Hello again!

I know it's been awhile since I've posted, and to my loyal followers, I apologize. No excuses about how busy I've been (because, I really haven't) I just haven't felt up to posting. I really haven't had much to post!!!

But I'm coming up with a few things!

I got a new lens last week! My 50mm f1.8 (finally) got here and I've been playing around with it. Mostly I've been taking lots of snapshots to get used to it especially since it has such a shallow depth of field and I was pretty sure I'd have focusing issues. Not as many as I thought I'd have though, so I'm off and running with this new lens!

I've also decided (wisely) to reinvent myself again. This time, I've been focusing on the technical aspects of my photography. It was so easy to just rely on my photoshop skills to fix up my old photos (namely of the point and shoot variety) that I hadn't taken the time to really compose my shots. By that I mean, I hadn't prepared to truly learn my camera and all there is to know about exposure and getting it all right. Shamed, I couldn't even call myself a photographer as I had so proudly proclaimed myself to be. So I've had to throw away everything I knew and set myself up to learn something new.

And here I am again. I proudly (and for real) can say that I am a photographer. I may be just starting out, but I can say it and know within myself that I am allowed to make errors and I am allowed to learn and grow. Aaaah it feels so good and I feel so much better now.

Before my new lens got here, I read a post on ILP about exposure. That's when I realized that I didn't know much. Heck, I'd barely scratched the surface! Then I started to wonder what else was out there that I never knew I needed to know. I had to rid myself of my stubborness and be humble enough to actually read about white balance, reading my histogram, lighting, and there is so much more. Oh, so much more. I'm still learning, and now I think I'm headed in the right direction.

I know I didn't post here, but I have been taking some time off from photoshopping and putting every ounce of my brain power (and believe me, with 5 kids, there isn't much left sometimes) into learning how to take better pictures in the first place. It feels good to know that I'm actually saving myself countless hours in editing by learning how to get better shots SOOC! Those are hours that I can spend with the kiddos!

So, needless to say I'm also learning some handy new things in photoshop as well and will be putting together several actions in a sort of "toolkit" which I will also share with you!

I'm ending this post with a stunning image I shot with my new lens (that I absolutely love!) that knocks my socks off right now.