Friday, April 16, 2010

After the rain...

two weeks in one!


Last week when we had yellow as our word of the week, I envisioned taking a shot on the ground, of the yellow line in the road. I wanted to get it right in my town, but the time never arrived, there were always too many cars. Fast forward to this morning and I saw my opportunity and jumped on it! Mainstreet was fairly quiet and I ran out there and got down on the ground to get the shot...just as a very friendly sanitation worker walked in front of me and started emptying trashcans on mainstreet. So, the shot didn't come out quite as I thought it would. So, I'm heading to a petsit, driving down the outer road of the highway, when I see the sun rising in the rearview mirror. I pulled over, checked that that road was clear and dove into the road to get the shot. I admit, this is just my first attempt b/c I was nervous of getting run over, practically laying in the middle of the outer road, but this one was my favorite.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A sunny perspective...


Today was not a good day with the point and shoot. I've managed to get decent pictures by sticking to outdoor pictures during the 'magic hour' around sunset. But today I had plans and knew I'd be inside at this time. I tried to get some pics at other times of day and not only were they completely blown out but since I have to use the LCD screen (this particular camera has no view finder) I couldn't even really frame the picture up because it was too bright to see the screen. I'm trying to just think of it as a learning experience- I know I get the best pics with this camera around sunset so that's what I should stick with. For today, this was the best of the bunch so in the spirit of the project I'll post my less than perfect picture.

upsidedown perspective

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A soft perspective...


When I'm in my head, trying to decide what I should take pictures of I can never think of anything. But with camera in hand, not over thinking, just letting the ideas come to me instead of me searching so hard for them they come without fail.

Self Perspective


Let me preface this with saying how difficult it is to post pictures of myself like this. I'm doing it though b/c I think it's important for me to step out of my comfort zone and be brave, especially when I'm trying to grow in so many ways...

I had somewhat of a flashback this morning. Long story short, I was out running and a guy (grown man) made fun of me and laughed at me while I was running. I spent my childhood being laughed at and teased for my weight, it shaped who I am, but I really don't feel like I did back then. I thought I was over it. I tried to just get angry, but before I knew it I was back there in that place of shame and feeling every bit of pain that I did when I was younger. I had a good cry (ok, a couple good cries) and realized that I'm not that person anymore.

I'm not going to believe you when you tell me I'm fat or ugly or whatever judgment you think you have about me. I KNOW who I am, I'm beautiful inside and out, and I thought that it would be some great self therapy to shoot myself today and find that beauty that I know I have. It was good for me and I needed to see myself for what I am now and who I am now. I liked both these shots. I can see beauty and flaw in myself and really just love who I am. I don't need to be perfect, I am who I am and I'm working my ass off every day to be even better. I guess all those classes for my psychology degree gave me a boost today...there's nothing like some self perspective thrown in with self therapy! ;o)

Monday, April 12, 2010

A lovely perspective...



Once again I found myself uninspired today without MY camera. I wandered around the house, my yard, even ventured over to the neighbor's yard. In my mind I was writing a post explaining that I just couldn't do this with a point and shoot. But I found myself drawn back to the house. First I took some shots of the small wooden lawn furniture the kids have outgrown. I didn't really like them but I did notice that the sun was setting and that I like the pink-white light bouncing off the white wood. Then the the wooden planter in my garden caught my eye. Just when I'm about to give up on finding a shot, one finds me.

Mulan


Today we had Disney movie day, so my picture was pretty easy thanks to Hope. She got all kinds of fun stuff for our movie day and they made for a great picture. I'm going to ramble a bit here b/c this is what I do... I'm having a little internal struggle with my photography. I FEEL like a photographer. I have no interesting in being a "professional" photographer. I don't want to charge people, so therefor I'll never be a professional. Does this mean I can't get as good of a photo? I don't think so. Does this mean that I don't know what I'm doing? No. It means that I LOVE photography, it means I love it just for what it is. I don't have to call myself a professional, I don't have to charge, I just have to love it for what it is. I could whip up a website and start charging people and this would magically make me a pro. It's not what I want, isn't that ok? I want to take the best pictures that I can take and I don't care if you think I'm professional or not. Does this make any sense? Probably not, but I needed to get that out. I'm spending a YEAR taking pictures every day in manual mode, reading and learning all I can b/c I LOVE photography. I love my camera. I don't need to be a pro to be validated, I can take a great shot without the label.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Karen plays photographer


Well THAT was a learning experience! Savannah & Leslee agreed to play models for me this afternoon and let me play around with getting some different shots. First off, I had this image in my head of them wearing bright eyeshadow looking really artsy and quickly realized that not only can I not put makeup on, but it would have been better with paint, not eye makeup and women, not girls. We washed most of the makeup off and they put on what they felt comfy in. I used a sheet and clearly had the wrong lens b/c you can tell it was a sheet and my bokeh wasn't what I wanted. There were issues with the edge of the sheet showing, the girls completely not wanting to do what I wanted, and bees flying all around us! LOL! Still, it turns out that Leslee wants to be America's Next Top Model b/c she sat long after Savannah was done and let me take shot after shot. I supposed I should have gotten a better shot then if I had such a willing participant, but it was my first shoot and I'm not going to be so hard on myself.

Bird's eye view...


One of my favorite things about spring is the return of the birds. I am lucky enough to have birds fill my lawn. At times the yellow of the goldfinches descending is so thick it looks like leaves fluttering to the lawn. I also have robins, wrens, bluebirds and some that I don't know their names. Soon the whippoorwill's will begin their song at dusk and the hummingbirds will zip, zoom, and dive. Today we set up the bird bath and we anxiously await more springtime visitors.