A New Hobby for a New Year

Me, with Pike's Peak in the background, testing out the self-timer feature on my camera.

 I have always been interested in photography, and at the end of last year, I decided to take the plunge and buy a Digital SLR. After doing some research, I settled on a Canon EOS Rebel T5. I got the camera, an 18-55mm lens, a telephoto lens, a macro lens, some filters, a tripod, and a boat-load of other accessories. When the box arrived, I was super excited, and then, quickly, became really overwhelmed. The lenses, the filters, not to mention all the different settings on the camera! And, the acronyms, ISO, DOF, HDR, OIS...WTF was I thinking?!? I just spent a decent amount of money and I honestly have no clue how any of this works. I opened everything, put the camera and lenses in the little bag, and there it sat for a few weeks. I read the manual, played with the camera a little, and put it back in the bag. The next day, I ordered Canon EOS T5/1200D for Dummies, and it arrived, I skimmed it, and decided it was finally time to take the camera out for a spin.

I bit off A LOT more than I could chew for my first outing. I want to photograph my family (of course) landscapes, wildlife, and the night sky. So, I chose the night sky to go with first. Greaaaaaaat idea. We live in a city of nearly 500,000 people, and multiple military installations. It's hard to find a place without a lot of light pollution so you can actually see the stars. I asked Tom if we could go out one night, and try to take a few shots of the stars. After, hours of driving around, we finally settled on a gravel road east of the Springs, and south of Schriever Air Force Base. We stopped and got out, and I started to unload all the equipment, while Tom took a smoke break. I also had to pee (after the hours of driving and a hot cocoa) so, I'm getting ready to go, and Tom jumps around the backside of the car and damn near scared the piss out of me, literally. I cussed. A lot. (Strange, right?!) We should have just packed it up after that. But, after nearly 45 minutes in the freezing cold, I decided I thought I had some 'ok' shots to work with. When we got home, I looked at the photos on the camera display. They were all dark. Really dark. Like totally, 100% pitch black. Well, fuck. I put everything away, and there it sat, underneath our bed while we went to Idaho for Christmas, and for a few weeks after we got home.

This guy let me take so many photos! What a good subject.

Finally, on Wednesday, when it was crazy snowy, I decided to go out to Garden of the Gods and get some good snowy landscape shots. I took a lot of photos. Then, while driving through the north side of the park, I spotted a buck with six does. I parked, got my camera around my neck, and started out into the snow. I took more pictures. I got some good shots of the deer, but there are snowflakes everywhere, in every shot. So, I started researching editing software. Again, I was overwhelmed, almost immediately. I don't know my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to this stuff! I am going to look for a class I can attend, so I can learn what is what, why certain settings are used in certain situations, and what programs are good for beginning editing.

After really looking at the photos I took on Wednesday, I decided that I would use the editing software that came with the camera, I would read my book, and just go out and take photos. I wasn't going to be afraid to take a bad photo anymore! I live in a really beautiful place, and there are tons of people out taking photos everyday. So, Thursday when I woke up, and saw it was going to be absolutely beautiful, I put Alex on the bus, showered, dressed and got my camera bag, and headed back to Garden of the Gods.

Balanced Rock

I took a ton of photos, I played with the settings, the lighting, tried to compose what I thought would be a good shot and had fun. Lots of fun! I didn't look at any of the pictures until I got home, and I like quite a few of the photos. After transferring everything from the my SD card to the laptop, I opened up the editing program and got to work. The stunning orange of the rocks in Garden of the Gods is sometimes lost in the photos, but it was super easy to bring back with the editing program, and once I did that, the blue of the sky just popped. I know I have a lot to learn, but I'm excited to see what kind of shots I can get and capture lots of memories! You can bet that I will be loading up my camera, stopping off at Dutch Bros. for a yummy drink, and getting out to capture the beauty of Colorado.

I took this shot looking south through Garden of the Gods.

One of my attempts at being creative.

 If any of you have any photography tips, tricks, ideas, shooting suggestions,  or even constructive criticism, please let me know! I am super new at this and would love to learn from anyone that is willing to teach.

Photography is my new adventure! This was taken with the macro lens with the lid in focus and the Garden in the background.