Hyacinth & oak

Hyacinth & oak
Originally uploaded by suzipaw.

Art or not?

Trying to simultaneously document that spring has sprung early here on the north coast while figuring out the macro setting on my newish camera, with inconclusive results.

My aunt the photographer says that the difference between an amateur and a professional is that the professional reads the manual. However, the only help my manual (well, instruction booklet) gives me is: "This mode lets you shoot from as close as 4 cm to your subject. Normal shooting is also possible, but the position of the zoom is fixed and cannot be used." Do I need to depress the shutter halfway to fix the focus? What about my mode setting? Better practice more. At least I'm not wasting film, paper, and money.