Just Call Me a PhoBLOGrapher!

Hi friends :)

A few days ago I posted all about my new office. I was literally shocked that I got about 6 emails asking me what kind of camera I use. Imagine that, me a photographer?! HA! I was pretty excited though because I have been working my tail off to learn how to use my camera and take better photos. 

Let me just start by saying that I am NOT a professional photographer and that I am well aware that my pictures are not the best and certainly not professional quality. I have just recently begun learning how to work my camera in manual mode and I have nowhere to go but up from here :) I am having fun taking pictures and will share with you a few tips that I am learning along the way!

Here is my beautiful camera. It is a Canon Rebel T3. It is a Digital SLR camera. It is certainly not the most expensive one out there, but it works perfectly for what I need it for. If you are going to purchase one, I do recommend spending a bit more for the Canon Rebel T5. It has 18 megapixels while the T3 has 12.2.  More megapixels basically means that you will have more detail in your images. Be careful though, because more megapixels does not always mean it will capture better images. There are a few other differences as well, but I won't get into the technical mumbo jumbo. To sum it up, the T3 is fabulous for me and I love it. It is wonderful quality for the price. 

I have had my camera for about 2 years now and honestly haven't been using it as more than a 'point and shoot' for most of that time. This summer I finally decided that I would try to actually understand my camera and utilize the features and awesomeness that it has to offer. I started by taking a 3-hour DSLR for Beginners Class at my local photo store, CreativePhoto. At first I was like: woah, this is hard. And then it all started to click (pun intended) for me little by little. By the end of the class, I was much more confident with my skills. It does take practice though and I am still practicing every day to get better. I am not all that good right now, but hope to improve!

LENSES

The Rebel T3 is just the camera body.

There are many lenses that you can purchase to create different styles of photographs. 

Here are the lenses that I currently own:

Quick tip: see that blurry background? It is called "bokeh." I have heard it pronounced like "boca", but apparently the correct way to pronounce it is "bo-ke" bow (like in your hair) and ke (like at the beginning of the word kettle). Who knows. Anyway, the important thing to know is that when the photograph is focused on something with an out of focus background, the blurry background is called bokeh.

Most often when you buy the T3, it will come in some sort of bundle and will include the Canon 18-55 mm Standard Zoom Lens (the top picture). The numbers (18-55) are called the focal length and basically tell you how much your camera will zoom in and out. This was the only lens I had for a long time because I really didn't know any different. I've found that this is a great lens for everyday use.

The second lens is a Canon 75-300mm Telephoto Zoom Lens. I don't use this one very often. It is great for taking photos of things that are far away because you can really zoom in on it.

The last of my lenses is my favorite. The Canon 50mm lens. It is called a prime lens which means that it does not zoom in and out at all. It is my favorite lens to get the bokeh effect with.

I seriously want a few more lenses but MAN are they expensive. I currently have a wide-angle lens on my wishlist :)

There are three important things that you need to know in order to make the most of your camera: aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. I will not even pretend to go into all of the specifics about them because I am still learning myself. I did find some amazing tutorials on Kevin & Amanda that have been extremely helpful to me. I seriously suggest taking a class first though because it can be pretty hard to understand things without having someone explain things first. At least it was for me :)

Here are some awesome tutorials they have:

A Quick Guide to Understanding Your DSLR Camera

What Settings Should I Use: Part 1 ... Part 2

What Lens Should I Use?

Here are few of my favorite snapshots that I have taken recently:

Here's hoping I get better!! The thing is, I'm trying not to stress about whether they are 'professional quality' or not because let's face it, I'm just a regular kindergarten teacher using a regular camera taking pictures of regular stuff.  It's all good though because it's just so much fun to take pictures!

Share some pictures with me :)

I have a few new places to be found.

Did you notice the new tabs across the top?!

Click on those to see new things about me! 

Also, can you come stalk me please? That would be great.

Love you all!

XO K