Out with 2011, and in with 2012

To say that I failed at blogging the last half of 2011 would be a complete understatement. That is obvious one of my yearly goals I didn’t make. Fortunately, really most of my tasks did get completed, even if I was wasn’t talking about them here.  I really felt like 2011 was an amazing year, so instead of taking away from this year’s major accomplishments (like starting a business) and focusing on what might not have got done (still need to do a wedding scrapbook) I’d rather just focus on moving forward.

To touch on something quickly though, one of the disappointments, really the only major disappointment, is that I did the same thing in 2011 that I did in 2010. I was within 5 or so pounds of my goal weight and then I gained it all back. This cycle is horrible and I am really going to try to break it in 2012.

Talking about 2012, there is a little different format this year. Instead of 100 things in 365 days, many of them not that challenging or things I intended on doing anyway, I decided to do a 30 When I’m 30 in honor of the big birthday I have coming up in May.

So, here is this year’s list:

30 When I’m 30
1. Lose 30 Pounds and keep it off
2. Go on a roadtrip for at least 3 days with at least 10 stops
3. Do 30 things to pamper myself
4. Write at least 30 blog posts
5. Hold a full conversation completely in Spanish for at least 30 minutes with zero difficulty
6. No fast food for 30 days
7. Go on 30 dates with hubby
8. Have 30 days in a row where home is “mom-sneak-attack-visit-ready”
9. Visit 30 places in the Twin Cities I had never been before
10. Commit 3 random acts of kindness
11. Travel to Spain
12. Watch 30 movies I have never seen before
13. Make 30 new business contacts, keep track using business cards
14. Get in front of the camera to celebrate what 30 looks like
15. Save $50 30 times
16. Call family (Mom and/or Gamma) at least 30 times
17. Volunteer 30 times
18. Try out 30 new recipes
19. Complete 30 Pinterest projects of any level of difficulty
20. Invite at least 30 people to celebrate an awesome 30^th birthday party
21. Do at least 30 shoots
22. In December, print an album/book of 30 amazing photos I’ve taken throughout the year
23. Apply for 30 job opportunities, well really, apply until I have a new job
24. Donate $30 for every un-met goal
25. Complete a 365 Project
26. Commit to 30 days of “clean” eating and healthy water consumption
27. Make an appointment about adoption/TTC possibilities
28. Send 30 handwritten letters
29. Find 30 different ways to show hubby that he’s loved
30. Read 30 books

10 Things on Thursday – Advice

The 10 Best Pieces of Advice I’ve ever been given, by some of the smartest people I know:

• It doesn’t matter if anyone else likes you if you don’t like yourself. It’s a sad place to be when you please everyone but yourself. ~ My Mama
• You’ll be surprised how lucky you’ll start to be from putting in a little effort. ~ my 12th grade English teacher
• A little bit of gentleness can go a long way. ~My Grandpa
• Always wash off canned goods before you consume them. You don’t know where they’ve been.  ~ my 4th Grade teacher
• Put your family first, always. These are the people that will be there through the end regardless of anything else. ~ My Grandma
• Don’t focus so much on one thing that you miss everything else going on. ~ My Best Friend
• The little things do matter. Sometimes more than the big things. ~ My Husband
• Confidence is the sexiest thing you can wear. ~ Cosmo
• Lay still and be silent every now and then. ~ My Dog
• Always have lipstick/lipgloss on you. It’s the quickest way to look put together. ~ My Mother-In- Law

#37 – Get at least 10 of my good friends together for a ragin’ 29th birthday party

This year I turned 29. Well, it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out what birthday I’m staring down now. That’s why it was so important to me that I made this one special. So I got a group of my friends together and we had some drinks, a little bit of food, and went out that night to celebrate.

A collage of photos from the photo wall I put up:

Other photos from the night:

10 Things on Thursday

Okay, I am seriously stumped for ideas on things to blog about. Yes, I’m doing my challenge, but do you really want to hear me describe planting an herb garden in complete detail??? So, in an effort to give myself something to talk about I have decided to start a 10 Things on Thursday post. Each week will be a different category and then I’ll list 10 things to go under it.

This weeks Category: Photography Resources

1. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson – Seriously, everyone should read this book when they first start shooting. It breaks down the exposure triangle  and makes things really easy to understand. It also includes some great photos.
2. Digital Photography School – Website full of great tutorials and tips. Geared toward any skill level.
3. Depth of Field Calculator – Great for learning how aperture, distance, and focal length all come together to determine your DOF. Really fun to play with and see how small changes can sometimes make a big difference.
4. Online Photography Communities – I honestly have learned so much just by interacting with other photographers. My favorite forum is a more private community called Broken Lenses but there are more public sites I’d recommend like I Love Photography, Clickinmoms, and Rock The Shot.
5. Google – Okay,  know this isn’t really a photography resource but I use it so often I need to put it out there. Any photography question I have I can usually find an answer for,  there are so many great tutorials (written and video), and  I can also search for certain images when I need ideas. Heck, I use Google Maps sometimes to help me scout locations.
6. Pinterest – Wow, talk about a world of inspiration. This is also great place to keep all my ideas and tutorials organized. For example, if I’m doing a senior shoot I now have quick access to all of my favorites for reference.
7. Scott Kelby’s Lightroom 3 Book – If you want to learn how to properly edit photos in Lightroom 3 there is no better book out there. I’m not completely through yet, but what I’ve learned has been super helpful.
8. The Online Photographer (TOP) – Like the Digital Photography School this site is full of great tutorials and tips.
9. KenRockwell.com – I’m not going to lie and say that I agree with everything he posts. What I will say is that he has put a lot of time and thought into co an incredibly comprehensive set of reviews and some great tutorials.
10.  CoffeeShop Blog – Some of the best actions you can get for free, they are fantanstic. Plus some nice inspiration and an occasional tutorial

My Cameraversary (Part 3)

This is part 3 of three blog posts dedicated to my photography journey over the past year.
Part one can be found here. And part two can be found here.

After a couple of group shoots using studio lights, at the beginning of January I asked a person who would later become a mentor of mine if he would help me with a studio model shoot

and then I was ready for some studio shoots all on my own



I had a really cool headshot session

we even had some fun every now and then

and I also learned some lighting tricks
then,  just like in the fall when I started to get more comfortable shooting in natural light and it became necessary to move indoors, in April the sun came back out (kind of) and it was time to leave the studio

my first session back outdoors was also my first session with an Operation Love family, I am so happy to be a part of that organization

a week later I did my first paid “commercial” shoot for a custom bike company

where I was able to use my new speedlite, the SB-900 (what a beast)
The month, along with my first year with my camera, ended with a trip to Mexico that included a wedding and an engagement session to capture

So there it is, a year of photos. It’s been a blast and I can’t wait to see where I go from here. I’m thinking I may do a comparison post in the near future pitting my old work up against my new work.

My cameraversary (part 2)

This is part 2 of three blog posts dedicated to my photography journey over the past year.
Part one can be found here.

Really the next couple of months were just practicing on pretty much any kind of portrait, doing a total of around 20 sessions between June and September:

in October we went to San Francisco



when we returned from our trip I set some (relatively low) prices and started the process of becoming a business

I had challenge of working with low-light indoors using my very small/basic speedlight

Through a couple of events with Twin Cities Photography Group I was introduced to using strobes/studio lighting at the end of the year

My Camera-versary (part 1)

Well, over a year has come and gone since I’ve gotten my camera (last April 28th.) It’s been a heck of a year and I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent immersing myself in this passion that I’ve found.

So the first part of a 3 part rundown of the past year:
the very first photo I ever took, in auto *gasp* mode

in the beginning I practiced on anything I could get my hands on

seriously, anything

I did get to bring my camera to a wedding

and photograph a birth/newborn

and after a while people actually wanted me to take their photo

I became active in my local photography meetup group and went on a couple of outings

If I Were King of the World…

• I’d somehow find a way to employ direct karma to encourage people to definitely treat others the way they want to be treated.
• Ice cream wouldn’t have any calories.
• Everyone would magically learn how to drive well. Stoplights would be engineered with the best technology for maximum efficiency.
• She’ll always be there to greet me at the door:
  

Thank you Scott Kelby…

So I’m partway through my Scott Kelby LR3 book. Let me just say that he is amazing (but I’m sure you already knew that.)

A quick example of how doing a little bit of learnin’ can be beneficial:
original edit of a photo I took in Mexico
edit of the same photo with some Kelby guidance

Okay, so the 2nd edit may be a little overdone, but it’s obvious to see the difference just a few little tweaks can make. It honestly took less than a minute to quick switch things.

What changed between the photos:

• instead of using the “Adobe Standard” camera setting that is LR’s default I changed it to “Camera Vivid”
• I actually went negative with the Brightness going from 20 to -20
• I upped the Blacks from what I thought was a high number at 20 to 40
• I tweaked the Exposure to compensate for the new changes

A vacation from my vacation, seriously.

Most people go on vacation, come back and go on with their daily life. Well, I’m pretty sure that photography is the one hobby/career that actually generates more work when you’re supposedly “away from it all.” It doesn’t help when you get back and decide that what you really, really want to do is go document a wedding.

I have over 1,000 photos to edit in the next couple of days. Then when I finish, I’m going out and shooting for 8 hours straight. It’s very possible that I have a sadistic personality, I haven’t gotten that checked yet.

So here’s to being insanely busy and insanely satisfied (plus just a little insane).

One of my favorite photos from the wedding, since any blog post worth anything has a photo:
I think my sister-in-law has never looked prettier.