I'd like to introduce you to someone special. Her name is Ruby. She's the red Nikon I received as a gift from Hubby several years ago while I was on a career hiatus and working part time as a journalist.
When Ruby arrived, it was love at first sight. But the flame quickly fizzled as picture after digital picture turned out blurry. One frustrating week a few months after she arrived, I had to return to a venue to retake photos with my phone for a magazine article. My phone took better pictures. Rather I should say, I took better pictures with my phone.
So Ruby and her accessories spent the better part of three years packed away on a shelf in my bedroom closet. The embers of our relationship, however, continued to quietly burn. While sheltering at home, the embers had a chance to breathe. They took flame. I watched videos. I re-read the manual. Then I went outside and began practicing. And like a Hallmark movie, Ruby and I fell in love all over again.
As an introduction to my forthcoming occasional photo blogs, I offer the three photos that created a newer, stronger bond between Ruby and me.
Three Gardenia Images
I was walking around our house with Ruby when I noticed our gardenias were blooming. In this first photo, I intentionally focused on the gardenia bud. The flower in the foreground is slightly out of focus, but the bud is crisp and clear.
Then, to challenge myself and prove that I understood how Ruby worked, I took a second photo. This time, I intentionally focused on the bloomed flower. While the bud is now slightly out of focus, the bloom is beautifully sharp and detailed.
Focusing on one or the other wasn't so difficult. But could I take a photo that focused on both the bud and the bloom? In the last photo I snapped, that was the challenge. For an amateur photographer, I was thrilled with the results.
For the record, other than renaming the photos, they appear here exactly as I took them. No cropping, color correction, or editing of any sort was involved with the creation of this blog post or its pictures.
These three photos boosted my confidence. They (and Ruby) re-opened the floodgates to a creative outlet I've enjoyed since the day my dad let me take a photo with his 35mm camera way back when I was barely old enough to write.
Ruby and I confidently promise we'll have more photo blogs coming soon!