I've had an ongoing flirtation with photography since I was a kid, starting when I got my first Kodak 126 Instamatic at the age of 9 or so. Pictures, to me, are a tangible memory cue to happy times in my life and a photographic chronicle of my kids and grandkids during their journeys to adulthood and beyond. And to be completely honest, I do like looking at pictures of myself as the skinny young thing I was once upon a time. To take a picture is to grab a part of a memory to store it away for safekeeping.
That said, as much as I enjoy taking pictures, I fear I am not very good at it. I want to be, I think I can be, but when I take pictures and look at them critically afterwards, I don't like what I see. My current camera is a point-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix L100. It's a fine camera and easy to use, but I'm not very methodical about what and how I do things. I often don't remember what settings I use, so it's difficult for me to successfully edit my photos later to know what looks good. Additionally, I don't have a practiced eye, so what looks good to my untrained self might differ radically from what a pro would consider a good photo.
For instance:
The first photo here is dull, in my opinion. The colors don't pop and the details are slightly blurry.
I haven't decided if this one is the worst of the bunch, or the best of the bunch. Or why.
So, it's clear (at least to me) that I need some guidance and a big dose of patience if I want to become good at this, which I do. Um, help?
Comments