Rainy Day Photos

Hello there,

If you're at all like me, I often find photography more akin to alchemy than a true science.  All the lingo seems designed to confuse and the math is contradictory.  Bigger numbers for aperture when there's a lot of light, bigger numbers for ISO when there is less light...  Do you get my confusion here?  Or am I all alone in this?  Anyhow, I've tried dozens of times to master the illusive equation of aperture + shutter speed + ISO by reading manuals, talking to other photographers and surfing photography blogs on the internet.  Somehow, it just never seems to stick for me.

My dear friend, Stacy, to the rescue!  She saw a Groupon for a Chimpsy class and pursuaded me to sign up with her.  Chimpsy hires professional photographers in larger cities to host "field trips".  Basically we met up in the photographer's studio on a rainy Saturday.  He talked us through some basics and made sure everyone knew how to find all the functions on their DSL cameras, and then he took us out on the town to take pictures.

Since it was a really rainy Portland day, we hung out under the Fremont bridge.  I don't know that there's anything remarkable about any of these photos.  But they are remarkable to me, because I shot them in FULL MANUAL SETTING or shutter priority.  It's the first time I have felt like I had any understanding of how to make these work for me.  I'm pretty doggone proud of myself, I gotta say.

And this time, I think the lesson is sticking!  Woot!

Here's to good friends who egg us on to small personal accomplishments,

Deb