I’ve always loved capturing moments with whatever camera I had at the time. For many years it was a classic 70’s camera with the cube flash. Remember these babies:

You had four flashes which meant your picked your subject carefully – in theory. In reality, there were many an over-exposed picture, depicting a blurry mass of chaos that was kids running around. Ahh, the memories.

Remember film? You had to take the film to the drug store and wait for a week for it to be developed. You waited with giddy anticipation  for your envelope of blurry photos. If you were lucky, there was one or two keepers, and these are the ones that fill your memories of the past.

I still take tons of pictures with my phone. Some to document my life; some to feel artsy; and some to prove to my husband that the grocery store was out of Swiss Cheese crackers.

I’m fortunate that my new job requires me to be the resident photographer. But what that means is that I need to really learn how to use a fancy camera and hone my photography skills.

I have the basics of photography down: aperture, shutter speed, ISO. I’m learning to put it all together when composing a shot and still getting the shot I want. I’m currently working on learning to shoot in manual mode. I screw-up a lot – the exposure is good, but the composition is crap or vice versa. I’m learning it’s about finding the balance between it all.

I’m terrible at using a flash. Every photo I take with a flash is starkly lite, creating a horror movie feel. And the people in them–horrifying. They wear the shocked faces of those captured on haunted house carnival ride, their pupils wide with red eye craziness. Not good. I’ve got a flash training session lined-up, so that should help.

All this to say that I’m doing the Expert Photography 30 Day Photography Challenge. If you want to improve your photography skills, this is the challenge for you. Join me and share your photos.