Upping the Skill Level

I have self taught myself to use our DSLR in various manual modes (mostly aperture) and there is still a whole lot I have to learn. When I come across a tip or trick online I like to try it out because that is the only way I really understand it. I've been bad lately about adjusting ISO for lighting, which makes for much harder edits later. It is just so easy to grab the camera and start shooting, so I'm hoping that with the more I practice the better routine I have in getting to the settings I need quickly and quality photos every time. 

Yesterday, I came across some information on back button focusing and had to see what it was all about. I love shooting with a low aperture and getting that super blurry background, but sometimes it is tricky to have a crisp, in focus subject. I'm not 100% sold on back button focusing, but I'm going to keep trying to use for a while before switching back. 

Here are some of my results from playing around yesterday. I edited them in lightroom a bit - mostly just lightning the shadows and a few other tweaks - but a lot of these came out of the camera looking pretty good. 

I have to say, Audra was a particularly tricky test subject for me this time. Girl isn't very fond of staying in one place for very long which makes me getting the groove of focusing on her a tad difficult.