Passion,

I have many passions, but recently, I've really been into photography. I finally got my own camera, and 2009 has been the start of my photography career. It's awesome! The things I get to do, the people I meet, the credit I get. I love it.

It sounds great, but I still had much to learn. When I started, I knew nothing. I always took pictures using the AUTO feature. I didn't know my settings, I basically only used my creativity. It was good but not good enough. Not "professional" material.

Before starting Project Icarus, I was already trying to learn things on my own. But after starting it, I got a little more serious. I went out, and actually asked my photographer friends. I never did before. I asked them to rate me before I learned. Heres what they had to say:

Father: "If it was out of 10, I'd say you are a 5 out of 10. Not the best, but not junk either"

Anthony(photographer): "You're pretty good for a sophomore, still got lots to learn. By senior year, you'll be famous, popular, professional."

Uncle(photographer): "You're doing great, but still have lots to learn"

I'd say I was doing alright.

So I went out and did my research, I read online articles and tutorials, conducted interviews, watched DVD's my dad bought for me, and then I went out and tried it. I had a photoshoot on Friday that really tested my skills. I went out and did a photoshoot with Anthony. I did pretty good, and I even learned more things. Anthony even learned something new. In all, I think I improved greatly. "You're getting there Andrew", says Anthony. 

I had learned a lot from reading those books and DVD's. I learned the one thing that always bothered me and my the quality of my pictures. I did not know for sure how the use the aperture and shutter speed for my camera. After a long time of researching and trial and error, I finally understood it.

The aperture of the lens is controlled by an iris and controls how much light is let in. Aperture is expressed by the f-stop, e.g. f/2.8. The smaller the value, the larger the lens opening, the more light. Then the shutter speed comes in to play, the faster the shutter speed, the faster the picture is taken, there fore no blur or motion. The slower the speed allows for motion blur and other effects. I learned a lot and I use this now to enhance my pictures. I recently learned how to show the flow of water using my shutter speed. I lowered the shutter speed, took a picture of the shore break, and the picture came out beautiful. The water was so serene and you can see the flow, it was super nice. I continue to learn something new every time I go out on a photo shoot.

Sometimes failing at something will make you want to strive to get better. Before I learned all of this, I did not know much about cameras. I would just take pictures for the heck of it, no knowledge of the settings or anything. I'd usually fail and was sometimes disappointed by my pictures. But trial and error also got me ahead. I played around with my settings until it worked. By doing this, I learned the basics of the camera settings. I recently shot my friend's senior portraits, Penelope and Abby. After I was finished, I was so happy with the pictures. They had a great time, and they also loved the pictures. I was so happy with myself and I guess you could say I was proud. The best part about photography is the feeling you get after you see your pictures or when you see how people feel about your pictures. They seem to understand the values of my pictures, and see the world at my perspective..a