Lessons Learned

Today's journal entry is a reflection on my goal to become a better photographer. It is one of the goals that lots of Blippers seem to aspire to, and I am no exception. If you are not interested in how I set my goal and the lessons I am learning as I pursue it, you have my permission to stop reading now and just skip to the last paragraph where I tell about today's blip.

I began blipping with the intention of becoming a better photographer. Looking back on my two years of blipping (Discounting the two months this year when I broke my shoulder and could only blip minimally with my little pocket camera), I believe I have improved, although not nearly as much as I want to.

In the past few years, this blipping obsession hobby has taken me from an Olympus digicam to an SLR-like Panasonic FZ30 to a Nikon D40 SLR to my most recent toy camera, a Nikon D90, with which I am having lots and lots of fun. I signed on as a founding member of Blipfoto when that was offered, and I maintain a Smugmug site for the blips that don't make the daily cut for Blipfoto. With that much time, effort, and money invested, I figured I darn well better show some improvement.

Therefore (I'm finally getting to the point), I have decided to be more intentional about some specific skills and techniques I want to improve, and it has to be something I can do with the equipment I already have because I can't spend any more money on new stuff (fancy technical term) until I am proficient with the stuff I already have. That leaves out macro photography (no macro lenses) and learning more about lighting (no money to buy fancy off-camera flash stuff), so I have chosen to start with learning to take better portraits. It's something I've been wanting to do, but honestly never had the nerve. I wouldn't say I'm shy, but if I ask someone to let me take their picture, then I am posing as a photographer (no pun intended), and they have a right to expect decent results...something I've not been confident I could produce. At least that's how I have rationalized my reluctance to approach people. Strangely enough, I don't have any problem asking someone if I can take a picture of their dog, but I've had very little confidence in my ability to take good portraits of human subjects.

So there you have it. My specific goal is to learn how to take good portraits using, for the most part, natural light indoors by a window with lots of indirect light or outdoors in one park or another.

If you've read this far, you are probably someone who shares my goal or has some specific goals of your own, or you may just be a glutton for punishment. Whatever your reason, thanks for sticking with me. I've said almost , but not quite, everything I want to say. Now for the rest:

THE LESSONS I'M LEARNING
1) The first and hardest thing to learn is how to ask permission.
2) Next in importance is learning the best camera settings and then...
3) Remembering to use them.
4) It's important to help your subject feel comfortable and look natural.
I believe once I've mastered these lessons, I'll be well on the way to achieving my goal, so for the next weeks, maybe months, I will be mixing portrait blips in with my usual diet of dog and deer blips. The variety alone should be an improvement!

TODAY'S BLIP VICTIM
My subject for today's portrait is Rich, another of the regular walkers in our park. Today he had his daughter's two miniature dachshunds along for the walk, and I asked if I could take a picture of the three of them together. Rich said Yes, but unfortunately Riley and Louie said No, so today you won't see the dogs. Rich is a proud grandfather of a baby boy born just a few months ago. His whole face lights up when he talks about the little guy, so after snapping a few warm up shots, I asked Rich to "give me your new grandson smile" and BLIP!