Photography

I grew up in the midst of photography.  Some of my earliest memories are of my papa showing slides at night against a sheet in the living room.  And since then, there are many accomplished amateur photographers in the family.  

I got my first SLR in college.  I had fun.  But it largely gathered dust after I entered the work force.  

Many years passed.  Many many years passed.  Decades.

When we were about to travel to VietNam for our adoption, I wanted to purchase a good, new camera.  I waffled back and forth between a DSLR and a point-n-shoot.  Ultimately, I got a pricey point-n-shoot because I couldn't see lugging a big ol' DSLR all around VietNam.  And ultimately I really regretted my decision not to get a DSLR.

Now for you photo enthusiasts, what I have isn't much.  Let's just consider it a lesson in doing what you can with what you got!  I got my DSLR in 2009.  'Cause you asked, (OK you didn't really ask did you!) it's a Canon Rebel T1i. 

 It's kinda the best non-professional Canon they had at the time, and thus had a non-professional price tag.  I won't lie, I already drool over the professional, multi-thousand dollar cameras, but for now, my Rebel is just perfect.

I have several lenses that I use. 

My first lens was a 50mm 1.8.  It is a great first lens and if there is one bit of advice that I'd give to a first time owner of a DSLR, it would be to buy a 50mm.  It's a great all purpose lens that will teach you how to use an SLR and still produce great images rather easily.  And did I mention that it's cheap!  I now have a 50mm 1.4 (which isn't as cheap as a 50mm 1.8) and it stays on my camera most of the time these days.  

A 50mm provides lots of options for depth of field and is small and light weight.  It is very flexible and can work well in low-light.  It often is the lens that I stick on my camera and just leave it there until I want to do something special 


This is my 24-70mm 2.8.

It is my other work horse and sometime it stays on my camera the vast majority of the time.  

I also have an 85mm 1.8

that is great for portraits and very sharp, but not very good at covering larger areas, like a room shot, or sports, or landscapes.  Not recommended as your first lens.

Then Papa recently splurged 
(read-scrounged on Craig's List for months and finally found a awesome deal) and bought me a 100mm 1.8 macro. 

It's a dream to play with and finally allows me to capture images really up close.  But on top of that, it's a really a great portrait lens too.  
While I would say it's really fun and a great lens to add to your bag, but again it's not a lens to start with.  

I also regularly drool over many other lenses including a really wide angle.  That will probably be my next lens.  There's a lot of droolin' going on 'round here.  

Almost every photo you see from me
 has been post-processed, i.e. tweaked after the fact, brightening, cropping, correcting white balance, etc...  I still have a LOT to learn with photography, and post processing erases many flaws (sometimes literally) and can cover a multitude of photographer sin. The two basic types of post-processing are Photoshop and Lightroom.

I have a very cheap basic version
 of Photoshop, Elements, but I am really just learning how to use it.  

I've taken a several classes to learn the in's and out's of Photoshop and I'm starting to appreciate the incredible endless possibilities it offers.  If I want to be super creative, I will reach for my Photoshop Element.  


BUT for me, Lightroom is still it when it comes to editing a photograph.   I love love love my Lightroom to help "fix" photos, and it is my main editing software.  Compared to Photoshop, Lightroom is faster, easier, and designed for the way photographers think.  

I really don't have any special skill or talent.  On the contrary, I am an amateur photography hobbiest who is constantly humbled by how much I don't know!  I just LOVE to take photographs, and I love to practice.  And if I can do this, anybody can.  To be perfectly honest, I don't really know much about cameras, lenses, or software except for the stuff that I have.  So this is only my very amateur take on photography. 

I hope that something you see inspires you to take some photographs of your own.  I'd love to see what you come up with.


Questions?  Shoot.