Before and after...

Well I wasn't going to do this post just because I haven't been around www.iheartfaces.com very long. I have learned things, fun things mostly, like how to make a camera strap cover...now that was an awesome tutorial! lol Faces is a great place to share and learn and grow and I wish it were around when I was JSO....

However, I have had some AMAZING mentors over the years! I belong to a couple little private boards where I was blessed to have one of the top children's photograhers in Alabama guide me in my journey to learn.

I know I am continually improving... every time I go out and shoot. So, I really wanted to see how far I have come. I also wanted to show others...there is hope, if you shoot shoot shoot and read read read, you WILL get better :)

This was taken 3 years ago! I had a Kodak with manual capabilities...I practiced so much with that camera and I was pretty proud of myself with this picture of my girls...





This was just a couple months ago...with my Nikon



In the beginning, there was desire and hope and a bulldog sense of 'never give up'...I just needed time and practice...ready?

see if you can tell the before and afters....

There is no rare disease that turned her orange, I promise....

thinking I may have been color blind at some point in this journey.....cause I know she wasn't bluish....

She's not supposed to be red either is she.....and, what do you mean I chopped her hand off? I was a limb chopping ninja in the beginning, lol


You can't tell at this size, but this was is terribly OOF...another of my 3 girls that I was so proud of! I had it hanging over my mantle.

And seriously, take my advice on this one...you can NOT trust friends to tell you the truth about photography. I had people asking me to take pictures of their kids when I was at this point in my learning journey....seriously, and wanting to PAY me! Luckily I had some good online photographer friends who were honest with me, giving very gentle CC...making me see my screwups without making me feel bad about it,lol

So here I am, its been nearly 3 years since I bought my first DSLR...probably a good 5 years or so since I seriously became interested in photography. I have always had some slight interest....even way back in the dinosaur age of film I was taking photography classes in high school and learning dark room development...fun times!

Photography has become much more fun with the age of digital, much more affordable too! This has been a blessing to those of us in it for the love of a good shoot. Unfortunately it has also managed to breed a whole new group of photographers...you know the ones I am talking about. They go out, buy a bottom of the line DSLR and put a sign out front offering a session for $20 including a CD of all images!

Off my soapbox....

Just have to add....
Its been a fun journey for sure and I have made some great friends along the way! Photography has opened up doors for me. My local photography club is my refuge where I can go and hide out with grown ups a few times a month...grown ups who are as camera crazy as me!

Here are some of my recent shots....I am branching out a little, breaking some of the 'rules' trying more vintage stuff, more textures, and loving every minute of it :)

So, moral of the story...if you have the desire to become a great photographer, never give up!