1 post tagged “photography”

The photographic wall, it has been hit.  And no, I don't want to take a picture of it. 

Here's the deal:  I've always loved taking pictures.  For my birthday this past May, my wonderful boyfriend R gave me a Nikon D50.  I also signed up for a "Principles of Photography" class at the School of Visual Arts, since I didn't know an f-stop from a bus stop. 

Camera = yummy goodness.  Class, while brain-bending (Monday nights, summer semester, 6-9:00 pm, you do the math) = still yummy goodness.  My teacher was great, an insanely smart guy. 

Now, the class was straight lecture -- no homework, no critique.  There just isn't time to cover what's necessary and include critiques, and this isn't a class about composition, it's about reciprocity law and hyperfocal distance and Kelvins.  And math.  And let me tell you, I suck at math. The last class was a week ago, and we applauded my teacher.  He deserved it, too. 

But.  Now I've got my head full of theory, and I've been taking pictures this entire summer.  So knowing all of that, I went to Riverside Park to take pictures the other night.

With the exception of maybe two, they suck.  They're insipid and boring and the color's wrong and they just suck.  I didn't feel good about them.  When I took this one, I knew it was a good picture.  This one, too -- it's not a huge dramatic picture, but it's a funny moment that I happened to catch.  The ones at Riverside?   I didn't get a "happy gut" feeling, just an "eeehhhh" feeling.  It wasn't working for me, and I think it shows.

Maybe I've taken too many pictures this summer, and I need to stop for a bit.  Or maybe I know just enough to trip myself up, and I need to take some time off from theory and switch to "auto."  No manual, no thinking, just go "clicky."  I dunno.  All I know is that I know how much I don't know, and it makes me unhappy and frustrated. 

Put the camera down.  Step away from the camera...  >:P  Camera ban for two weeks, maybe?