An update on my Goal

I figure since I put my goal (getting my camera out and taking more interesting and different pictures every single day) on here for everyone to see and judge, I should probably put my progress on here as well. And, well, it could be better. I definitely haven’t gotten my camera out every single day, and half of the time I’m still taking the pictures that I’m used to taking. But the good news is that I haven’t given up! The first time I missed a day I was pretty upset – you know, the whole “well, I missed a day and so it’s not every single day anymore” feeling – but then I decided that the reason I made my goal was to help myself improve as a photographer. And I can’t really improve if I give up after only a week, now can I? So I’m starting to realize that it really isn’t the “every single day” part that matters, it’s the effort I put into it. And so even though I’ve definitely missed days, and sometimes a few in a row, I’m trying. And since taking my camera out with me and not being afraid to take the unusual shot has become more of a habit, then I’m succeeding too!

In conclusion, yay me! :)

Ok, actually, really in conclusion, here are some of my favorite shots from the last month or so. Oh, and I really will update with more pictures of San Diego. There are some fun ones, but my life has been reeeeeeeally crazy the last couple months, and my blog has kind of taken a back seat. I’m really hoping things will calm down soon, and then maybe I can post more regularly again.

Lily making pretzels with me:

Playing with cousins at the park:

Cute Savannah in the foreground and Bethany and Nathan in the background.
   
I love how it looks like Michael is comforting Charity. So sweet. :)

Trying to catch a picture of Nathan smiling – he kept running away from me and it turned into a game for us.

   Got him!

I’m starting to get a better feel for the best place/side/angle (whatever you want to call it) to take pictures from to take advantage of the light.

First attempt of Bethany:

Cute picture, but half of her face is in shadow (and this is post-processing). I realized that and so had her change which way she was facing and Voila:

  Much better! At least I think so. Also, doesn’t she rock the head tilt? :)

An Octopus:

Look at his eye!!

Practicing with flash (which I figure I better get to know since natural light during Washington winters is practically non-existant!):

I really don’t generally like flash, but I’m trying to go out of my comfort zone. I thought this one wasn’t half bad. Plus I love her expression.

My favorite flower picture (that I’ve taken) EVER:

Before I show you my actual favorite picture, let me explain. This picture was another time where I realized I really needed to take the picture from another angle. This was my first shot:

Pretty blah. So I got down on my knees and angled the camera far up so I didn’t have any background except for the clear blue sky. This is what I got:

I like this shot, oh, about a million times better. I’ll own up to some post processing, but for reals, the sky really was that blue that day. It was gorgeous! Thanks to Liz for growing such beautiful sunflowers. Also, I just love the little bumblebee at the top. :)

The time I was most proud of myself for being brave enough to take my camera with me everywhere, even to the grocery store:

The sun was too high in the sky to avoid shadows at that time, but I still like it. Mostly cuz it captures something so ordinary and every-day, nothing super special, but when I look back in 10, 15 years, it’ll make me smile to remember how much she loved to ride on the back of the shopping cart.

So, there you go. Definitely not all the pictures I’ve been taking lately, cuz I do have tons, but the ones that I feel are either my best or show my improvement as a photographer. I’ve been learning a lot just by taking more pictures, and I’m still going to continue challenging myself. I can’t get worse, right? ;)