a Walkabouts and some advice

After work this evening, I went for a walkabouts with my friend Dianne around the river valley.



Dianne is starting to get into photography so we figure that this was an opportune time to catch up with each other and at the same time, get familiar with her camera.

Now I will be the first to admit that I'm not the most technical guy when it comes to the insides and outs of the camera, but I know what does what and what needs to be adjusted in order to get the shots that I want. Tweaking around with the settings just comes as instinct to me but trying to explain it at times to others can be a challenge.

I guess one could say that I took the Jeet Kune Do approach towards photography and "absorb what is useful and finding out what works for you as an individual and absorbing it into your whole being." So this evening, I found out more about myself in trying to share and convey my knowledge of the camera along with a fellow photo enthusiast and acheive that shot you want the majority time.

So during our walkabout, I discussed the basics of the shutter speed, aperature, iso, metering through the camera, special settings on the camera at i.e., Aperature Value (AV on the canon) and Time Value (TV) and playing around with each setting. Just like a visit to the dentist, I will take a picture of something random with the shutter speed/aperature cranked up and then lowered and say "better? or worse?... better? or worse?" and do the problem solving on the spot of trying to achieve that happy median.

At the same, I thought I try to hone my "shoot at random objects" skills (since it was lacking the other day) and "shoot without looking through the viewfinder" skills. Below is a few of samples from this evening



Like I tell most people who are starting to get into photography and have shelled out for a DSLR - I didn't go to school for this. The library and bookstores are your friends when it comes to resources as there are many good books out there discussing the basics of photography. In other words, get yourself a good solid base knowledge about your camera and basic settings.

And one more piece of advice: Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! and have fun!
This is the only way to learn and apply your knowledge. Sure there will be some disappointing moments but if you can keep your level of enthusiasm up, then you will enjoy taking pictures as much as I do.

If anyone wants to go on a walkabouts with me and just shoot around, feel free to drop me a line: info[at]nino-roy.com