photography class

I recently took a 3 week photography class with the hopes of learning to use my new DSLR to it’s full potential.  Although I learnt a few things – the basics along with a few tricks – I didn’t really get as much out of it as I had originally hoped.  Don’t get me wrong, the instructor was a very nice man and clearly passionate about the subject, but it was a night class and what we could learn was limited I suppose.

Anyways here are a few of the pictures that I took during class – consider this the first installment of my photographic progress…

showing movement

This picture is from an exercise where the goal was to show movement in the background while keeping the object that is moving relatively in focus. Let me assure you, this is not as easy as one might think – this my the best one out of the bunch.

Side note: if you happened to be driving past Broadway and Larch one night and noticed a bunch of people with fancy cameras taking your picture – this is why. Pretty sure I have never gotten so many strange, questioning, and creeped-out looks before…

neon sign - before

neon sign - abstract

neon sign - abstract effect

As you may have guessed, the point of this exercise was to create an abstract photo…

more playing around with lights

I think these pictures are quite fun… I enjoyed learning how to do them

realization of the day

begrudging other people’s successes will not make yours happen any faster.

To most of you this probably seems obvious, but this came as quite the epiphany to me today. After further inspection, and a touch of  introspection, it appears that lately I’ve been a pretty jealous person. Comparing myself to others and focussing on how they have more money, a better job, a hotter boyfriend, nicer body, prettier hair, etc etc.  than I.

Needless to say this isn’t fun to admit or something I’m proud of, but it’s true.
Now that I’ve admitted this, I will attempt to redeem myself slightly by saying another one of my goals for 2011 is to focus less on other people’s success and fortune and more on my own – successes that already exist in my life and those that I have yet to realize.

Besides, since things often seem far more rosy from the outside looking in and things are rarely what they seem, for all I know they could be slightly envious of me and my life (or at least how my life appears to be) – which is fair enough, since all in all I have things pretty good.

Right. Onwards and upwards.

2011: a year of learning and doing

I have decided that 2011 will be a year of learning and doing new things.

I am in my late twenties and feel like a bit of a rarity as I am not in a serious relationship, nor am I with child. I used to be a bit bothered by this since it seemed everyone and their dog was getting married, moving in with their significant other or having a baby – then I came to my senses. I realized that if this were the case, it means I would’ve had to a) vowed to spend the rest of my life with one of the guys I’ve dated and b) produce offspring with them, and frankly, that just sounds like all kinds of unpleasant.

Luckily, it’s 2011 so I have plenty of time to get married and have babies (pretty sure that’s what your thirties are for these days). So before I fall victim to the boyfriend trap, before I start chasing around a wee child full-time, and before I start worrying about synching my schedule with another persons - as I’m sure I one day will - it’s going to be about me – about me being the most awesome me I can be.

Goals for 2011

learning

– learn to drive (yep, I still don’t know how to drive… I did just get my L though, so that’s positive)

- learn how to ski or ice skate (yep, I’m a terrible Canadian)

- learn how to take better pictures and how to use my fancy pants camera to it’s full potential

- learn how to cook 5 meals (I can bake… not cook.)

doing

- take pictures more often (even if not with my fancy pants camera)

- sell 12 pieces of jewelry per month

- start and maintain a successful etsy page

- pay off 1/4 of my student loan (this one’s a doozy)

- hike the chief

- visit one province, state or country I have never been to before

- blog more often on my personal blog (which seeing as this is the first new post in over a year, shouldn’t be too hard)

- blog more often on the 18,000 other blogs I co-captain (ok, there are only really 3 others)

- paint my nails more often

- moisturize daily