Take Your Best Shot

I love looking at beautiful blogs where expert photographers display their photos of pets, children, sports events, fireworks and all those challenging photographic "Kodak moments". I've upgraded to a better camera several times, but I know I need a more sophisticated camera to produce results like the ones I envy online. I am learning to play with light settings, ISO, shutter speed, focal distance, and all those other little settings on my camera. Sometimes I even RTFM.
 

My great frustration is in finding a great opportunity to photograph, but my light setting might be wrong, or my shutter speed is wrong. Maybe I needed to do a macro of a flower. Other frustrations are in trying to take pictures of my grandchildren who constantly move about and don't like to pose for cameras. Sometimes I turn on the video and just take movies of them. I have played with the movie making software and pulled out a freeze frame still shot, but the quality isn't what I would want for a photo album or to put in a frame. I have played with Photoshop and a half dozen editing programs to try to improve focus, color, or lighting.

I once took a mini course on digital photography and came away with a few guiding principles that were helpful. The instructor said, "Take a deep breath, depress the shutter button halfway to allow it to auto-focus and squeeze it to take the picture to avoid camera shake." Standing still is very difficult so I often lean on a column or whatever is handy. Consequently, my photos often are out of focus and thank goodness it is digital rather than film, because I delete more than I use. Sometimes I take a dozen pictures or more to find one I can accept. The ones that are out of focus frustrate me when I expect a photo that looks as my eye sees something. I like a small camera and I don't like to drag around a tripod.

For those of us who love photography but struggle with our amateur status, help is on the way. In Science News, January 28, 2012, an article called "The Digital Camera Revolution" details a jaw-dropping list of innovations. Even though there are now cameras that take pictures around corners, or others that can make an image look like a 3-D image, the one that appeals to me is the new Lytro. You can focus the photo after you take it. How did they know I needed that? Cameras for Dummies.

I know where there are innovations, there are ways to manipulate great technology for nefarious motives. I already look at photos with skeptical eyes and fancy I can tell which have double images or have been Photoshopped into something that doesn't exist. Seeing is not always believing. Nevertheless, I look forward to the camera that will make my photos look as great as I want. I want to freeze that moment when my grandson pops a bubble with his nose and I want it focused.