Have to start somewhere

Hey Gang,

I just got back from a long day in El Segundo, which hopefully will be productive.

Okay I have to back track to catch up. There is a lot to share so I will do that in chunks instead of all in one marathon blog (any ideas for a different word then blog, sounds so aggressive, or callous?)

Well, to become a professional photographer, or photographer in general I needed to crawl before I sprinted and needed to know how to do so. I put out there that I am searching for some ideas. I went on Facebook, and Myspace, asking if anyone had any ideas of how and where to learn; possibly good books to read.

I was told about podcasts that are done for photography. I had a couple podcasts knew what they were but thought it was only for the entertainment kids, the Kevin Smiths, and such. To top it off some of these podcasts are in video as well as audio. It was a great idea I hadn't thought of. So off I trotted to my local hardware Itune store and looked up digital photography. I put digital because I thought photography would be too open of a search and be composed mainly of pictures. I needed how tos and what's thats and when dos. I found a couple and listened to them. It happened to be near Christmas which is great. That time of year the folks doing the PCs are putting on year in review shows, best of tech, gadgets, the new Canon OhMYGOD 3000 Mark XXII.

Boy did that ever wet my appetite. I would put on the 'phones and listen to them a few times over and over catching things I missed previously. There was a catch. JARGON. They were speaking in a beautiful eloquent foreign language. I was trying to understand their alphabet and I was getting photography Shakespeare in Mandarin Chinese.

So the next step... Finding websites mentioned and checking them out. The podcasts usually had, if not a roundtable discussion, a guest host. Near the end they always give out how to find them, via, Twitter, FB, Myspace, and their own sites. So I would go and some would be specific, but I found a few that were great. More on those in a very soon upcoming post.

Going through the site I dived in the deep end. Learning what I could, keeping track but still having confusion issues with what they were throwing out. What the hell is a strobe? Glass? Are they talking about lenses, eyeglasses, what? Sync speeds, HUH???!!!!

Then it was time to strap on the machete, safari netting, pith helmet and go to one of the favorite rainforests. Deep in the dark mists lies treasures and new found knowledge. A rainforest you can get lost in, but if you search it will show you the way. Of course I am talking of the most mysterious one of all.....the Amazon.com.

There I found interesting books on the subject. As I looked around different offshoots of photography and saw the those who bought this also bought....I put together a collection of what I thought would make a good basis and well rounded self education. Some strictly in the art of photography and operation of the camera, some in the wedding photography arena, and some in post production.

This is where we'll stop for now. Next time will be Books, Gadgets, and Gizmos oh my:-) What I found and the adage the more you read the less you know.

Until next time, keep squinting!