Maybe it was a gift.
I have terrible eyes. My vision is off the charts. I’ve been told it’s 20/800. I have no idea if that’s even possible, but I know for a fact that my contact boxes say -7.75 on them and that I’m considered legally blind.
It’s always angered me that I can’t see without contacts or glasses. We already know that glasses aren’t necessarily the best accessory for my facial structure, so I’ve kept myself in contacts since 8th grade. That, too, presents a problem. Contacts make my eyes painfully sensitive, so I’m unable to wear eye make-up. This used to not be an issue, but the older I get, the more I resemble a corpse. Eye make-up could sure help out, but the blood red color my eyes turn tends to lessen the beauty of the eye make-up.
Tangents. Sorry.
I love photography. I discovered the joy of capturing life and those I love on film at the age of 10. I’m not a camera expert. To be honest, I know just enough to fake it. I don’t have the time or patience to sit down and learn all the technical aspects of a camera, so please don’t ask me to explain aperture, ISO, or anything else of that nature. My focus, so to speak, is picture composition and I tend to get lucky.
You know what really excites me? Bokeh. If you’re clueless as to what I’m talking about, check out the pictures in this post. Which leads me to my point…
I had a revelation last week while reading that particular post: I see in bokeh. I used to think it was a curse, but maybe, just maybe, it was a gift.
My eyes were the same as your before Lasik. I could tolerate eye makeup, but my eyes were constantly dry, easily irritated, and far more prone to seasonal allergy bothers. Anything more than five inches in front of my face was bokeh. I wonder if that’s why I love it so much now? I don’t want it back, but it’s familiar.
Was the bokeh in the Audience Of One background awesome or what?
oooooh, I see in Bokeh too! And it’s totally weird we could share glasses. I can’t say that about many people. I’m -7.5 in the right and -8.0 in the right. Word to the blind.
Learning the *technical aspects* of your camera really isn’t that hard, I promise. And considering you have a 40D, you NEED to!! I love being able to control my camera, especially in different lighting situations. I am by no means an expert but having that control has changed the way I take pictures (and I hope it has changed my pictures for the better.
). After being comfortable shooting in full manual mode, I now almost always shoot in AV mode (aperture priority) since I’m working with fast moving subjects, usually in low light (no time to capture anything in manual given those dynamics). AV allows me to quickly set and adjust the aperture (I love me some bokeh too, so I try to open it up as much as the situation will allow). In AV mode, all you really need to understand is where to set your ISO and then adjust the aperture to your liking/situation. And the other thing I always set is the white balance, half the time doing custom white balance which has made a huge difference in how my pics look. Anyway, learning your camera isn’t as hard as it may seem. Besides your camera’s manual, a book that I hear recommended a lot is “Understanding Exposure.” 