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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Through the Lens

I'll start with a familiar story: When you spend a whole lot of your free time scrapbooking photos, you start wanting better photos.

Hence the beginning of my photography journey, lusting after a DSLR even though I hadn't the foggiest clue what to do with it.

Fast forward a few months, and I after attempting to shoot my little Canon Elph in manual, I decided to bite the bullet and go for the big guns. S and I took a lovely little trip to B&H, which S loved because they have a really cool conveyor-belt system that transports the products around. It was also pretty funny because the gentleman demonstrating the cameras liked to photograph animals, so he would say things like "this lens is great if you want to catch a flamingo in a distant swamp." Which is convenient, because living in NYC I spend a lot of time chasing flamingoes:)

So.....I decided that if I got a camera, I had to learn how to use it, right? I signed up for Maggie Holmes' Beginner workshop (which I LOVE), but I totally fell off the wagon due to the holidays + starting a new job + life getting in the way. So, in an attempt to motivate myself to finish the class on my own, I decided to copy the Nike Marathon model, only with less running: reward myself with a necklace.


When I finally finish the class, I'm going to buy myself this beauty from Lisa Leonard Designs. Fitting, no?

And to gush a little about how much I love this new realm of learning (not including the many MANY dark and blurry shots I've left out here:), here are some of my fave shots with my Rebby, as he's affectionately known.


A cup...but what a beautiful cup.

One of the few people pictures on this list.

As you can see, I like photographing things--they complain less.


This one is probably technically awful, but I love it. I think I like things a bit overexposed.

A photo of myself in my makeup mirror. I was very excited about the whole reflection thing:)

Boy, is that light yellow. Like it anyway, though:)

How has YOUR photography changed through scrapbooking? What things do you want to grown in next?

PS--Sorry for the long gap of blogging last week. Life got insane, as usual. Love it in the crazy lane though:)

20 comments:

  1. I agree!! I'm now saving up for a DSLR myself. I think it's just a natural progression. Have fun, and I think that's such a cute reward for completing the class!!

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  2. I could have written the first part of this post myself. I am now totally crazy about photography entirely thanks to scrapbooking. I started with a Rebel and 3 years later got a 7D. I also did Maggie's advanced class... good luck!

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  3. I had mine for 2 years before I took some classes at our local park system. Now I hate to use my point & shoot. I love your reward - you deserve it for all the amazing things you've done this year (besides starting the photo class!)
    I like to take photos of things, too - mainly because they stay still :)

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  4. Love the pics, and my photography has definitely improved since I started scrapbooking. I went from using a point and shoot, to an SLR in manual, but am still learning each and every day. Love the necklace. That's defintely a good reward.

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  5. Great post! I have loved photography for a long time, but I suppose scrapping has made me want to get even better! Now I am just needing a new camera because mine is old and fussy!!!

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  6. Love my Canon 40D and still don't know how to use it properly...but rewarded myself to a camera necklace with pearl from an Etsy seller anyway...is that wrong????!!!! And I echo what Valerie said!

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  7. I still need to finish the Maggie Holmes class too! Thanks for the inspiration! That is one of my goals for after the holidays.

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  8. Great shots! I loved Maggie's classes, too. Since taking them, people have actually paid me to take photos for them, which is kind of crazy and fun at the same time. I actually paid my CHA plane tickets with photo money! :)

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  9. Love the necklace and think it's an excellent reward! I've been drooling over it for some time now!

    Yep, my photography has definitely grown too thanks to scrapbooking! Makes us look at life with a little more detail I think.

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  10. I have always had the passion and on the side for 9 years .. but due to me being active duty I really could not dive into it like i want .. so once I got into scrapbooking I really could not put my camera down it was like obsessed all over again.

    It will come girl .. I still play between the two that I have and still work that sucker over and learn learn .. I have never taken Maggies classes but others and they are SO worth it .. be sure to try and get in on some IN PERSON classes too. Even if you are not shooting people .. stock photography is great .. sign up with redbubble.com and start loading your pics if they are pixeled good you can sell them (post cards and what not)

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  11. love these - enjoy the process of learning! =)

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  12. Oh come on! Living in NYC I am quite certain you will have many opportunities to get photos of flamingos. LOL You crack me up! Congrats on the new camera. You are off to a great start!

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  13. ohh i love the photo of the glass. such a cool perspective and i that necklace is the bomb! so so perfect

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  14. My friend just started metal stamping :) I will show this to her and insist that she make me one, lol.

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  15. you have a very inspiring blog! Love both your photos and your designs!

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  16. I've had my rebel for 6 months and I just got my second lens yesterday. I was the same way, my point and shoot was just not cutting it. I bought totally blindly not knowing what I was doing. I'm feeling more confident now and actually shoot in Manual sometimes.

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  17. Love the photos! I'm overwelmed by photography so will probably never dive in deeper or invest in a better camera (although tempting) but I LOVE pictures & trying to get the perfect shot (perfect for me). It's great you are expanding your interest & learning more about it. And I also think it's great to reward yourself for learning!

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  18. fun pics & awesome necklace! check out the vintage pearl. they have a cute one too! :)

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! I love hearing your thoughts:)