Snap Snap

With photography I work on the theory that taking more photos increases the chance of getting a truly great shot. Many will potentially be rubbish but there will usually be a few gems among them.

I took 261 photos of our little house as a learning exercise with my digital SLR. Fifty-one of these were shots taken while reading the manual and learning about the different settings before I ventured outside to snap our Queenslander.

For this exercise I started with the ‘basic settings’ for the camera (creative auto, portrait, landscape, close up, etc), playing with various lighting, focus and filter settings. I think the monochrome setting worked well for our house, but I also liked playing with the close up and different lighting options. Still a lot to learn!

Here are a choice few, unedited–no photoshopping, well, except for the layout in sets.

Digital SLR cameras and photography for dummies

I have always enjoyed photography but really only every used a simple digital camera, looking for interesting angles or different perspectives, and taking a quick snap, hoping that what I saw will magically transform into the little digital screen. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.

So when my birthday was coming up I added a digital SLR camera to my wish list, mostly as a bit of a joke because I knew roughly the cost involved. My awesome husband, however, had other ideas and with my thoughtful parents gave me such an amazing present, a Canon EOS 600D. Now all I have to do is learn how to use it!

I took it away with me to Japan recently. I played around with the manual focus and a couple of other settings a little but mostly let the auto function work it’s magic. Here is a sample of what I captured. There are many, many more because, let’s face it, Japan is very photogenic.

The Iron Giant, Ghibli Museum - Taro doll, Osaka -  souvenir Torii,
Fushim-Inari - Yoyogi Park, Harajuku © Megan O'Neill 2013

Lolita fashion style, Harajuku - Sake barrels, Miyajima - Ponto-cho,
Kyoto - Koumokuten, Nara © Megan O'Neill 2013

For Christmas a dear friend gave me a copy of Digital SLR Cameras and Photography for Dummies, which has taught me about aperture, depth of field and shutter speed. That, along with going through my camera manual has started to give me a basic understanding of my camera and photography. Now I just need to practice.

With that in mind I have decided that my first practice subject will be our little house–a typical old Queenslander. Nothing particularly special about it from the street but we have much love for it and I am hoping to uncover some of it’s hidden beauty.