Congratulations Kris and Rachel!

This past weekend I got to assist Kayla at a wedding. The venue was beautiful, the couple was cute and fun, and the experience was educational.

The couple did a "first look" before the ceremony (you can click on the collage to see it better).

And here are a few of my other favorites.

Thanks to Kris and Rachel for letting me share in your day. You guys were great.

And a big thanks to Kayla for giving me a chance.

Feature Fiddling

The wedding this past weekend (pictures coming soon) reminded me that I need to be consistently familiarizing and experimenting with the settings on my camera. Today I did just that. I found different ways to alter lighting, color, and contrast in-camera. While definitely not perfected I am becoming more aware of the options available to me. The hope is to become proficient to the point where post-production enhancement (PhotoShopping) is rarely, if ever, needed.

The following pictures show a bit of difference in using different features. They also highlight a new skill I gained today - making collages in GIMP.

A special thanks to my good friend Elizabeth who put up with my constant clicking, and good-naturedly let me use her as a comparative subject. I appreciate you.

Simple Pleasures

I love the smell of lavender... reminds me of getting a massage.

Full of Hot Air

On my drive home tonight I saw two hot air balloons just as they were being filled and lifting off from the ground. So, I grabbed my camera off the passenger seat and took these out the window as I drove (not recommended).

what were you raised in?

I've been talking with a lady I know who mentioned that the local PEO (supporting women's education for the last 150 years) is interested in the idea of doing a calendar of County barns. I told her I'd be willing to see what sort of things I could find.

So, today the family and I drove around some back roads hunting for barns. Here are a few of the results.

Playing

While the kids played at the park I played with camera settings.

It was a cloudy day with no direct sunshine and this poor kid was shivering so hard... but when he wasn't doing that he was running around having a great time.

Ask the Expert

This evening I met with the talented Kayla and asked her a bunch of photography (and business) questions. She was very gracious and helpful and I came away thinking "there's so much". But what I'm most excited about from our meeting is that she is giving me the opportunity to go with her on one of her wedding shoots. It's exactly what I wanted - a chance to shadow a real professional.

The other thing I came away with is the reminder that I need to be trying new things with my camera settings, and getting to know them better. I think that will be tomorrow's project.

New Beginnings

In my venture in potentially starting a new business I've looked at several photography websites. Some of them have links to their more informal blogs, and I really like that. So, I thought I would start something up with that purpose in mind. I see this as a place to write about my steps toward starting my business, to chronicle this adventure who's future is so unclear, and to show some of my latest "projects" and "works". Hopefully it will be an enjoyable journey for us all.