Mamarazzi School, Day One

Today was the first day of the two day Mamarazzi School workshop in Orange County. We learned how to shoot in manual mode, spent a lot of time taking pictures of a giant stuffed tiger, and spent some time shooting our host's son's pictures. I am reserving my final judgment of the workshop for tomorrow when we're all done. So far, though, it has been a lot of review, but I was a total rookie when I signed up for the workshop back in January/February. I have since learned how to shoot in manual mode, as well as other tricks of the trade. Still, I have picked up some cool skills that I might not have otherwise.

I've decided to save my pictures of Tyler (our adorable nine-month-old model) until tomorrow, but here are some I took today of random things.



I took a gazillion pictures of this stuffed tiger.







This is probably one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken. I don't know, I just like it.



A very overexposed flower, but sometimes it's the way to go.



Sarah (the photographer leading the workshop) taught a few of us how to use our 50mm f/1.8 lenses as macro lenses. Seriously awesome stuff. I heard about this technique months back but couldn't figure out how to do it. But now I know (and knowing is half the battle).

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took using that technique. The blur doesn't bother me one bit; I think they look great.









Once I got home, I decided to try it on a certain cat's paw. It worked!



I'll be back tomorrow with a full review, as well as more photos!