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Photography

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- StumbleUpon. Solar Nirvana / 6 November 2011. Photo Tips and Techniques for Beginners. I remember the day I got my DSLR camera in the mail-- I had saved up for months to buy my little Nikon D40 and I watched the postal tracking code like my dog waits for her food in the mornings. (So. Excited.) :) When my brown Amazon box finally came, my heart was beating so fast that I could barely cut open the tape.

I took out the Nikon and held it in my hands-- that weight and feel is so familiar to me today. I started taking pictures right away, the same photos that everyone takes with a new camera: everything that is in direct sight. My hands, the countertop, the microwave, my feet, the cat, a pile of newspapers. Back then, I didn't have a clue as to what in the heck I was doing. I had video experience and I've always been that person who carries a camera with them... This photo: ISO: 400, f/2.8, Shutter: 1/30, taken in Wyoming at the Grand Tetons National Park, summer 2011. I think that composition is the first, easiest, most fun, and most important lesson to learn in photography. The hobby room: Holiday Lights Bokeh. I am a huge fan of bokeh (the blurring of background objects of lights in photos) and with an abundance of holiday lights at this time of year, bokeh light sources are readily available.

Here are some examples with the boys, taken in front of our Christmas tree and at an outdoor light display. (Looks like Camo does the same pose everywhere, huh?) Regular old round bokeh is great, but have you seen pictures with shaped bokeh? So cool. I Heart Faces has some great tutorials on taking bokeh photos, but also on how to make your own shaped bokeh filter.

And all it takes is basic supplies you already have laying around. I have been meaning to do this for the whole of December and now that I've been threatened with the tree coming down, I finally got around to it. I went about it a little differently because my paper punch didn't go far enough across the page to put the hole in the center of the circle I cut out. Here is what you need to do: Measure the width of the glass part of your UV filter. PicMonkey - Photo Editing Made of Win.