R is for Road

Road is my ravishing R word for ABC Wednesday, and to that I will add a raving recommendation. I'm also linked to Outdoor Wednesday.

A standard dictionary defines a road as a long, narrow stretch with a smoothed or paved surface, made for traveling by motor vehicle, carriage, etc, between two or more points.

Not all roads are created equal. Take for instance the roads we traversed in Hovd, in the far west of Mongolia. Occasionally it was smooth driving on solid pavement, as here approaching the capital of the aimag (province).

Hovd, 2007

More often, the road was rather tenuous. [Enlarge for panoramic views.]

And a few times we rode on no road at all.

Yet the journey in these rough parts did not fail to exhilarate.

A bit like life itself, don’t you agree?

Which brings me to the more abstract definition of road: a way or course, as in the road to peace. Today I write a little about my road to learning photography.

As I’ve shared on my So where exactly IS home? page, I’ve literally been on the road since the beginning of my existence. That much is clear.

But my history with the camera is a bit of a blur. When did I first use one? When did it become important to me? Not really sure.

Now I can feel in my bones that I’ve come to a proverbial fork in my road.

No, not to fret, this is not the profound Soul Purpose kind of question, but nonetheless one I increasingly want to put my mind to.

Not long ago I made a remark about my “recent hobby” when my adult nephew retorted, “But I’ve never seen you without a camera!” And he is right, to a large extent.

For at least the past two decades I’ve traveled the planet I've carried and used one, as well as on many major trips years before that. I have two dozen thick photo albums on my shelves and numerous private digital albums online to serve as souvenirs of the many splendid corners of the world I have visited. And – shamelessly blowing my own horn – perhaps fortunate for me and others who view my photos, I have a pretty decent eye. It doesn’t hurt that many of these places are exceedingly photogenic.

Then there came a point in time not so long ago when I got the urge to go beyond recording my been there, done thats. I credit the internet in general and blogging specifically for inspiring me to look at the camera as a tool for more artistic expression, to look at what is in front of me from new angles, and to capture scenes in more creative ways. I’m at the very (very!) beginning of that road, with many more mountains to climb.

Among the key lessons I must learn is to master the tool. For me the first step is to get beyond the auto modes of my camera. Since using a DSLR I generally shoot in aperture priority, and I do adjust ISO for night or day, but I’ve not yet had the nerve – or the knowledge – to go into complete manual.

Frankly, to date I’ve been both lazy and a bit intimidated by the technical side of photography. My head refused to bend around the F-stops, shutter speeds, ISOs, and never mind how they all worked together to get the effect I wanted. Dang, most of the time I didn’t even stop to think about an effect at all! My SOP has been to catch sight, compose and click!

So I repeat, I’ve been inspired, and I want to step up my game.

I was therefore most pleased to stumble on this e-book at almostfearless.com (a cool travel blog!) that lays out the basic principles of manual photography in an easy, clear and non-technical way:  Getting Out of Auto written by Bethany Salvon, a seasoned professional photographer.

I’ve just finished reading it and can’t wait to start playing and experimenting. 

Where this road will take me is still a mystery to me. However, I do suspect that photography will remain a parallel road for me, not my main one.

But I’m on my way; I’ve taken the first steps. I'm moving along on some kind of road.

A number of friendly visitors to this blog of mine over the past months have commented in ways to tell me that they too have an interest to take their point-and-shooting to a higher level. So in the spirit of sharing, if anything in this post sounds like you, I recommend you take a look at this informative review of the e-book*.

If photography intrigues you, too, where is your road to learning leading?

* NB. Yes, I get an affiliate cut for the e-book; and no, I do not intend to place advertising for random product on this blog. I am still considering the option of reviewing and linking to selected stuff I care about and believe may be useful to my blog’s visitors.