Say Cheese

Eric and I had our first camera class earlier this evening. When you buy a camera at National Camera Exchange, you get 2 free classes, so we signed up for the basic one. We'll probably end up taking the continuation of the basic information eventually, but I think we need to get used to doing the very basic stuff first. I know practically nothing about cameras, which I knew before this class. However, that knowledge was solidified by being in this class. There are so many little things and big things and weird things to do with a camera before, during, and after the actual click of the button about which I knew nothing. I learned a lot, even though I only absorbed and remembered 1/3 to 1/2 of what was covered. There was just so much information, and it went really quickly. I felt like almost everyone in the class had a lot of experience either with cameras in general or their digital camera already, so I'm sure I knew the least of everyone in the room. Some of the terms were so foreign to me I had to quickly memorize them otherwise I'd have had no clue what they were talking about. I don't feel like I picked up on that much information, so in a way I almost feel like it was a waste. I'm going to have to review my notes and maybe read the instruction manual all the way through in order to understand what everything is. That, and hours of practice with the camera, trying to figure it out, will I think be more helpful than the actual class. It wasn't hands-on at all, which I thought it was going to be, so that was a bit disappointing. I don't mind lectures, and I did pick up some information, but it would have been clearer to be able to put it into some kind of practice right away, or at least to figure out how to get to certain settings. I understand why they don't do it like that-there are a lot of people in these classes, which means a lot of different cameras. But it felt less practical than I was hoping for. Oh well, Eric and I will just have to mess around with the camera on our own. Hopefully I absorbed enough of what was covered that I can practice doing what he suggested with f-thingies and exposure and shutter speeds and whatnot. There were some cool issues that were covered, and I think my pictures will start looking a lot better once I get some practice in. And figure out what I'm doing besides picking up the camera and clicking the little button.

No time to talk. Now remember, it's your first day of trainin', so listen to your teacher and no fightin', play nice with the other kids, unless, of course, one of the other kids wanna fight, then you have to kick the other kid's butt.