Lets start out with Understanding Exposure. If I could recommend JUST ONE BOOK, it is this one. It is the one I tell people to look at, buy, and understand. It explains the exposure triangle, gives you some basic assignments meant to make it stick, and all in all is a GREATLY way to learn to see creatively.

So, the second book (or set of books in this instance) would be Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography books. They come as a set. These books tell you more of WHAT to do, and a lot less of WHY you do it. It makes it easier for a new photographer. The reason that I suggest Understanding Exposure first, though, is so you know how to apply what you learn in these books better. And even extrapolate what you learn into new areas.

The third, and last book I will talk about is Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography. This is a terrific book about how to shoot and process HDR. I do realize that there have been newer books released by Rick Sammon and Trey Ratcliff (my personal HDR inspiration), but I have not been able to pick them up. I don’t want to blindly recommend a book, and The Complete guide is a great resource. This is a much more specialized resource, but I get a lot of questions about it.

So, there you have it. Just 3 simple books. Well, technically Kelby’s are 3 in 1 set… but it is just 3 purchases. I really can’t recommend these books enough. You will NOT go wrong with them. Especially the first two.

The second part of this, will be websites. Well, websites and blogs I follow. I have created a photography bundle of my blog and website subscriptions. While it is not entirely comprehensive, I really like these people and between what they talk about and links to other resources you will learn a lot.

So, first the set up:

There were two Foam Boards. The black was used as a background and the white was used to help reflect the light a bit. The white also worked as a wind-break at the time.

I used the fill-in reflector (Silver) to add a bit more natural light on the flower.

To get right up-close to flower, I used this computer wrist rest. This wrist rest has little micro-beads that allow you to adjust the camera location. I have found it makes a GREAT on-the-ground rest for my camera, especially for doing macro shots.

To capture the image itself, I used a 50 mm Canon macro lens with an el-cheapo extension tube set.

That site, Deal Extreme, has a lot of amazing deals on REALLY cheap camera items. Remember, you get what you pay for… but, these deals are hard to beat. Also, I think with my original order, it took about 2 months or so for all of the parts to come in… but the prices really are great.

I have included links to where I bought all of the items, too. I hope this helps you.

A year ago, I made my first blog post about my new camera. Now, I have sold a print, done wedding portraits, family portraits, and even covered several events for my day job, as a photographer. On top of that, I have gone in with my girlfriend to create our own studio for portraits and fine art sales. This has gone from a new hobby, to the beginnings of a source of income. It has gone from a new hobby, to a passion. It has gone from a new hobby I do, to a hobby I am.

It has been an exciting excursion. I have increased my skills in photography greatly. I have learned about Geotagging, High Dynamic Range, Macro, and infrared photography. I will admit, IR photography is still very new to me. I have a cheap IR filter, and earlier this year, picked up two more, higher quality IR filters, that block different wavelengths of the visual spectrum. Idaho Camera, and their seminars have taught me a lot about Photoshop Elements, my camera, and different aspects of photography.

I have discovered that I can take good pictures, in decent conditions, but I still have a long way to go. I understand the rule of thirds and have a feeling when to break the rule… but it doesn’t always work. I am fortunate to have come so far, in such a short period of time, but it really opens my eyes as to how much further I still have to grow as a photographer. I have loved to be able to share my passion with my girlfriend. It is funny to see our different styles. I will spend ten minutes setting up my tripod, stabilizing my camera, putting on filters, and then taking the pictures. Tanya will walk down the trail, and snap shots as she goes, taking 30 seconds to get the same shot it takes me 10 minutes to take. She also introduced me to the magic of the “Nifty fifty” 50mm, FAST lens. This thing makes MAGIC.

So, it has been a year. I bought this camera a year ago. I have learned a lot, smiled a lot, and met a lot of great people. Even gone on a photowalk with some of them.

After all of this, I really can’t wait to see what this next year brings!

These last two cameras have revived my love of photography, that has sat dormant for years. I am coming to realize, I have always had the bug, just never let it out of the bag, so to speak.

Even though I have not been taking photographs much, I still consider myself an amateur. I have had some formal training, in High School. I have used a darkroom, and developed my own film. I am VERY thankful, we do not do that anymore. I learned a lot, yet what I took away from the class was the feeling of impending dread. It seemed that my projects were ALWAYS behind. From taking the shots, to developing them, to mounting them for the teacher each week. I did ok, but it was not a class I would want to do again. The class was taught by a man that loves the craft, though. He had little anecdotes, the one that still sticks with me, is how he would use his flash to turn off his neighbor’s street light, from time to time. To a teenager, the story was quite hilarious, and spoke to the devious side of my nature. He also told us, how the chemicals we were working with.

I would have to say my mom, is the one that started me down this road. My FIRST real camera, was a little camera that took 110 film. Of course, it was given to me, by my mom, who had been using it, and moved up to a nice Canon SLR camera. About a decade later, this SLR would in turn belong to me, for school. She moved up to a new FANCY 35 mm that actually could auto-focus.

Well, there it is. As all things have a start, and ending, here is the start. My first post. I look forward to seeing where this hobby, and blog will take me. I hope you enjoy the trip, and maybe learn something new about photography, for yourself.