A boy and his camera. Learning to shoot with a DSLR

“Take lots of photos!” “Oh you’re going to have so much fun! Make sure to take a lot of photos and send them to me!” If there is one thing everyone tells me when I say I’m going to Europe, it’s to bring a camera and take thousands of photos. So I did a little research and I decided to take up photography and make this blog as an easy way to deliver them to you. Only thing was the few times I touched a camera they were disposable or compact point and shoots and the few days I spent on google it said the way to go were DSLRs (the fancy ones). I once “dated” a girl who was in to taking her camera everywhere and taking shots of everything, but that was as close as I got to them. So being the confident person that I am, I went out and got a Nikon 3100 a mini Polarized tripod and a book on digital photography. Figured how hard could it be. Very hard, I found out. The book was full of things like F stops and shutter speed and ISO charts, things that went right over my head. I just dropped $550 on equipment I had no idea to use. Pictures came out to dark or all white with a little color. There is an Auto mode that’s helpful, but if that’s all I wanted I could have gotten a $80 compact camera.  Luckily one of my co-workers Brad Wall came to my rescue. He spent some time with me showing what to do with shutter speed and F stops when it’s sunny out and how to adjust them when it’s not. He taught me how to take the camera off auto and to put on manual which makes it so you can add some personal flavor to your shots. He even took me out on his day off to the beach to take some shots that really helped me out. He turned my mistake in thinking that I could do anything without the slightest problem and gave me a hobby that I fell in love with. Editing on the other hand I picked up pretty easy with some help from the book I picked up. I now have a much deeper appreciation for photographers after this experience. Takes time to master and it’s not for everyone, but this boy loves it. So I hope you all enjoy the Photos of my trips later to come  and remember if your even slightest interested in photography send me an e-mail at Thatamericanboy@gmail.com and aske me about it or ask a friend. See if they will show you their camera and take you out shooting. Thanks for reading and if you have anything you’d like to say leave a comment under this post.