AbsurdBeats

So, my return has been a little slower than planned—good intentions and all that… *hand wave*

Also, it’s been so long that WordPress has completely changed the back-end interface and, y’know, I get sulky around these kinds of changes. Until I get used to them.

Anyway, I bought a new (used) camera recently and, whoo, talk about needing to learn something—many things!—new, yeah. I made the leap to digital (mirrorless, actually), and not only is there all of the stuff about SLR photography I forgot, there’s everything that this camera can do. I got an adapter for my favorite SLR lens (23-85mm), so there’s at least one thing I’m comfortable with, but everything else? Ha.

I did initially poke around its features, going back and forth between the manual and the camera and managed to take a few test shots in my apartment, but I knew that the only way to get used to the camera was, well, to use the camera.

So I took it to Prospect Park and shot around. I played with different film types (an option on my camera, a Fujifilm XT-4) ISOs and apertures, leaving the shutter speed on auto (I think…). It’ll be awhile before the old knowledge comes back, but the nice thing about digital is that I can take a bunch of pics without having to worry about wasting film—that makes it a lot easier to just get out there and experiment.

Anyway, here are some of the results:

Pavilion near the southeast entrance to the park.

Bridge near boathouse.

Tunnel to boathouse.

There are more, but you get the idea: not great, not terrible.

I haven’t done any post-production on them (I currently have GIMP loaded on my computer, although my niece recommends Adobe Lightroom)—that’s another set of skills I’ll have to develop, along with adding a watermark.

Still, this first venture out was good. I managed to get some shots, experiment a bit, and not be too self-conscious behind the camera. A ways to go, but I am at least on my way.