Last time I checked, there were a couple billion blogs floating out there in cyberspace. I don't need another one and I sure as hell doubt you're interested in one either. But it's 2011, or at least what's left of it, and it's time I start a blog. I have no doubt that these things will be outdated by the time I get around to actually posting more than one entry, such is life in our digital age. But I decided to give it a go anyway and figure it's very unlikely anyone will read this anyway, which means I get to do pretty much whatever I want.
I've always been the type who learns by absorbing vast amounts of information, generally through books (a visual learner for you Piaget fans at home) but also by observing others and listening. The final step in my learning process usually involves some sort of regurgitation of that information to others, either written or verbal. Since there aren't many people out there who care to listen to me tell them all the cool things I learn, I tend to talk to myself a lot in my car. Crazy? Probably. Effective? Surprisingly so.
There you have it. The purpose of this blog. A place for me to practice what I've learned and to more fully process those things without people staring at me when I'm driving.
We're going to start this thing off with 12 posts. Each one covering a photo I've taken in 2011, one for each month. We can argue all day about the advantages and disadvantages of digital versus film. But if there's one thing digital has going for it, it's instant feedback. I received my first camera back in 1984 (that's a best guess, but it was definitely sometime around there). In a few more years, I had saved up to buy my first SLR, the ubiquitous Pentax K1000. I spent a lot of time learning about photography and I've been interested in it ever since. But I've learned more in the past three years (since I bought my first DSLR) then I had in the twenty previous years. Why? Instant feedback!
As just an informal estimate, I've shot somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 photographs since January. Think about it, that's over 200 rolls of film back in the day. Not something the average 15 or 16 year old boy is going to be able to manage. Add in the cost of processing and that's a lot of lawns to mow! Unfortunately, there's just no short cut to learning photography. You get a camera and you go out and shoot, shoot and shoot some more.
Back then, learning how to improve my skills took forever. Reading about something and applying it the next time you had the camera out was a slow process. Nevertheless, I did learn! Sure, there were some years there in between when I barely even looked through my camera, life happens what can I say. But those fundamentals of composition and exposure were burned into my brain by the time I bought my trusty Nikon D50.
So you'd think I'd have this photography stuff down pat by now. Of course not. It's an endless topic and I'd say if you're not learning something new everyday, then you're just not trying. I don't care if you're brand new or you're a seasoned vet who still hears the motor of their old F4 in their sleep. No one knows everything.
What I do know is this, my images are a hell of a lot better today, then they were in January. But if I don't stop and ask myself what I've learned and how I can improve, then this is it. This is as far as I can go. So hopefully, by looking back at 2011, I can get a better idea of where I want to go in 2012. If some of this helps you, then yay, extra bonus points.
