Friday night I did something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. I took a 3-hour photography class. Well, not really about photography, but more about how to use my camera to better advantage. The class was called “Canon EOS Discovery Days” and was all about Canon cameras and the buttons and settings.

The class was held at Unique Photo in Fairfield, NJ, about 45 minutes from my house. So, not a really local in-town event.

Imagine my utter surprise then to walk into the classroom and see my neighbor at the end of the street, Larry (remember? Larry gifted me the fig tree). We stared at each other in equal astonishment! I didn’t even know he liked photography. He on the other hand, has seen me with the camera slung around my neck walking by his house numerous times. Life can be amazing sometimes. We sat next to each other.

They gave us a gorgeous full color, slick-paged spiral-bound workbook to follow the instructor with. I have to tell you that I coveted that workbook the minute I set eyes on it at Unique’s open house a month or so ago. The book includes everything we covered complete with little workshops at the end of each chapter.

Some of the information was repetitive for me, but I did learn several things I didn’t know before that are going to be useful. It always helps to understand your camera and how it reacts to different settings and modes.

He did talk about one thing that hit home with me. In this digital age we tend to take photos and stick them on the computer or a disk somewhere and hardly ever print them out. He encouraged us all to start printing out our favorite photos and putting them in an album: one (album) for each year and fill it as we go through the year. Or print them out and frame them on the wall.

Maybe he was just trying to sell us a Canon printer (which we already purchased a month ago) but I think he just felt strongly about it. It is true though. At least for me. Although, we did print out some photos I took in San Miguel, Mexico a few years ago and hung them in the guest bath. So I guess that’s a start.

Unique also has a four course class that I plan to take as soon as they offer it again. Learning more about the hobby I love can’t be a bad thing now can it?