say cheese...

yesterday was my photography class...it was soooo fabulous! i don't know why it has taken me so long to sign up for one of those. i wish i had done it a long time ago. once i got there (i will just sum up my morning for you, my alarm didn't go off in time because my phone decided to die the one time i needed an alarm, the drive to Ogden was complete rain/snow, and my gps got me lost, but i was only 10 minutes late somehow) i learned more than i ever thought i could about my camera. and i also learned i need to buy a new lens asap. i just have the standard lenses the camera comes with, and Camille (the photographer holding the class) let me borrow her 50mm f1.8 lens for the 6-hour class (that is what we were using to shoot and learn about) and holy moly! i found what i want for Christmas this year. that thing was amazing. i got home after the class and was trying to take pictures with my lens and it was total crap. i couldn't get nearly the same results as i got with the 50mm. i need that lens!
 She also taught us how to do everything on our camera's manually which i LOVE! it took pretty much the entire class to get the hang of doing everything manually, but i will NEVER go back to having my camera on auto again. you can do so many things with it when you control everything. it was awesome. i have been taking pictures all day today just applying the techniques i learned and the functions of my camera. i love it. i was always so scared to use my camera manually because i thought it was so complicated, but once you know what all the buttons mean, it's a breeze. she gave us each a manual she made explaining all the functions of our camera's and the basics of Photoshop (yep, i now need/want that too) and tips and tricks she does. that thing is incredible. i just love that manual. it explains everything i need to know about photography. she also split everything she went over into 6 sections and made it really easy to understand. then after each section she had us go and do a 'photo assignment' so we could apply what we learned and she would come around and help us and answer questions. she was so good about answering all the questions we had and helping us understand everything she was talking about.
she also set up a 'mini-shoot' for us, and she had models come in so we could practice our new-found techniques on them in different lighting. it was wonderful. it was snowing hard outside but we braved it and it was totally worth it. oh, i just loved it all. the time went by so fast and i didn't want to go home, i was having so much fun learning about my camera.
here are just a few of the 500 pictures i took yesterday (and no, that is not an exaggeration).

so what ya think? not too shabby eh? (*note: the pics of the side of the chair and the green balls were one of the photo assignments we did, we had to make the background blurry and focus on one thing.) this class was so worth every penny, the snowy drive and getting lost. i can't say enough good things about this class! Camille was such a great teacher and really helped us try to understand the concepts and helped us to get everything she wanted us to learn. i am so happy i took it. i wish i had another one to look forward too. oh, and if you want to read and see more pictures of the photo class, you can go to Camille's blog post about it HERE (and you should because I am in a picture or two:)

thanks again, Camille! you are seriously amazing!! i learned sooo much and can't get enough of practicing everything you taught us.