Who's the Dummy?

In the days before I joined Blipfoto it was his Lordship who took most of the photographs for home consumption while I was happy to point and shoot photos on holiday. Everything changed in July when I found myself having to post a photo everyday.
The point and shoot method of photography continued, but when I was exposed to other people with intimidatingly large cameras and resulting photos of a high standard, I began to think I should try and use some of the manual settings which are available on my compact. That when I started to get bogged down in the theory and mechanics behind the lens. My camera user booklet left me confused and so a kind neighbour has lent me this manual intended to make things easy. Not so! I struggle to become familiar with terms such as f/stop, aperture, shutter speed, exposure, sensitivity, focal length and DOF. Things seem to be in reverse. For instance a small f/ stop = a large aperture while a short focal length pushes things into the distance. I do try to fiddle with the settings, but nine times out of ten I end up with a better photo on Auto. I think an evening class beckons, but I'm hopeful that David77 can factor an hour's tutorial into his busy schedule when he comes back this week. Fingers crossed! Whatever, it is going to be a steep learning curve for me.

We are off to rural Perthshire today and having lunch with his Lordship's cousin and wife. The weather forecast is not good but the company will make up for it.