It’s only Monday and I’m already waiting for the weekend. Heh.

Work is fine and dandy, but I’d like to be doing some other interesting things. Mind wanders when I have other ideas in my head. Really getting into the idea of photography and I’ve been digging exposure techniques online. After Saturday’s class about exposure, I started thinking more, and this coincided with me reading this article about what to expect from taking photographs.

I have always liked my hobbies, they let me let loose. However, I’ve never really pushed the limits of what I could do if I tried hard enough. With photography, I want to see how far I can go on a creative learning spree. It’s been a slow and steady learning curve, but I have somehow managed to persevere this long to get to whatever crummy skills I have.

Waiting for a light bulb of an idea in me to shine!

I have just been looking at photos and thinking of what works and doesn’t quite work for me. I notice that tripods are essential for good framing in scenic photographs. At least you don’t get slanted images and having a tripod means you can stop down for a longer exposure, for effects. I have also given some thought to spot exposuring a sunset sky to get the skytones just right. Will have to find a chance to practise this somehow.

I need to set some goals, and at the moment, I should have a photo of the month, and push myself to take more pictures. Well, something basic as a goal to begin with. Practise makes perfect, so they say. There are lots of kinds of photos I want to try to take. Event photos require you just setup your camera the best you can and then you just go snap, snap, snap and hope most of the images turn out right. Scenic photographs aren’t any easier as to get the perfect shot you may need to wait 3 days and 3 nights, or sit until the rain stops, to get just that ray of light that makes the picture magical.

I know the kind of pictures I’ve been taking and I feel maybe I’ve improved on those. It’s time I set out to try a different kind of photo, and see what I get back when I plug my camera into the computer.

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Have also read some ideas on cooking, from Gordon Ramsay (uber famous English chef) saying that one shouldn’t add salt and pepper to food at the last minute as the flavours from them are too raw and becomes jarring with the taste of the food (well, something along those lines anyway, from how I read and understood it).

I am notorious for not adding enough sugar to my desserts as I fear detrimental health effects of having too much sugar in the system. However, when you put only ONE tablespoon of sugar for 6 muffins, you are asking for trouble. Just something ingrained in me to be a little more miserly on the sugar, and I need to slowly coax myself to add a little more.

Autumn is here, and the weather suddenly turned colder and is now gradually adjusting for a cooler season. Only problem with this is that the food bill goes up cause the only way to keep warm and sane is to have something burning away in my stomach to keep the energy going.

I recall eating Japanese strawberries in Tasmania (wait, isn’t Tasmania in Australia?). They were sold at an oyster/scallop shop near the airport at Hobart. Jack and I and some friends went crazy on the oysters, which were so fresh and tasty. They also had Japanese strawberries, which were surprisingly sweet. Heh, Japanese agriculture is kind of like science fiction at times, with square and star shaped watermelons and humongous Fuji apples that just melt in your mouth.

Heh, after all that talk of food, all I can think of now is pastry.

It’s been another one of those hectic weeks.

Started photography class this week. Heh, sort of an NYU student at the moment, so that’s cool. Photography class is a bi-weekly thing that goes on for a month, where we do critiques of each other’s work on Wednesdays and go shooting on Saturdays. It’s a small class of around 12 people, every student with their own cameras and most of them are just learning how ISO, shutter and aperture make an exposure. I do know most of the technical bits, but there’s always something new to learn.

Jumping to Saturday, we did some shooting at the park nearby. Our teacher tried to explain the concepts of how different settings gave different types of exposures. Speed up the shutter to freeze action and slow it down to emphasise motion, or things along those lines. We then moved on to an alley where it was quite dark and here I learnt most of the new stuff. You know how cameras try to brighten up a scene eventhough its dark just to get the proper exposure? I knew it did that all the time, but didn’t know why it did that. It’s part of what’s called the Zone system, where there is black, white and a middle gray. Okay, it’s a lot more sophisticated than that but cameras obviously renders a scene and tries to expose it so it comes out neither too dark nor too bright.

One of the pictures at the park. It’s not the most exciting one, but the squirrel popped right in front of me and I managed to catch 2 frames of it before it scurried off.

Anyway, ended class at Starbucks and one of the students mentioned a Pumpkin Spice Latte, which I tried, and is probably one of the few coffee related drinks from Starbucks that I find quite tasty. Heh, it’s available only during the fall, so I might be drinking a bit more of this until they stop selling it.

I learnt a little more on exposure during these 2 sessions and how to make it work for a scene. I guess it should get a little better with more practise, and I want to be taking more pictures when I can.

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It’s October, and Haloween is coming, hence I’ve been seeing lots and lots of pumpkins in markets, at lobbies as decorations etc.

So on Saturday I was at Union Square and they have markets there selling miscellaneous stuff, and i came across all these pumpkins, big ones, small ones, and an assortment of gourds. I have never seen such oddly shaped things before and I was fascinated.

Heh, not quite up to writing today, so will leave it as that for the moment.