F-stop is not a swear word

Think about what happens to your eyes when you have been sitting in a dark movie theatre in the middle of the day and exit the theatre through the side door that goes directly outside.  You immediately squint your eyes because it is so bright, right?  The aperture of the camera works in the same way your eyes work.  (Well, I am hoping your eyes work because you might have a bit of a problem with photography if your eyes are not up to par). 

The number one job of a camera is to gather light.  This is accomplished by the aperture.  It opens and closes to increase or decrease the amount of light that is allowed in the camera to create an image.  The size of the aperture opening is represented by f/stops, i.e., f/2.8, f/8, f/16, etc.  Okay, now pay attention here because this is where lots of people get confused:  the larger the f/number, the smaller the aperture opening.  It works in the same way as an iris of an eye (that's the colored part of the eye), except we don't manually adjust the iris of our eyes to let in less or more light.  I will put in a plug here for READ YOUR MANUAL because a photographer should be in control of the camera, not the camera in control of the photographer.  Your manual might refer to f/stop as 'aperture value'.  Don't lose heart, it means the same.

If you look at the yellow image to the right, you will see 8 standard f/numbers next to an aperture size.  This is a good representation of the way light is allowed in the camera.  FYI, the aperture is located in the lens, not the camera.

With this information, now would be a good time to go practice using the different aperture sizes.  Take a notebook with you and write down the frame number, and the corresponding information about each image taken.  It would be very beneficial to see the differences in aperture size if you were to take all your test shots of the same setting.  For instance, you decide to practice on your flowers in your yard.  Your notes might look like this:

Frame #

1--f/16 at 60 (shutter speed).

2--f/16 at 125

3--f/11 at 60

4--f/11 at 125

etc.

When you upload the images to your computer, you will see the difference of the f/stops in the outcome of the image. 

I have a nice camera. Let's make some money!

Well, here goes!  My first ever post on a blog. 

How can I help YOU, is probably the first thing on your mind right now.  You could be saying to yourself, 'I have a nice camera.  I am going to make money taking pictures for people.'  Well, that is all fine and dandy, and I am so glad you have a nice camera.  Now, the question arises, 'Do you know how to use that camera?'  The first thing I tell anyone who receives an item of any kind, is 'read the instructions'.  This is SO over the top important for learning a camera.  If you have this really nice camera, say like a Canon Rebel, (which I know has all these really cool manual options for shooting that anyone would just drool over if you showed it to them) and you only used the camera set on AUTO mode (that's the little green rectangle on the mode dial) you would be wasting your money.  You could take the same pictures on a little point and shoot--and don't get me wrong, here.  Point and shoot cameras have a purpose and some of them are really good cameras.  But if you want to make money by taking pictures for someone else, you need to learn the camera and what it can do for you.
After you learn how to use your camera, then you can have some fun with it.  You will be the one in control of what the camera does--not the other way around.

So, now what do you do to get some work?  It costs an awful lot of money to advertise, but word of mouth is the cheapest form out there.  The first thing I would suggest is talk to your neighbors.  No matter where you live, you've got to have some neighbors, even if they live 13 miles away.  Ask them if they would be willing to let you photograph their family.  Now here is the real clincher--you should let them know it is free.  Yes, FREE.  You won't be using film, here, so you can shoot images to your hearts content, or until the card is full--so always have extra cards on hand. 

OK, back to the FREE family sitting.  You can even offer them a free print.  When they are a satisfied customer, they will tell two people, and they will tell two people, and so on and so on.  It works both ways here so I am subtly letting you know that you need to tell others about this blog.  OK, that wasn't really that subtle, but let them know that this is the place to follow if you want ideas and help. 

On this blog, I will be showing how some photos could be made better, i.e. positioning, hand placement, even body placement, lighting (the biggest element of photography).  I will also be talking about scrap booking (or as some husbands might refer to it-crap booking).  Your photos can take a 'crapbook' to a memory worth hanging on your wall.