I took these pictures two years ago in Berlin, Germany. They were taken on a Canon Rebel xTi, with the 17-85mm f/4-5.6 lens & processed in Photoshop Elements. Nothing fancy about that combination of equipment, but I love these images. Now that I look at them, I see a lot of things I would change…colors, white balance, angles, lighting, point of focus etc. Two years later I have so much more knowledge & experience…but I still love these images because of how they make me feel. They take me right back to when I fell in love with photography. It was flowers that helped me get my start. Not fancy equipment. Not top of the line editing tools. It was making the most out of the equipment I had & learning how to master it.
Having just purchased my first L-series lens I have found myself in a bit of an unhealthy “I want” state of mind. Now that I have one, I want two. I want to upgrade cameras. I want…blah blah blah. Rewind. Focus. Yes, I could spend ten thousand dollars tomorrow on photography equipment. BUT, that’s not really what makes me a photographer. It’s my eye. It’s my creativity. It’s ME.
So, I wanted to share these pictures from my hobbyist days to encourage those of you with DSLRs to turn the dial to M and start thinking about learning your equipment. It’s a shame to have an expensive camera & be using it like a point & shoot!! You don’t need that much to make photographic magic. As long as YOU love what you produce, you have something to treasure forever.
If you want some reading suggestions to help jump start your learning, try these: Understanding Exposure & Kelby. Oh, and how could I forget! Your best resource of all……..YOUR OWNER’S MANUAL! READ IT!
