Week 6, Day 3

Day 3 I attempted to take pictures of the moon, which was pretty tricky. This was the first time I used a tripod, which was pretty fun! I can tell you that I am learning a lot about my learning style. I went through years of schooling, but for some reason I have become even more intune with my brain and how it works or doesn't work. This is a little off topic, but I want to give you a little insight into my brain. First, I can be a little self conscious when I'm learning something new and then get frustrated at myself when I don't understand. Perfect example is the game The Settlers of Catan. My best friend LOVES this game, and for some reason my mind just could not figure out the strategy of the game. I would get so frustrated with myself because I was embarassed that I couldn't figure it out, and didn't know why my brain could not comprehend it. But I was determined to learn, so Rebecca and I sat down last Saturday and walked through the game. I looked up rules online, Rebecca knew how to play so she taught me, and I played along. And I finally figured it out! It's almost as if my mind needs to read how to do it, actually do it, and be explained how to do it all at the same time. Of course it will take practice, but I'm in a much better place, and I was actually able to play a decent game with my friend!

All this to say that as I'm learning about the camera and how to use it, there are a couple things that I'm trying to wrap my mind around. I'm still trying to get the shutter and the aperture figured out. I will attempt to explain, and hopefully explain it correctly since Rebecca reads this blog! The shutter decides how long the film is exposed to the light, so if you want more light in the picture the shutter needs to be open longer. When you look through Rebecca's camera there is a number on the bottom of the screen that represents the shutter speed. The lower the number, the longer the shutter is open. The higher the number, the shorter the shutter is open. See, maybe I actually just needed to write it out to understand, but when I'm standing there taking the picture it's hard for me to remember that. I just need to practice!

Rebecca explained to me that you can actually get a picture of the moon that shows the moon's craters. If you look at the very top one I took, I really like it because of the clouds, but the moon just looks like a big ball of light. You can't really see any texture. Now, in the one to the left, there's a combination of clouds that you can see on the moon and some craters. It isn't just a ball of light. Yesterday night was pretty cloudy, so I didn't have much time between clouds to take many pictures. I definitely want to try again one of these nights to see if I can get a clearer picture.