Photography lesson

Our youngest son has always been rather interested in art and has also developed a passion for photography.  He has been practicing and some of his photos are very good.  We have the same camera lens although he has the next model Canon camera up from ours.  I’ve been rather envious of the quality of his photos and asked for advice.  I’ve now had my first lesson.  Apparently I’ve been committing a heinous sin using the camera on automatic.  This results in the camera making all the decisions turning the owner into a drone.  Nothing new there!

The first thing I learned was never use the camera flash as it throws the light in the wrong direction.  Rather than using the auto mode I should use Landscape or macro from most of my photos when I want the camera to make the decisions.  However much of the time was spent taking photos using the TV setting on the camera.  This enables the ISO and shutter speeds to be adjusted.  ISO and shutter speeds…… a new language to me!  Several hours followed with me taking the same photo but with different settings.  I managed to take some very badly exposed photos.

Eventually I managed to take a reasonable photo of a carousel.

Just as I was feeling pleased with myself the demanding instructor told me I now had to take a photo where the people in the foreground were in focus but those riding on the carousel were blurred.

Now the only way I was able to take the above photo was by using his tripod.  Apparently I’m going to need a tripod.  But I’m certainly not going to be purchasing a £150 version like his.  Something around £40 is more our price range.

The next lesson is going to be about creating the composition.