Diana Trout's blog

Photography: An Amateur Guide to F Stop

I have a serious case of"Great Photo" envy. In particular, the photos that have blurred areas. Do you see that blurry pink button in the photo above and the (relatively) sharp cat faced button? This happens when you set a camera's F stop to about F4 and a shutter speed to accomodate the light - no flash! Don't use your flash. It stinks unless you really know what you are doing. 

I am reading (studying, decoding) my camera's instruction book whilst reading The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos, by Heidi Adnum. It is finally sinking in. A little. This is the first book I've ever read that seems comprehensible to me. There are tons out there that might suit you better, though. 

And so it goes: a step in the right direction. I'm using a Canon Powershot A59, it is between a point and shoot and SLR. Adnum would call it an Enthusiast's Camera. I've had it for about 3 years and never really explored the Manual setting possibilities. So I'm really glad to have stumbled upon her book.

A good project whilst recovering from this danged flu. Geez, does it really take this long? I've never had flu before and next year I'll get the shot.

Drawing Hearts

 

Is there some that you draw repeatedly? Doodle over and over? Lately - you may have noticed ;), stones have appeared whenever I hold a pen. It is the heart of the stone that I'm seeking. Inspiration came unexpectedly (you can read this post) and hearts began appearing.

Here is a fun exercise that you may want to try in your sketchbook. Sit quietly with your book and pen and then close your eyes and begin to draw hearts. Hearts are a simple, familiar shape. You've drawn them over and over. Hearts are imperfect, aren't they? So your drawings will be as well.

I opened my eyes from time to time while drawing to get a bearing on the page. My page full o'hearts sat a bit and then words began to form as to what kind of heart it was or what that particular heart meant to me. 

If you turn a stone around a bit and you can find the heart. 

I think the stone of a heart is soft and warm. 

It was fun to rummage through my stone collection, looking for hearts.

Cross-posted at The Sketchbook Challenge blog, here.