week three.

I kind of stumbled upon this log pile on my way back home to get my tripod. When I take pictures I try to look for the different textures in the plants or elements compared to the background. 

One thing that I need to keep in mind when taking pictures this winter is that snow and white trick the camera. It underexposes the picture because all it sees is the bright white and decides to lower the exposure. As a result it underexposes the picture or in other words, makes it darker than it is. In order to fix that problem it would be best to overexpose it a stop or two. For a gray, cloudy day as a rule of thumb (for me at least, because I have to shoot at an f-stop of 5.6) it is good to shoot at an ISO of 400 to let enough light in. When shooting pictures (for me) , the ISO is probably the first thing for me to change, then the shutter speed (SP). This next week I am going to work on my ISO. Last week I kept the ISO usually at 100 and didn't change it. I was focusing on the shutter speed exposure. Now that I have f-stop and SP down, I think it is time to throw ISO into the mix and see how that goes. To help me see the relationship between all three things, I am going to make a flashcard to carry around with me when I take pictures. Also, when taking portrait pictures I need to watch the eyes and head placement of the subject. No one wants to look up the nose of someone or just see the whites of their eyes. Lower the person's head and ask them to move their eyes over a little.
We looked at the pictures I took and messed around with them on Photoshop. We enhanced the sharpness on some and played with the color of some. I am really interested in Photoshop and want to learn how to use it. As Dan was updating something on his adobe photoshop, he had to go to the adobe website and there I saw that you can get free trials of photoshop. I'm excited to look at that....maybe someday I'll get the real thing. :)
At the very end of the meeting, we looked on the internet at some different photographers. Such as: Robert Bergman and Vincent Laforet. The one that intriuged me the most was Robert Bergman. We listened to an interview with him and a news reporter where it told a little about himself. He started shooting pictures at the age of 6, which I think is amazing. Now he is 65 years old and has had decades of experience. He takes mostly portraits of people on the street. The colors and composition of his pictures are stunning. He gets very close up to the person's face and takes the picture against a great background. Not until just recently has Robert Bergman been found. He kept pretty quiet about his pictures and only publishing one book. He is having an exhibition of his pictures that he has patiently been waiting to show to people. I admire that he has waited so patiently for his fame.
I can't wait to learn more next week!! :D