Photography Getting Better But The Lens Not So Much

45 days, 22 hours remain 'til the first day Of Spring. Winter can do strange things to gardeners and artists. It's so cold right now the birds have stopped coming to the trees in the morning to sing. That's cold. Some may call this cabin fever. I call it boredom. Only working with my hands and imagination satisfies me. I need to keep creative juices flowing until I can get outdoors in my garden. When I'm spent with writing I do something else to stop monotony from encroaching.

As far as photography goes, besides gardens---love taking shots like this. But last night I was frustrated trying to take photos of garlic on a cutting board. Sometimes it really isn't the photographer. I think I'm finally ready for something more precise than the Nikon D40 kit lens. Also, uploading pictures to Blogger even from Picasa, you lose some of the sharpness. I want to get a better lens before investing in another camera.

I really miss having big sunny windows in a kitchen. I took this at night so It wouldn't have made any difference, but I still miss them. Especially early, sunny mornings, sipping coffee looking out on the yard. Okay, I digress. I moved the elements to my desk. Light is still horrible but I get into creative moods at night (old habit from my mommy days) when the lighting options are the worst for photography. Not making excuses. It just is what it is.

Call this a garlic study. Love this shot and the one that got me thinking about a better lens. Also, it's not high resolution and, if I had shot in Raw the results might have turned out better. A tripod could work and I like focusing on a single area or spot in a composition, but sometimes when you need to move around to get a certain composition a tripod could be useless. I don't use one yet because I really wanted to work on my handheld skills first. In a garden with light, wind and other elements changing all the time, you may not have time to set up and adjust a tripod.

This is why I got the camera out, but the garlic made the story in the photo. Didn't notice the board until now did you? Like I said winter can do strange things to you locked up for months. I had some wood blocks laying around and nothing to do. Suddenly got it into my mind--Hey, I'll make a small cutting board! I got out my saw, sand paper, a screw and screwdriver (to make the hole in the handle). It still needs to be smoothed and oiled, but there it is. May never use it since it's a crafting grade of wood. But I got it out of my system and realized I really have grown out of my camera kit lens. Itching for a better one now.