Oddly enough this process started with the iPhone 3G. The 3G has comparably a fairly crappy camera. Fixed focal length, average resolution and no flash. This turns out to be a good thing when you are trying to learn how to take “good pictures”.  You are forced to use your feet to frame the shot you want. This flash of understanding is what is leading me to think about getting a straight 50mm lens for my DSLR.  Maybe not having a zoom will force me to learn more about aperture and shutter. I know it will continue to move me forward in composition. If it doesn’t then I am not going to improve.

I’ve left this post collecting dust for a while and am just now returning to it after making it a couple of weeks into my attempt at a 365 photo project. So far I have a few good ones and a bunch of mediocre shots. Pretty much what I expected. Honestly I am not sure yet whether I have learned anything, but what it has done is get me taking pictures, sometimes in situations where I would have said “this might make a nice shot” and then never taken the picture to find out. I’ve also set up a little DiY “studio” for some macro shots. My setup is with black foam core board, tracing paper and a card table. This article provides the basic idea, my setup is just a bit larger.

Some other gadgets I picked up were must haves, particularly for those macro photos.  Tripod (started with a cheap one), a remote shutter release, and the one I have yet to play with.. an intervalometer. The tripod and remote shutter release are things everyone should have. The most common problem I run into with my photos is shake. Sometimes shutter speed just has to be slowed down to get the right light in the lens, and even if you aren’t a nervous nelly, you are going to shake.

Biggest thing I’ve learned so far is you are not gonna get any better if you don’t practice. Pretty obvious, but gotta figure out how to get yourself following through.

I am debating whether I’ll include one of the available ones in my blog sidebar, but like my delicious links, it is already in my About page. You can find some pretty interesting stuff out there, and like most social media some serious time wasting can be accomplished.