Down the Lane

I have always had a thing about photography! I have no idea where it has come from or why but I have always loved taking photos and wanted to know more about what, why, how etc. Due to a dodgy back I am no longer working and although puppy, house, garden, chooks etc keep me busy, I do feel that I am stagnating somewhat. We moved to Shrewsbury in November and I have been quite housebound in that time, not getting out and about much or meeting people. The fact that we have no neighbours has not helped with this. Anyway, I digress...

I looked online at the college prospectus and they are running a Digital Photography course, 9 weeks starting 7 October. Of course, a DSLR is needed. I spoke to hubby about it and he agreed that it would be crazy to miss out on such an opportunity, especially as I have been itching to learn for so long! So I am booked onto the course, we spent ages looking at camera review sites, when our appalling 3g allowed us online and I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D3200 which seems to be suitable for an entry level DSLR.

I have had a play but don't want to get too ahead of myself - roll on October!! I am like an excited school child

That sounds great - obviously, just up your street! And what a lovely time of year to start, too - think of all those shots of beautiful Autumnal scenery

Hi Jem, you sound so excited, good for you getting out there and doing something you really want to do. Hope you thoroughly enjoy your course.

Thanks ladies, I am very giddy indeed! The good thing about the course is that we also do a couple of field trips - one around Shrewsbury and one to a church or similar which should be great. We also do a session on editing the photos so it is quite varied. I am checking outside every night for a nice sunset so I can have a play around! If the course goes well I will see what I can do next

You will thoroughly enjoy the course and get so motivated. I did a digital photo course about 3yrs ago which I loved. I surprised myself at just how much better my photo taking came.

The tutor of my course gave us homework each week which caused a bit of mirth where I live. When I got down onto my tummy to take pics of wild flowers at eye level, a neighbour called my OH as she thought I had taken a funny turn and couldn't get up. I was at the time waiting for a hip replacement

Aw bless her - how nice that she was looking out for you though!

Oh, I do envy you! I love taking photographs and think I have an eye for composition and so on but even fairly basic functions on my camera are wasted on me, I would absolutely love to learn how to make the most of it. You will have a great time

Check out your local college Kuikentje, there may be a short course there too

only a week until the start of your course… you must be getting excited by now!!

Oh I am! I can't wait, I'm a proper giddy kipper

Nest Tuesday !!!!

I thought about doing the Photographic Course at Lympe Park Wildlife Park.

I've only a Panasonic Bridge Camera (60x zoom) and a smaller Panasonic one which I keep on me at all times, but would like to know all the tips and so on.

Maybe a Grand will suddenly fall out the sky and I can get one of those which strain your back everytime you lift the lens up !!

Good hobby for everyone, especially for those who may have more time on their hands.

Good luck

Richard

Thanks Richard! I have always been impressed by your photos on the Forum and various pages so it just goes to show that it's not a matter of having an all singing, all dancing camera but more about having a 'good' eye! We'll soon find out what my eye is like!

I would love to do a digital photography course. My son very kindly gave me his canon dslr a couple of years back, and bought me a book on it for xmas. I also bought a 'for dummies' book, a new whizzy sd card and an external remote control for it. Then he took it back

I had originally asked if I could borrow it, but he honestly said i could keep it. Then changed his mind

Oh what a shame Helen! Having read the books etc you already have more of a clue than me! Methinks it is going to be a steep learning curve That said, I am really looking forward to it, not sure if I mentioned that in previous posts

and you've never spoken to him again Helen ?

The best tip I can give is to take 3 or 4 photo's of everything, all at slightly different distances and angles. The theory being that if you take a lot, one's going to be reasonable.

That's the joy of digital, you just delete what you don't want.

I have Photoshop which helps, especially for sharpening up and fiddling a bit with brightness, colour.
But you don't need to spend money, there are some good free programme's which do more or less the same thing.

I'm sure you'll find the course great jembers, an opportunity to meet new people and share something together.

Sure to get one geek amongst them though

Richard