First Gig - 916 Dance Studio

The other night I headed out to 916 Dance Studio to take pictures of the ballet class. I was excited & nervous! The owner wanted me to take pictures of the class for promotional flyers.
( http://www.916dancestudio.com/ )

It was really challenging. The mirrors reflected parents watching and belongings on the ground. I had to watch my angles & no flash with the mirrors. All the ballerinas were dancing. I was trying to get them all, but capture moments as well. I kind of felt defeated, but while editing found a couple that I loved.

This photography thing is coming right along! I'm learning more and more everyday! I've been dreaming about photography every night!! I have a session next week that I am really excited about and have been preparing for. I'm so inlove with this new path in my life!

Cousins

This weekend was full! I was super busy with family - and I loved it! Saturday I had both my sisters here with their kids. I was able to do mini sessions with the little ones. It was great practice for me and a nice little gift for my sisters.

Saturday one of my nieces was up at Lowe's selling Girl Scout cookies and I got a great shot of her!

I'm one luck auntie (and mommy - I threw a couple I took of Shane in here as well)!

Practice, Practice.

I've been trying to learn a lot about my camera and photography in general the last few days. I have a lot to learn. Photography is just something I've always been interested in and appreciated, but I have never done it myself. I am learning about shadows, lighting, how to use my camera in Manual Mode. Whew. It's a lot to learn.

I downloaded a free trial of Photoshop today. Seriously, they need to work on making this program more user friendly. I watched a few Youtube videos and learned just a little, a speck of what Photoshop is capable of, but I need a crash course. Luckily for me, my friend is going to meet up with me in a couple weeks and show me the basics. I am really looking forward to this.

So in the meantime I am using a fun, user friendly site to edit my pics. I could do alot more in Photoshop, but using the site is fun. Again, I know I can do more on the site than what I know, but it's only been a few days, so I need to cut myself some slack.

I made Thirsten model for me tonight. I took about 50 pics and there is one I really love and a couple that are pretty good. Again, I am still learning about lighting and shadows on the face and stuff, but I'll get there.



This one I drew the red back in the pic. It coould be more precise, but turned out pretty good for my first try!

First Photographs

Today I went to the park after I dropped my boys off at school. I was walking around taking pictures here and there. I went off path into the grass and trees and ended up playing with squirrels! They were so cute and so much fun! Not afraid of me at all. Infact, when I clicked my tongue they would come closer!

I took about 100 pictures at the park and there were a few that I really liked. Now I see why photographers take soooo many pictures! - To get that one shot that you just fall inlove with!

When I got home I took a few pics of our oldest dog, Mandy. She was running around the yard and didn't really want to sit still for me, but I was able to catch a good one of her.

I really like the camera. Takes great pics, amazing pics actually, and for someone that really doesn't know it well yet, it is easy to use. I know it is capable of so much more than I know what to do yet though. Last night when I was reading the manual and watching a bit of the DVD I started to feel a little overwhelmed and panicky. I know it's going to take time. I think I have the eye for photography, but there is a lot of technical stuff to be learned. I may be taking some classes with my Bella Mena Photography mentor. She has been so sweet and helpful. I am very lucky to have someone like her to help me through this.

So here are a few pics I took today. I will post the original and then the way I edited them.

It's Official!

I am officially taking this photography thing seriously. I've talked about it on and off for atleast a couple years, but wasn't sure which I wanted to pursue, make-up & hair or photography. I think photography is the more logical choice for me.

So I will be using this blog to talk about all of my learning experiences and to post the pictures that I take. Hopefully you will see an improvement as time goes by. My beautiful friend from Bella Mena Photography is going to show me the ropes. I couldn't be more excited to learn from her. She is amazing! Check out her blog here: http://www.bellamena.blogspot.com

I purchased my first REAL (as in quality) camera today. A Nikon D3100. I got an amazing deal that I could not pass up. The camera, two lenses (an 18-55mm lens & a 55-200mm lens), an SD card & a camera bag! So cool! See it here: http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d3100/index.htm

I've heard from a few different people, two of whom are photographers, that this is a nice camera and was a steal of a deal. So YAY me!

Please check back often as I hope to be updating with pics and stories of my photography learning! I'm excited for you all to go on this journey with me!