photo class

Much of my art making time has been taken up with photography lately, as I'm taking a class at Showcase Cameras. I am finding it challenging. For starters, I can't see the image in the little viewfinder very well, so I keep  making fuzzy images. Then there's the aperture/shutter speed thing. I feel so clueless. We had a field trip to Oakland cemetery, and  I've been back twice trying to get six images I'm proud of for class on Thursday. I liked the one above, but boy have I shot a lot of garbage.  When I'm painting, I think composition is my strongest suit, probably because of an obsession with art history, I don't really have to work too hard to make the eye flow over the image. When I'm looking through the viewfinder, there's too much to think about: what the heck should I be setting it on, the aforementioned seeing problems, the fact, with creaky knees, I'm usually uncomfortable, all of which means frequently what I get is not what I thought it would be. Plus even when I check it on the camera after I've taken it, glare frequently makes it difficult to see. Anyway, I'm having fun, but I'm really stressed out over it. It doesn't help that everyone in class is younger and seems more experienced, or better equipped than I am. Oh well, I firmly believe that learning anything is important, and something one should do every day, plus I got to find out how beautiful  the cemetery is in autumn and early in the morning, so I count myself very blessed, but reserve the right to whine/wine.