Bryan and I recently acquired a Nikon D3200, in part to populate this blog with some much-needed color. I admit that I am a novice photographer, and I look forward to learning as I go.

Recently, I was fortunate to get back in touch with a friend from my undergrad years. Dan and I were American delegates to JASC back in 2005. These days, he’s doing fascinating work on the world of soccer and is living the life of an ex-pat in Tokyo. His personal work is up on his site, Third Lens Open. He kindly hooked me up with some infographic guides on how to get started with this DSLR.

I’ve always been a little intimidated by photography. I did painting and illustration as a kid. The media I used gave me, rightly or wrongly, a strong sense of control over the final results of my work. If the result was good, it was because of my skill–likewise, if the result was poor, it was because of my lack of skill. Photography seems much more elemental, with forces well outside of my ability to influence. Composition, lighting, other conditions–these are things I could define when working from scratch with oil or pen, but when captured out in the world through a lens, appear feral and uncooperative.

I have never taken a good photo, but I aim to change that soon.