Me, a photographer??

From Wikipedia:
A photographer is a person who takes photographs using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment.

OK, so I've never really thought about myself as a 'photographer' ... more like a Mom who is addicted to taking tons of pics of my family. Actually, thinking back, I loved taking pictures long before having kids, long before being married in fact. I can remember even as a child loving the act of recording memories and traditions. I have always loved writing in journals, making scrapbooks and taking photos ... even at times collecting various memorabilia that help conjure up a memory of a certain event.

The thing is, the more photos I take, the more fun I have. The more fun I have, the more photos I want to take. And so I've been 'trying' to see the world through different eyes lately. Trying to see the picture that might normally be forgotten. I got a new camera a few months ago, and even though it's not top-of-the-line, it's pretty darn good and I've been very happy with many of the photos I've been able to take with it.

I still have A LOT to learn, and maybe someday I'll get a chance to take a class and really make this hobby into something bigger - but for now here are a bunch of my favorite shots from the past 6 months. I like to call these my artsy shots. You'll have to let me know what you think!

Some have been slightly edited, but you will read more about that below - for now I hope you enjoy some of my favorites ...


































So, what do you think? Have a favorite? I can't choose just one! They're all my favorites!

Now, a little about photo editing. Again, I have A LOT more to learn. I use a free service called Picasa that you can download to your computer. I know there are better programs out there and maybe someday I'll invest in one. But for now Picasa is free, quick and easy and does what I need it to. So here's a quick example of what I can do with Picasa ...

Here is the original of a pic I recently took of my daughter who was reading on the couch. You see a lot in this picture, including a lot you'd rather not see like baskets of laundry and such. I also find that many of my photos end up much darker than I'd like them to be. So using Picasa I made a few edits. There are lots of things you can do in Picasa, but these are just a few of my fave functions that I use a lot.
First, I lighten the picture.
Then I crop it so I have only what I want in the image.
Next I use a feature called 'Sharpen' which just brings everything into better focus. This pic isn't a good example of sharpen but oh well ...
Many times I also use a feature called 'saturation' where it saturates the colors in the picture. Again, this is a subtle change in this particular pic, but really pops in certain pictures.
I can also add text! I can even print the photo this way - what a great way to scrapbook with words already added to the photo! This also makes a great addition when giving a photo as a gift. We have taken photos and added a text about Dads and Daughters, then printed the photo, framed it and given it as a gift to Daddy. It comes out looking great!
Once again, take a look at the original ... what a difference!
All that being said, I don't edit every photo. Some look fine just the way they are. But for some it's fun to enhance them a little and bring out the best in your photos.

SO even if you're an 'amateur' like me you too can make small changes to have great photos. And for those of you that know a lot more than I - I'm always ready to learn something new so bring it on!