Happy New Years everyone! This is the official start of my 365Project, or Photography blog. The project is to post one photo everyday for a year, the idea being that if you have to take pictures everyday, you will end up getting more creative and learning great lessons along the way.
I've been reading several other people's blogs (http://365.mcarth.com/, http://thecareyadventures.com/blog/, http://naturesmugshots.blogspot.com/, & http://gallow-photo-year.blogspot.com/) for a few months, but figured I'd wait until the new year to start mine. To be honest I figured that if I waited I would probably change my mind and not bother doing it. But here I am!
For anyone who may have happened upon my blog and doesn't know me, here's a little bit about me. I am a mother of a 22 month old son and an accountant by trade. I've always enjoyed taking and viewing pictures. I have fond memories of when my Dad would get out the projector and slides and we'd view recent and distant past photos of holidays, trips, etc (my Dad has taken some very nice pictures along the way). He recently scanned all of his slides, which he gave me and my brother as an awesome Christmas gift! In college my Dad gave me his 35mm SLR when I signed up for a black and white photography class. I really enjoyed the class, but looking back I don't think my photos were all that special. Then came the digital age, and the 35mm only came off the shelf for special occasions. It wasn't until my son was born and I received a digital SLR for my first mother's day (a Canon 30D) that I started taking a lot of photos on an almost daily basis (my parents joke that Owen is the most photographed baby ever).
The old saying "The more you know, the less you know" is true for me in regards to photography. As I started to read the manual for my camera I realized that there was a lot to learn about. So I've been reading books and online articles. But I would say it wasn't until I took a class this fall at the Desert Botanical Garden (Steve Ehre's beginning digital SLR class), that I really caught the photography "bug". The class opened me up to seeing things around me differently, and I started taking pictures of things other than my son. When Steve said that I had "an eye for things", it really kind of surprised me. I thought that my pictures were fairly average, and nothing compared to the pictures I was seeing in books and online. Now as I look at other's photos I find myself increasingly thinking, "hey, I want to try that!"
So now that I've caught the bug I want to improve my photography as much as possible. I still feel I am lacking in technical expertise, and one of the best ways to improve that is trial and error. So here goes!
I plan on posting one picture a day (taken that day), but I realize that with a 2 year old and other things going on in my life that might not always be possible. But I will definitely aim for 7 pictures a week. I already have a list of different things I want to try. I'm sure that Owen will be my favorite model, which will keep the grandparents happy. :-) I thought about doing this on facebook as a photo album, but figured a blog would also allow me to write more often, which is something I need work on. This will also become my blog on what's happening in my life for those who may care. Plus this allows anyone out there who happens along to comment on the pics, so PLEASE, feel free to critique!!
I would be remiss if I didn't mention my good friend Megan's blog, http://meganresch.blogspot.com/. She is an awesome wedding & portrait photographer, and a big inspiration to me. I don't think I'll ever make photography my career (I actually like having a desk job, and am very happy with my current position), but the thought of doing a wedding or a portrait session does intrigue me, so if anyone wants a cheap, not-so-good photographer, let me know!!
At this point I don't plan on doing much post-processing of my photos. I'm really looking to improve my skills with the camera first. I'm sure at some point I will begin to mess around in photoshop (which I don't have at this time) or the free GIMP software that I've been meaning to check out (http://www.gimp.org/), but until then I use Picasa for basic functions. There's so much neat stuff you can do with photoshop, but for now I consider that cheating. :-)
Hope you enjoy my photos! Here's to 365 photos in 2010!!
