For years I have enjoyed taking pictures. Before the age of digital cameras I spent tons of money developing pictures and then throwing half of them away because, really, what was I going to do with THAT many pictures??? A girl can only scrapbook so much!
Once Jeremy coaxed me over to the 21st century, I took an even greater interest in snapping pictures. Not only was it more cost effective to print only my few favorites, but with online editing software, the possibilities of just how cool one picture could look was endless!
Photo opportunities were a dime a dozen when my kids were babies. Everything was a “first”. Whether is was a haircut, a birthday party, a trip to Disney World, or a black eye. It was new and different and exciting. And usually, my kids were clean and dressed adorably.
Then I noticed my inspiration was waning. My once sweet little models now had bruised knees, holes in their pants and red kool aid stains around their lips. And asking them to stop riding their scooters long enough for me to snap a picture of them sitting peacefully among the wildflowers was met with a lot of sighing and rolling of the eyes.
A few years ago I challenged myself by participating in You Capture almost every week. I got out of the habit after our house fire and for some reason, just haven’t done it since then. Most recently I joined a site called Clickin Moms. While browsing their site I found out they have a daily picture challenge through Instagram. Basically, how it works is that they post a new idea for each day of the week. You take that picture, on that day, then upload it to the site where you can see other photographers interpretations of the same idea.
It’s been really fun and I find myself looking at things around me differently as I try to find objects that meet the daily criteria. The pictures I posted today are from the past week: your own shadow, inside your shower, your review mirror, and something red in your house.
To really get outside my comfort zone I also signed up for a beginners online photography class. My mom’s been telling me for 10 years that I need to market myself and make a little money on the side. I’ve hesitated because I can’t shoot in manual mode on my camera. I don’t know enough about lighting and aperture. I’m not creative enough or as good as some others. I could come up with a millions reasons not to try it. But what it boils down to is that I’m scared to fail.
Now I’m at a place of no turning back. It’s do or die. Sink or swim. Fight or flight. However you want to say it, the class starts in June and it’s non refundable!
Here goes nothin’!
