Photography

I was taking my daughter to a birthday party a few years ago when I was still stationed in Charleston, SC.  On a whim, I stopped by the Navy Exchange and purchased a Sony Cybershot digital camera.  I have a hard time remembering some things but I remember this event pretty clearly.  The first digital photos I took were at that party which was at the bowling alley on base.  Little did I know that the purchase of that camera would spark an interest that would be almost as strong as my love of amateur radio.

Soon after I bought my camera, Emilie went on a school field trip to the Aquarium in downtown Charleston.  While I was there I took a picture of the Cooper River Bridge.  It connects Charleston to Mt. Pleasant.  The picture wasn't very good by today's standards though, but I still love it.

I started reading photography tutorials that I would print from the internet and read them while I was at work in my down time.  I started learning about shutter speeds and F-stops and white balance and all the other technical things that are involved in photography.  I'm still reading too.

My photographic style has become that of capturing human expression.  I love capturing those moments in life that people don't expect.  Taking the picture of the little boy in the crowd who is yawning or doing something he shouldn't be doing is much more appealing to me than posing a bunch of people and taking portrait style pictures.

About a year ago I came across this guy named Joe McNally while surfing the internet.  Joe is a famous photog who is a master of lighting and off camera flash.  While watching a video of him giving a talk about his first published book "The Moment It Clicks" Joe is telling of a time when he was on assignment with one of the major magazines to take pictures of the Pope.  He is so far away from the Pope that there is noway to get a good photo and while Joe is getting frustrated with his dilemma there is a one armed man behind him taking pictures with a small camera with a fixed lens.  Joe goes on to say that the most important piece of gear in your camera bag is your attitude.

More to come...

iPhone picture of the week

The first snow of the season occurred a few days ago.  Unfortunately I was unable to enjoy it.  I was fulfilling my obligations with the U.S. Navy Reserves.  My daughter however, was able to go out and have some fun.  I am an amateur radio operator and my daughter is well aware of this fact.  So much so that she decided to make a snowman ham radio operator.  She named him Hammie.  My dad took this picture with his cell phone.