Planting sunflowers with Grandma

Newt

Just goofing around one night after her shower. I totally love her eyes in this picture. Overall the colors are pretty rich and vibrant.

My weekend

I have a weekend free of kids and plans, well, plans with someone. My weekend plans consist of this:

I am studying, reading, learning, practicing, learning, reading, practicing, reading, practicing, well, you get the picture (pun intended).

I spend hours at my favorite website ILP reading, re-reading, studying, looking, learning and then I grab my camera and practice, practice, practice.

Even after all of this, I'm not tired of it, I'm just hungry and thirsty for more. I want to learn more, do more, take more pictures. Everywhere I look now, I see pictures, I see life in frames, I watch television and pay more attention to the lighting and the shadows.

I was looking for beach wedding pictures for a friend yesterday. I found a couple of 'professional' photographer's websites and looked at their galleries. Some of the pictures were really good, but I had to laugh at myself because there were a few that the focus was too soft, or the contrast was too high, or the color was off, there was a tint to the picture. I would never have seen that a month ago. I look at other pictures now with a more critical eye, and I get tickled about it. That means I'm learning something.

So, it's off to more reading, more studying, more practicing. Too bad my kids are at their dad's this weekend. I could sure use some models.

I may have to settle for stuffed animals.

Adorable

This picture was posted on my favorite photography website, it was taken by Michelle Shiflet. Apparently Grandad brought baby and bear in for the photo session. I thought this was the cutest, most original baby photograph I've ever seen. I adore it.

Hope and Belief in my future

I woke up this morning to find an amazing Mother’s Day email in my inbox, from my mother. It said:

Hey Becky, 
I just wanted to tell you that your pictures of the girls are truly amazing.  I feel you have found your spot and your place should be photography(sp).  You truly have a gifted eye and see things in an amazing way.  I am so proud of you and the amazing journey you are taking and the beautiful woman I see coming out.  One that is very strong, beginning to know who she is and one that knows she has a life and can take care of her family and herself just fine.   You have done tons of work on getting yourself healthier and more self confident.  Wanted to wish you a very happy and fun filled Mother's Day. I love you MOM

Every now and then, I get something like this from her and I don’t feel as if I’ve been the disappointment I think I’ve been to her.  

It’s taken me a long time, but I feel as if I am finally coming into my own.  I am finally finding something that is mine, something that makes me feel alive, something that touches me.

My horoscope today says
You've got the skills and the know-how -- now all you need is the belief that you can pull this thing off. All you need is one cheerleader to make you feel like you could win this game single-handedly.

I know that I still have work to do, and I know that I still have things to learn, a lot to learn, and I really want to find my ‘eye’ my vision, my style.  I just know that I’m on my way.  I was so afraid I would totally suck at this, but it turns out the pictures I take aren’t altogether unfortunate looking, they actually are pretty damn good.

An Evening at the Capitol

The girls and I went to the Capitol building this evening to just play around in the fountains and let me take some outdoors pictures. These were taken with the digital camera. I have a whole roll of film to get developed and copied to CD before I can post them here. Here are just a few from tonight...

Hope for my future

This picture is by far my favorite one right now. It gives me hope that I'm not waisting my time with this new hobby. It gives me hope that I've got a little bit of talent. It gives me hope that if I can do this after 2 weeks, imagine what I'll be doing in 2 months, or a year.

My girls, Tate and Newt

Here area a few pictures I took of the girls tonight, just goofing around with Boo's digital camera. It helps me with the editing process, but doesn't do much for the manual technique I will need to master with my film camera.

Enjoy them, I do. The girls take great pictures. Tates always turn out so good, but I have to work so hard to get her to let me shoot her.

This is Tate. Her skin and eyes just glow. Absolutely beautiful.

Here's Newt. She loves to have her picture taken, and this is just about the only time I can get her to slow down and actually remember she's a girl, a young lady.

The colors on this one of Tate just pop for me, even the bark on the tree. I love the color and light on this one. Check out the catch lights in her eyes! That's a good thing, from professional photographers! Heh! Heh!
A close up of my youngest, my best friend. She's been the most fun, best surprise of my life.

Some first attempts at editing.

I know the original isn't the best quality. It's slightly out of focus, and there are hot spots. One of the first few things I've learned is the rule of thirds. Don't put the object in the middle of the picture. Make the focus in the top or bottom, left or right third. Also, step back and take the picture, it can always be cropped to a close up. Back up and give it room, and avoid the hot spots. Look at me.... Already learning! LOL

Here's a couple of pictures of my Tate, after being edited. Of course, I'm not using a professional quality camera or a professional level editor either, so these will be far short of professional quality pictures. But hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Welcome, come along for the journey

I know, 3 blogs is quite an ambitious undertaking for a single mom of 3 kids. Sometimes I'm an over achiever. Sometimes I just get in way over my head.

Anyway, I have always held a secret dream to become a photographer. Logically, financially, creatively, (does it matter) there were always reasons, things, people, expectations, situations holding me back, making it impossible, unattainable, out of reach.

Then, last week, Boo and I stumbled across a moving sale that we almost didn't go to at all. What a treasure trove of goodies we found there. Another beautiful bed, (that we don't really have room for, but will make room for, because we couldn't walk away from it) golf clubs, movies, you name it, we found it. And in the midst of all this chaos, I litterally stumbled over a camera bag containing an Olympus OM10 with 3 different lenses. It was a steal and a dream come true. At that point there was nothing, nobody, standing in the way, holding me back, keeping me from chasing my dream.

And so it came to be, that I now have a camera that I am learning to love, and am exploring a world I had seen in other's pictures, now I'm finding my own way. Cameras open up the world, and give you new vision. Looking at things through the lens of a camera teaches you so much about you and the world around you. By narrowing your vision to such a small and limited field, you are forced to see so much more, more beauty, more detail.

I am so looking forward to getting to know my children better, through my camera. With the camera between us, I can cease to be Mom, and they will relax and open up to me. Through the lens of my camera I can see things in them that they try so hard to hide.

I want them to see how beautiful I think they are, this is my chance to show them exactly how I see them. My father once told me, a person can not tell a story without telling their story, everything they say it tained with their 'truth' their reality, their story, their history. I believe the same is true about photographers. They can not take a picture of someone without taking a picture of themselves as well.

So, I begin my journey, my quest to make my dream come true. You are more than welcome to join me for as long or as little as you would like. I'd enjoy the company. Feel free to vist often, or occassionally, but please, above all, feel welcome to share this with me.