Manual Tutorial #1 ~ Becoming Intimate with your Camera

Don't worry, we will keep this tutorial PG rated (okay G rated)... but there is a level of intimacy you need to learn and become comfortable with your camera.  I once read that the test to see if you truly know your camera is to take it into a dark room and be able to manage the settings.  When I first read this I laughed out loud... I mean really laughed out loud... because I could barely understand my settings with the lights on, let alone in a dark room.

Let's compare the relationship you have with your camera to the relationship you have with someone you are dating.  When you go on a first date, it is often clumsy, awkward, and tense.  As you begin to establish a relationship, you start to know their likes/dislikes and what makes them laugh.  When your relationship moves to a more serious level such as engagement or marriage, you often feel lost without your partner.... as if your hand was made to wrap around their hand, and your heart becomes connected to their heart ~ you become one...

Nothing Better to depict L.O.V.E. better than HEARTS

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© Corrie M Avila

This is the level of intimacy I am talking about.  When you first enter the world of photography, the camera feels heavy in your hand, you don't understand any of the settings (let alone how to turn the camera on and off), and trying to take photos becomes a stressful experience rather than an enjoyable one.  As you become more seasoned with your camera, you practice techniques, have a lot of trial and error, become frustrated, but always fall back in love.  When you and your camera move into a deeper level with each other, there is a moment of intimacy where there is no distinction between the casing of the camera body and your hand.  The lens becomes an extension of your eye and performs exactly how you want it to.  This is the moment where you and your camera are one.

Where are you at in your relationship with your camera?  Your homework for Tutorial #1 is to locate where on your camera these three settings are:

1. aperature
2. shutter speed (f/stop)
3. ISO

If you have an owner's manual, pull it out.  If you don't have one, look it up online and bookmark the webpage.  You are going to need it.

When you feel comfortable moving forward ~ move on to the second tutorial here.

Capturing the Moment

Corrie <3