I See Red Dots!!!

I had intended to post a cute little story about WB and his ever-expanding vocabulary, but alas, that will have to wait another day.

I have an announcement:

I see red dots.

I see red dots and I know how to use them!!! Oh...people, this is big! You know, I want to be a photographer. I spend my spare time reading about photography, lusting after lenses and just plain trying to figure out how to take a better picture with my little "starter" camera. (Canon xsi) Well, by golly...I've turned a corner. The corner that takes you from blurry manual photos to FOCUS!! (With a little more practice, that is!) I'm so excited, I could just spit.

You know I stalk photography blogs. And, I've learned A LOT about photography and A LOT about photographers. I stalk the "great ones". The ones that just take great photos, and the ones that take great photos and create awesome art work, and the ones that do both and want to share their knowledge and passion. It is that last group...the ones that are secure enough in themselves to give...that inspire me. Sometimes people are a little sensitive about folks learning their business. Whatever...like I'll ever be "competition"...I'm a Midwestern housewife that just wants to capture of my family and friends. (Besides, if you think I'm givin' up the defined retirement benefit of my municipal gig before I hit 25 years, your nuts!)

At any rate, today thanks to folks like this, (and this, and this, and this), I GOT IT! They don't know me...but they teach me and I am SUPER grateful! And today....today I learned...I finally clued-in on how to move the red dots and lock focus! This little trick wasn't in my manual. The manual version was too hard for me to master quickly. And chasing Little Sister required a focusing solution that was fast. Moving the red focusing dots that you see in your viewfinder when you press your shutter button on your dslr means that you can make the focus concentrate on different areas of the picture. The top left corner, the bottom right corner, or on the most interesting place in the frame. This frees you up to "compose" a photograph.

And while I am thanking people, special thanks to my fellow AP (adoptive parent) Erin for her emails filled with info and encouragement. Just wait till her precious comes home and we get these two together to shoot!!

At any rate...

tonight...in the back yard...FULLY MANUAL and in FOCUS...my precious.....



Notice how the focus is on the eyebrow and falls off from there. (It is supposed to be the eye...but it is progress!)



OK, this one I REALLY love. No, not because she is crying! Because I shot through the trampoline netting. You can't even tell! By moving my red dot to focus on her face, it missed the net all together. Light bulb moment!)



Finally, a smile from the princess (and documentation of teeth grinding, an under bite and a future need for braces. But, ain't she cute?!! :). A great example of the 50mm lens. Of course, I only have a 1.8 (the poor man's version) but this was taken "wide open" at 1.8. (That is why the background is all blurry.) 50mm, 1.8, 1/250, iso 100.

What a great day! So much to learn...so far to go...but it is starting to click!