Photography

I've been capturing snapshots of places I go to either just traipseing or on vacation since 2006, when I bought my own camera. For years I'd been using hand me downs my parents had provided but I felt I needed a compact one that could do a lot more than the older ones I'd had did.

Something told me that I needed to get one that could handle a variety of shooting modes. I went to Best Buy and bought one, just a few weeks before heading out to our company's annual conference in colorful San Antonio, TX. What better time to put it to the test.

The photos came out much better than they appeared on the screen, and the camera became my constant companion almost everywhere I went.The camera I bought was a Nikon S200 (red), a simple to operate but rather option loaded point and shoot. The only thing I would change would be the speed from snap to shutter, because the slight delay is murder during high-speed snapshot time (such as at a NASCAR race!).

Recently, I was plugging in my camera's charger to an outlet. I've not been kind to my camera charger through these past few years apparently, because the wall plug end exploded in my hand. I had to reset the fuse switch for the kitchen outlets! Apparently, the wires in the charger cord had become pulled with use and with years, and well, there we have it. I must admit I feel like I lost a good friend after a stupid argument!

I grew up with my dad using a serious Nikon with tons of  lenses. The combination of seeing him pondering the lense choice and his constant photographing during our vacations, instilled in me an appreciation for the Nikon brand. After all, they've been around a while and know their stuff.

Still, whenever I spot a particularly good photo on Flickr I try to look for the metadata on what camera was used. I see a various manufacturers have gotten a lot better. Then again, great shots are half due to great subjects and half due to the photographer's talent. ;o)

So now that I can't charge my camera's battery anymore, I've decided it's high time I get a new one. Although it seems a little indulgent to get a new one versus getting a new charger, I think that I can benefit from a faster shutter and a little extra options that come with cameras these days. Ergo an update to my Amazon list ;o) just in time for the holidays! whatdyaknow

Meanwhile, I've again taken up exploring photography basics online. I wish I could take a class, but the pricing and schedules are not coordinating.

I uber quickly researched automotive photography for my Automotive blog, but I want to delve into other aspects. An excellent page I found (Cambridgeincolour.com), explains white balance in photography. I haven't delved into their other tutorials, but my expectations for learning a lot from this site are going up exponentially as I progress through this one post.

Some excellent information sources to get one started with photography are, of course, the users manuals that come with cameras, the camera manufacturer (or other camera manufacturers), a local camera shop, and Google searches.

I'm hoping to get better at both knowing what to search for and applying some of these techniques to my shots. I've begun looking up the camera options and starting there.

A good photographer can make something excellent come out of a poor photographing environment (light, subject, color, etc.) and so I hope to also help compensate for the potential I see and how it is translated to the snapshots I take.

Just for grins and giggles, here's my Flickr. One of my photos of a hot air balloon during the Lisle Eyes to the Skies Festival was acquired by the DuPage Convention and Visitor's Bureau for use in their 2010 tourist guide. I was over the moon!

I know this is kind of a side or tangent hobby, but I hope to keep reading up and gaining a better grasp of technique. This is definitely one of those things that take time, patience, and lots and lots of practice. I hope to get better and better at it.