Expressing My Creative Side

I have always loved photography.

I can't paint. I can't draw (no matter how hard I try). But I can take pictures.

Taking pictures allows me to express my creative side. 

Normally I prefer to take pictures of places:

Or things in nature....

Or my animals...

Or inadament objects....

I also take lots of pictures when my friends and I go some place or have a get together ---- on more than one occasion Blondie has threatened me with death by camera strap. And poor Marine didn't know what he was getting himself into when he gave me a tri-pod!!

But anyway.....

I got my first hi-tec camera the Christmas of 2001. I was college freshman, a journalism major with dreams of working for National Geographic. Hey we all dream big, right?

A few weeks ago I took engagement pictures for Blondie as a favor. 

This weekend I got suckered into doing pictures for Hollywood; of her, her little boy, and her boyfriend. Anyone that does photography for a living..... especially child photography has my utmost respect!!!

After 2 hours with a three year old I was at my wits end. Don't get me wrong I love the kid... but in case you forgot he is also the one that left me scarred for life by this moment.

The pictures turned out quite good though if I say so myself. Here are just a few (non-faces of course):

In other posts I've been asked:

• What kind of camera do you use?

I use a Canon Rebel --- which I LOVE!!! I started out with the film version in 2001 but several years ago I upgraded to the digital version. Mine is a little older and only 8 mega-pixel, but it still works great!

Of course I have a long wish list of things I would love to have for this camera such as several new lenses, a snap on flash, etc. But all thats expensive..... So I stick with the few lenses I have and just make them work!

• What do you use to edit your photos?

I drool for a new version of Photoshop (which I will have to break down and buy soon for school) but thats expensive and if you know nothing else about me, you do know I'm a girl on a budget. With that said I use several things (sometimes all of them on one photo just to get it the way I want).

I use an antiqued version of Photoshop Elements -- seriously like 1990's version..... ok maybe not that old but early 2000's at least.

A great web based service that offers simple edits is photoshop.com and best of all it's FREE! Just upload your photo and go. This takes some time to learn to use if your not familiar with Photoshop. 

A few tips I learned the hard way..... upload the picture to "Photoshop Express Organizer" first before doing anything. In order to save the picture to your computer as a jpeg file I had to email it to myself after editing. Not really much trouble but does take some extra time. On my computer this program ran slow.... which can be a pain at times but maybe it's just my computer.

Another web based service is picnik.com -- this one has some features you can use for free but in order to have full editing access you can pay by the month or by the year. I started out using the free service and then I liked it so much I decided to try premium for a month. After that first month I was hooked and went ahead and joined for a year.

It's easy to use and you can get as technical as you want. If you just want simple they have all kinds of set filters you can use to alter you picture. Or you can manually make adjustments to achieve the look you want. It's great! And it's so easy anyone can use it!

Hope this answers those questions for those that asked!

How do you express your creative side?

"You don't take a photograph, you make it."
~ Ansel Adams ~