Fleur Davies Photography: Starbucks and Full-on MANUAL MODE! Yay!!!

Ok, so I'm not one to shout from the rooftops, blowing my own trumpet.... I like to think I'm quite modest about my photography. I'm far from knowing it all and even farther from being incredible at it, BUT, I do think I'm quite good, sometimes great (that's about as boastful as I can get).

I love to think about how far I have come in the last 18months though. I came out of full 'auto mode' faaaaiiirly quickly, thanks to my Mum who bought me a place on a course that taught me how to prioritise either for aperture (depth of field within an image) or shutter speed (capturing/freezing motion). This was a huge breakthrough for me. The course also taught me how to use the focus points on Mr Click too so I've been telling my camera what to focus on from almost the beginning of my Adventures with Mr Click. :)

Now, let's skip forward by 12months.... I've been reading and practising, and reading, and practicing, and reading, and.... Ok, you get it! And it's only been in the last few weeks were I have thought - Right, that's it! I'm going MANUAL! Gotta say, I never want to go back; I understand my camera. And I'm thrilled.

The following images are of my little Miles. And they are the first set of images that I set out to capture completely manually, setting up everything on Mr Click myself. I chose this moment as I sat opposite him enjoying his weekly Starbucks treat to just go for it. He was focussed on devouring his marshmallow stick and babychinno which gave me a great chance to click away while we made small (3 year old) talk. I love how I made every decision, rather than the camera doing it, on how each image should look. These photos won't win any awards. They are purely self indulgent and to most won't 'mean' that much, BUT to me they are so much more. They are the beginning of a new chapter, my next level of learning and a huge step into being the best that I can at something I have such passion for....

Hope you like them. (*warning - they might make you want a marshmallow chocolate star treat! - I totally do......)