New To The Network

So I am new to this network. I found it and thought I would check it out. Seems to be a lot of things on this that could help an amateur get better. Which is all I am trying to do.

I've had an interest in photography for years. Even before I had my own camera, the interest was there. When I first started out in advertising, one of my favourite things was going to photo shoots. And there were some photographers that would show me some things, allow me to look through the lens and tell me what was wrong with the test shots - lighting was off, shadows were wrong, something was out of place - all these things I couldn't see before I was told.

I managed to get a SLR about 8 or 9 years ago now - even though I couldn't really afford it. But, I did it anyway. And I took pictures pretty regularly for about 2 years. What stopped me was not having the money to develop the film. But weirdly, its not really what it was about. It was more about looking through the lens and seeing the world and every day items in a different way.

2 years ago I decided to get a DSLR. And this is more my style. Shoot whatever you want, put it on your computer and delete what isn't good - what you don't like. You get to assess your style and try to understand what it was that you saw when you first looked at the scene.

My goal is to get better and take better pictures. To be honest with myself about what I am shooting and try to improve as I got along.

I have decided to take a course and see if that can help with my photos. See if I can grab some help from a professional photographer. If all goes well, I will likely continue to take courses. And if all goes really well, I might actually attend a school and see if I can live the dream and make a living with my camera. But that is a long shot. Maybe the first step should to get better and pull the old SLR out again and take some shots on film. Small steps I guess.

Anyway, thats it for now. Maybe I'll report on my classes and progression as I move along. And I should probably post some pics as well, so I can get some feedback on how I am doing. More to come.