I went on a solo photo walk to Moss Landing today, and had an amazing time!  Today, when I was thinking about going to go on this walk, there was no sun, it kind of felt like it was going to rain, yet I embraced the day and went anyways.  I am soooo glad that I did!  Nothing fancy happened on the walk, it was just very relaxing and I felt like I was back to doing what I truly enjoyed ... just shooting for fun.

Because I'm taking a film B&W photography class, I decided to bring both my Nikon D200 and my Pentax K1000 along (I love that little old camera!) loaded with Ilford 100 B&W film.  I have yet to develop the film (should get to it in a few weeks after PSW), but I fell in love with all of the digital shots I got!  (Click here to see them all up-close.)   I really felt very happy and peaceful while I was shooting, and was very aware of my surroundings.  I have always loved taking photos, but some of the time it feels like work, even though I am enjoying the process.  Today was purely for me, just enjoying myself and really capturing the moment.

I don't think I would have done this if it weren't for the recent world-wide photo walk that Scott Kelby organized last weekend ... it has gotten me so inspired to shoot because I love photography, not to make the "perfect" shot or try to make any money in the process.  I'll have to thank him next week in Vegas if I am fortunate enough to meet him. :)

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This has been an amazingly crazy week!  Saturday was Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk, which I participated in up in San Jose.  That alone was a wonderful, full day of meeting new photographers and running around with a camera, asking several random people if I could photograph them!  (One of my photos was even selected as the winner in San Jose.)  Just this morning Scott Kelby himself announced the grand-prize and runner-ups ... click here to view ALL of the amazing photos selected as winners from around the world!

I also started school this week.  I had the wonderful privilege of serving in the US Navy for more than eight years, and so now I am happily using my educational benefits and taking classes, just for fun!  This semester I chose to take several photography classes.  I have never had any formal photography training (outside of high school) and so I thought it would be good to polish my skills.  Aside from my one digital class, the others are very much film-oriented, and many of the students (and one teacher in particular) are very adamant about using film.  I love film, always will, but right now it's just too expensive (and not to mention time consuming!). Thankfully the teachers allow those of us who want to use digital, but they seem somewhat reluctant.

Being in this new environment really does seem like a "bizzaro-type" world.  I have been involved in the computer-age high-tech social-networking world of digital photography for a few years now, and to be surrounded by people who dislike the digital age is very odd to me.  I know they are out there, the "purists", and I have nothing against them (although it does get old listening to the "film vs. digital" debate over and over).  One day I'll collect all my old darkroom materials and have my own lab in a basement ... and even now it's very tempting to do all of my classwork in film and print in the darkroom (if I could afford it) but I guess that, for now, I'm just more comfortable sitting in front of a computer.  (But at least in the darkroom I don't get sidetracked with Twitter, RSS feeds, etc.). ;)

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On Saturday I participated in Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk in San Jose ... and it was a blast!  I met some really cool people, among them included TWiP's Frederick Johnson and Girls Gone Geek's Liana Lehua.  Overall we had a good turnout (probably around 30+ people) and we walked, talked, and took plenty of photos along the way.

It sounds like we might be doing regular San Jose photo walks, so I really look forward to more opportunities to hang out with other photographers and learn a thing or two.  I always find it so comforting to know that, even though we don't always know the people we are walking with, we are all connected by something we are all passionate about ... photography!

View Scott's blog here to read more about this amazing event that transpired around the world.  You can also click here to view the images taken by all the walkers in San Jose.

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Today I reached upload #3,000 in my iStockphoto portfolio!  I've been with iStock for two full years now, and have really come a long way.  My photography skills have improved immensely and I couldn't have asked for a better blessing than to find iStock and be part of a great community. :)

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While I was home, one thing that we were able to do was pick some fresh sweet corn at my uncle's farm.  (That's my husband and Dad in the photo.)  I took the image and had some fun processing it in Photoshop, using some new tricks I'd been meaning to try out.

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I have been doing "Project 365" for more than 100 days now.  I take one photo every day for one full year.  So far, I've been doing well (only missed one day so far ... doh!).  It's refreshing to look back and look at the images and read the little blurb I write with it ... my own daily public diary.

I think that I'm a photographer because I have a horrible memory of life-events.  If I have a photo of it, I remember; if not, it's like some things never happened.  Maybe, when the year is over, I'll continue it on so I can have years of memories to look back on.

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I had some fun yesterday doing a self-portrait!  I was playing around with my ring-flash and gels, and got a neat look.  I got my nose pierced last week, too, and wanted to get an updated photo for all of my social networks. :)

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July 14, 2008

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Sibling Rivalry

I entered a photo contest on iStock … they want football (soccer) images and the community gets to vote and decide the winner. Please help me out and check out my entry! (Vote for me if you like … ;))

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June 28, 2008

My husband LOVES his cigars. He smokes one just about every day, so I use the opportunity to take photos! I’ve just started doing this, really, ever since embarking on Project 365 on Flickr and I needed my photo-of-the-day. He doesn’t really like a camera pointing at him though, so I try not to be too pushy when I take photos. I was really happy that he was willing to sit down and smoke in the garage while I snapped some photos with my light set-up … I think they turned out okay (I need to get some barn-doors to really get the perfect look I was looking for).

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