My Final Project…

After completing a pre-requisite computer class I finally enrolled in the spring session of Photography I at RISD’s school of continuing ed.   Getting out on my own and meeting new people is something I haven’t been doing recently and I hadn’t realized how much I would enjoy it.  Getting inspired by the talent and creativity of my fellow students and instructor I did expect and received.  There were all levels of expertise among the students as it is one of the classes needed for the certificate program. I was comfortable there with the amount of work and the amount of pressure.

That is I felt comfortable until I had to decide on a final project.  The guidelines for the project were loose…we could present photos of anything we chose but the group of photos did need to be cohesive.  I found it almost impossible to narrow my choice of subject down, especially after seeing some incredibly creative examples from previous classes.  After discussing my difficultly getting focused with my instructor she advised that I just start taking pictures and see what happened.

Eventually,  I realized that I couldn’t be and didn’t have to be as creative as the examples seemed to be…it is after all Photography One…I relaxed and just took photos of the things I usually do.  My lawn had yet to be mowed and I had been taking pictures of the wildflowers in the yard and my series was started... 

     

My final grade is still pending…

New Projects…

Even though I was thoroughly overwhelmed with keeping up with Picture the Holidays I have started the next workshop called Picture Winter. Now that the holidays are over I am much more comfortable spending time on a photography project and I still like a daily prompt.  Many of my Picture Winter photos will also be showing up in my other new project…

Inspired by the blogs 3191, A Year of Mornings and habit…A Collection of Days,  my daughters and I started a photo blog on January 1st where we will try to contribute a photo and a short statement daily. There the focus will be embracing our daily lives and celebrating everyday beauty. I’m sure it will become hard to keep up, especially for my very busy daughters, but we are off and running and I think they are enjoying it for now.  We are still working out the kinks but we can be visited at OXOXO. 

Besides this I will be starting another online Kim Klassen photoshop class this month…I think a lot of this class will be a refresher for me but at my age I need all the refreshing I can get in hopes that some of sticks.   So it may be cold and snowy outside but I have lots to keep me busy as I hibernate this winter.

Picturing Fall…

Throughout the month of October I participated in Picture Fall, a photography workshop held by Tracey Clark, the founder of Shutter Sisters.  Every day my inbox held a beautifully written assignment with accompanying photography tips.  Every day I was inspired to take photos and share them at the online class site.   Some days I liked what I did and some days I didn’t but I tried to submit something every day.  I loved meeting other photographers of all levels and learned from each of them. I did find that extra encouragement very helpful.  On the other hand I did find it very time consuming to take so many photos, edit them, upload them, and comment on other submitted photos.  I haven’t taken many photos since the workshop ended…Burnout?

I may be crazy but I plan to participate in Picture the Holidays in December…

Portraits...

Another assignment for photography class was on taking portraits.  Mr and Mrs R were kind enough to be my models for an afternoon.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I happily made my favorites of the day into a mosaic to join others at Mary's Mosaic Monday at  Little Red House...

Black and White...

This week's assignment for photography class was black and white photography...I have occasionally converted a color pic to black and white but I have never used my camera's setting for black and white...It was fun and challenging to try something new...

...but I think I will continue to use color....

Feet...

My last photography class assignment was

"feet"...not my favorite subject but in the end it was fun!

...the most fun and the most difficult to take were the jumping feet shots...

..Feet in the sun shots were mostly about focusing on the right spot...

...I used some older shots I took in Florida...


...and when I didn't have a model I used what was available...

Hands Down...

The latest assignment for my photography class was "Hands"...

Our instructor assured us it was a difficult subject to photograph...

The photo above was one of my instructor's favorites ...

...dirty baby hands he couldn't relate to ...but I can...

This one and the next were taken for fun...

The last is my favorite...

The next assignment is "Feet"...I am not very inspired...

Toy Texture...

I toyed with idea of joining Theme Thursday yesterday but I still needed some photos for my class...Here the story is not only of texture but of time and memories as the bulldozer is a toy from my daughters' childhood and the dump truck was bought for my grandson...He and his sister enjoy both...

That was fun...I think I may try to participate with Theme Thursday regularly.

Textures...

Photography class was not held this week due to school vacation so I have had quite a bit of time to take pictures for next week's assignment: texture... I'm still working on it but here are a few of the pics I've taken with the theme in mind...