Some of my favorite things.....

I thought I would share some of my favorite photography related items.

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My most favorite thing I cannot live without, a UV filter for my lens.

UV filters range in cost, but can make a big difference in your pictures.

It can also save your lens if you accidenally drop it.

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I went to a class this summer and the photographer was changing lenses when she

accidentally dropped it.

The filter shattered, but the lens was perfectly okay.

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Lesson learned.

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My second favorite thing related to photography is my camera strap.

My Funky Camera has some of the most fabulous camera straps.

I love them all.

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I noticed etsy has a lot of camera straps also.

I love the Shey B shop, they have some funky straps that I would love to have.

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My third favorite thing photography related are textures.

They can have a big impact on your pictures.

You can find them here, here, and here.

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Happy shopping everyone.

A necessary evil........Photoshop

When I first started photography I was using just free photo software to do my editing. I finally

decided to buy photoshop.

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At first I despised the program, and I bet I had it for at least a couple of months before I actually started using it.

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Enter my friend, Krystn.

She sent me an e-mail one day and told me there was a photoshop class being offered at jessicasprague.com. Wahoo! I think it cost about $30.00.

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I learned so much from that $30 class and the best part the class is saved under your username and you can go back and view it anytime you want. With photoshop that is a must.

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After the class I also checked out MCP actions and have learned a lot from her blog resources.

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I have also learned a lot by just playing with photoshop, which can be good and bad.

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I don't think photoshop is very userfriendly, and sometimes it can take me quite awhile to edit a session. I always laugh when I hear someone say it probably takes you a couple of minutes to get the look you want. If they only knew.

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Some looks take me 7 to 10 steps.

Now that I have Photoshop and I have learned some tricks that work for me, I love it.

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My only other bit of advice, if you are a college student you can get a huge discount on the program so look into it before you pay full price.

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And now........my two youngest at a fabulous location I found.

Growth

I have decided to take the 365 challenge and create a new blog for me to post my pictures. A picture for each day of the year. Go here to see pictures of the different posts each day. I am only going to post a picture and title. Let me know what you think.

Shooting in Manual

Let me start off by saying I shoot with a Canon XTI, and use a 50mm 1.8 and a 24-70mm 2.8 lens. I love my 50, not so sure about the 2.8. I like the 2.8, but it is really hard to shoot indoors with the 2.8.



If you are already shooting in manual you understand how much you actually have to take into consideration before you take a picture. All the things to consider, shutter speed, aperature, ISO settings, white balance, focus. What kind of image do you want? Do you want a soft background? Do you want everything in focus? What's your style? What does your client want? A lot right?



When I first started taking pictures I shot of course in a preset mode. The camera basically did everything for me. I then started shooting in AV mode, or apperature priority. I really think shooting in apperature priority mode for several months helped make the jump to shooting in complete manual less painful. The best part of shooting in manual, what you set on your camera is what you will get. Make sense?



If you want to start shooting in manual, ask questions. A lot of people with photography blogs are happy to answer them. A lot are not so eager to answer, but my motto, "It never hurts to ask." I think a class is really helpful too. There are tons of places that offer photography classes, start checking around and see what you can find.

Now one more picture of these four girls. Their mom ordered this print, 16x24, it arrived today. I have been waiting anxiously for this print to arrive. It turned out awesome. I was so nervous, what if it doesn't turn out okay, what if it turns out horrible? I have never been so excited to get this.

I love this picture, the best part it was the girl on the far left's idea. She was a riot. She kept posing for me and asking what I thought. She kept asking if she could pose in different locations. I think, just maybe she could be a photographer in the making.