Learning Everyday!

I have decided that 2009 will be the year of learning for me! I am studying photography instead of just shooting it with no real purpose other than making money doing portraits! I have researched and bought several good books on everything from exposure to equipment and I have to say that I am learning a lot already.

So in addition to the "I'm going to get in shape" New Years resolution I want to make it known (to be held accountable) that I am going to take the time to learn the art that I am so passionate about! I want to know everything there is about taking the perfect picture from still life to you name it! My goal is to post a new picture each day and tell you a little about the shot. I hope it works and I do not fall flat on my face!

I will still be intermingling the photos with stories of the family and pictures of them in keeping with my goals! I think that my goals are reasonable and I will be able to accomplish quite a bit on this journey and perhaps learn a thing or two about myself along the road.

The top two photos were taken on Christmas day at a lake house belonging to our friends, Bill and Ruth! The lake was frozen so I walked around looking for cool shots to take and found these leaves, they are titled, appropriately, Frozen in Time 1 & 2. I just loved the way all of the leaves, but one, were frozen just under the surface of the ice and the one lone leaf is just laying there as if waiting for a thaw so it can rejoin the rest of the leaves in the lake.

The bottom photo is just a silly self-portrait of how my family sees me most of the time! I am either taking photos, editing photos, reading about photos or planning the next cool shot that I am dying to capture. I am consumed by this passion and happily so! Right now I am working on my sister-in-laws wedding photos that needed to be corrected in order to be usable. Unfortunately for her, the photographer was not very good and as a result her photos looked like someone used a point and shoot to take them! Now, don't going saying that I am knocking point and shoot cameras because I am not! In fact we own two in this house! All I am saying is you get what you pay for, just remember this the next time you need to hire a photographer!

Sorry, I did not mean to go off on a tirade about bad photographers! I just get upset when someone who does not know what they are doing gets paid to do it wrong! Enjoy the photos and please let me know what you think!