Photography: lesson #1

You would think that having a photographer for a boyfriend would inspire me to take up this hobby.  And maybe in a sense he has.  But, stumbling upon this cool blog has pushed me over the edge with photo inspiration.  I've been impressed by the quality of pictures they post and inspired by the styles that shine through.  I've been wishing I could be part of this and therefore, requested my first photography lesson.  

I have been listening when Lukas talks (and talks) about photography - elements that make a good picture, depth of field (DOF), exposure, composition.  It's the putting this all into practice that really intimidates me.  Even the composition part just doesn't come naturally for me and needs development.  We ventured out to the backyard for my first lesson.  With his help I let my ideas for composition guide my choices for setting exposure.  Medium aperture to gain a shallow DOF with a shutter speed fast enough to compensate for my less than steady hand and ISO to make up for the rest to keep it from underexposing.  {wow, I actually, mostly, understand these principles}  It was nice to be given solid time to take pictures and ask questions, to get guidance on compositioning {I don't think that's a word, but I'm going to use it.}  I've found I really like these shallow DOF macro shots.  Something about simplifying things, having the colors be part of the feel of the picture, seeing the every-day stuff in a different way.

My other shot that I really liked from our little lesson session was this one of an old outdoor chair.  

Click here to see Lukas's picture from our session.