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My Journey into Photography: by Brett Michaud
Here is an interesting article from Brett Michaud, our new instructor. It opens up new doors for everyone interested in photography and may get intimidated by the complexity of digital cameras.
Thanks to Brett for sharing his remarkable story with us.
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My Journey into Photography: By Brett Michaud
Full disclosure: I have not been a photographer for the past 30 years. I did not, as a teenager, drive my family insane by turning our bathroom into a makeshift darkroom. Nor was my childhood idol, Ansel Adams. No, I only got serious about photography in 2018. To be fair, I have always been in love with photography. Growing up, my parents purchased a subscription to National Geographic. I would spend hours looking at the pictures of people and places, imagining myself behind the camera, travelling to exotic, faraway lands, working on assignments for the magazine. This fascination drove me, in the mid-’90s, to buy my first real camera: a Pentax K1000 film camera and kit lens. I played around with this camera but never really learned how to get it out of the auto and into manual mode. The internet was only in its conceptual stages so there were limited ways to teach yourself the art of photography. I had young children, time was limited, and money for the requisite gear was scarce. My first attempt at becoming a photographer was a bust, but the burning desire to master the art of photography was not extinguished.
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Fast forward to 2018. My children, now grown up, were doing their own things and the insane busyness of parenting was starting to wane. For the first time in almost 20 years, I found myself with time on my hands. I was bored on the weekends. I needed a hobby. The summer before I had travelled to Europe with my eldest son, capturing the sites on my iPhone. While I was happy with many of the shots, I found myself wondering how much better they could have been with a DSLR. It didn’t take long for me to figure out what I wanted that hobby to be. My passion for photography was once again rekindled.
My wife and I were planning a family trip to Northern Arizona to see the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon and Glen Canyon. This would be a perfect opportunity to take some iconic shots with a new DSLR camera. I drove down to London Drugs, purchased a Nikon D7200 with a kit lens and set off for Arizona a week later. These pictures were going to be epic. I mean, how hard could it be. National Geographic would be calling me up and begging me to work for them. I was sure of it!
My son had taken a photography class in middle school, and I had some deteriorating memories of camera functions from my brief experience with the Pentax in the 90’s. Between the two of us, we had a rudimentary understanding of how to achieve a correct exposure but didn’t really understand aperture, shutter speed, focal length and ISO or how they all interacted with one another when taking a shot. We ran around taking handheld shots of various iconic landscapes, not fully understanding what we were doing. Upon returning to the computer and looking at the images, I found myself wondering: Why do some pictures turn out great, while others are a blurry mess? Why was the beautiful blue sky I saw on site now pure white in the image? Why is the foreground nice and sharp but the mid and background blurry? Clearly, I needed help. National Geographic would not be picking up the phone to enlist my services quite yet.
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Upon returning home from Arizona, I turned to the internet for help and guidance. I watched countless videos but they were either too advanced for me, or the photographer was using a camera other than Nikon so following along was difficult at best. My amazing wife, Toby, recognizing my struggles, decided the best way to help me was to get me lessons. So, for Christmas 2018, I received a ticket for Ted’s Photography Boot Camp. And so, it began. A few months later I found myself at Ted’s store one Tuesday evening, camera in hand, finally embarking upon my childhood dream of becoming a photographer. It’s safe to say that since my classes with Ted in 2018, I have found my true passion. And while I continue to learn all the time, I’m confident I have lots to teach and techniques to share to help you improve your skills as a photographer. I look forward to working with you all! As for National Geographic? I’m still waiting for a call. Nat Geo! If you’re reading this, let’s talk.
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Learn Photography From Experts!
Brett’s experience shows us that we all have the talent to be successful photographers. All you need is a strong education plan and personal trainers. Books and online lessons cannot replace in-person education. Click HERE to check our excellent photography tours and workshop and start your journey.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”Omnilargess Training Program” h4=”Upcoming Photography Classes” txt_align=”center” style=”outline” color=”black” add_button=”bottom” btn_title=”Find your workshop” btn_style=”outline” btn_color=”turquoise” btn_size=”lg” btn_align=”center” btn_i_type=”typicons” btn_i_icon_typicons=”typcn typcn-camera-outline” btn_css_animation=”bounceInDown” add_icon=”top” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-graduation-cap” i_color=”black” i_background_style=”rounded” i_size=”xl” i_css_animation=”flipInY” css_animation=”fadeIn” btn_add_icon=”true” i_on_border=”true” btn_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.omnilargess.com%2Fevents||target:%20_blank|”]
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Ted and the Omnilargess Team
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