Photography 101

Well... what a difference a good camera makes!!! The new camera is here, and we've been playing with it for the past several days. Which means, Jean has undergone a crash course in basic photography! Yeah, I've never taken a photography class, and I know nothing -- NOTHING -- about it. ("Durrr... point and click, right?") Tim's been trying to teach me, but I'm kind of a slow, stubborn, easily distracted student. Nevertheless, it's been eye-opening.

For instance, did you know (of course you did, you're NOT retarded) that taking a great picture means basically accounting for two things: light and motion? Supposedly, the "aperture" relates to light (wider aperture = brighter picture, narrower aperture = dimmer picture), while the "shutter" relates to motion (fast shutter speed = crisp picture, slow shutter speed = blurry picture). Then, with those two things working together in the correct ratios, you get the picture you want. Who knew?? ... Um, EVERYONE except me, hahaha.

So, I'm learning. Here are a few photos and samples of our learning:

This is the very first picture that Tim took on the new camera (naturally of the most beautiful thing in our entire world):

And here's one of my first pictures, of Weston in his stroller at the zoo. This is the raw version:
And this is the processed version (even if we're not the best photographers in the world, at least Tim is a Photoshop genius):

Here's a waterfall at the zoo, utilizing a super-fast shutter speed (but only as fast as the amount of light would allow, I learned):

And here's the same waterfall, using a slow shutter speed (and thus allowing in more light as well):

Woo! I was on a roll!! Aside from all the photo experimentation, it was a pretty typical trip to the zoo. Weston wore his leash:

And he pushed around his stroller:

And he ate some snacks:

And we gazed at some lovely zebra hindquarters (seriously, what's a trip to the zoo without it):

Later that day, we went to Shane's Inspiration, which is pretty much the greatest playground in all of L.A. We continued with our photo experimentation:

For instance, our old camera (bless its little heart) could NEVER capture a picture like this:

Or like this:

Because Shane's Inspiration is an accessible playground, most of the structures accommodate wheelchairs, which means that Weston can run and explore and play on his own, without having to stop and get help from us with going up stairs and what not. I'm lovin' the independent play!!!

And I think he was lovin' it too:

That night, Tim and I stayed up much too late playing with our camera some more. (I took this picture of him -- isn't he adorable??):

Then I took this picture, with a slow shutter speed. It's Ghost Tim!!

Then I practiced with the focus, while Tim held up random items like the sport that he is:

We went outside and took a bunch of pictures of the intersection near our house. Tim processed this one, and as much as I hate living by a big intersection, it looks almost pretty here ("pretty" in a city kind of way, mind you):
Then we came back in and played with a low shutter speed + Tim's mini lightsaber keychain. We waved around the mini-lightsaber in the dark while the other person held the camera steady. Here's Tim's secret message:

And mine:

Next we tried the "creative" settings on the camera, like the portrait setting. The cool thing about this setting is that it takes pictures over and over again in quick succession. We got a LOT of weird faces from trying this... this is probably the most normal of all of the "portraits":

And finally, I practiced the extreme close-up (in this case, with our mini-tripod). This will be a good technique to use for all the cute cupcakes I eat!!!