The Photographer's Workshop

Most of you know that I had the privilege of taking Karen Russell's photography class, The Photographer's Workshop, this summer.  To say it was awesome is just a major understatement.  I enjoyed the class so much and learned more than I can begin to explain.  Of course, I still have such a long way to go, but I feel so much more confident when I pull out my camera----and I almost always shoot in manual mode now!!!

Karen will soon be starting enrollment for another class session soon and if you've ever thought about taking a class, I hope you'll hop on over to her site and take a look.   Here's one of my favorite recent photos:

Geauxcicles to Geaux

Ahhhhhh, the first day of Summer vacation is the best day of the whole season!!   After sleeping late, and taking care of some stuff around the house, I went to take Callie to lunch.  She agreed to pose for a few photos for my class before we left (will work for food??) and was very patient as I tried to complete all the required steps.





Later in the afternoon, I picked up Katie and Megan and headed to Norton Art Gallery for a few more pictures.



Neither of them had ever been there before and we all totally enjoyed being outdoors, wandering the meandering paths.



Katie is quite shy, but I was so glad that she wanted to go with me today.



There were lots of giggles and a bit of sibling mischief, but they are quite close and it was fun to see them together.







This is my favorite picture----at one point we paused for a few minutes and I decided to take a few shots of Megan as she sat on the iron bench.  Then, out of the corner of my eye, I realized that Katie had donned an elaborate dinosaur mask/headdress that she'd brought in her tote bag.   I think this shot captures their two personalities perfectly!




I've been wanting to try out the Geauxcicles shop near my house since it opened in the fall and this seemed like the perfect time.  We were running out of time, so we got our popsicles to "geaux".
Katie chose "Chocolate Wave",



Megan picked "Sublime"



and I had "Strawberry Chance".



They were so yummy!!!

Snapshots Update

I am in week 6 of my photography class, Snapshots of Good Life, and my head is swimming a bit from all the information:   exposure triangle, exposure compensation, focus, f-stops, depth of field, ISO, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, back lighting, indirect lighting, side lighting, reflectors, gray cards  . . .   I could go on and on.    But, to say I've been enjoying this class would be a gross understatement!  I have LOVED it!   Karen Russell is an amazing photographer and teacher and everything is so well organized.

There are still two weeks left and I know it will take months and years of practice to become adept at the techniques I've been learning, but even at this point, I can see my skills improving.

This morning, I needed a cooperative human subject to photograph for my latest assignment.  My friend, Gina's daughter, Megan offered to help out, so I brought her home with me after Souper Saturday deliveries.   She is so cute and was so patient with me as I changed settings, walked around her, turned her around and checked my screen.  Naturally, there were some photos that were not very good, but it seems like the percentage of those is becoming smaller, so that's good news!   Here are a few of my favorites (shot in my backyard and unedited---which is in itself a huge accomplishment):

Photography Lessons

So how are the photography lessons going ?

Glad you asked. Right now, my head is swimming with so much information that I'm afraid that I won't ever get it all sorted out! But, I'm having so much fun with it, I really wish I that work didn't get in my way and I could just practice all this stuff I'm learning!! And the more I learn, the more I need to remember as I'm setting up a shot.

Karen gave us a preview of her lessons on focusing and I found that information really helpful! When I bought my camera, I knew it was important to have a variety of "focus points", but I had absolutely NO idea what to do with them. I just learned that I can actually CHOOSE which focus point I want to use for any given picture and how to do it!

Of course, that doesn't all translate into wonderful pictures---at least, not yet.

As I have snapped pictures of my neighbors and kids I teach, I've had some real "misses":

And I've had some pretty great shots, as well:

Hopefully, gaining some consistency will be coming in the near future! (as well as some really great shots)!

WOW!

Wow! I'm a bit overwhelmed right now! Today I received an email from Karen Russell, notifying me that I'd won a seat in her Snapshots Photography class! I was nominated by my scrapbooking buddy, Pam, and am just so touched that she would even think of me! I usually read Karen's blog each day, but since I was out of town for several days, I haven't quite caught up. Apparently, this post is among those "yet to be read":

These two great people won spots as regular students in my workshop:

Isn't that just awesome!!! This is definitely something I've been wanting to do, but Pam's right-- I just have not been able to justify it financially. But, I have my log-in information and the official welcome letter now, so I'm ready to begin!! Thanks again, Pam and Karen!!!