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Putting on the Lens Cap

Posted on by daniellemh721

Just a few short months ago, I entered a class at Westfield State University called “Writing for Interactive Media”. We were shown a Ted talk about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story“. After we watched that, we were then told to write a blog on any topic we wanted to write about. We had to talk about it in a way that differed from the stereotypical viewings of our topic and offered a new perspective on our topic. After a lot of thought and consideration, I settled on something that I really enjoy doing. Photography.

I very much enjoyed writing this blog and coming up with things every week to write about. It helped me continue to regularly take photos on my camera and also allowed me to have a place to show others my photography. As the end of the semester is upon us, I have decided to wrap up my blog.

I would like to thank my readers for keeping updated on my posts. I’m not a professional photographer at all, but I hope that my readers did learn a thing or two from reading my posts. My goal was to pass on what I have learned from photography to others learning photography. In addition to learning, I also hope that my readers enjoyed reading my posts as much as I enjoyed updating them every week.

One of my main goals during the duration of this blog was to create a deeper meaning to the world of photography and to bring into attention a different perspective of this topic. It’s not simply pressing a button and getting a beautiful picture. It involves a lot of planning and learning our equipment to be able to capture stunning pictures. I hope that my readers who aren’t photographers, have developed a new appreciation to the world of photography and the people in it. I hope that they realize how people can use photography to express themselves.

If you have regularly read my posts, you probably know by now that my favorite type of photography is nature photography. I love taking photos of nature for many reasons. If you would like to continue to view nature photographs, I highly suggest giving “Tofino Photography” a visit. On their blog, you will be able to see the many pictures of animals they take. I find it very interesting to see their posts and to see how they were able to capture the animals in their natural environment.

I am going to keep this post short and sweet. I want to end by thanking my readers for giving me an audience to write to. I also want to thank my professor, Prof. Nimkoff, for giving me the opportunity to create this blog.

Remember to always keep your finger on the shutter button and to never stop taking photographs. Please enjoy a couple of my favorite subjects to photograph, my cats! Adios!

Enhancing Lives with Photography

Posted on by daniellemh721

One of the things I have wanted to explore during the duration of this blog was how we are able to express ourselves through the art of photography. I began to think deeper into the world of photography and ask myself questions to better understand how we can do this. How can we learn more about ourselves through photography? Can we use photography to get ourself into a better mental state? If you too are interested in these questions, then this is the post for you.

I discovered my interest in photography a little over a year ago when I was enrolled in a photography class last spring semester. I went into that class not knowing anything about photography or what kinds of photographs I liked. But I quickly learned what kinds of photography fascinated me more than others and how we can express ourself through these photos.

I quickly learned that I have a great interest in taking photos of nature and that close up pictures showing a flowers’ detail fascinated me. I learned that when I feel the need to escape from the real world, I can take my camera outside and take photos of nature and I will end up in a much better mood. Photography gives me the opportunity to enter my own little world.

I never noticed how much I learned from photography. I began to pay attention to the little details in nature and life which made me realize why photography is so important. It’s the only way we can freeze a moment in time forever and preserve the feeling we had in that very minute.

That is why I find it so important to take a lot of photographs. Life goes by so fast and we often pass up the opportunity to take a photo. But when we stop and take a photo, we give ourselves the chance to slow down and appreciate the little things in life.

I also feel that slowing down and appreciating the little things in life can allow us to improve our mental health. The fast paced world we live in can take a toll on our mental health and photography is a way that we can help improve our mental state.

We can allow ourselves to destress through photography by entering a non-stressful world entirely filled with our photography. Stress is one of the leading causes of depression. By eliminating stress from our lives, we can greatly decrease our chances of developing depression.

I can speak from experience. Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I can go outside and focus on photography and I find it makes me in a much better mood.

I believe there is a lot more to photography than people think. It’s not just clicking the shutter button. That’s why I think that photography is such an important thing in our lives. I highly encourage everyone to try and take more photos and if you need a reason to take photos, try starting a blog! A blog is a great way to share our photos with people who share the same interest as us.

Photography, like any other art or hobby, can be a way to improve our lives by letting us focus on the beauty in life rather than everyday problems.

Being Creative inside while quarantined

Posted on by daniellemh721

They always say a picture is worth a thousand words which is why it’s always such a good idea to take pictures of something that means a lot to you.

During this quarantine, it can be tough for photographers or aspiring-to-be photographers to get some good subjects. Not being able to leave the house may make it difficult for some to get good subjects, but that’s not always the case.

There are many things you can take pictures of from around the house. I personally think that the best in-house subjects are subjects you feel a sentimental value towards. It’s a lot easier to take a photo of something you deeply care about than it is to take a photo of something you have no feelings for

I’ve chosen a couple of my sentimental photos to show you guys reading this post.

This first one is a picture of my old family cat Snoopy. This photo reminds my family about what a great cat he was and we have his old collar displayed on the frame of the photo. Being able see a photo of him gives my family great joy every time we see it.

The second photo is of my fiddle. I have been playing the fiddle for a number of years and this instrument means a lot to me. This picture represents my life for the past 13 years I’ve been playing and it’s a nice reminder of memories I’ve made because of playing the fiddle.

When you run out of sentimental things to photograph, don’t panic! There are still many things from around your house that you can take photos of. By using your imagination or inspiration from other photographers, you can take a great photo of anything. They can be just ordinary things that you don’t take a second glance at during your day. But with with some magic with your camera, you can make them into beautiful objects.

Here are some of my personal favorite photos taken from just around the house.

At home photography can open your eyes to see that there’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. And unlike outdoor photography, you can take the photos no matter what the weather is like. I highly encourage my readers to try out this kind of photography and you may even come out with some great still life photography.

Happy photographing!

Capturing Light

Posted on by daniellemh721

As with anything, there is a lot to learn with photography. Not only do you need to learn everything about the physical camera is but you also have to learn how all the elements in the camera work together to create a good photo.

Learning how everything works together can be quite difficult which is why most people just shoot in automatic but there are scenes that in order to get your preferred result, you can’t just shoot in automatic.

I have always been fascinated by nighttime cityscape photography. A few weeks ago, I decided to try it but surprise surprise, it wasn’t as easy as the tutorial made it look.

https://create.adobe.com/2018/3/30/getting_into_night_p.html

The video I saw made it seem pretty simple. It gave me almost the exact settings I needed. A low ISO, aperture at f/9, shutter speed at 25 (my camera couldn’t go longer than 15 seconds). It seemed really simple.

But as I tried my first shot, I found out it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. I didn’t get any good photos. I wasn’t expecting to get professional quality photos on the first try but I expected something better than what I got.

I haven’t gone out for a second attempt since then. It’s been a little hard with being quarantined until further notice. But I will try again.

My goal is to get a good shot of the cityscape at night and I won’t stop until I do. So I’ve been thinking about what went wrong with my last attempt.

First, I need to watch a lot more videos. Just watching one video won’t teach me how to do flawless nighttime, long exposure photography. For my readers who are interested in this, here’s a video I think you will find helpful!

https://create.adobe.com/2018/3/30/getting_into_
night_p.html

Another thing I should do prior to my next attempt, is that I should experiment more with long exposure photography before I go out and shoot. There are a couple ways I think I could experiment. Taking a picture of the exterior of my house at night would allow me to experiment with the setting with the subject being closest to a cityscape. Another way I could set up an experiment at home is to set up string lights in a dark room. I could then photograph them from as far away as I could get.

These little at home experiments aren’t proven to work but I’d like to try them before I try to shoot the city next time. Even though they’re not the same as a city, the settings would be similar and would give me a better idea of the settings.

It’s amazing how many different aspects of photography there are. This is only one little feature in photography and I will eventually learn it. Remember, when trying something new, if you don’t at first succeed, try try again.

Quarantine chat

Posted on by daniellemh721

Once again, like one of my most recent posts, I am going to be switching gears and write about the word-wide pandemic we’re in right now.

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to get out of my house and get life back to normal. And my family is also ready. I decided to ask my mother a few questions about her thoughts on the current situation we’re in now.

My mother is currently doing stuff around the house to keep busy. She’s cleaning and keeping the house as close to normal to keep everyone from getting stressed out. She is also giving a lot of thought into planning meals with ingredients we already have so she can limit the amount of times we have to leave to go into the grocery store. Housework isn’t the only thing she does. She’s been knitting and doing puzzles to also help keep her busy.

Almost all of my immediate family is hunkering down at home together. My oldest sister is at her apartment. The presence of my father, sisters, and myself is what is helping my mother cope throughout this pandemic. Our three cats are also helping and providing entertainment for everyone here.

The cats are one thing that still feels normal in my mothers life. Her daily routine of feeding them hasn’t changed a bit. However, the lesser fun task of laundry hasn’t changed. If anything, it’s increased with everyone home. I guess there are some annoying tasks that even a world-wide pandemic can’t stop…

When I asked her about what doesn’t feel normal, my mother replied with “the world seems like a much scarier place”. I’m sure we can all relate to her when she said that and I also think we can all agree with her that the news has become scary too. As said in previous posts, my sisters and I are usually very busy. With this quarantine, we are all home and this, even though it’s nice, is another thing that feels unnormal to my mother.

My mother has never been through anything like this. She told me “The closest thing I have experienced to this has been working in an isolation ward at a hospital. This is way different because I can’t just clock out and go home to my normal life. This is totally worldwide and it feels like there’s no escape.” It seems crazy to me that our everyday life now reminds my mother at her time working in the hospital. I myself didn’t think it would get this bad.

The last question I asked my mother made her sort of try to predict the future. I asked her if she thinks that everything will go back to normal and what kind of things she believes she will change. She told me that she doesn’t believe that everything will go completely back to normal. She believes that after this is all over, people will forever be more cautious. Every aspect of our lives will be different, from going out to eat to just general socialization. People won’t take for granted the safe life we used to have. She also believes that people will loose a bit of trust and innocence from this pandemic. People won’t feel as safe with small gestures, such as a simple handshake.

I hope all of my readers are being safe. This is all for this post. Remember, stay inside and just be patient. This, like all other bad things, will too pass ! 🙂

A Family Tradition

Posted on by daniellemh721

My family doesn’t have a ton of traditions we really follow. Sure, every year we are the ones to host holiday gatherings, but other than that, we don’t really have many things we always do year after year.

There is one exception though. My family always takes a Christmas picture every year, even though not everyone still lives at home.

I have four older sisters and we are all busy with work and our fast paced lives. It’s not often when all of us are home at the same time especially seeing as though my oldest sister is living on her own. Even with our busy schedules, we always find a time to come together and take a Christmas picture to send out to friends and family.

Taking this picture may not seem like a lot to us, but to my mother, it means a lot.

Just recently, my mother put together a family photo album of just our Christmas pictures. As I was looking at it, I could then tell why this holiday tradition means so much to her.

I was looking over the pictures and it was very interesting to see how my sisters and I changed year to year. This photo album showed us growing up. It’s a kind of sentimental feeling that is hard to describe.

Here are just some of my families Christmas pictures throughout the years. Unfortunately, due to the recent crash of my parents laptop, we have lost some of our original files to the photos so I had to result to taking pictures of the pictures.

I encourage everyone, once you’re all settled down whether, you have a significant other, a family, or just with friends, to try and start this tradition. It can take as little as five minutes to shoot a photo. I promise that after a few years of taking a Christmas picture, you will be able to share the same sentimental feeling as I do.

Just Quarantine Things

Posted on by daniellemh721

I’m going to be switching gears this post and instead of writing about photography, I am going to focus on what’s going on in the world right now. The coronavirus aka COVID-19.

As many of you guys know, the coronavirus has been going around China for a while now, but just recently became a huge factor in our lives. It quickly spread throughout the U.S. leaving a trail of closed schools and businesses in its wake.

The virus has affected me and my family in a number of ways.

I am currently hunkering down at home and trying my best not to leave. My parents and all but one of my sisters are also at home. We are all combining efforts to help my parents out so they don’t need to leave the house much. As of right now, we are all in good physical health but the boredom has us all questioning our sanity… You know how in The Shining Danny goes crazy being locked up in the hotel all winter? Yeah we’re trying to not end up like him.

Not much feels normal in my life right now. I went from almost never being home to not leaving my house at all. Both of my jobs have been closed so I quote Spongebob when I say “I’m Fun-Employed”. Just like him, I’m not accommodating well to this lifestyle…

Oh yeah, and all of my college classes are online so it’s been fun completing that with spotty internet.

I guess the only thing that still feels normal in my life is my excessive watching of The Office and my coffee addiction. But even those are starting to feel different. My family doesn’t normally go through 20 cups of coffee in a day. Oops.

I have been finding it quite hard to keep myself busy. I’ve begun to excessively clean my room which actually has worked in passing the time. But I also do that to procrastinate doing homework. Which is why I’m writing this post half an hour before it’s due. Sorry Prof. Nimkoff…

The question to whether I was originally sane before staying at home for so long is debatable. I have been questioning my sanity for a few years now. I think the refrigerator has been helping me to keep my sanity but I think I should start to practice social distancing from that too. I will think of other things to keep my sanity but lets be honest, can any of us actually define what it is to “be sane”?

So this is what I’ve been doing during this pandemic. I’d love to hear what you guys have been doing!

Searching for subjects

Posted on by daniellemh721

Do you ever have trouble finding things to photograph? Yeah me too.

Not being able to find an interesting subject is very discouraging. But I’d like to share what I have found helps me when I’m in a creative slump.

What helps me the most is combining hobbies and interests with photography. I encourage you guys to try this. For example, I really like hiking in edition to photography. So recently on one of our nicer days, I went for a hike. I took this opportunity to take pictures and I found it easy to find subjects and get good shots. Here are a couple of my photos from the top of Mt. Tom in Holyoke.

Quick photography tip! If you haven’t noticed, when I’m taking a picture of a view, I like to have different perspectives in the shot. By this I mean including a tree or cliff that’s close to me with the view in the background. I find it adds a lot more depth to your pictures. But if you want simpler pictures that will limit viewers attention to the view, those pictures also come out great!

If you don’t like hiking, don’t worry, you’re not limited to getting out and being active just to take some photos. You can photograph other interests. Obsessed with your animal? Take tons of photos of them.

You can also use photography to try and gain new hobbies and interests. Use it as an excuse to go outdoors or to goto a new event. You can also meet new people and join a photography club.

You can also use photography to draw attention to issues around you. For example, take pictures of homeless animals in shelters to spread awareness for the need of funds or adoptions. You can take photos of these animals and post them for people to see and you may even find an animal a new forever home.

The uses for photography are limitless. So what will you photograph today?

A Snapshot from the Past

Posted on by daniellemh721

Have you ever given any thought to how much photography has changed from the past to now? Well you’ve come to the right post. I have a few fun facts, some that may surprise you.

Nowadays, you’re able to pull out your phone and take a picture in a matter of what? 5 seconds? If that. Even if you have a slow phone, you still have a quicker photography experience than what they had when they captured the first known photo.

This brings us to, fun fact #1!

Did you know, that the first photo ever taken was by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in either 1826 or 1827 and the exposure lasted 8 hours? From what we can do now in a fraction of a second, depending on the shutter speed, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce had to wait eight hours. Despite the long wait, his photo was still grainy. But hey, he still captured the first known photo. I’d say that’s an accomplishment.

Fun fact #2!

Do you think that it’s cool to take aerial photography? It’s so easy nowadays because all you need to get is a drone which can be relatively cheap, depending on the quality desired.

But back in the day, an aerial photograph was a lot harder to take. Gaspar Felix Tournachon, who was also known as “Nadar”, was a french photographer and balloonist. He had to go all the way up in a balloon to take the first ever aerial shot of Paris, let alone the first aerial shot in the world. It took him three years of experimenting to get this historic shot.

But now, you can take a photo with both feet on the ground and a controller in hand while the drone does all the work in a matter of minutes and get an amazing shot. Ah, so much easier.

Fun Fact #3!

Cameras nowadays can be incredibly small. Just think about the cameras in our phones. They take up relatively no space at all. Phones can have cameras that are just as good of quality as a digital camera but are a heck of a lot smaller.

Well, the astronauts who went to the moon for the first time in 1969, left their cameras on the moon. Litterbugs… 12 Hasselblad cameras were left behind because because they’d be too heavy to bring home. Instead, our astronauts decided to bring home rocks . Personally, I’d rather have the cameras. Legend has it, they’re still on the moon today.

Technology changes so fast, so who knows, maybe in 20 years there will be a blog post containing fun facts about our cameras today. But for now, happy photographing. Enjoy not needing to wait hours or days for a picture to come out!

Capturing Nature

Posted on by daniellemh721

I’ve been practicing photography for just over a year now. I have found, that my favorite thing to photograph is nature.

Nature is everywhere, which means that there’s a subject for someone to photograph no matter where you are. Nature can even be found in a big city. There are grass patches and trees which could allow for a great nature photograph.

I live in a woodsy area which is probably how I began to love photographing nature. I find it very relaxing and on a nice day, it allows you to spend some time outside.

In my opinion, I think that if more people take the time to go around outside and take photos, they will learn a new appreciation for nature and its beauty. They will also gain more respect for the world and will hopefully take efforts to preserve it by not trashing the planet. Imagine taking a great photo but then seeing a McDonalds cup photobombing your sunset.

Photographing nature is also a good way for beginner photographers to learn their way around their camera. We have no control over the lighting outside which is a good way for beginner photographers to learn how to adjust the ISO and aperture. Learning how to control these allows us to understand how to control the lighting in our photographs for the best results.

The next thing that nature photography allows us to learn are the different focusing techniques. Flowers are a great subject to learn focusing on because if it’s a calm day, they don’t move on their own. A still subject is the easiest to photograph.

Lastly, I believe nature photography is the best learning technique because we can learn how to control the shutter speed. The shutter speed is how long a cameras shutter is open. A faster shutter speed will allow us to photograph moving things without them being blurry. There are so many moving subjects in nature that we can experiment with. Such as a bee buzzing around a flower.

There are many different ways to learn photography but I found capturing nature as being the most helpful. So why don’t you try it out today?