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Two Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Other Pictures

Posted on 03/21/201103/21/2011 by Backpacking Dad

I’ve been practicing a lot with my camera during the last week. It’s still not a great camera, and I still don’t have much of an eye for anything, but I can make it do what I want it to do in a lot of cases.

After all of that practice, I present two pictures I took on the go today to see how my instincts were shaping up.

DSC08038

It’s a little bright, but I had the flash on its lowest setting to combat the backlighting from the sky. The sun was still pretty high, and coming in from the upper left. Using the flash on the Sony DSC W-120 allows me to go from shutter speeds of between 1/6s-1/25s all the way up to 1/400s, a speed that is impossible to get with the flash off, no matter how I fiddle with the settings. I needed the shutter to shut quickly because Erin moves fast and I wanted to get her in action, from close up. The result is a little washed out, but it was at least thought through as far as I’m capable of doing so at this stage.

DSC08047

This one is a little disappointing, because at the time I thought I’d managed to get Adrian in sharper focus. But, as with Erin, Adrian moves fast, and even 1/400s shutter speed isn’t going to catch him if I’m also not focused properly. For focus, I’m at the mercy of my camera a little. I can set some distances manually, but not a full range (.5m, 1m, 3m, 7m), or I can tell it “really really close, whatever is really really close” and hope it tracks right. The fastest shutter speed my camera is capable of doesn’t matter a damn if I don’t get the focus distance right.

Alas.

But still, these pictures, taken deliberately, are light years ahead of what I could do last week. I could manage to collect shots that were as good, or better, but only by accident or luck.

I’m going to get better at this. See you in a thousand pictures.

8 thoughts on “Two Pictures Are Worth A Thousand Other Pictures”

  1. muskrat says:
    03/21/2011 at 6:48 PM

    I don't understand all this technical camera talk crap, but the girl seems unhappy, and the boy seems happy. I'm sure the former is your fault and the latter is happenstance.

    1. Backpacking Dad says:
      03/21/2011 at 8:17 PM

      Well, the girl IS hanging on for dear life at the top of a climbing

      structure while her dad happily takes pictures instead of helping her. That

      may account for her look….

  2. Jessica Giles says:
    03/21/2011 at 8:16 PM

    I wouldn't consider the first washed out it's part of an affect you didn't know you created and what ilike to call sun fuzzies. If you had zoned out just a tiny bit further you may have caught the sun peeking around her arm and some glare that I like to call flair :) of course I could be totally wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.

    1. Backpacking Dad says:
      03/21/2011 at 8:18 PM

      Well, at the very least it is a look I wasn't trying to get, so it wasn't

      successful in that way. But thank you :}

  3. Dean Ouellette says:
    03/21/2011 at 9:30 PM

    Photography is always one of those things in theory I really want to take up. I go through phases of bringing my point and shoot around with me everywhere. It never pans out though, I think I want to take it up, but it just never happens. Will be interested in seeing how it turns out for you longer term. Maybe will be inspired.

    1. Backpacking Dad says:
      03/21/2011 at 11:04 PM

      So far the main thing I've learned is that with this point and shoot I have

      to be really really close to a subject to make a dramatic difference in the

      way the shot comes out. Kids playing in a green field just aren't going to

      show up any different when the settings are different. If you want

      focus/unfocus differences you've got to be close.

      I've taken a lot of pictures of small objects.

  4. The Domestic Goddess says:
    03/22/2011 at 5:57 AM

    Washed out or no, it's an awesome shot of her. That face is priceless!

  5. Karen Wilson says:
    03/29/2011 at 5:12 PM

    I love both shots. You have beautiful kids to be your subjects – that will make any camera do a better job.

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