I need your help!

I am continuing on with the steps.  On Improve Photography there is an article titled "22 Things You Can Do Today to Change Your Photography Forever".  I am faithfully going down the list and completing each step. You can read my previous posts for steps I have done so far.  For the next step, I need YOUR help.....

Step 5: Print your best 75 photos and have a non-photographer critique them.  They say to "ask a friend or neighbor  WHO HAS NEVER SEEN YOUR PICTURES" to place them in order from favorite to least favorite, and then find out why they chose the order that they chose.  Do I HAVE 75 pictures I think are worth printing?  I'm not sure.  I will have to go through all my pics and put together a collection.  Hopefully I will get to 75.  If not, this step will be completed on a smaller scale.  The part in ALL CAPS, though, is what I am finding to be difficult.  I mention my photography to anyone who will listen.  I have shown most people at least a sampling of my work.  So, the hunt is on.  Is there anyone out there who has never seen any of my photography?  Any volunteers to look at, examine, and critique a pile of my pictures?  Please leave a comment below if you would like to play Photo Critic!!!

Step 6: Write a guest post for a photography blog.  I think I have to skip this one for now.  Being a guest writer requires in-depth knowledge about whatever your subject is.  I believe I need more experience, practice and training before I will have anything worth sharing.

Step 7: Shoot night photography in your own city.  I like this one.  I have many, MANY pictures of Petoskey, but I don't think any of them are at night. With the lovely arctic January weather, I will freeze my butt off in the process, but I am planning on doing this soon.  If you happen to see me lurking about Petoskey at night, now you know why.  

The Best Photo

Ok, I looked and looked but always came back to this one.  I can't actually put it on here since I don't have permission to use the photo, but here's the link:
click HERE

This image is by Miles Morgan.  It's a picture of Thor's Well.  Thor's Well looks like a hole sucking up all the ocean water.  According to Wikipedia

The Spouting Horn (also known as Thor's Well) is a salt water fountain driven by the power of the ocean tide. The Devil’s Churn and the Spouting Horn are popular with visitors; however, both can be dangerous especially at high tide and during winter storms.

There are thousands of pictures of Thor's Well available, so why do I like this one above all the others?  The serenity of the beautiful sunset in the background is a contradiction to the power you can see in the foreground.  It's a long exposure, because the water looks all soft and fluffy.  This technique is one I have been trying to perfect.  The water looks like it just disappears into the whole, like the drain in the bathtub.  It makes me want to know more.  Where does the water go?  How deep is the hole?  Where is this?  It also makes me want to visit the spot and try my hand at taking a great photo like this.  It's inspiration!  It inspires me to find something beautiful and make a wonderful photo of it.  Oh, by the way, Thor's Well happens to be part of the Cape Perpetua coastline of Oregon.  Yes, Oregon, right here the good ol' USA!

Self Improvement, Continued

I am carrying on.  As I mentioned before, improvephotography.com has an article titled "22 Things You Can Do Today to Change Your Photography Forever" an I am following their steps.  See my previous post for steps 1 and 2.
Step 3: Enter a photography contest.  Ok, so while I am waiting for the pictures I ordered to arrive, I decided to move on to the next step.  Do you have any idea how many photo contests there are?!?!  Go head, google "photo contest", See how many PAGES you get.  I browsed through the results for about half and hour before I found a website I liked the looks of. ViewBug.com - One website, LOTS of different contests.  Many free ones, many fee-based ones.  I stuck to the free contests for now, since I will be sinking some cash into mattes and frames for those 4 prints I ordered.  I entered pictures into 4 different contests.  The "Mist" contest, the "Body Shapes" contest, the "Couples" contest, and the "Passion for Photography" contest.  The first one closes on January 28 and then the judges have the difficult task of choosing a winner.  What a tough job.  I can make it easy........just choose me.  Hahaha.
Step 4:  Look up the best photo you have ever seen and decide why you like it.  Oh boy.  That's going to be a tough one.  There are so MANY pictures that I LOVE.  How to choose just one?  I will have to get back to you on that one............

Self Improvement

In my last post, I asked you what YOUR resolution was this year.  So I suppose I should share mine.  I have gone through many.  Small ones, large ones, silly ones, stupid ones, impossible ones.  I have settled on two fairly major resolutions for 2012, but I believe they are both achievable resolutions, and I intend to stick to them.

The first one is a common resolution: weight loss.  So many people resolve to lose weight, and do great for a month or so.  But because their motivation comes from the wrong place, they fail, fall off the wagon.  They lie to themselves.  "That diet doesn't work" or "I just didn't have time" or "I guess I was meant to be this weight"  The truth is, they were just doing it for the wrong reason.  When they find the right reason, it will happen, they will succeed.  In the past I have tried to lose weight to look better, to be a good role model for my kids, or so my husband would have a skinny, sexy wife.  Needless to say, I fell off the wagon with all the others.  This time, I decided I have had enough.  I am tired of looking in the mirror and not liking what I see.  End of story.  I simply want to be happy with myself.  2012 is the year to be happy with myself.  I WILL succeed!

My second resolution is also self-improvement related.  I want to do all I can to improve my photography, and build my business.  I want to get a degree in photography, but I haven't done so for several "reasons". I can't afford it, I don't have time, I'm scared to fail.  AHA!  That's the only real reason!  Fear of failure.  So, no more excuses!  I have decided that, somehow, someway, I will begin classes with the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online!  Yay!  Scary, but exciting!  In the meantime, I am trying to better my photography in other ways.  I found the website improvephotography.com and they just happen to have an article titled "21 Things You Can Do Today to Change Your Photography Forever".  Wow!  It's like they heard my thoughts and wrote it just for me.  So I began - and even discovered some steps that I have already done!  Look at me, improving my photography without even realizing it!
Step 1: Learn EVERY function your camera is capable of performing.  Done!  I sat down, camera in hand, and flipped every switch, changed every setting, fiddled with every knob on my camera.  I took about 25 pictures of my keys hanging on the wall to see what each change did to the photo.  It took me about 45 minutes.  The article says it should have taken 2 hours.  So either I already knew most of the functions, or they expect me to have a much fancier camera with many, many more functions.  Someday, I will, and I can't wait to play with all the knobs and doo-dads on it!!
Step 2: Prepare your work for exhibition.  Wow, that's a big step.  Or at least it seemed like it at first.  Simply put, though, they are saying I should have a collection of my photos matted and framed, stacked somewhere JUST IN CASE someone wants to see or (joy of joys!) buy any of my work.  There are so many variables to this step, though.  Which ones should I print?  How big should I print them?  Should I matte them myself or have it done?  How many should I do?  Where will I store them?  How do I sign them?  What color mattes should I put them in?  What kind of frame?  Will a $10 frame from Walmart work as well as a $45 frame from the custom framing store?  Does it REALLY matter?  After all, the frame doesn't make the picture..........but it could make it look better. Presentation is EVERYTHING (or so I have always been told).   All the decisions overwhelmed me and dollar signs started popping up in my head.  I felt myself pulling away, panicking, backing out, saying "nevermind", sabotaging myself.....again.  That's when I stopped.  I took a deep breath.  No one said I had to prepare ALL my work for exhibition all AT THE SAME TIME.  Tonight, I started small.  Really small.  I ordered 10x13's of my 4 favorite photos.  One by one, I will take them to the custom framing store to be professionally matted and framed. Presentation may not be everything, but it won't hurt.   I will sit down with the lady behind the counter, carefully examine and compare matting colors, framing colors and styles, decide which combination will best display that particular photo. Then, like a loving mother, I will nervously hand over my precious photo and trust her to take care of my baby and dress it up nice.  It's a step in the right direction.  I'll keep you updated as I follow the other 19 steps they outline.

2012 Inspiration

Happy New Year!  It's 2012.  What is your new year's resolution?  Drink more water.....eat less.....exercise more.....lose weight..... You start off strong, but how long will you stick to it?  We all come to a point when we need a little inspiration, a little motivation, something to remind us of why we made the resolution in the first place.  Here are a few of my favorites - don't forget to listen to the song too.

	Heather Small - Proud .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Only One Pound

Hello, do you know me?

If you don't, you should.  I'm a pound of fat,

and I'm the HAPPIEST pound of fat that you would ever want to meet.

Want to know why?

It's because no one ever wants to lose me.

I'm ONLY ONE POUND, just a pound!

Everyone wants to lose three pounds, five pounds or fifteen pounds,

but never only one.

So I just stick around and happily keep you fat.

then I add to myself, ever so slyly, so that you never seem to  notice it.

that is, until I've grown to ten, twenty, thirty or even more pounds in weight.

yes, it's fun being ONLY ONE POUND of fat, left to do as I please.

So when you weigh in, keep right-on saying "Oh, I only lost one pound"

For you see, if you do this, you'll encourage others to keep me around

Because they'll think I'm not worth losing.

And I love being around you - your arms, your legs, your chin, your hips

and every part of you.  Happy days!

After all, I'm ONLY ONE POUND of fat!

~ Unknown

The older you get, the tougher is it to lose weight, 

because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

~ Unknown

The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal.  

The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

~Benjamin Franklin

You have no idea what you're capable of until you try.

~Jillian Michaels