Technology has made photography, and good quality photography, accessible to anyone and everyone who has the desire to snap & click the shutter release button. Yet I keep reading that it's that same technology that can hold you back from achieving your true potential.
As I journey down this path, my next step has been to turn off the camera's pre-programmed "auto-mode", and start understanding how the shutter speed, aperture, focal length and focus all work together (or work against each other) to reveal the final product.
It's like the HUD canopy of a 21st century fighter plane, where all of the relevant information appears in front of you so that you don't have to take your eyes off of where you're going. Suddenly your mental focus is not just what you see through the viewfinder, but all those numbers and symbols that appear around the outside of the viewfinder. You're no longer thinking "Hey, that's a nice tree!", but "Hey, what F-stop, combined with the ambient light is needed to use the appropriate shutter speed to capture this nice tree blowing in the wind?"
Lets just say that I'm not going to be taking off in an F-16 anytime soon. It might take a few more sessions to become more comfortable with changing all of these settings on the fly, but I did capture a few pics that I'll share. These were taken at Marshall Springs, the newest addition to Fish Creek Park, with a very basic (back to basics) 50mm f-1.8 canon lens.
Kudos to you for going about it the hard way! I'm at the same stage but have to admit to quite a bit of cheating - unless I'm really sure of myself, I see what the auto was going to suggest, then fiddle around with it from there. Nice macro stuff!
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