New Jersey State of Mind

A couple weeks ago, I went to visit my sister in New Jersey. It was a great trip but this isn't a blog about my travels. It's about what I did to become a better user of film. Before I start, let me tell you I have the utmost respect for Andrew Kramer. Not just because he's a mad scientist with After Effects, but because he loves to share his knowledge with others.

Teaching someone about your passion helps to fuel that same passion. I didn't have any expectations when I visited my sister. Just needed a breather. I did take Ken's SLR, because I figured there would be some nice photo ops. My brother-in-law, Chris, took me around Montclair (where Stephen Colbert resides) and it's surrounding townships to indulge in my shutterbug.

After taking a few shots, Chris expressed some interest in how to take pictures in manual mode. If you don't know, that is where you can manually set the aperture and shutter speed. It gives you a ton of flexibility when taking pics and you can get some REALLY good shots. If you don't already do it, learn how. Anyway, I taught Chris how to shoot pics in manual mode. After he took a few pics to figure out the math, I set him free unto the world to use this new power for good. Here are some of his results:











The kid has some skills. He took to depth-of-field like a fish to water (not in the Gulf of Mexico). He's been shopping for a dSLR since I left. I'm sure you'll be seeing more of Chris and his photographic ability in the near future. Stay tuned.

Here are a couple I took, when Chris let me have the camera for a few minutes:








Y'all have a good one.