ..don't ask for it..Then I started to see things from her angle..she's right..it is like 100 other shots of everyone's pets..

I thought I was at the dogs level by bending down. Her suggestion put the camera on the floor.
Ok..so with my bruised feelings taken under control I decided I'm going to work on this and wow her with the next one.
100 shots later and a dog that now avoids me like the devil! Here is my best one.


Now..this is a much greater picture! I love her suggestion on focusing on the nose..Such a better shot!
But will it wow her?

I know it won't..The background is way to busy.
I really need to get PunkyT outside, but outside the crazy dog will not stay still long enough for me to snap
So back to work on day 3!
Never knew photography could be this hard!

oh, and as I was playing around I just have to share this shot..blurry..out of focus..but so so funny!

Day one of my challenge

Day one....
So, how do I learn to photograph? I am beginning to doubt myself already! But as the saying goes...You can do anything you want to do..if you want it bad enough...Do I want it bad enough..Yep! I do believe I do..
I have found a great resource on the web.
Digital Photography School
http://digital-photography-school.com/
Oh goodness, I couldn't believe I found this site. Articles galore!
They have weekly assignments on their forumn..
http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/digital-photography-assignments/
and..get this..even a 365 assignment on their flicer group!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/365_dps_assignment/
Best of all..all of it is 100% free!
So my first plan of attack is to partcipate in all the assigments..the weekly, and daily. I plan to read all the articles and learn, learn, learn!
I also went and purchased a tripod. Bear in mind..it's 2 days after Christmas and we are broke! Hubby spent all our money buying me the camera! :o) So I was bargain shopping! I know nothing about tripods..but I knew I wanted a sturdy one..lo and behold if my new camera were to fall! I found this!
Targus TGT-66TR 66" Tripod
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2668958

It was regularly $39.99 and on sale for 29.00. I got it home, hubby set it up and I believe it is sturdy enough, the pan is nice..and I do believe I'm happy with my very first tripod!
Now I know that as I progress I am going to need a better one. But just starting out I'm hoping this will do the trick.


I also spent 3 hours at Borders yesterday going through photography books trying to decide on the best one.
I finally choose Canon EOS Rebel Sxi/450D Digital Field Guide by Charlotte K. Lowrie.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-Digital-Field-Guide/dp/047038087X


When I got it home I realized that it didn't go enough in detail about ISO and Aperture for me to understand the concepts.
It is a great book for learning the in and outs of the Canon Rebel (which I need to do!) ..not so much for learning photography.
If anyone has a great book to recommend that will teach me what the heck ISO and Aperture is and how to use it..I would love to hear about it!
I learn more by doing..not reading and I think today I'll play with my camera and just hope I don't mess up the settings to bad! I'll never learn anything if I don't jump in..right?