Ever since I was little, but old enough to use a camera, I have been taking pictures. But, as much as I liked Photography, I never took the time to learn how to use all of the different settings and features on my camera. I was one of those people who used a "point and shoot" camera (what a standard digital camera is referred to as, in the photography world.) With a camera like that, all I did was just take pictures. Never once did I utilize the settings to enhance my pictures.
Maybe it was because I did not know how to, but it was partially because I did not understand why I needed to do these things. However now, it makes more sense. I am not a professional photographer, and I have never taken a class before, so I was not thinking like a photographer. I was snapping pictures of things I thought were pretty, not creating beautiful pictures using the features of the camera. Over these next couple of weeks, I hope to learn how to actually use my camera (which is a Nikon D3100, in case you were wondering) and all of the settings that come with it. I also hope to learn how to use Photoshop Elements 11 so I can improve the quality of my pictures. Even though Elements is a step down from Photoshop, it still provides the basic tools I need and it is aimed more at beginners. I was told when buying this software that unless I was a professional photographer, Elements would have more than enough features for me.
The next two weeks will be spent applying the knowledge I have learned. My plan is to go out and take a bunch of pictures with different themes, subjects, lighting, settings, etc. With these pictures, I want to spend time and change the functions to meet the picture's needs, not just capture the object.
After I finish taking my photos, I want to learn how to use Photoshop. I will read the second book of my project, The Photoshop Elements Book 11. While learning, I'll play around with the different settings and edit photos I have previously taken. Finally, in the last two weeks of my project, I will edit some of the pictures I have taken before. I will probably end up taking more to edit.
After that is all finished I'll compare the pictures I took at the beginning to the ones I edited at the end. I'm sure there will be a great difference between those pictures and the ones I take now.
Though the pictures of the books I will be reading are shown above, here are the citations:
Revell, Jeff. Nikon D3100: From Snapshots to Great Shots. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
I like the topic you are trying to learn. This is probably very relate-able of not using the settings and having no idea what each does. I also like the fact that you are starting out (in week 1) with just taking pictures and experimenting. The plan throughout the seven weeks are very specific, and I also like how you are taking this project a step further. Not only are you experimenting with the camera and the settings, but you are trying Photoshop to enhance your photos. I thought that was a very interesting idea to add the finishing touches on both your photos and project. Two questions I have are: How many photos will be your end result? Will you Photoshop all the pictures you have taken throughout the weeks?
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting that you are learning how to take better pictures. I think you will be able to take very cool and pretty pictures with spring rapidly approaching. I remember last year with Mrs. Kosh for the photography class we took and how I took some cool pictures of flowers and other spring-y things. When you take pictures, will you incorporate some of the skills we learned last year, such as the thirds rule, or the focus on one thing and blur the background rule? Or are you just going to use the tools on your camera and the photoshop program?
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