Getting Closer

I like taking pictures and I want to become a better photographer. I finally have a decent camera (Nikon D3100 with a couple of basic lenses - 18-55mm, and 55-200mm zoom). I discovered a free online course called the Photocritic Photography School, which sends a lesson via email about every 3 weeks that teaches about a particular aspect of photography and gives an assignment. You can then upload a photo to Flickr and a real person provides feedback based on that lesson. For free! Really. So cool.

So, one of the assignments was called "Getting Closer" in which you were supposed to move in closer and closer to your live subject (person, cat, chimp, whatever) until you both were perhaps a little uncomfortable, even scared. The idea was to get a better portrait and tell a better story. The author asserts that, if you want to take better pictures, you almost always have to get closer to your subject. Of course, it helps if you get it perfectly in focus, especially the eyes. This is one of the hardest parts for me, especially when working with a subject who likes to move a lot, and one who wears glasses.

Here is my latest photo portrait using this approach. It is not perfect, but is much better than my first attempt, and I feel that I am "getting closer" to understanding a little bit more about photography.