I recently attended an evening talk at Pendon Museum about photographing models given by Andy York, RMWeb.

I wasn’t expecting to learn so much about photography in general and my camera in particular. In these days of digital compacts it is too easy to point and click, check the result, and if it’s not good enough, try again. No need to take care with shutter and exposure, and then wait a week for the results. I did a commission once for a friend with two camera bodies only to find when the prints came back I had a light leak in one of the bodies and the results were ruined.

When I decided I needed an auto focus SLR I went for Canon EOS. It is an indication of the hobby that my first body was 35mm, which I later replaced with an APS body, and again replaced that with a digital one. I only ever used any of them in automatic mode.

During his talk Andy York emphasised using a tripod and setting up your camera manually. Reaching for my compact I was astonished to find so many manual adjustments. I need to read the manual.

Pendon laid on some food, allowed a wonder around the museum before an entertaining, informative, and thought provoking talk for £10. If you live within striking distance of Pendon I thoroughly recommend future talks.