Camera 101

One of my main goals for doing my 365 Project was to take better photos. I've had my new camera for almost 6 months. I'm trying to figure it out but I really need to sit down and read the manual more and do some research online to figure out how to take better pictures. I think the key to taking better photos is like anything the more you do it the better you get. I am trying to get away from the auto settings and the flash. According to most photography blogs I've read flash is what pretty much ruins most photos and I totally agree. But have you tried taking photos without the flash. If you don't have enough natural light (which my home lacks so much) then they are dark and blurry and sometimes grainy. Then there's the ISO setting which I still am not sure about. Some people edit all their photos cropping, adding special touches to this or that. I really don't have much time for that sort of thing and that seems to be a whole new area to learn and when you're taking 900+ photos a month . . . come on! I think maybe if I could just get some really good shots, editing would be unnecessary but who knows if that's even a realistic goal.

So yesterday I thought I'll use the timer on the camera to get some shots of me and Reese playing. As you can see I really need some work in this area too. Positioning the camera seemed to be an issue every time.

Camera too low:

Camera too high (and oh yeah I didn't comb my hair yesterday!):

Way off center:

Good photo of me and the doll and the junk in the background while Reese goes to get the camera:

Another too low:

Way too low but a darn good shot of the dirt on my floor:

More dirt on the floor:

Camera strap or couch arm in the way:

This one would have been so cute since we were both looking at each other but how blurry can a photo get:
I really need to do some learnin', don't ya think?