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| heart-shaped apple |
So, week 1 of
Superhero Photo is done and I'm loving it.
I never fully participate in these things because
1) if I get involved in discussion groups and such, I stop doing focussed work at work ...and that's a disaster
2) I have to first focus on the stuff I have to do (kids, husband, house, business) and then when I get a gap, I can do the extra.
Well, I do believe this woman was in my head (and many of yours, honestly) because lesson 1 said to
let go of perfectionism.
In our quest to get it right, we often miss the good stuff - Andrea Scher
WOOHOO.
I'm a recovering perfectionist myself and I'm now on a mission to help others get there too. BUT it's hard.
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| morning cup of coffee |
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| my desk with my Artsyville print |
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| mirror was filthy so cleaned it and trying something I don't normally do |
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| taken from on my desk :) |
I love beautiful pics as much as the next girl (maybe more) and I read these blogs and I know you're supposed to mess around with settings (which I don't do , by the way) to get technically good shots.
I'm very happy with my settings - I know to mainly use
sport for my busy kids and
no flash when the flash wants to pop up (because I've tried the ISO and I'm afraid my pics look worse like that than on auto). I use
macro for my close ups and sometimes if I'm feeling playful, I'll even step out of the box and use
creative auto. Ha ha.
So when this lady says set your camera on auto and just have fun, that's a huge shocker.
But strangely freeing.
Like when I came back from maternity leave to find 5 months of emails gone. I had about a minute of shock and then... blessed relief :)
I do enjoy having fun but I need to be encouraged to do so before I go there. Does that make sense? If you set me a goal of having fun, ooh, then I'm in my element. :)
I didn't only use
auto because when my pics didn't look
talk to me, I switched to the settings I'm comfortable with.
From week 1, we had to try to move more/ differently and with the movement see what happens.
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| on the way back from Bambanani - I made D stop the car and reverse (with screaming kid) to get a pic of this lovely blue gate |
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| Sony Cybershot P&S |
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| Mess |
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| a riot of colour/ mess :) |
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| this is my favourite riot of colour shot |
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| bakers twine |
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| riot of colour - my time management/ organising section on my bookshelf |
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| popsicle - prop from a photoshoot that I never used |
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| someone I love |
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| trying out my self-timer |
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| Kendra crying and that's my lovely green dresser that I love! |
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| different angle |
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| laughter |
So tell me, are you a perfectionist with your photos, or in life?
How curious are you?
What do you think of my week 1 pics?
(I am very curious. I think it makes me a good coach but can also be annoying sometimes with all my questions :)0
Alas, I am not a perfectionist...my spelling sucks, my grammer is appalling...But I am an "instinct, gut feel" child. So I forgive myself for my imperfections as I believe that they make me real....smile (my excuse for shabby english). Although sometimes I sit in my house and I look around and wish I was more like "Monk"...(ultimate perfectionist). Then maybe, I would get a firecracker up my butt and finish some of the projects we have started and not finished.
ReplyDeleteI have requested a camera for my 40th birthday...so lets see if the "artist" in me blossoms
I had a laugh out loud at your "mess" shot - I must maybe take some mess shots for you :)
ReplyDeleteI need to start working in order and end in order but the during is uter chaos :)
I love the colour shots!!!
To be honest I also battle messing with my settings. I find I get the best shots when I leave it on one setting that I know! And I often grab the camera to get a "moment" shot and dont have time to fiddle with the settings.
I dont think I am a perfectionist at all but I do like certain things a certain way!!!
Am I curious? YES YES YES. LOL we sit in the shop and go "what do you think their story is" or "why do you think that child is crying"
I'm not a perfectionist at all - not even with my photos. I like it real, natural and in action :)
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job with Week 1's photos.
Laura, send me your mess shots. I love them!!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha...I bet I could find some mess shots fir you too. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a perfectionist at all. And my camera is my phone. The only setting I might occasionally change is switching the flash off if I want a sneak photo.
Love the pictures as always. Still in awe of the pic of the sun!! I really like the one of K crying (wonder why) and the one of D and C laughing;;)
ReplyDeleteI can be a perfectionist but I pick my battles so when it comes to pictures I focus on capturing the essence of the moment more than trying to get a perfect picture. So if I ask you to allow me take one picture of you, I would probably end up with 10 to 15 (I know!!!!!)
I take most pictures with my phone but if I get hold of a professional camera, I fiddle with the settings and since I got a crash course it would NEVER be auto, I learnt about ISO settings and all (higher ISO indoor or when it's dark, lower ISO in bright lights) and if unsure use flash (worked well for me so far). You've seen the picture of the rose I took. Have you tried using the continous setting on your camera, very good for capturing people in action esp kids
I'm very curious by nature (or nosy sometimes) I always wish I knew people's story and what makes them do what they do and why? I was that child that said WHY? to their parent one time too many and always ended up being smacked (enough said)
Yes, yes! Everyone join superhero! I'm loving it. It's really encouraged me to "just take pictures" and let go of perfectionism.
ReplyDeletePerfectionist... slightly. I've learned to take tons of pictures and scratch the dubs. This was something I did before, but it was only one or two pictures I'd take. Now I just shoot constantly. I also go through my camera as I'm shooting to eliminate the instantly visible dubs and reflect on my last shots to give me some points for my next shots. Make sense?! I just uploads 406 pictures, from the last 3 days. I shot well over 800.
I'm not sure how to judge my curiosity. If it is something that truly interests me, then I will dig till I get to the bottom. But it really has to be something great to get my attention. I love photography, I took 3 years of it in school, I own two cameras. Don't ask me to explain light metering. I know how to turn knobs and make adjustments to get the "look" I want. [Side note: I'd love to have the $$$ for a large format dark room!!]
I am loving your first week pictures. They are real and not over artsy. I feel a lot of the professional and advanced photographers taking Superhero really make me feel like an underling when I post. But then there are the people with cell phone pictures that make me feel like Nat Geo photographer! As others have stated, I too could show you a real mess! Those paper clips are awesome and I love the colors. I also love the gate picture and the home sweet home picture. I love the stance of the home sweet home picture most.
My question to you, which I will also put in my next post, is what the hell do I do with all these pictures!? I love them, but I certainly can't print them all! I have a terrible time deciding what to print, what to print large, what to frame and where to hang it!!!
And also, do you feel yourself digging deeper into photography? I'm going to need a separate hard drive and I just ordered another lens, shhhh, don't tell my husband!
Ok, your mess is not my idea of a mess. And i love your pics, especially the colour ones. I do feel that photography is not about perfection but about experimentation - be it with angles, settings or composition or all of them. Just enjoy
ReplyDelete