Painting with Light

The fountain in the front has been photographed. So has the sprinkler, some flowerpots and my son's profile, his face and various other body parts. I love taking pictures, normally. This time I have to do homework,  and it is proving to be a little more demanding. I started the photography course at the Cape Town School of Photography this week. I was keen but a little nervous after blowing a few brain cells the last time I did a four-hour workshop. Glutton for punishment that I am, I signed up for a 10-week course.

The first session this week, although three hours long, felt more at my pace. Our lecturer explained apertures, shutter speed and light sensitivity to our motley group which ranged from those who had just finished school to those who were seeking a new career direction and those who were keen to simply learn how to use their fancy cameras. There were locals, foreigners, arty types, budding wild-life photographers and proud moms wanting to capture moments for posterity. 

I took many pictures of my children as they were growing up. I saw myself as the family record-keeper and we have pictures up all over our house. But as they got older and they each had a camera, I stopped taking pictures. It seemed like over-kill to have all of us brandishing cameras when we went anywhere. Hundreds of photos have been taken and are still on the computer. I missed taking pictures and having them developed though and last year I got a camera for my birthday.

I have taken some good pics with this camera but it somehow seems like cheating to be using it on the AUTO setting. It's more like the camera is taking the picture, rather than any great effort on my part. And, anyway this is my year of becoming more techno-savvy. I loved the definition of photography from the Greek - "painting with light" - that our lecturer used. I could feel the creative juices starting to flow. 

So now we have to produce three pictures as our first project, and I can't think of what to photograph. We also have to write down the details behind each photo (f-stop, shutter speed and ISO) - and it is really cool to know what that all means....now if I can just find the subject...