Expanding My Photography Skills

Brandon and I have been the proud owner's of three different Nikon DSLRs.  The pictures they take are truly phenomenal.  Our latest model is the Nikon D3100, and the extra money spent on it is well worth it.  I love it!!  And I love taking pictures (if you are friends with me on Facebook this is pretty obvious as I post picture after picture of Gwyneth...yes I am obsessed with our baby girl).  I am however ashamed to say that after all of these years of owning a DSLR I have not used it to it's full potential.  I turn the camera on "auto" and treat it like a standard point and shoot when really it can do so much more.

I have attempted to learn more about our DSLR on several occasions, whether it was looking for a class at our local community center or getting one on one instruction from our beloved Sacramento photographer. Unfortunately, life seems to find a way to interfere and as always photography lessons seem unimportant and get pushed aside.  This time around I have decided to take matters into my own hands and teach myself!  I don't expect to be able to produce professional quality photos, at least not anytime soon, but I do hope that learning more about our camera will help me capture those precious moments with Gwyneth to the best of my ability.

I found several blogs online detailing how to take better pictures with your DSLR.  Here are links to some of the blogs I found helpful.

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/tutorials/photography-tutorial-a-quick-guide-to-understanding-your-digital-slr-camera.html

http://thomashawk.com/2006/04/10-tips-for-new-digital-slr.html

I also decided to purchase the book The Betterphoto Guide to Digital Photography by Jim Miotke.

Just by reading the blogs and skimming the book I feel like I already know so much.  I was completely oblivious to all of the settings and now I finally know what aperture, ISO, and exposure really mean.

I decided the best way to learn is to strictly take photos in manual mode.  This means I have to change my settings as I go from inside to outside or sitting baby to baby on the go.  I have only done it for one day, but I feel like I am starting to get the hang of it.  Here are a few pictures I took of my loyal subject today.

Hello mini-Brandon.

It may look like she's about to cry, but I assure you this is a laugh.  Daddy was so funny it made her spit her food out onto her chin. :)

Food is good!!

They aren't the best pictures, and I am still learning placement of my subject and lighting, but I am proud of myself for shooting them all in manual mode.  I will keep you updated as I apply what I learn to my photography.  If you have any tips or know of any blogs/books that you like, please feel free to share them with me!