Photography Class

So my beautiful wife signed me up for photography classes as part of my Christmas gift this year and I had the first class this last Wednesday.  I have to say - I'm pretty excited.  I've been geeking out about photography for the past 15 months (since I got my camera) reading blogs, checking out all the equipment I would like to buy, etc.  The first class was about what I had expected a beginner's class would be.  She covered the basics of a DSLR camera and got a feel for what everyone expected out of the class, but some of the topics that she said we would be discussing are exactly what I am wanting.  Sections on lighting and composition, flashes, RAW vs JPEG.  For our first class she told us she wanted us to use some of the other setting on our camera.  I have been primarily Manual ever since I started reading the aforementioned blogs and they said the only way to really learn the basics is to use Manual.

Anyway, I went out last night with Elena and decided to use the Program setting.  I think I really like it for some basic photography.  Benefits of Program would be that it is almost all Auto.  I don't have to worry about shutter speed or aperture.  I only worry about ISO and white balance.  A downfall would be that Program mode would not be good for action shots of Elena (since that is how she rolls right now.)  =)  These pictures were taken at my parent's house with my dad's new Canon T3i (I'm a little jealous.)

Dead of Winter

I've always been taken by the photos taken in the dead of winter that have that dreary and desolate feel to them.  I'm not sure I can explain why I find them so interesting but there's just something about them.  There is one particular picture that I have hanging in my living room that truly exemplifies that feeling, it is called Winter Serenity by William Neill.  When I first got the picture I thought I was buying a B&W picture.  It wasn't until I got the picture home and had my face 3 inches from the picture while hanging it that I saw the faint colors of the cliffs and trees.  It is just a remarkable picture that I am continually amazed by every time I look at it.  The picture I've posted below is a picture of a bridge on a running trail north of where I live.  I was particularly taken at the supporting structure (although admittedly I didn't realize at the time just how poor the bracing looked.  Maybe because I was freezing my tail off.)  Anyway when I got the pictures home and downloaded, this was definitely the picture that stood out to me.