take better pictures

I think one of the keys to taking better pictures (or so I’m told) is to take more pictures. Everything gets better with practice, right? So, that’s what I’ve been doing lately. I find I’m more likely to seek out photo-worthy shots in the ordinary place I go (the picture is the LA skyline from a hiking trail… not the greatest but that’s because of the weather). Along the same lines, I’ve been attempting to take a self-portrait daily (inspired by this goal which I haven’t formally adopted for myself yet as I’m not sure of my level of commitment since I’m not that photogenic and don’t do a lot of interesting things or go interesting places).

I have a more compact camera now, the Canon Powershot G9, which is more convenient for me to carry around as I go about my daily life. I’m also trying to figure out how to take advantage of all the features my camera has…

Part of my day off I spent with my camera at a nearby city park which has a lake that draws birds of all sorts by the hundreds. It really is a bird’s paradise, which you wouldn’t expect in the suburbs of LA. I thought I might be able to shoot some good bird pictures but didn’t quite get what I had hoped for. Either the lighting wasn’t right, or the background was unappealing or I couldn’t get close enough among other annoyances. I would like to take better pictures of animals, but the thing with animals is that they are so spontaneous and easily spooked that it takes a lot of patience to get great pictures.

For instance, I shot the picture of this guy (or girl, I can’t tell) from quite a distance using the full 12X zoom my camera was capable of. He wouldn’t let me get any closer before he jumped into the lake. I wasn’t that happy with any of the lake pictures I took because I wasn’t able to get him at the right angle. He even scooped up a fish in his bill but it was all over and done with it before I was able to get my shot. I’m not discouraged, I’ll still keep trying to get better shots…