A Matter of Perspective

As I was lying on the floor to take this picture I realized, when was the last time I changed my perspective on things? When was the last time I looked at the world like Magnus does? He looks at everything as if he's never seen it before. During this picture he was looking up at the TV with such intent that I had to capture it. When we go outside, he always chases after leaves blowing in the wind and pounces on lizards. When I sit on the floor, he gets so excited because that means I'm down on his level to play with him. When was the last time you got on the floor and played with your dog, child or family? It's a beautiful world, filled with plenty of opportunities to amaze us. Get out there and look at things with new a perspective.

Studies in Aperture

First I want to say Happy Easter. As I sat in church today I was thinking about the world that God made and how my journey is really an exploration of what he made big, small and in between.

This weeks journey is a study in aperture...and my new 55-200mm telephoto lens! Aperture is that amount of light, from small to large, that enters the lens. This was really confusing to me because it's calculated in f-stops and the logic goes all screwy. Would you believe that a a small F stop means a wide open lens that allows more light and a large F stop means a small opening and less light? Aperture also has an affect on DOF (depth of field) which can really help to draw attention to your subject.

I also got a new lens that I couldn't wait to use. The one that came with my camera was a 18-55mm and this new one is a 55-200mm so I know have pretty good range with my kit. I hope you enjoy this weeks study in aperture and fun with my zoom lens.

Studies in Composition

My first digital journey was to study composition which includes what does and doesn't make for a good photograph. I'm always amazed at how two people can be in the same place with a camera and one picture is so blah while the other has a life of it's own. The first thing was choosing a subject and for someone whose history of photography was just picking up the P&S (point and shoot) this was a bit tough for me. I took 413 photos this weekend and ended up keeping 10. Because I was studying composition I decided to go black and white. I'll save the color for later. ;)

Hopefully you can find one or two that you really like and comment on them...you could also find one or two that could use some work and comment on those also. Either one is appreciated.

Jp

My First Post...

Throughout my life I have had varied interest in the arts so I tried painting and just wasn't very good at it though my 9th grade art teacher said otherwise...debatable to say the least. I love music, but I'm a much better listener than anything else. I have always had a slight interest in photography and can think back through the years where I would find myself looking through everything from encyclopedias to history books just to see the interesting pictures. I was always fascinated and seeing the world through the eyes of others so last week I decided to show others the world through my eyes.

I also decided to document my journey in to digital photography so now you know where I got the name from. I told you my first inspiration and now I want to share the other two. My first is my wife who minored in photography at UNF and she is really good. We have various works of her art throughout the house and they never seem to get old. They have so much movement and life for something so still.

So this blog is dedicated to the love of all things photography and I hope you enjoy my digital journeys. Since I am so new to photography I figured what better way to share with others than to document my process of learning on a blog. Each post will be me picking a topic around photography, practicing, and sharing the results. I look forward to your comments, thoughts, critique, or just simple hellos.

Enjoy...