Alyssa took the ice yesterday. Hooray! I was so happy to see her engaging in something physical. I love Alyssa's hobbies...reading, writing, music but I want her to learn to break out just a little bit and try new things. I always picked hobbies that I could hide behind too, although I never did music (okay, so I tried but was told to quit wasting my time and money). But I did not, and still do not do things that make me get up and physically show vulnerability in front of people.
I don't plan to make Alyssa an athlete but I was happy to see her go out there and be vulnerable. I could tell she felt self-conscious for a few minutes but after awhile she seemed to get into it and have a lot of fun. She did really well, too which made her super excited about her next lesson.
One of the reasons I have always wanted a better camera is because I have kids and they MOVE. Of course all my point and shoot cameras have a "sports" mode but they don't really freeze motion. So I have been reading lots about action shots and was going to practice on Alyssa but her class was much bigger than Chloe's class and since it was evening there were 4 classes going on at the same time. Chloe had the ice to herself, but yesterday I couldn't get anywhere near the action. When I came home I was determined to at least practice one action shot so I made Alex jump and kick for me.
First I took a couple in the automatic "sports" mode.
And then I attempted to take the shot manually, and voila....
Excuse the grease stain on my wall. I have scrubbed it endlessly, to no avail. I keep meaning to paint, but it is so easy to put it off. Anyway...Chloe took over for Alex and did some spins. Notice Alex was gathering blankets for his nest?
Then I recruited Alex again because I really wanted to see a jump front kick since they are fast and off the ground. I never quite got the kick. He was always on his way up or down, but I was happy to see that no matter how fast he moved he still stayed basically frozen.
Not perfect and I still need to learn more about exposure, but one thing at a time...
5 comments:
Love all the action pics! Super cool! Go Alyssa, she already looks like an ice skater. I'm sure that's exactly what they look like.
Hooray for children willing to meet new challenges! Alyssa will do great. So excited you were able to get the shots to work! I need to learn how to do that, too. (As much as I read, one would think I would take a minute and read the instructions on the camera, too.) You ended up with some great ones of Alex and Chloe, even if that wasn't exactly what you were after.
Glad to here that Alyssa is enjoying skating. Way to go for actually to learn how to use your camera and venturing into manual land. I think you are getting the grasp of action shots. I think you did a decent job with exposure and white balance in the last few especially since it's indoors at night. There is definitely a sweet spot for finding a fast enough shutter speed but slow enough to still let enough light in. If you want to brighten up the shots next time in the same situation, then try raising the ISO. If you're not sure what ISO is, then here is a quick article I found for you: http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_iso.html .
Good luck and just keep practicing and experimenting until things start clicking (ha, pun totally intended) and become second nature. Just please don't think you're a pro in a couple of months and then start your own business. I've counted over a dozen "high-end custom photographers" (several are even new since we've moved here) in our small town of only 22,000. Talk about over-saturation in the area. I've long since given up the idea of going back in the biz. What a joke!
Jen, Thanks for the compliment and the pointers. I have read quite a bit about ISO and I did raise it for those shots but I was afraid to raise it too high since all the books told me stay w/ lowest ISO possible for situation. I am trying to figure out what that ISO is. I am also learning how and when to adjust each setting but having a hard time figuring out how to tweak the other settings once I have changed one so that I still get a decent exposure. The techy explanations don't make a lot of sense to me so it is all trial and error so far.
I do not plan to ever pretend to be a photographer. Even worse than learning the camera is the editing software. Can't even open it, yet alone use it. I am so not computer brained. I know what you mean about everyone thinking they are a photographer now but I still think you could get back in the game. You are good with the camera and the computer and you have a good eye for photo design and display which SO many people are lacking.
I am definitely a safe hobby person as well, which is one thing I regret about my younger years. Samm is also, so we really try and encourage her to try new things at least once. Usually she still ends up not liking them so that is great that Alyssa liked ice skating. And your pictures look awesome. I am finally getting around to learning how to use my camera after almost 3 years. This is what I have been reading
http://www.iheartnaptime.net/basics-to-photography/
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