Understanding Exposure - Bryan Peterson

When I ordered my 550D I also ordered Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.  It came recommended by several people I know as a good refresher.  I already knew the basics of photography having taken 5 years of photography in high school but that was a long time ago and only 2 classes a week.  A lot has changed since then too.

My foundation was built on Pentax SLR film cameras.  In high school we used the Pentax K1000 and when I showed great enthusiasm my parents gifted me a Pentax MZ50 for my 16th Birthday.  This camera served me well, until recently when it died :( which prompted my DSLR purchase.

Understanding Exposure was indeed a great refresher on the principles of correct exposure photography.  Having learnt to shoot manually in school and having a sound understanding of manual camera settings I found this book an easy read.  He writes in quite a colloquial style which is so nice, not like a text book at all.  I did pick up a few new tips, especially about metering in the right place.

It was an excellent place to start and i'm sure I will look at it time and time again.

Amber xx

The first decision, well, second actually

The first decision was deciding to start this blog and share the journey with you.  The second was which site was going to host my photo's!

After much thought, deliberation, research etc I have decided to go with 500px to host my photo's.  You can see my page at 500px here, and you can follow me there if you like :)

Here are two of my favourite shots from yesterday.  Hope to share more with you soon.

Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/2.0, 1/1600, ISO 100 (heavy digital crop)

Bee Within by Amber Bates

Canon 550D, 50mm @ f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 100

Curly Bark by Amber Bates

Welcome to Project Photog!

If you've already read the intro above you know what this is all about :)  If you've popped over from Feather on a Breeze then you know I'm Amber, a super busy homeschool Mum to 4 beautiful kids who's net alias's are Flossy 8, Bugsy 6, Chicky 4 and Possum 1 and wife to Rusty.

I will be blogging what I'm reading, what I'm snapping, how I'm doing it and I'm hopeful that you will comment on what you like and what you don't.  I will do my best to keep it all on topic and that is part of the reason I decided to start a new Blog.  Feather on a Breeze is about the family as a whole and our homeschooling journey, it isn't really about my personal pursuits although I do sometimes blog little projects for the kids.

What's in my camera bag?  Not much!  I've got a Canon 550D and a 50mm f/1.4 lens, that's it!  Starting light, I can only grow, right?!  Editing wise I have Lightroom 4.  I am completely new to the digital SLR world, likewise completely new to digital editing.  However I am not a novice photographer, although I am very rusty!

What do I like to photograph?  Anything really.  Mostly my children and my garden.

Hope you enjoy sharing the journey with me :)

Amber xx