I’ve always wanted to take good pictures. I’m hampered in my desire by a few things. I don’t have a camera. I don’t read books or watch how-to videos on taking good pictures, and I haven’t taken any photography courses. It’s as though I expect the skill to show up in a savant-like manner. I want to be good at it, so that’s how it should go. Too many people expect native skills without working for them. You’d have thought piano would’ve taught me – it’s practice that makes perfect.

Since I’m not going to go pro, the camera question is somewhat resolved. Time marches on, and it’s now possible to take (very) good pictures with cell phone cameras. They’ve improved immensely from those rudimentary first ones, which considered the ability to focus an unnecessary luxury. Things are much different with cell phone cameras now. Shooting options abound. There’s portrait mode for blurred backgrounds, food mode for your mukbangs, a panorama setting for wide shots, and the option for manual control over settings like ISO and shutter speed. One can no longer blame a poor result on the pocket computer’s tech or hardware – they’re both stellar.

As I’m now equipped, this leaves me with education and practice. I’m not averse to taking a course on photography. I just have to pull the trigger. I believe the local university offers photography courses under the extended education umbrella. The calendar for those usually arrives in early fall. In the meantime, I’ll spend some time watching educational videos on the subject on YouTube and TikTok. I’ve started with selfies. Who knew there was a knack?

I hate looking at pictures of myself. I also take an abysmal selfie. See above re education and practice. It turns out, however, that if you practice your poses while tweaking the phone’s settings, the selfies improve. I’m hating them less, at any rate. This is a good thing, as I’ve decided to adopt the daily selfie requirement for this month’s 30-Soft. I suppose that makes it 30-Hard. At any rate, it’s a good idea to lean in when things make you uncomfortable. That’s where growth happens.

Unless, of course, that thing making you uncomfortable is heights.

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These are the pictures I took in June, and most of the images I saved. You probably don’t need to see my collection of random screenshots. I do that too often. The header image is one I saved showing the Manitoba wildfires. I need to shoot more pictures if I want to improve – nineteen in a month of thirty days is not overkill. I’m not sure why I’m hesitant – am I trying to conserve digital?

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