A Contest and a Great Site!

I am all about showcasing people that are teaching! The Savvy Photographer not only has a great site filled with information, but she is also having a giveaway! Click here to enter! The Savvy Photographer

I have been focusing on photographing birds in flight. I find a bird feeder where they are flying in for food, focusing my camera to the side of the feeder and catching them landing, taking off, grabbing food, etc. Some things I am learning. When using this technique be very aware of what is in the background.

My first attempts had a big sign in the background and while I got some great shots, I couldn't use them with the sign in the back.

Focus in on the space closest to the feeder, but not the feeder. If you focus on the feeder, the feeder will be clear but the bird blurry.

Be patient. You will have to take a lot of pictures to get just one good shot! Trust me. But so worth it.

For these shots I am using a digital Canon Rebel Camera, with a 300mm Zoom lens. I am still struggling with focus, blurry images, etc. But each time I think it gets a little better!

Have fun. I would love to see your pictures!

Wishing you Much Wonder in 2010.

This photo was taken with the Canon Rebel using my 100-300 zoom lens. I came out blurry so I used a few textures and overlays, and feathered the edges in Photoshop. Turn blurry photos into something new! In my research, its important to lower shutter speed to allow in less light and shoot faster. I now have my tripod and a wireless remote, so I am heading out to see if it makes a different. Wish me luck!

It's Fun, Challenging, Frustrating all at once...

I continue to learn in my digital photo shop class. Today's lesson involved adding layers or scratches, frames, text, color. It was so much fun and I am excited about the outcome of this photo. It was challenging because the computer sometimes locks up on me, and freezes, or I have to go back and watch the video to see what step I missed. I am learning about adding fonts to my libray, finding new sites for free layers, masks and grunge looking styles. It is so much fun. I am so proud of this creation and hope you will venture into PhotoShop and try your hand at making your photos stand out.

It can be frustrating as you learn to use the tools in PhotoShop, but patience pays off and before you know it you are moving through the program quickly and everything is coming out the way you planned. It does take practice.

I am thinking though that if I am going to take this seriously I will need a faster computer that can hold, handle, store all of my images, new images and templates. What do you think? If you use Photoshop how do you keep all your images organized? Any ideas? Suggestsions? I look forward to hearing from you.

I have posted the after and the before pictures. What do you think?

Sharing what you Know..

Well, I said I would be taking a class on Photoshop soon, and I was so excited about it that I went a week early! The class is this Wednesday so once I have the lesson, I will be sure to let you know how it went and some of the cool things I learned. I am having trouble learning how to load pictures onto the Photoshop, I think I get confused when I am uploading from my camera. Another program called JASC keeps opening and I just get confused. Jessica Sprague is offering some free Photoshop lessons on her site at and I plan to take those classes too! The more I learn, the more practice I get right?

Which leads me to this weekend. My husband and I headed out to a National Park in our area to see what we could take photos of this week. It had rained quite heavily and so we headed to the Falls. It was a beautiful day and although kind of a long ride, we went out and spotted red tail hawks, the falls, dragon flies, birds. All kinds of fun photographs! On our way out of the park there was a crowd of people with cameras taking pictures of something on the ground. I wasn't wearing my glasses so asked a photographer what everyone was looking at. He looked at me and said "Oh its just a really interesting tree" and he walked away. I believed him. So I kept looking and looking trying to see what was so special about it, and then it moved.

There up against the trunk was the most beautiful fawn. Its mother was on the other side of the tree eating grasses and she obediently sat there waiting for her mom to return. I sat there for about 30 minutes taking shots, waiting for her to raise her head. It was such a special site. Kids walked by and I shared my binoculars so everyone could enjoy that special moment.

That to me is the point of art, nature, life. To be able to share it with others. Shame on that man for not wanting to share it with me. Perhaps he thought we would endanger the young fawn, but I suspect he was just being selfish.

This site is about sharing what you learn. About anything. Photography just happens to be my art right now, but I am learning scrapbooking, card making, jewelry design and more. I learn from books that I read, people that I meet, and places that I go. I do hope you will come on in and share a little or alot. Don't be like the man who was simply looking at a "very interesting tree". Delight in your knowledge and share it with others. There is a little kid out there who may never see a fawn in the wild who is just happening by, and you could be his entrance into understanding that the world is much bigger than the space we take up. The photos above, are of the fawn and its mother. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

PhotoShop Elements 6.0 Learning as I go...

I have come to the conclusion that I am not a patient person. Well I have been told that all my life, but I didn't believe it. Well, I sort of did, but tried pretending that I was very patient. I am actually very patient when it comes to others. Patient in traffic, patient when the person in front of me cuts me off, or doesn't go through the light, even when they are on a cell phone. Patient with children, patient with old folks. Just not patient with myself. Which is what I am so frustrated!

I have been trying to learn PhotoShop. Of course I have been trying to do it without reading the book, trying to figure it out blindly on my own. The whole thing just seems so complicated. There is so much I want to know. Questions like layering words over a photo, sizing a photo in odd sizes and then getting it to print that way, creating a collage, making my own note cards, all of it. In reality I think I want a little more than just Photoshop. I think I want to be able to design my own images and perhaps that is more than just Photoshop?

And then there is the computer. Working on a laptop with a less than reliable connection, everything takes forever, from uploading photos, to saving photos it seems to move so slow. So here is the question: What does a person need in the way of computer technology, design software, and printing? Where does a person begin if they want to learn how to create their own cards, letterhead, brochures, advertisements and more?

Is there one place you can go for all the answers? I don't know. But I intend to find out. In the meantime found a class at my local scrapbooking store that teaches digital scrapbooking using PhotoShop. The class is only $40 which to me seems reasonable and I am the only person who registered. Probably because people don't see the connection between Photoshop and Scrapbooking. The class is on Sunday, so come back and I will let you know what I learn. Hopefully the instructor will be patient with me!

I am posting a photo that I took with my new camera. Its either an egret or a heron, I am not sure. This is the photo I want to layer with text. I will let you know how it turns out!

What new thing are you learning? Are you taking photos? Developing a new skill? Please share with us!

I Challenge Me...

It's been awhile since my last post. I have been busy travelling, finishing up some last minute projects and working on an RFP for a possible consulting job. My company just reduced my hours to part-time so I thought I might try my hand at starting up my own business. My problem is I can't make up my mind what business to start. I have been writing a children's book for some time, I have my own craft site, but can't seem to come up with my focus. I love photography, but looking at my pictures I just don't feel the WOW! These are great! Maybe I should become a Professional Photographer?? LOL.

But I do love using a camera to see the world differently. I do love working with my hands, I do love children, and I have a ton of experience in association marketing. I am a creative minded individual with a ton of misdirected potential. So what do I do? I keep taking pictures, I keep writing, I keep trying to find my niche.

I would love to hear from you. What is your passion? Did you start a business? How did you know it was really what you wanted to do?

Spring is definitely in the air. I have shared my eagle story. Well, we just spotted another nest that is going to require a hiking trip this weekend. I am just fascinated with birds. If you have bird photo or some other photography passion, please share your stories, photos here. I would love to see them. I plan to decorate my office with nature pictures of birds in the wild. I have been collecting them, and taking pictures of them for some time now.

But lately its been spring blossoms that have been drawing my attention. All kinds of blossoms in pink, purple, white, green, blue, yellow. Isn't it wonderful to watch the season change, with the first sign of spring...a daffodil, a robin, a new nest. Virginia's state flower is the Dogwood, and right now they are blooming all over the state. What is your state flower? Try to capture it in a photo. Post your state flower here. Let's see if we can get pictures of all the state flowers!

My post today is about not getting discouraged. Keep trying new things. Keep looking for unique photo opportunities. It doesn't have to be complicated. Think of something you absolutely love to look at, love to see. Challenge yourself to see how many different ways you can take a picture of that special thing, person, place, item. Once you decide on the subject you will be amazed at how many you will see, and how many different ways you will begin to see it. My ETSY site doesn't seem to be getting a lot of sales. I love the photos, but apparently they either aren't the right size, aren't the right subject, or maybe not the right colors. I don't know but I do know I am learning, and I love the process. Perhaps I need to reevaluate the shop or the items I sell. Maybe people would prefer notecards? Art prints? Maybe I need to decide if I am going to be serious about photography and perfect my skill? Or continue to try new things until I find the right match for me?

What is important, is that I am having fun doing it. I am developing a better level of discipline. Finishing what I start, and not giving up. That alone is worth the effort. I challenge you today to think beyond the sale, think beyond your limits. See what others are doing, try your hand a something new, or a little edgy. Step in some puddles, climb a muddy hill to get closer to an eagle, walk in the rain, walk on the wild side. Whatever it is, do it with passion.