Spring Tulips at Thanksgiving Point

My friend, Cathy Larsen, and I went to Thanksgiving Point Friday. We took an hour off work and were anxious to try the late afternoon light, as other photography visits had always been early mornings. The tulips were late in blooming this year and only 40% were out. We did manage to find some beautiful ones and tried to use some of the things we've been learning in our photography classes.

I experimented with "depth of field." If I shot a picture in "Landscape" mode, then the entire picture was in focus (meaning the aperture was a large f-number). If I chose "Portrait" or "Macro," then just the main subject was in focus with a blurred background (a small f-number).

I also changed my lens. I've been taking most of my photos using the 18mm-55mm lens. I tried using the 55mm-200mm lens during this excursion. I found I had to stand back further, which felt awkward when using the Macro setting. But I felt like I got better results.

I've created a Flickr link to view photos.

Jonah and Ez

One interesting thing I learned from Saturday's camera class was that of "leading lines." This is a line/lines that lead the eye in a particular direction. I think I accomplished that with Ezra and the lawn mower - and maybe even with Jonah on the arbor.

Camera Nerd

After being prodded by a few people that I take lots of pictures, but "Where are they?" I've decided to enter the world of blogging, however a bit reluctantly. Do I have time for one more thing?

I've loved taking pictures since I was a child and was given an old Kodak Junior Six 20 Series II, which I still have. There was something about taking a roll of film to the store and then anxiously awaiting the results.

But digital photography does have its advantages. I've now graduated from my beloved Canon PowerShot S2IS, which had a 12X zoom, to a Nikon D40X SLR camera. I have lots to learn.

Of course, with a new camera comes a new camera bag! After searching far and wide over the Internet for "funky camera bags," I decided on the "Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home Photo Bag." It's not too funky, but different than the standard boring black bag.

Because I bought my camera at Inkleys, I can take advantage of some free classes. I've taken two so far: an intro class and today's: focusing on lenses, composition and flash.