Although I have a natural eye for photography, I have been gradually learning how to take photographs with the Christmas gift I gave myself, a new SLR Nikon camera, beyond the “Auto” mode setting.  Gretchen has been helping me learn the mechanics of a well exposed and well composed photograph.  

As I learn and perfect these “rules,” I would like to share this knowledge and my progress with all of you.

So, rule #1.  Fill the frame.  

Don’t be shy… move in close to your subject and get personal.  

Of course, someday you will want to look back and reminisce about Grandpa’s old rocker or the color of Mom’s walls before she remodeled the kitchen.  These wide, all-encompassing, setting photographs are nice to set the scene, but the photographs you will treasure the most, are the ones that capture emotion.  

It’s the moment when my child’s eyes sparkle with joy when her daddy makes her laugh, or the sweet, coy expression she flashes when a camera is turned in her direction, that I want to remember.