Photography

I have nothing to talk about today. I am off again and am committed to doing nothing but relaxing, so I haven't gone out and done anything noteworthy. I was looking through my photo files to see if there was something cool that I had missed blogging about... nothing. I decided that because I don't have any great photos to show you, I could just tell you about my photography. I have touched on it briefly, but here is all the info.
My interest in photography started when I was very young and had my first camera. I used countless rolls of film taking photos of my pets. Because of the boxes of photographs that I have of rabbits, I am always cautious today about over photographing my pets. When I was about 14, my oldest brother handed down his Canon AE-1 Program to me. I felt so cool to have this very fancy camera. It was a 35 mm and I had to learn all about manual settings. I spent a lot of time (without film in the camera) just clicking the shutter button and pulling the winder. I still really miss that sensation, there is no shutter with my digital camera. Around the same time that my brother gave me his camera, the photography program at camp made a reappearance. I will never forget an awesome counselor from England, Ed, who really made me dive head first into photography. In order to build interest in the program at camp, Ed walked around camp saying the phrase "photography is the source, it will change your life, swear to God." At the time, I thought it was another silly antic from one of the lovable camp counselors. Thinking back now, it was just plain true. At first it wasn't really cool to sign up for the photography program, I had my usual favorite programs already established. I did, however humor Ed by stopping by the photo program one day during open program when we could go anywhere. He sat a group of us down with photo books which included the works of Ansel Adams. We just flipped through the books and if we stopped to look at an image, we talked about what made us stop. I was hooked! I signed up for the program the next week and learned how to use the fancy camera that I had. I learned all about aperture and shutter speed and depth of field... ideas that I wonder if I still have a grasp on after so many years of automatic settings with the digital camera. I took my first good, artistic photo that week. It was such a cool feeling to have other people looking at and talking about a picture that I took. I still have that photo along with my first award in the photo program, I hope you enjoy it. Within the next years, my interest grew. I took photography classes in high school and my dad made me my very own darkroom in the attic of our house. Today I draw on so many experiences and influences to make my work what it is. One thing I know for sure is that it has definitely changed my life. I see the world around me in a very different way and I have a way to express myself artistically even though I cannot draw or paint to save my life.
Currently, I have made the leap into digital photography after many years of stubborn snobbishness about image quality. My camera is the Canon PowerShot A640. It has 10 mega pixels which more than satisfies my desire for crisp images. It has so many cool features that I definitely don't use the manual settings much at all. My favorite setting is the macro focus which allows me to get close to small things and capture lots of details. I was really much more interested in landscape views before I got this camera, but now, because I can, I love getting small and close. I like where my photography has gone since I have had this camera. Another very exciting addition to my camera came for Christmas last year. My boyfriend got me an underwater housing for it so that I can take my camera with me when I go snorkeling. The housing is the Canon WP-DC8. Underwater photography is really a lot more difficult than I expected. Between the potential fog and water in my snorkel mask, the glare of the sun on the plastic case in front of the view finder, the colors created by the sun and the water, and smudges and drips, so many things can go wrong. I leave my camera on and take WAY more photos than I normally would to make sure that I get the shots that I want. It is worth the hassle though and I am developing my technique. Sometimes I get lucky enough to come away with the shots I posted today of Ichetucknee Springs. This is one of my favorite places to snorkel, but I am spoiled and I don't like to go there during the summer when its crowded. These were taken earlier this past spring.
I could go on all day talking about photography, but I am trying to edit myself and keep it short. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.