No. 1

It's the second day of the new year, and I'm already playing catch-up with the photo-a-day challenge I told myself I was going to do in 2015.

Go figure.

Several years ago, I took a basic photography class (I'm sure at least some of you remember suffering through my Facebook posts of my efforts for the class.).  The camera I was using at the time was a Canon advanced point & shoot, and by the end of the class I knew my way around the manual settings pretty well.  Then the following spring, I got my first grown-up camera (read DSLR), and although it's also a Canon, the manual settings were suddenly quite overwhelming.  I quickly fell back into the bad habit of relying on the auto settings, and have stayed in that comfort zone ever since.

Well no more, I told myself several months ago!  It's silly and senseless to have this great camera, and some decent lenses, and not make an effort to put them to good use.  I stumbled upon a blog called Click it Up a Notch, and after sifting through the multitude of excellent information on the site, am now determined to work my way through the site's eBook, The Unexpected Everyday.

Follow along if you like.  Comment if you are moved to do so (just be gentle, please!).  Without further fanfare, here is photo number 1 for 2015.  The original photo is on the left, an edited version on the right.

(Canon EOS Rebel T3i - f/1.8 - 1/40sec - ISO1600 - 50mm)