Changing Lenses

Jan 26th, 2012 Leave a comment

Onward

One of the exercises Gross and Shapiro suggest is changing lenses. That is, using something other than your usual or favorite lens.

Let’s take the camera with the new prime lens to work and see what we can see. I am used to working with an 18-200 zoom. It offers really great versatility. But doesn’t require much discipline, and sometimes doesn’t let vision gel. Using the prime lens forces you to *ahem* narrow your focus and really think about what works, whether you need to get closer or farther away, and consider the merits of selective focus. My camera has a smaller format sensor, so the 35mm lens translates to about 50mm for a full-frame sensor. It appears to render objects true to size and perspective. There are no exaggerations of perspective that can be seen with a wide angle or telephoto lens.
sakura-park-steps

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Learning to See

Jan 23rd, 2012 Leave a comment

The Beginning

So it took me a while to find a groove here.

Initially I wanted to explore how to express cold in a photograph. The weather, however, is unseasonably mild here in the New York Metropolitan Area. What’s a girl to do? I think about what got me interested in photography and the types of photos I like best to take. And really, I’m an in-the-moment kind of person. I truly prefer capturing things I see in the moment I see them – without planning or manipulating that moment too much. Of course we all like the golden and blue hours and the even light that cloudy days offer, but, truly, most of the time I find myself needing to make the most of the light there is.

So this is my first experiment in moving away from snapping scenes toward considered image captures. While I will certainly plan certain shots to take advantage of ideal lighting, I want to also be better at managing the lighting I have and working in planned spontaneity – that is, with an idea or theme in mind, recognize when conditions are right for making those images. The resulting photos aren’t spectacular, but they are mine. Read more

A Note on Learning to See

Jan 16th, 2012 Leave a comment

I recently read The Tao of Photography: Seeing Beyond Seeing, by Philippe L. Gross and S.I. Shapiro, which really resonated with me.

I really enjoy taking photographs… of capturing the quality of light at a particular time or place, of scenes that amuse, impress, intrigue me, of my kids, pets, house, and backyard.

However I want break out of my comfort zone, get better and really make photographs that capture the essence of what made me want to take the photo in the first place. Read more

Ringing in 2012

Jan 1st, 2012 Leave a comment

Yay! Another new year with new projects.

I’ve got a few up my sleeve this year and whole-heartedly resolve to see them through.

I really want to work on my photography much more this year. I’m going to try and take a thoughtful, structured approach, focusing on one key technique to master, rule to break, or composition to conquer at a time. And, crossing my fingers here, post a little something here each week that details my journey of discovery.

I’ve got a pretty good “lesson plan” started, but I would love to hear suggestions! Anyone out there have a particular photographic lesson they have on their to-do list?

Freak fall snowstorm

Nov 5th, 2011 Leave a comment

Well, we’ve finally recovered from the October Nor’easter that brought 6-8 inches of heavy, wet snow with it.

I was caught off-guard by the storm because the weather forecasters had predicted that we wouldn’t see snow until evening, and then only a couple of inches were likely to accumulate. And, to tell the truth, I was just mentally not on board with snow in October. I kept thinking we wouldn’t get anything. Boy was I wrong!

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