Photography 01

That's right, photography 01, because I still don't know enough about photography for it to be 101.  I have been playing with the manual, and even chatted online with the live tech support. I don't suggest you do that unless you have the manual in front of you (in which case why do you need tech support?) or you know what all the knobs and whistles are called.  I don't know what he had me doing, but it was completely different than what the manual told me.

Another tip, write down what the settings were before you change them. I didn't think to do that and had a moment of panic when after diddling with the settings all my photos came out black!

I still have a lot to learn, but I thought I would share what I have learned so far.

I can change the settings.

That is huge. Maybe not for those of you who are brave and confident, but for a technophobe who never met a manual that inspired more than a glance as she tossed it in a drawer somewhere, it's like mankind's first step on the moon. Seriously.

So here it is, my first foray into settings.  As luck would have it, my day off was met with rain and clouds. Dreary is really what I needed and it's what I got. So I shoved the table next to a north facing window and got busy. Lemon cookies were the subject, and I plan to reward my brave foray into photography with a few cookies and some coffee as soon as this post is done! This first shot was taken with the Auto setting. It's pretty dark, but I think that even with the settings changed in the following photos, they were all still dark enough that they needed editing. I didn't edit until the end so you could compare the settings untouched.

 This next photo was taken in manual mode with an iso of 400. Clearly, automatic does a pretty good job of adjusting for light on it's own.

 The iso was bumped up to 800 on this photo and you can clearly see the difference. Although, to me, the photo taken on Auto still looks a bit brighter. Don't you think?

 And on this photo I bumped the iso all the way to 1600.  I can see a difference but not as much as I thought there would be.

And finally, this is the iso 1600 photo after brightening it up in editing. I can see that the higher number does make it a bit grainier.

 This is the iso 400 photo after editing to make it brighter.  I like it better. It's clearer, the colors are more true. I clearly still have a lot to learn.  But it is these side by side comparisons that help me see the differences in the settings.  There are so many things to change and so many combinations! White balance, focus, I even found a setting to make the photos more vivid, I may try that next. 

The most important thing is, I have finally taken a step toward learning more about my camera and how it works. Will I still shoot on Auto a lot? probably. I think it does a fine job in good light. Most of the photos we post were shot on auto right? And I have seen some beautiful photos. But for when the conditions aren't great, winter, rainy days, dark rooms, I want to be able to compensate and still post a gorgeous picture. Anyone else out there pulling out the manual for the first time? Lets learn together! I have pinned some tutorials on a Photography board in pinterest. I'll be looking for tips and tricks online and occasionally posting what I find.  I hope it's an encouragement for someone else who is afraid of the settings to step out and try something too! From one amateur to another, maybe we can figure this out:>)