20 out of 180

I've taken about 180 pictures since I got my camera. Of those 180, I feel about 20 are acceptable enough to me to post my my Flickr account. Thank you technology! I cannot imagine using film and a traditional camera to get started in photography. I think the digital camera has really opened the door for more people to explore photography as a hobby.

So, my picture today is of a sprig of rosemary in my back yard. There's not much special that I can say about it other than it was one of the few shots that I was able to take this week.

I struggled to find day light time to take pictures because it was a very busy week at work. By the time I made it home, it was night. As I've mentioned before, I haven't mastered the flash so I have been down on my shots this week.

A thousand words? Really?

Pictures may be worth many words, but are there some pictures that completely replace words? I don't think I have taken any of those pictures yet. I always feel there is something more to be said then that which is communicated through a stationary image. Unless you are inside the head of the photographer, there is a chance that your perception of a photo is different than that intended by the artist. Any ideas what I was thinking with this picture?

Smoke and Mirrors

I stumbled across my first camera trick accidentally. Tonight, I was taking pictures of objects placed on top of a mirror. While I was shooting some of these objects, I noticed a pile of shells that I had collected during my brother's recent wedding. I placed one of these shells on top the mirror and took a few shots. I did not expect anything special when I uploading the shots for cropping. However, as soon as I opened the large image, I noticed that I had accidentally created a clam. Even those I had only half of the shell, the mirror created the other half of the clam. Unless you knew the picture was taken on a mirror, you might think the shot is of a whole clam.

Something I didn't expect

So far, my photos subjects have consisted of random objects or animal around my home. I try to work with day light or natural light because I have not yet mastered the flash. Today, I left the auto-flash on and was pleasantly surprised. In this close up shot of some chandelier chain, I was able to get some pretty interesting hi-lights of the chain and the background was washed out. It makes for a nice affect, I think.

I'm on the search for better lighting and more subjects. There is still a lot of unexplored territory in my home, but I need to venture out into the world with my camera, too.

More than the eye can see...

I have always found closeup pictures to be fascinating. Maybe that fondness comes from how a camera makes up for my poor vision. There are things that the camera can see that I cannot.

My camera is my key to "Gulliver's Travels". Things that are small are made large. Although I always thought Jonathon Swift's descriptions were a little depressing. He describes the extra detail of close-up human skin as harsh and unattractive. When I see the pores of skin close up, I do not think ugly. I am sure he had his reasons, but for me seeing more detail is beautiful.

I'm posting a picture of an interesting texture that I found through my key. Can you tell what it is?

Goal Acheived!

My new Pentax K100D camera arrived this morning via FedEx. I felt really fortunate that I was home when the FedEx courier came by...that never happens. As odds would have it, we were home waiting for someone from Craigslist to come by and take a look at a desk that I'm selling. The potential buyers never came by, but my camera did.

Before I could play with my new toy though, we spent the day at Dolphin's company picnic. After some great food and good chats with his coworkers, we finally made it home 4 hours later. I was so excited to try out the new camera.

When I clicked check-out on Amazon.com to buy this camera, I set a goal that, for the first week, all that I wanted to achieve was a picture of something that wasn't blurry. I wasn't sure how complicated the camera would be so I set that reasonable expectation.

After a few minutes of searching for AA batteries, I finally found some in a couple of Wiimote. WiiSports would have to wait for another time. I put the batteries, and the camera came to life. After 15 minutes of flipping through the manual and pressing buttons, I already had my first picture and it wasn't blurry. I had already achieved my initial goal in just a few minutes.

I'm not going to post the VERY first picture though. It is a picture of my very messy coffee table. Instead, I took this close up of one of my favorite vases. Please, tell me what you think of my first 15 minutes behind the camera.