Photography for Dummies

After all these years of being in the presence of greatness, I finally decided I should learn a few tricks from my husband, the soon-to-be famous photographer Adolfo Isassi. It seems this is working out for me because after my last post I got a number of comments about my photos. Perhaps these lessons will increase my blog traffic.

Over the years I have learned the basics—-much of which I learned as a child, but haven’t always practiced:
Composition: Separate the scene into thirds.
Lighting: If the color is too bright, press the shutter slightly in the brightest place and bring the photo down to where you want to shoot to darken the scene before taking the picture.
Lighting: The sun should be behind you.

Several days ago, Adolfo placed the strap of one of his nice cameras around my neck and started me on Photography 101 for Dummies.

Lesson 1:

Turn the camera on by switching to the On position.

Always keep the strap around your neck so you don’t drop the camera.

Hold the camera with both hands: one on the lens, the other on the shutter.

Change lenses by matching up white or red dots.

Always zip up your camera case so your gear doesn’t drop out.

Lesson 2:

Look carefully at the scene to select a focal length that fits the scene you want to capture. A shorter focal length shows more of the scene. A longer focal length allows you to zoom in on a subject.

Aperture is the amount of light you allow in. The lower the number, the more light.

If the speed is lower than 60, you need a tripod.

If the light is too bright, consider doing a silhouette by setting the aperture at 22 and the speed at 60.

Here are some of my results: