Week 6: Fearless Motion

52 Weeks Challenge

Motion

While this isn't the crazy-active shot that I'd imagined getting, I do love the simple motion of this shot.

 Project 52 Challenge

Fearless

Yonah realized recently that he is scared of heights. But when we went to the "big park", he insisted on climbing up all the climbing rocks. Why? Because he wanted to try the "jumping off thing" to see if he liked it or not.

And this week you get a bonus picture!

This was my initial plan for the Fearless shot. I decided against it because I was so excited to get a shot of Yonah. Between his camera shyness and his sisters' excitement to have their pictures taken, I don't get many pictures of him these days.

2013: Week One

I've joined a couple more photo challenges. These are both once a week for the year.

Taking a picture each day during December was fun, but it was really hard to pull it off. Two pictures a week should give me some breathing room while still challenging me to exercise my photography and really see the world I live in.

Both challenges are in Facebook photography groups, so the pictures I take for them have a different watermark on them. At least for the time being. I'm still trying to decide what I'm wanting to do. It feels weird to use this blog's watermark in photography groups when it's just a personal blog. But it also feels weird to use two different watermarks.

Kim says I'm just too paranoid. Come to think of it, he's probably right.

Moving on.

The first of these challenges is a simple 52 Week Challenge. This week's theme was Light. I re-used a picture you have seen already, because I am in love with it.

The second challenge is Light up Your Life | Project 52. It has an underlying theme throughout the year (Find the Light) as well as an inspiration word/phrase for each week. This week's inspiration was Break the Rule of Thirds.

I chose this picture because the light caught her unshed tear quite nicely. Also, the picture just cracks me up every time I see it. She was completely heartbroken when I wiped the snot off her face.

Of course there were some runners-up.

 The first one was originally going to be my photo of the week. It was discarded because it isn't focused properly, and it accidentally follows the Rule of Thirds. Oops.

The other two just didn't quite have the spark I was looking for.

I'm also part of a Sketch-A-Day group for January. Last month's successful photo project has really inspired me to keep moving forward artistically. As intimidating as photography can be for me, sketches are worse.

There is a very discouraging disconnect between what my mind sees and what my fingers do. I let it psych me out. It's been at least 6 years since I last picked up a pencil to draw anything. So when I heard about the group starting up, I knew what I needed to do.

I'll share the sketches I've made so far tomorrow. This post is long enough as it is.

a dream realized

My little Fujifilm point-and-shoot camera went missing some time ago.  With its loss I quickly realized an opportunity.  It has always been a desire of mine to have a more professional camera so I could really capture the beautiful pictures that I craved.  I'd always dutifully swept this under the rug - especially after getting the little Fujifilm, which often took pictures that just blew me away.

I was inspired by a post I read on another blog.  I seriously considered if getting more than a point-and-shoot as a camera would give me the boost I needed to get me where I needed to go.  I started researching different cameras, checking out the pictures each took, reading through numerous reviews and comparisons, and really considering the purchase.

I ended up getting the Nikon D3100, an entry-level DSLR that came with an 18-55mm lens.  I have loved it from the moment I held it in my hands for the first time.  I'm saving now for another lens, either the 18-150mm or the 18-200mm.  Basically, I want to change lenses as little as possible, while being able to capture just about everything.

And that boost?  The most important is how much I really see the world when I am looking through that little square viewfinder.  It's so much easier to feel passionate about life when I am reminded of just how breathtaking it all is.  Other side effects are more motivation for housework (don't want to be embarrassed by my pictures, now do I?); a strong desire to get outside these four walls every day; better adherence to the daily routine; I take more pictures now - I could before, but now I get to; and splurging a bit on an old dream really has made me feel better about myself.

(Plus there is an added bonus: my son's favorite thing right now is for me to take pictures of him and his sister, which makes a nice incentive for good behavior and cleaning up his toys each day.)

All in all, it is one of the best purchases I have made, and I am absolutely happy that I finally had the guts to do it.