My Photographic Journey
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 9:25PM As some of you know, I've been taking photography classes every Tuesday in Adams Morgan with Sam D'Amico Photography. When I purchased my Nikon D90 camera two years ago I immediately started shooting (without reading the manual). I never shot in auto mode but would use priority aperture mode to take my photos. Sometimes my photos would look great, but half of the time they wouldn't. I never worried about lighting, shutter speed or exposure since my camera would automatically adjust itself. After two years of owning my camera, I decided that I needed to shoot in manual mode to truly understand the art of photography. I've learned so much in my classes that I can use my DSLR like a point and shoot (if I wanted to). Now, I feel like I'm making photos versus just "taking" them.
I highly recommend taking classes with Sam if you're looking to learn more about DSLR or film photography. He won't help you develop your style, but he will help you learn how to use the tools you have within your camera that you can use to evolve as a photographer.
Here's a photo of my dog Shea that I took to practice spot metering and depth of field. Where are you in your photographic journey?
Reader Comments (2)
I never use spot metering because Nikon is all about their Matrix Metering and for the most part, it's served it's purpose. If my camera fails to expose correctly it's usually an error in my settings or a change in the lighting conditions.
Did you shoot wide open in the pic of Shea? Really shallow DOF since even her snout is out of focus. Pretty dog.
I love aperture mode! I was a bokeh whore and I really only wanted to take event pictures. When you get up to "lighting" in your camera class be sure to fill me in! I'll be checking in on your blog regularly :)
Thanks Brian!
You should try spot metering some time -- it allows you to measure and adjust the amount to light from a specific object that you are metering. With spot metering you can emphasize certain colors or change the level of detail of an object.
I think I shot the picture of Shea at F2.8...I usually shoot wide open. Good eye with the snout. I'm trying to break my habit with using too much shallow DOF too. Thanks for checking out the blog!