In August I discovered a wonderful free online photography course, A Year With My Camera. It was created by Emma Davies, who had a background in education, and it shows. It is meticulously designed, each weekly lesson gives just the right amount of information to be digestible in language anyone can understand. There are weekly “homeworks “ which are great to improve hands on experience and ability. Best of all, there is an online community which is refreshingly different from most FB sites- very welcoming, supportive and encouraging. Here is an image for one of the homework set:
One area of photography I have avoided entirely up to this point has been portraits. I feel you really need to know exactly what you are doing to be able to direct a subject, and to manage indoor photography with lights etc, which I have never done. My phobia about the technical skills has been sorely stretched just with outdoor photography let alone indoor shots. My friend Richard Gauthier is an ace portrait photographer, and I hope to perhaps go out on a general photo shoot with him one day to benefit from his experience and expertise.
So, what’s next? I still have to work to do on focusing. I understand the theory, but putting it into practice has been challenging. I would like to be able to take better images of fast moving subjects such as water, cars and bikes. I want to improve my landscape images, particularly over larger Depth of Field, and manage hazy atmospheres. Most of all I want to take aesthetically pleasing street photography and capture more candid moments, and learn more about using light and shadow. I enjoy taking B&W images and want to do more of that.
I aim to further explore Abstract Photography, and learn about photo stacking, bracketing, and panning.
I am looking forward to discovering more about the great photographers from the past, such as Henri Cartier Bresson, Saul Leiter etc, and continue to see the works of current photographers whom I am learning from Photographic Eye (Alex Kilbee), and Sean Tucker.
I want to be more deliberate in my settings. To decide exactly the image I am looking for, in terms of composition, DOF, light etc. This means slowing down! To take fewer images now, and be more circumspect on the images I share on FB. Most of all to continue to be stretched, challenged, to keep learning, and just get out there and do it, have fun and enjoy it!
It would be a stretch to say photography has changed my, life but it has changed me as a person to some extent. I literally see the world differently, seeing colours, shapes, people and everyday things in a way I had not before. I am constantly seeing potential images as I go about my day! I feel I belong to a different community, that of creatives, and I had always assumed this was a world closed to me. I have met lovely, interesting people, have gone to places I had not gone to before, and I am out of the house far more now. I have had to battle with my confidence, and just keep telling myself not to give up, to keep going, and believe in myself, that my photography will improve. And guess what- slowly it is!
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