Week 4

    I didn't make a lot of progress this week. My original plan was to change the shutter speed and try take some photos. I truly believe with the research I have done that the shutter speed is the cause of the blurry pictures. Shutter speed is how much light is allowed in when you take a photo. A slower shutter speed  is generally used for those who take photos without a tripod. My shutter speed was set very low, so I changed it to 1/500 of a second in hopes it would capture the scenery clearly.
    Like I said, my agenda did not go as planned. With the sun going down long before I get off work, it's very difficult for me to find the time to take the pictures. I plan to use the time off over Christmas break to take good quality photos at the right time of day.

Week 3

    Hello everyone! Originally I was going to retake the blurry pictures I took last week, but The snow put a slight hold on that. I'm also trying to figure out the issues I am having with my camera. I'm trying to figure it out myself but I think I'm going to do some research online to solve the problems. I think it has something to do with the shutter speed, so that will be the first thing that I will research. If that doesn't work, then I will resort back to the general setup of the entire camera and restart.
    I have taken some photos on my iPhone that are unedited. They seem to be a lot easier than using my digital camera. With the limited settings, it makes taking photos simple and fun. Although I enjoy the simplicity and how good of pictures my iPhone takes, I think it is important for me to learn to use my digital camera; therefore, I will do whatever steps it takes to better myself and learn how to deal with the issues I am having now.

    By next week, I plan to have the issues fixed with my camera and have a few well-taken pictures to show you. I'm trying my best to overcome the challenges that this project is throwing at me. I feel that if I keep trying, I will eventually figure it all out.

Week 2

     Hello everyone! My second week of genius hour didn't go exactly as planned. Originally I was going to take multiple different pictures of landscapes and portraits, but I ran into some problems with my camera. the pictures that I took turned out blurry and not in the quality that I would have liked them. Although it didn't turn out the way I wanted to, I learned a lot about how my camera needs to be set.
     In my opinion, trial and error is one of the best ways to learn. Almost everything I have learned so far is a direct result of trial and error. I have been testing my camera and trying to find settings that best work for me before moving on to edit them. Although it hasn't been easy, I am accomplishing a couple of goals that I set before starting my genius hour. My first goal was to learn something. So far, I have learned that photography is not easy and that a camera has a lot more to it than I thought. My second goal was to have fun, and that has been easily obtained throughout the first two weeks.
     Next week I plan to retake the pictures that were blurry and start learning to edit. I downloaded Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 to my computer this week so I'm prepared to take the next steps in the following weeks.  I also plan to upload a couple pictures in my Week 3 blog to show you my progress and what I am working on.

Week 1

Hello everyone!

My first week of genius hour has been fairly simple and easy. I began by doing research on what I want my final project to be. I was originally going to create small photo albums with my favorite pictures after they have been edited to my liking. But after a small amount of research, I decided to present it in a much more formal way by creating a portfolio of before and after photos to show you how I have progressed through the trials and errors of photo taking and editing.

After I made the final decision on what to shoot for at the end of this 6 week learning experience, I started on the actual photography process. The logical first step to learning photography is getting a camera and learning how to use it. With my mother owning a very nice Nikon camera, I was set and ready to learn how to use it!

I quickly found out that a camera has A LOT of different formats and steps to taking a good quality picture. After messing with it for a few minutes, I reverted back to research. YouTube videos seemed to be the most helpful because they clearly showed how the buttons and formats worked. I followed along and quickly became more familiar with my camera and its functions.

Even after all of the videos and research, I still have more to learn about my camera. My next step will to go out and use it. I believe that trial and error is going to be the best way to learn more about it. I will continue to update my weekly progress and struggles of learning photography. Stay tuned...