Last week I started for Darrah Parker’s Slice of Life Photography class.
I now have three cameras (four if include my cell phone, which has taken the place of my old Sony point and shoot), and needed some motivation to get back behind the viewfinder(s). 
From left to right- I have my dad’s Canon AE1, an SLR camera my uncle bought for him in Japan in the late 70’s; a Nikon A70, an SLR given to me by a long-time friend, and my own Sony HX1 bridge camera. My bipolar love affair.
Both the Canon and Nikon are film.
Film!? Is she serious? Yes, they still sell film. Yes, they still develop film.
I brought the Canon to NYC in December, and shooting with film again is, well, terrifying. The Canon is completely manual. The Nikon, which I haven’t been able to shoot with yet, is completely automatic. Both have a learning curve, but I think it’s going to make me a better photographer.
Last week, our first assignment was Home; we were to capture what is important to use and what makes us feel at home. I decided to use the Sony HX1 for this assignment since I was shooting indoors and I’m more familiar with how to adjust. And shooting with film is, well, terrifying.
This is my favourite photo from week 1. My aunt gave each of her nieces a Haida ring as a way of being close to use. She lives in British Columbia, and we all live in Ontario. My ring is the Raven. I wear it every day, and feel naked without it. I only take it off to shower, or when I have to put lotion on. When I do take it off, I usually place it on the bathroom counter, or on my bedroom dresser. But I’ve been known to leave it on my desk, on my coffee table, and then go into a full blown panic when I don’t see it on the bathroom counter. I received the ring bowl as a gift from a friend, so now my ring has a place to live, when it’s not on my finger.
Since I’m playing catch up, here’s my favourite photo (so far) from week 2. Our second week assignment was Routine. I make the coffee first thing when I get up, so I can sip it as I’m getting ready for work. I chose to edit this photo in black and white; partly because the makeup palette was too distracting for me, but also to show that I’m not really awake at this point in the morning. I was also looking for an excuse to use the book my mom got me for my birthday two weeks ago- “The Photoshop Elements 8 book for digital photographers” by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski (another bonus to using the Sony digital camera for this assignment). Since the Sony HX1 is a bridge camera, I don’t have all the options a DSLR camera would have, and one of those options is to shoot in RAW. However, with my new Photoshop Elements 8 book, I learned that I can open a Jpeg in RAW format and edit! Who knew?!
So here’s my photo, entitled “Beauty”, edited to black and white using RAW in Photoshop 8.
I’m loving the course so far and being back behind the camera, instead of just using it for an event, or an outing. I’m also looking forward to really exploring what Photoshop Elements can do, now that I have this great book. I hope to share a picture with you each week, as a way to document my progress through the course, and as a way to get back to blogging on a regular basis.
Happy {Slice of Life} Saturday!
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