Photogrpahy magazine arrived

The latest copy of digital photo has arrived today. It has a supplement with it about Photoshop. I must make sure that I get to read this tonight when the younglings have gone to bed.

Hopefully I will be able to learn how to add some funky effects to my pictures. There is also a section about layers.

Also featured in the magazine is something about low light shots.

I think it is a good month for what I would like to learn.

We have had some really pretty sunrises and sunsets recently. Here is a sunset picture that I got yesterday. I like how you can see the reflection in the puddle on the road.

Motivation

I know that I have got a lot to do and I know that time is always challenging to juggle, but I really need to set some time aside to read through my Photoshop book.

So I think I will have to set myself aside a challenge. For the next week I need to make at least half an hour to sit down and learn something new about Photoshop (especially layers)

Lets see what I can learn in the next week.

I was looking through some of my older pictures and I found this one from last month. I took this when I took the younglings shopping with me. It is easier for me to shop with them in a shopping trolley as at least I do not have to worry about where they are. I thought it would be fun to get a picture of them.

I decided to add a Christmas theme to this picture with the help of the funky extra seasonal features at Picnik.com

Sunrises

One of the things I love about this time of the year is that I can actually catch a sunrise. In the summer there is pretty much no chance that I can get one.

This was the sunrise that I caught yesterday morning as I was walking the younglings to nursery and school.

I have joined a photography club

 have been going to a photography club with one of my friends dad. I have enjoyed going there so I have joined the club.

They have got their own place with a studio. It is getting renovated at the moment but once it is finished it will be good to get shots taken there that I cannot get taken at home. It will also be good to enter the photography competitions as well and get inspiration from the other members.

Now that the nights are getting longer I am having limited time when to take natural light shots. I decided one late afternoon to get some shots of the street lights. As it has been raining a lot recently I liked the effect of the light reflecting.

What I like to photograph

My teacher asked me the other day what I liked taking picture of. I started thinking of the things that I like taking pictures of. I do like taking color pictures but I have grown to prefer mono pictures. I do enjoy taking pictures of landscapes but I also like macro shots. I do like taking portrait shots of animals but in a natural environment and I remembered that I also like taking pictures of objects that you normally would not notice and making them look interesting.

I took these pictures a couple of months ago when I was at college.

This picture is of a water pipe that leads to a hose that is there to put out fires:

This one is of an emergency chair for people who have difficulty walking.

This is the spring at the back of the pad which wheelchair users would use to open a door.

I just need to plan out how I can work a professional career around what I like taking pictures of. One thing that I could do is take portraits of peoples pets. Though I really could do with learning to drive before I do anything like that.

I could also sell pictures to be made into postcards, cards, posters etc. I think I would need to get an agent if I am going to do this. That would leave me to concentrate on getting more pictures and leave them to do the part of the job that I am not experienced with.

I just need to do my best to stay positive from now on.

Feeling better tonight

 have just got back from my photography course and I am feeling better. Chatting to my teacher helped a lot as well.

I was not sure what to do at the class today but I just had some fun editing some of my older pictures with Picnik and I added a festive theme to a couple of pictures. It was fun and it was nice to just do something silly. I think I need to do that more often.

Looking through older pictures

After asking for some advise about regaining my confidence in my photography I was given some good advise about what I could do.

One of those tips was looking at some of my older pictures and seeing them with new eyes.

I decided to do this today as I have not had much time to edit pictures and I have not even had time to look through the pictures that I have taken. I found some nice shots from the beginning of November. I am struggling to edit one of them as it is losing some of its color when I open it up in Photoshop. I will hopefully work something out but I have found one of my daughter that I like and I was able to edit it.

I am not feeling too bad today. I think if I can manage to get some focus then I think I will be at least half way to getting my confidence back. May the force be with me for doing that.

Walking through the wood with her doll Winter:

 

I like each version for a different reason. I also like that by just changing the effect it can change the feel of a photograph.