Ahead of my ability

My best work is often almost unconscious and occurs ahead of my ability to understand it. - Sam Abell

So begins my photography blog. I am the most amateur of amateur photographers at this point. I started taking pictures like most other people...shots of the kids, of places we'd been, etc. Now, I find that I want to become more than that. I want to be an excellent photographer. In the darkest recesses of my mind, I entertain the notion that maybe someday, perhaps, I might even take photographs for others. Or then again, I might not ever get that good. Who knows? But I'm interested in trying.

Where I am now, is that I have some equipment, equipment that could probably do much more in the hands of someone more capable. I just got a new camera, which verges on dSLR. Now, I'm not sure if "verging on dSLR" is a real category of camera or not, but it's the best way to describe this. I'm the proud and somewhat awed owner of the Kodak z812. (I admit that I strongly considered the Canon d80, but it's just too much camera for me at this stage. Also, it costs several hundred dollars more and I'm a member of the class of people commonly referred to as "the working poor.")

Anyway, the Kodak. It's an 8.1 mp with 10x optical zoom. It takes great pictures in auto mode but it also has the capability to go totally manual if I choose to do so. (Read: when I learn all that stuff.) Also, it has the capability to take real lenses, just like a big girl camera! Granted, I don't own any lenses besides the one that came on the camera, but still....the possibility exists, which excites me. I also have a copy of Photoshop which I know next to nothing about.

So I plan to use this blog to explore my camera, explore Photoshop, and learn lots more about both. In the meantime, I'll share the pictures (both good and bad) I try along the way. Please, if you have constructive critcism or advice to offer, don't hesitate to share! Here's one I took today:

I like the birds captured in flight. This is straight out of camera, I haven't cropped it down or anything yet. More time for that later!