Snap, photography lessons

As an unexpected Christmas gift, my lovely mommy surprised Kyle and I with an SLR (single lens reflex. As many of you know, Kyle and I like to travel. I know, I know, it is a well kept secret, but we do. And while traveling, we have become quite the photographers. And by photographers, I don't mean to imply that we are extremely talented, but we do take a prolific amount of pictures. Maybe more pictures than any of you want to see.

One reason we love traveling abroad is that foreign countries always provide such inspiration. They have the ability to perform brain surgery, pulling everything out that you thought you knew and twisting it all around until nothing makes any sense either in your culture or in another. As unpleasant as that particular experience sounds, we always come away with new perspectives.

This SLR camera or what we lovingly refer to it as our fancy schmancy camera was nearly as foreign to us as the foreign countries we visit. So we decided to invest in some lessons. And, make no mistake, it is an investment, as photography lessons are not cheap. An American here in Seoul offers a month long course; four Saturdays a week. Basically what we really need now is practice. I wish that we could take these lessons and walk away capturing the most magical moments as well trained as a professional, but unfortunately, learning how to use the odds and ends of the camera is only just the first step and basically we are toddlers in the camera world. One in ten photos turn out well if we are lucky. And just because we now know what the different buttons mean, doesn't mean we remember at the spur of the moment when the bee happens to be entering it's hive at the perfect angle. Which setting should it be at now? Is it in shade or sunlight? Should I use a flash or natural light? ARGGGG!

So in part from constant nagging from the gift giver who wants to see the fruits of her gift, we will be sharing photos from different sessions in a small series on photography by Kyle and Vanessa.

This series I call "The Subway Series" because they were all taken on the subway. After our first lesson in Seoul, we promptly went to purchase a new lens. Not because we were told to, but because we learned about new toys which would enhance our ever-growing snapping addiction. The first thing we learned in our photography lesson was that despite what you might think, the expensive part of an SLR camera is not the camera itself, but it's accessories. The extra lens we purchased was a measly $100. Compare that with some lens which run as high as $2000, we considered this purchase conservative.

The lessons were on the other side of Seoul which meant long rides on the subway, at least two hours both ways. How did we entertain ourselves on our way home? Playing with our new toy or course!! We attempted to snap photos inconspicuously, but our camera can't also be disguised as a phone or a teddy bear and the Koreans eyed us suspiciously. After some time, we just gave up all pretenses and shot at will.

This kid was so cute. All Korean kids are cute though. Which of these photos captures his cuteness the best, do you think?

Which old man photo is your favorite?