New Year!

February 2011 - :) Things are well. They always are.

Ever since my inspiring weekend last week, I've just been so amazed at the photos I took so long ago, when I retouched them a little bit in Camera Raw, how invigorated and amazing they appear now.

I'm falling back in love with the craft, and I appreciate my new camera so much more.

Such a fun hobby, and I can say, I'll never know everything about it, but I'm so excited to learn more and more techniques and work closer to being able to get the images I want on a more consistent basis. Experimentation is always fun, and I never want to lose that mindset.

Here are some things I've learned over the past years.
*I never know when something amazing will come up, but there really is beauty in everything. It's my interpretation as an artist to find that perspective, and capture it. The gift lies in the interpretation. If I didn't have the firm belief that there was beauty around me, I wouldn't capture half the moments I did, and I wouldn't be able to interpret the photos I did take (by cropping, etc).
*There are a lot of things you can prize about the photo... the unique subject matter, the composition, the angle, the depth of field, the colors, the contrast, the size of the photo, etc. And this is where the beauty lies. There are tons of ways to make a photo special.
*I can't compare myself to other photographers or simply say, he/she is better than me, or I am better than him/her. As in life, everyone sees things differently, and I'm sure if they gave themselves the chance, they could create something interesting. Time and time again I see some AMAZING photos from amateur photographers that simply had the courage to take the photo, in the moment. They may not have thought of the composition, the depth of field, or any of those elements, but still deserving, they created a fantastic photo they deemed interesting. And we can always learn from these serendipitous photos and also those methodical photoshoots that take staged lighting, tripods, and hundreds of shots to get the 'one'.
*There will be photo sessions where no good photos will come of it. That's okay. It's the price of learning!
*Each type of photography comes with a different set of challenges, which means a different arsenal of tools should be used to capture exactly what you want. (e.g. macro lens for macro photography, portrait shots - telephoto lens, night photos - long exposures/tripods, etc). There's a lot to learn! :D
*It should always be fun!

Oy! I've been writing for too long - I must wake up to go to 10am class tomorrow! :)