My first photography class!

Saturday I got to take my first photography class! It was for beginners with digital SLR cameras. It was very helpful to have been practicing shooting in "manual" mode the last couple of weeks--I had already gotten to know the settings and dials on my camera. I just needed some know-how on how to USE the settings!

The class was taught by a photographer in the area who focuses on architecture and industrial photography. The last year he has been photographing the gardens where the class was held. The only thing I wish I had learned more about was the nuances of taking portraits...since most of my pictures are of my children! I'm sure alot of that will come with practice.

We started the class in a classroom, looking at pictures on a screen, and getting some instruction about how to take a good picture. Then we went out in the gardens to take pictures.

This was my first picture out the door--I was pretty happy with how it turned out!


Another pic of the same flower...


Photographing the white flowers was challenging...you have to set the shutter speed just right to get the right amount of light in so you get details on the petals and leaves (not washed out), but so it's not too dark. If you look closely, you can see a little green worm on the petal!


It rained the night before the class, and I thought these leaves were pretty...


The garden we were in had these weird statues all around...


Playing with the depth of field here...I learned that the lower your aperture, the more the background will be "fuzzy". For lack of proper photography terms....


Pretty flowers...




Oooh...got better saturation on this shot!


A quick glance at what we all looked like taking pictures!


This statue was hard to photograph--the white statue with the dark greens around it made it hard to set the shutter speed right. The instructor said I did a good job on this one.


After the class I went to my grandma's house for lunch and practiced more. She has beautiful hydrangeas!






Grandma's lone rose...her roses are struggling this year.


I took this picture for the pretty bug!


Practicing when I got home...


My trumpet flowers...


Oooh...depth of field!


A snapshot of Chris talking to our neighbor:


We found a frog! He sat very still and posed for me.


Then Aaron picked him up!