My first dynasty - RL Photography

[oliegirl]

Photography has always been an interest of mine, but I've never taken a class or truly studied it. However, after continuing to be intrigued and interested in photography for a number of years, I decided to take the plunge.

I recently purchased a nice Digital SLR...it's not top of the line, but it's a huge upgrade from what was using, a Canon Power Shot "point and shoot" digital camera. Here are the details of the camera:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_se...p?product=1294

The package I purchased from Fry's came with 2 lenses...

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/523...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I decided before I actually took a class or anything, that I would just play around and get an idea of what kind of photography I like, and try to figure out what my "goals" are as far as photography. They are as follows:

*Be able to capture more emotion in the pictures I take of my family and friends. Develop more of a "photojournalistic" style, instead of the pictures always being posed.

*Be able to capture great shots of my son playing soccer. He is a goalie and although I've taken some good shots before, my camera didn't have the power to get close enough to really capture the action. I know sports photography is difficult, so I'm anticipating this being quite a challenge.

*Expand my horizons and vision as far as landscape/scenery photography goes. We have a lot of woods behind our apartment complex, along with the Chattahoochee River, and we have a number of very scenic areas not far from us. I love going for a walk with my camera but find myself always taking the "same" shot. I want to learn how to do the upclose shot better, how to change my perspective, etc.

I never expect or aspire to be a professional, and although I'm willing to upgrade my lenses, etc, at some point in the future, I'm not going to be spending a significant amount of money on improving my equipment. From everything I've read, I have a really good camera that is very good for someone like myself.

I've never done manual settings, I use the different "modes" (portrait, night, sports, etc...) but don't know enough yet to set my own aperture, etc. That is what I hope to learn when I take a class, which will hopefully be in the next 2 - 3 months, depending on "real life".

So...I've started a picasa album and have set a goal of taking at least one picture a day. I won't be posting ALL of them (day 1 I took over 60 shots on a walk through the woods). I doubt I will be updating the album every day, but my goal is to get an update done every 2 - 3 days. I'm labeling the shots with the day number and putting comments on the ones I either really like or dislike.

I'd really like to get the opinion of the people here at FOFC. Please be honest, but there is no reason to be mean Constructive criticism, pointers and advice is what I'm hoping for.

If I haven't lost you yet...here is the link to the album...

http://picasaweb.google.com/julielea...ey=VdWakvQL8Gk

[Lorena]

One suggestion when it comes to flash, I recommend using a diffuser to minimize the amount of light on the subject. Something like this would help:



You don't necessarily have to buy something, a tissue paper over the flash makes a huge difference.

[oliegirl]

I'll definitely try that...I'd seen that on a couple of photography blogs/sites, but just haven't put one together yet.

[oliegirl]

Added a few more pictures, I've been slacking lately...oh well, I had good intentions

We had some pretty flowers bloom in our complex so I took some shots that I think turned out pretty cool. I took one of a bee sitting on a flower, then cropped it so I could zoom in on the bee even more...I like the way it turned out.

As always, looking for opinions/ideas/critiques, etc...

[oliegirl]

Updated with some new pictures of the beaches in Orange Beach, Cozumel and Calica...

[Karlifornia]

Cool! I don't know anything about photography, but I'll be reading/looking along.