Photos and Text by: Corey Amaro
Because some of you have asked me about my photography, and or what type
of camera I use ….
The first time I ever took a photo (12 or 13 years old) I was hooked. Though the first time I ever took a photo it was with my parent's instant-matic camera, which had three shots left on a roll of film.
I asked my ten year old friend, Kelly, to sit on the barstool that I had carried to the front yard. She wore an old bridesmaid's dress of my Mother's. I remember tying a ribbon around her neck and swooshing her thick red hair to the side. It was going to be a profile picture, I told her not to smile, to hold her chin up, and to fold her hands on her lap.
Kelly was Camille in the Garden, and I imagined I was Monet without a paintbrush.
I took several steps backed and looked in the viewfinder. I wanted to zoom in but the camera certainly wasn't that advance, and had it been I would not have known what to do. Instead I took a few steps towards her and clicked three photos.
When the film was developed two of the photos were superimposed by my error, and the third photo…. I remember it as if it has been
taped to my forehead these last forty three years…. Camille was just one of many things hanging out in the yard.
The background showed my brother's bike, the back porch door, a garden hose, and other things that in my mind's eye were not there when I was in my fantasy pretending to be Monet. Where were the lilies and the distant rose? I realized that I had not paid attention to the background. I grabbed a scissor, cutting the photo as if to zoom in on what I wanted to leave in view. Unfortunately, I could not cut out the window screen as it was directly behind my friend's red hair. I studied that photo for years… Why wasn't it what I wanted it to be?
The lesson learned has stayed with me: Look around, not just to what is in front of you. Find the feeling you want to capture, at then wait for it to appear.
(Photos of Venice 2002, with one of my first point and shoot, 'Canon Powershot;')
I wanted my own camera… though I could never figure out how to put the film in. Crazy but true. Therefore I bought my first camera when they went digital. Having a digital meant freedom to take a thousand random photos, to take every detail, and to look at them instantly. The first time I took a photo with a digital I was hooked on the magic of capturing the dream behind the reality.
(One of the first photos I took with my Canon EOS 30 SLR. A cousin with his colorful ball.)
After wearing out three digital cameras, I bought a Canon EOS 30 SLR.
It has been a constant companion.
I have never studied photography, I have been given some helpful tips by two wonderful men who are so alike, though they do not know each other and live on opposite sides of the USA. (Here and Here.)
"Whenever you see a photography that you love try to take one exactly like it. By doing so you will learn everything you need to know." Bill Brazill
I do not know enough about photography to talk about it. When readers write asking about: Shutter speed, aperture and ISO etc. etc. I write back: "I don't have a clue. I see something I like, then I pinpoint the focus on what I see and take the photo. I do not take many shots of each thing, usually one or two, I wait until the situation is right. I do not know how to use a flash."
Funny they never write me back because I do not know enough to talk their talk. Nevertheless I keep on doing what I enjoy, even though I do not know enough to share how I do it.
What tips, trade secrets, ideas, knowledge or like me thoughts can you share about photography?
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