Better Photos-Week 1-Aperture

Well, I've been unmotivated to...well, do anything. Usually, photography will be the one thing I can make myself do, but lately, not even that. But I found something fun to do!


12 Weeks To Better Photos.


Sounds good, right?


I'm the first to admit, I'm only a beginner. I've got lots and lots (and LOTS) to learn about photography. I think this will be a great way to do that.


Looking through some blogs, I found a link to this photography course. Sponsored by Mark and Joanna @ Two Peas in a Bucket , there are articles that teach you about different photography skills-aperture, ISO, light, composition, portraits, landscapes, etc. At the end is a suggestion , or challenge, on how to use these new skills and try them out with your camera.


I figured I would use this as an opportunity to improve my skills and continue to share my "journey of chasing dreams." I will share what I've learned and the pictures that result. I will do my best to incorporate weekly photo challenges in with the weekly lesson topics.


Week 1- Aperture.


What I learned:
Aperture or f/stop refers to the opening of the lens. The wider the opening, the more light that is let into the lens. This means that if the lens is wide open, fewer things will be in focus. An f/stop number can range from f/1.2 up to f/22 in some cases. The smaller the f/stop number, the wider the lens. To redefine, the smaller the f/stop number, the fewer things will be in focus.


I also learned from other sources: Bokeh-In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image.  Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus regions (definition from wikipedia, see link for examples).


The challenge:
The challenge was to pick a subject. Using the Aperture Priority (A or Av)  setting. Change the aperture to the lowest setting available, a middle setting, and the highest setting and see the results.

Now that this challenge is complete, I see how much more I have to learn. These pictures are not the greatest, but the authors do remind you that this is a new skill and will take time to master. This was a difficult concept for me lol. The photos do show a difference and I did learn from them, and that is what is most important.

Under each picture is the settings that I used. Remember that all photos were shot in Aperture Priority Mode (Av) and that the ISO is automatically set by camera. So, with much anxiety, here's my pics.

Macro, f/3.5, ISO 400

Macro, f/5.0, ISO 400

Macro, f/8.0, ISO 400

ISO 80

Macro, ISO 80

I had a great time with this lesson! I learned a lot! I encourage anyone interested in learning photography to join me in this 12 week program. Please let me know you are doing it and send me pics or links to your blog! I also really NEED and appreciate feedback. Please share your HONEST, preferably kind, critiques of my photos and how I did. Any advice on ways to improve is also much appreciated!

And on a totally unrelated subject. You Capture's theme this week is Pink.

PINK?

Are you kidding me?


I'm surrounded by BLUE!?


It's house of boys and I'm not that girly. So...pink...hmm...

Well, I collected a bunch of stuff that is pink. There honestly is not that much to pick from. I decided no one really wanted to look at pictures of Benadryl or Pepto Bismol. So this is what you get. I tried!

I just really like the pink glow on the card in the back. Pretty :)

And yea, I know, it was just Easter. But I had to work Easter, so all those pretty pink eggs and pink Easter dresses...yea, I didn't see them. But Dada did catch a lovely shot of something pink on Easter Sunday. His skills are so much improved :)

Thanks Dada!

Hope you had a blessed Easter and let's make it a great week! Also make sure to check out more pink at the You Capture link below and other great Wednesday blogs!

Nicole
  
 P.S. Sorry I could not get the dandelion photos to work in a collage! And I can't make the collages any bigger because of blog size. I hope you can still see what I accomplished!

Two Peas In A Bucket



You Capture