Through an interesting set of circumstance worthy of its own post, I came into possession recently of a perfectly functioning Minolta X-370 SLR camera. Since I’ve decide to embark on some travelling during my newly found, uh, freedom from work obligations, I thought it would be fun and exciting to get more involved in photography. But since funds are low and tied up in other projects I wanted a cheap, amateur solution, and the X-370 is a good, cheap solution for beginners.
Then, last weekend, as I was wondering around DC I ended up in a used book store. By pure happenstance I came across a section on photography and sticking half-way out of the shelf was The Amateur Photographer’s Handbook (6th Edition) by Aaron Sussman. Now, the book is 48 years old, but it was in pretty good condition and just 6 bucks, so I picked it up. It’s a pretty useful little book, contains excellent insight and is endearingly quirky in it’s prose. Sussman’s passion over photography really comes through in wonderfully descriptive metaphors.
One day you’re walking around grim and growling, like Herman Melville just before an escape to sea. Then, suddenly, you have a loaded camera in your hand and all is well.
Which, you know, is 100% correct … and encouraging!
I’m glad I picked up the book, though, because after my first roll of film it’s clear I have some learning to do. (This is a lie. It’s actually my third roll of film. The first I accidentally re-coiled back into the roll before taking one shot, and the second I neglected to properly press the release button, split it in half, and then exposed it to sunlight while figuring the former out. Blagh!) I thought I wasn’t too-bad a photographer with my Canon Elph and my iPhone, but my suppose-to-be rich and colorful shots of DC’s famed Cherry Blossums turned out faded and pale.
Then yesterday I saw this chart, and all was clear; I definitely have a long way to go.
