With the final semester of my high school career starting, my main topic of conversation with everyone is my plans for next year. Everyone is curious as to what I’ll be doing with my life, or at least for the next four years. When people ask me this, I don’t know how to answer it because truthfully, I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I’ve been accepted to UConn, which is my top choice for college. I know I want to go to UConn. The problem is with what I want to do once I get there. I applied to the pre-journalism program, but I’m not positive if journalism is the career I want to pursue. I still have a very long time before I need to decide what to do with my life so I’m trying not to stress too much. As I said, it’s the last semester of my senior year of high school! It’s an incredible feeling to be so close to the end. People always say these are the best years of your life and right now I plan on focusing on making that saying a reality. On another note, my first dance competition of the season is this weekend and I am beyond excited. Dance has been my passion for the past thirteen years. I’m incredible sad that this is my last year dancing at TPDA, but this year is going to be a great competition season. Competitions have always been my favorite part of dance. We only go to 5 a year, so I cherish everyone. So, wish me luck for this weekend and have a great month! By the way, happy almost Valentine’s day! I hope you all do something special. This is my first V-day with a boyfriend so for once I’m not dreading the holiday. Just remember, you can never go wrong with chocolates!

Happy New Year everyone! I can’t believe it’s 2012 already. The holidays this year were crazy, but I loved every second of it. 2011 was a great year for me, but 2012 is going to be huge. This is the year I turn 18, graduate high school, and enter college. Speaking of college, over the past month I have been accepted to three of the five colleges I applied to, including UConn, which is my top choice! I’m still waiting to hear from the other two schools. Once I know where I’ve been accepted, I’ll be able to finally decide where I’m going to college. Learning of my acceptances made winter break even better but break is going to be over tomorrow! That means midterms are coming up quickly. Midterms means it’s the middle of my senior year of high school. It still blows my mind that I’m a senior, but this year has been the best by far. I know the second half of my senior year is going to be just as amazing. On top of school, I have dance, work, and friends to hang out with. But right now, I have last minute homework to do before break ends. Procrastination has always been a problem of mine. So, until next time!

With report cards quickly approaching, I’ve been stressing out. Throughout my high school career I have always struggled with time management. Procrastination is my middle name. I’ve learnt the hard way, on more than a few occasions, that waiting until the last minute to do anything, especially schoolwork, always ends badly. Whether it be getting bad grades, or putting off applying to colleges and then trying to fit everything in right before the deadlines, procrastinating causes problems. For a very busy seventeen year old, I think I manage my time decently well. I only skip school when I am really sick, I go to dance more often than not, I work on the weekends, and I have an active social life. Yet somehow every night I still find myself scrolling through facebook while my pile of homework is pushed aside. I manage to get my work done, but always much later than I would like. Because of this, I go to bed later, wake up later, and get to school later. This is a continuous cycle for me. I know I should be getting my school work done first, but my bed is always much more appealing than my desk chair. There is one thing I’ve learnt to help me avoid procrastinating: think about how good you will feel when you’re done. This honestly always helps me. When I am extremely tired and can’t bring myself to finish an essay that is due the next day, I think about how wonderful sleep will feel when I know I have nothing else to do. So next time you are procrastinating, think about the feeling of accomplishment you’ll gain when you complete the project, and think about how you can just rest now that you’ve finished. Today I was complaining to my boyfriend about how much work I had to do tonight, and his idea was to reward myself whenever I finished one of my tasks. This little trick seems like a good idea, but I always end up giving myself the reward before I end what I need to do. Maybe this works for you though! Every time you check off something on your to-do list, give yourself a Hershey Kiss. Whatever little trick helps you do what you’ve got to do, make sure you keep your priorities in order. I know I’ll be avoiding facebook and twitter for the next week. My grades have got to be up if I ever want to be accepted to college!

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Hey everyone! Morgan here for my first official blog post as a high school senior. Thanks to Hurricane Irene, I’ve only been in school for about 3 weeks, but it feels like I’ve been back for months. The biggest thing going through all seniors’ minds is applying for college. Personally, I am stressing out. Touring, applying, applying for scholarships, and so much more. It all gets to be overwhelming. Right now I’m still looking at colleges and trying to decide where I want to apply. Very soon I’ll be starting the actual applications. I know many people who have already started applying, but I also know a lot of people who haven’t started applying as well. I feel like I’m falling behind, but I still have time. I am just hoping to get my applications in for early decision, which means applying by November first. If I do apply this way, I should know if I am accepted by Christmas. Merry Christmas to me! I’m lucky because my mom is helping a lot with the whole process, making it much less stressful. I know the hardest part of going away to college is going to be leaving my parents. If they had it their way, I would stay as close as possible or commute from home. I can’t wait for the college experience though. I need to live in a dorm with a roommate, have all the freedom of a college student. While I get extremely nervous talking about college, I’ve always known that I want to go away and have my own college adventure. Right now though, it’s my senior year! Yes, I’ll be thinking of college. However, I’m going to make sure my senior year is fun and memorable. Everyone says that high school is the best four years of your life, so I’m not going to waste it!
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Hey guys! Morgan here. Most of you probably don’t know me, but that’s why I’m here today. I’ve been asked by the lovely Beth Benoit to be a guest writer on this blog! I’ll be writing about once a month, talking about my many adventures throughout my senior year of high school. Before my first post, Beth thought I should tell you all a little about myself. I guess I’ll start with the basics. I’m seventeen, about to be a senior (obviously) at TMHS and my birthday is March 10th. I’ve been dancing for the past 13 years and absolutely love it. On a more personal note, I’m in the middle of looking at colleges just as most kids my age are. Hopefully I will be able to major in English or communications. I dream of writing for Seventeen Magazine, maybe even becoming editor-in-chief one day! That’s why I was ecstatic when Beth gave me the opportunity to write for her. I also have a growing passion for photography. Who knows, maybe I’ll share some of my own photos with you guys one (or every) month! I am so excited to experience my senior year with you all. Hopefully it’ll be as much fun as I anticipate! I know this didn’t give you all too much information about me, but I always like a sense of mystery. Besides, the rest you’ll learn soon enough through this blog. Until next time!

Ooooh, a Blog on Aperture.  What a treat.  I love aperture. To me, it’s fascinating.

Aperture is one of the three aspects of exposure that is controlled through the lens in your camera.  For some users manual exposure may seem scary, and if you’re just picking up your camera for the first time, or you’re shooting on the fly and don’t have the concentration to control your camera in manual mode, you can shoot in one of your priority modes.

I’m a Nikon shooter (the best camera in the world J ) Just kidding, but on my camera Aperture Priority it is noted as “A” on the mode dial, or control panel.  On a Canon it is noted as “AV” in the same places.  Take a minute to check out your camera or its manual and find out where your Aperture Priority mode is.

Now, when you shoot in one of those priority modes, your camera is going to allow you to control which aperture you’d like to use while calculating which shutter speed is appropriate to create an average grey picture.  In manual mode, you need to calculate this exposure on your own using your light meter to guide you.  In Aperture Priority, this calculation is done for you in the camera.  Easy, but if your scene is NOT average grey, then you’re going to need to adjust in the computer afterwards, or shoot in manual mode.

So, why would I want to control my Aperture.  What is this silly thing anyways?  Well, as previously noted, aperture means “hole”, and just like your pupil reacts to light, your aperture changes sizes depending on how much light is in your scene.  If you were operating in fully AUTOMATIC mode the following scenario would take place.

If the light is bright your scene your camera may want to use a small aperture to eliminate the amount of light that comes onto your film or your CCD (Charged Couple Device- the light sensitive material in the back of your digital camera that records your image and sends the information over to your disc)

Conversely, if the light in your scene were dark, your aperture would open up to allow more light through the lens and onto your CCD.

(All this happens while your camera is calculating a BASE GRAY or MIDDLE GRAY exposure.)

Much like everything else in photography, the Aperture does not only control the amount of light that comes through the lens, but it also controls DEPTH OF FIELD.  Depth of field is often misunderstood as how sharp your focus is.  DEPTH of FIELD does not control HOW SHARP your FOCUS is.  It controls how much focus is in your photograph.  Your photo will only be in focus if you focus sharply on a particular point.  Depth of field is how far in front of and behind that point of focus is.  So, when you see those cool photos where the subject is in focus and the background or foreground is out of focus, that’s controlled by DEPTH OF FIELD through your APERTURE!

Back in the day (“when I was young, I’m not a kid anymore, but somedays I like to think I was a kid again”- don’t you just have to sing that song when you hear that phrase?) the fully manual cameras had a button called the “depth of field preview button”.  When you pushed it, the aperture in the lens closed down and you could see, rather darkly, what your depth of field would look like at that particular aperture. If you wanted more or less you adjusted for it.  Now a days with digital, you have to take several photos and see which you like best.  This is called bracketing: it will be part of your assignment. Unless you have one of those fancy-schmancy buttons, you’re going to have to test it!

How does it work:  Well it’s a lot of quantum physics, no really, it is a physics thing, which I don’t want to bore you with now, but if you’re into the science of it, it’s all about the bending of light through a central point and how quickly the rays of lights break off from each other determines how quickly you will lose focus from that central point.

In English:      The smaller the whole, the greater the focus- or depth of field.

The larger the hole, the less the focus- or depth of field.

How do I know the hole size?          The larger the number: the smaller the hole (the greater the focus-or depth of field)

The smaller the number: the bigger the hole, (the less the focus or depth of field)

What does that look like?

Check out the following example:

So, back to the good stuff:  How do you know which aperture will best fit the depth of field that you want for your photograph.  Well, there’s no real way to tell unless you have a fancy lens with a depth of field guide near the focus dial.  That would tell you your range.  So if you have one, good for you, use it.  If you’re like the rest of us and don’t, here’s what you have to do.

Start with a number: if you want a shallower depth of field, choose a lower number 1.4, 1.8, 2, 3.5, 4.0, 5.6.  If you’re looking to shoot a subject where most everything in the frame is in focus, then choose a higher numbered depth of field: 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 45, 64.  If you’re shooting in aperture priority mode then as you change your aperture, your shutter speed will correct for light gain or light loss. (remember as you change your aperture to a higher number less light will come in through the lens, and as you change your aperture lower, more light will come into the lens, if you (in manual mode) or the camera (in priority mode) does not compensate for this light change, then your photo will be over or under exposed.)  If your camera tells you LO it means that there is too little light coming through the aperture to create a base gray image.  If your camera tells you HI then it means there is too much light coming through and your image will be over exposed.  If you need to compensate for light gain or loss through your ISO (sensitivity).

So, use your depth of field to enhance your photos. Most of you have probably been doing that already without really knowing what you’re doing.  It just happens, but now you know how and why it happens, so you can control your images in the future.  Happy Shooting and good luck!  You won’t need it, you’re amazing, all of you!

-Lindsay

Now onto your homework, Lindsay and I challenge you to submit a photograph in which you have used depth of field to enhance your image. You can email your entry to beth@bethbenoit.com. One entry per person. All entries must be submitted before midnight on Sunday, April 2nd. Lindsay and I will judge them and choose one winner who will receive a $50 Beth Benoit Photography gift certificate. So get busy shooting and have fun!

P.S. All entries will be featured on the blog for What’s that Wednesday next week.

Now onto the meet and greet. I’ve known Lindsay for years, as in, since grade school. She is a fun, sweet, energetic and caring person who is always willing to help others. Lindsay is a wife, mother of 2 adorable kiddos, a talented photographer and a teacher. Yes, she really does all that and still manages to find balance in her life! I asked her a few questions to help you all get to know her better, so here goes.

How long have you been interested in photography?
Well my earliest photos were taken when I was in the third grade with the lovely 110 camera. But once I got into high school and began studying it more seriously, both through Putnam High and QVCC I was persuaded to attend RIT for photography. After four years, I received my BFA for Professional Photographic Illustration and I’ve been teaching photography at Pomfret School while running my own photography business ever since. So I guess I’ve been interested in photography since 1984. WOW! But professionally I’ve been working in photography since 1999.

What’s your favorite subject to photograph?
Oooh, that has to be children, but really I love color. Colors have to be use appropriately, and often I find drawn to black and white photos more, but that’s because for me, it’s hard to find a photo where the color doesn’t just “get in the way”. With black and white, regardless of what I’m shooting, the lines and textures just tell a story and help show emotion. What’s better than emotion in children?

What in your bag? Canon or Nikon and what lens do you love?
Ummmmm…… Nikon of course. I learned on Canon, but had to make the switch when I was in college. I really liked the simplicity and layout of the Nikon D90. My first Nikon. But honestly, I teach Canon at Pomfret, and these days, they’re really both comparable.

What inspires you?
In my busy life, it’s hard to find inspiration, really. I struggled for many years with finding something that made me truly happy. Recently I’ve found that really bold colors and children are inspiring me. My own children, Clayton (4) and Rowan (1) are incredibly inspiring. Their ability to laugh and smile at the most mundane thing, remind me that there are so many things to appreciate in life. I just returned from a mission trip to Nicaragua, and since I’ve made myself find the time to work with my own photography, and learn from the children around me. They are natural, honest and hilarious. The images I came back from Nicaragua with are truly telling of the people, life, colors and experience that I had while I was there. Those children, the children with nothing, but love life, are the children that are inspiring me most right now.

How long have you been teaching?
I’ve been teaching at Pomfret for 11 years this May. I’ve been teaching black and white darkroom, desktop publishing, studio lighting and most recently digital photography. For the last year, I’ve also been teaching workshops at Silver Circle Studio. These classes are for adults and teens that are interested in learning to shoot with their SLR’s, improve their composition skills, and take their photography to the next level. We discuss techniques, technical aspects of exposure, and cover some technical aspects of techniques like long exposure and drag shutter.

Tell us about your workshop(s)….
When? Where? How much? And where do we sign up?
The classes are at Silver Circle Studio, Putnam CT. You can sign up there! The next class is in May, May 16. Carly has all the information for the spring and summer courses. They’re changing all the time, adding new courses to meet the needs of the students. The classes run about $45 a class, depending on what is being covered, and how long it is. Check out her website here for more information.

And now, here are a few of Lindsay’s amazing photographs. Enjoy!