Word of the Week - Photography

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed taking photos. As a young teenager I was in and out of the photo processing shop every weekend to pick up my latest snaps. Those were the days when cameras didn't have screens, and you bought a disposable camera in a little plastic wrapper to capture your memories.

I can still remember the buzz you felt as you went in to pick up your photos, and everyone would gather around in excitement to see how the pictures had turned out. Getting a good photo on one of those things was pot luck, and usually half of the pack was blurry, but you still bought one for every occasion.

I remember getting my first digital camera, a 2 megapixel, and thinking I was the bee's knees. I took that thing everywhere with me, taking photos of anything and everything.

It's no surprise then, that when the kids were born I went a bit nuts and took photos of everything.. 'Aww he opened his eyes, take a picture!', 'Aww look, he closed them again, take a picture!'. If you look through Neil's baby pics you will find a few hundred of the same photo, just with different clothes on. My laptop is filled to bursting with 1000's of baby pictures, and family snaps.

But while I have always enjoyed taking photos of my life, I have never really given much thought to the photos, if that makes sense. You know, if it's in focus and you haven't chopped off any heads you are winning.

And that has worked fine for me until recently. When I started blogging in January I started to think seriously about my photos for the first time. Looking at other blogs in awe of their stunning imagery, I hoped one day I could take such beautiful pictures.

 This week I finally took the plunge and got myself a Nikon DSLR, and it's completely dominated my thoughts since it was orderd.

So my word of the week this week is....


Literally every spare second I have had this week has been spent reading guides, watching videos on youtube and messing about with the settings. There is so much to learn, it's impossible to take it all in at once. Shutter speed, aperture, it's all totally alien to me! It has been fun playing about and seeing what difference changing a certain setting will make to the photo. Most of my attempts have been pretty awful so far but it's all about learning what works and what doesn't.

I'm excited to get properly stuck in and start learning all there is to know. If you have any tips for a wee novice like me, please do share!

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7 comments:

  1. Great Word of the week. I've had some beautiful photos done of my children and got them back this week - very exciting. I love photography too and wish I had a good camera but it's an expense I can't justify at the moment! One tip is to ask to shadow a professional photographer on a shoot. Maybe offer to do some editing for them in return. Learning hands on can be really useful and you'll remember so much more!

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  2. Congratulations on getting your new "toy". I love taking photographs too! The only tip I can give you is, to keep taking them! A professional photographer friend of mine, said that don't be afraid to take dozens of photos of a single shot or the same subject. You can always delete later ;) #wotw.

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  3. That sounds exciting and I'm sure it'll be good fun once you've got the hang of your new camera - good luck!

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  4. This is very exciting! Blogging got me far more interested in photography, too, and I hosted my photography beginner's series over on there, which helped me get my head round a few things! Have fun with it! Thanks for sharing with #WotW x

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  5. Cameras baffle me....I just bumble along with the camera on my phone....lol
    It sounds very exciting! Good luck x

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  6. I am also playing with the husband's camera lately and I am so sad that I werent able to get to know how to operate it manually. I am still using the auto mode =( #wotw

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  7. Oh I remember those days with cameras without digital screens and eagerly awaiting the outcome when sending them off to be developed! I would love to get more into photography and other blogs are inspiring with their pictures. :) x #WotW

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