Hello, 2016

Today was decent weather and good food, and work on projects. I start my no editing, return to roots project today. I have to admit, I am struggling not editing photographs. You all may be thinking, why am I reading this? Her photos are not good. Bear with me. I am relearning. Now don't get me wrong, I am not typically a heavy editor, but a little clarity here, some saturation there and BAM a good photo. The good part of this process is that I will have to look at my photos and be honest with myself. Really honest. It will hurt. I might cry. But it will make me better, right?

Okay, let's start with this one. I tried a few different compositions before I landed on this one. I actually really like this photo. The color might be a little too vibrant, and I would probably add a vignette. I am a vignette junkie. I try to make them subtle. I need to be stopped.

Camera: Nikon D 7100, F-stop 6.3, ISO 500, focal length 100 mm, exposure time 1.3 sec.



This next one I am surprised that I like. Everything is dead and brown in my backyard. There is a storage facility behind us. I was trying to get what I could out of a sad situation. When I looked at the shot after I took it I thought, "Blah." Looking at it now it has its rustic charm. Changes I would make would be shooting to the left instead of  the right, and taking the empty hummingbird feeder off of the hook so I could include more of the hook.


 Camera: Nikon D7100, F-stop 6.3, ISO 500, focal length 100 mm, exposure time 1/100 sec.




Not bad for Day 1. I feel better about what I am sharing at least. I do not think just editing would make them better photographs, and it will take more practice recognizing what is not quite right (or in some cases what is Oh My What Did I Do? wrong about a photo. What do you think? What are some changes you would make? Keep in mind that inappropriate comments and spam will be filtered out.


 

A Special Gift

I was completely surprised yesterday by a wonderful, heartfelt gift. My step-son gave me a film camera. And not just any film camera, but a Pentax, which was my favorite camera to shoot with back in the day. Blown away. It goes well with my Olympus that I found earlier this year at Goodwill for $15. As far as I can tell it works. I put film in it, I'm taking random photos of household items, I am grinning the whole time. I am totally geeked about this camera. Nerd levels.

As I was pulling out all of my cameras to show my step-son's girlfriend, who is a total nerd for photography like me, I realized I may have a problem. There is a lot of cameras in that photograph. I feel like Scrooge McDuck looking at his gold pile or Shmeagal with his precious. I am already plotting the next one. I would love a Polaroid. Instant photos in that beautiful, crazy quality...

Yep, I have a problem.

Goodbye, 2015

This is my last official photo of 2015:

I could say something about how it is varied and colorful like this past year, and represents the bright new possibilities of 2016. I am not that person. Life does have variety, and this year had the light and the dark; the pretty colors and the not so pretty ones. This year was hard. There were some glorious moments, and everything contributes to journey, but I do not mind letting it go. I end it content and doing things I enjoy (like binge watching Brooklyn 99 and drinking mimosas after I pick up the teen from his party). So, I say adios to 2015! 

The Beginning Again

I am a simple person. I enjoy my family, I like my day job a decent percentage of the time, and I love photography. Photography has been an obsession for me since I was a tiny little girl with a 110 film camera. Yes, folks, a 110. Not vintage, not retro. My parents bought it in the store, taught me how to load it, and sent me on my merry way. I am not sure if any of those early photos exist anymore, but I will look. For laughs.

I love photography so much that I was even going to run away to California (from small town Arkansas, mind you. At 20.), and go to art school while my then-boyfriend was going to study history and be a teacher. I am a true Aquarian. Divine intervention came in the form of my first born son. I was not ready to run away. I was not equipped to be so far from home. The powers that be knew motherhood would be much easier for me that traveling halfway across the country with my social anxiety. Motherhood has been easier for me than starting a photography career. Crazy, I know.

So, here I am, that golden child is almost 16, it has been 17 years since his father and I planned to run away (we are both deeply rooted in other families and other careers), I have twin terrible two toddlers, and two professional jobs in the social work field. But...I can't let photography go. It has always been there in one incantation or another. I have always had at least one camera, and the dawning of high quality cellphone cameras has made taking photos everyday a convenience. But I want a career in photography. I want people to see the beauty I see and want to keep it. I want to set my own schedule so I have more time for my family, my other passion. I, of course, want to make money.

To do this I am starting over, from scratch, again. For the next two weeks I will not edit a single photo. I will focus on composition and exposure, aperture and lighting. I will go as purist as I can with a digital camera. With each post I will share the vision I had and the camera settings, what I learned, and what I wished I had done differently. This is my new vision quest. After the weeks of purism who knows where the quest will take me. We will just have to wait and see....