365: 1 Photograph Exposed

I have been taking pictures of family, friends, social events/activities, and hand-made show-n-tells since 2007...and have gone through two digit cameras during the period. I don't need to tell you what a terrible amateur I am at this art form. It's about time I learn how to take some decent photos with my point & shoot Canon PowerShot SX100 IS. Last Sunday, my 11-year-old and I started our first lesson together (a mother-daughter thingy) led by a talented journalist/photographer Kristina Cyr at The PoetHouse. (Picture above by me: ISO400 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/8 - 1/6 second)

ISO400 - 6-60mm f/12.8 - F/8 - 1/8 second (taken by me)
This was taken before I knew to drop the ISO to allow for longer exposure times. Over next 4-week intimate group sessions, we will discuss more on why we take photographs, what we want to learn, explore on various genres of photography we encounter each day--Documentary, Reportage, Fashion, Travel, Commercial, Fine Art, etc...and learn what makes a photograph resonate with the viewer based on its aesthetic value and/or underlying message. We will experiment with shooting and framing techniques using manual features on our cameras to get image results we desire.

As a starter, we covered Manual Exposure and Artistic Interpretations this afternoon. Here are a few of my favorites:

ISO200 - 6-60mm f/28.1 - F/4 - 1/80 second (taken by me)

ISO400 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/8 - 1/160 second (taken by tween)

ISO200 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/8 - 1/400 second (taken by tween)

ISO200 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/8 - 1/400 second (taken by tween)
This doesn't mean much to anyone...but to me it represents a small triumph
 0.077 ISO200 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/8 - 1/13 second (taken by me)
...because my attempt last Sunday was pitch black!

My best composing work was at Shevlin Park this afternoon while the family took a short stroll along the river. Sadly, my memory card threw another tantrum and swallowed all undertaking! At least, it didn't happen to the class work taken earlier in the day...I am thankful! It's time to invest in another card and a spare.

My tween and I had such a wonderful feeling about gaining control of our camera and learning different cool techniques. I am keen on taking some good clean shots, playing with black-and-white, coloring them by hand...and organizing my photos into part of my daily life. Want to join me in the cool Photo 365 bandwagon to put a framework on your creativity? There is no rule--you just shoot one photo a day. It doesn't matter of what or with what.

Here are comparison shots taken at 8:05 PDT

Left: ISO400 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/2.8 - 1/25 second
Right: ISO800 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/5.6 - 1/4 second

Left: ISO1600 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/8 - 1/15 second
Right: ISO800 - 6-60mm f/6 - F/8 - 1/10 second
Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn't do texting, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt...)