A father-son tradition continues.
For as long as I’ve been coherent enough to recognize it, my father has loved photography. Though I certainly didn’t appreciate his excessive camera snapping on family vacations when I was younger, I realized what a treasure it was to keep memories that could last a lifetime. My dad’s love of photography stemmed from his father, who made a career out of commercial and retail pictures. I’ve grown to love my dad’s photos, and his Nikons, one of which he passed on to me at the beginning of the Fall semester.
I’d taken the Nikon D90 only once before, when I traveled to Israel on Birthright during the summer of 2011. I couldn’t have expected the sheer beauty I would experience with my camera at my side, and spent the trip incredibly protective of my dad’s valuable possession. It came home in one piece, and went back to dad for safe keeping. When my dad purchased a newer model, he felt comfortable giving it to me for good, and I’ve brought it with me back to Gainesville to capture the essence of the University of Florida.
I’m still getting used to having a camera full-time, and while I haven’t used it in the first month of school as much as I would have liked, I feel more comfortable with it every time out. Though Orlando Sentinel photographer Gary Green provided insight on how to use our manual settings during the summer, I’m still fairly green (pun intended) when it comes to the non-automatic settings. While I do understand the basic concepts of iso, aperture and shutter speed, I’m not exactly sure when and how it’s most appropriate to use them, and which settings help the most in well-lit or low-light situations.
With each snapshot of fleeting beauty, I grow more attached to my camera. Though I have never truly embraced photojournalism the way I love print and broadcast journalism, it’s an essential part of the storytelling process. As I pursue a degree in Multimedia Journalism I’m more and more aware of the necessity of pictures accompanying print, and am looking forward to the ever-evolving relationship between me and my D90. Though my grandfather had already passed away before I was born, I’m sure he’ll beam down on me as he watches my progress as a photographer. It truly is the continuation of a family tradition, albeit a little later than my father would have liked.
Learning to use ISO, aperture and shutter speed settings is a matter of PRACTICE. It doesn’t hurt to read the manual, but that’s best done in small doses. Luckily you’re not paying for film or developing, so shoot HUNDREDS of photos to practice just one kind of setting (in all its variations). Set yourself a task and then practice it every day until you get the hang of it. Low light is one example. Read a little, then take the camera to a dark venue and shoot, shoot, shoot. Always look at the images on a big screen, large, so you can see the grain and visual noise, as well as the blur. Then go back out and try again. There are thousands of free tutorials online, so just search for tips when you feel frustrated.