Everyday Beautiful

Recently, while studying for an English paper, I came across an article about the benefits of photography as a hobby.  This article challenged readers to find one object and take a picture of that object in an new way every day for a good amount of time (a month, or even a year).  To a degree, I took that challenge to heart.  Often, when I need to get fresh air or am even having a bad day, I grab my camera and begin taking pictures of random objects around the house.  This activity helps me increase skills by finding beautiful angles, lighting, or lines to make ordinary objects extraordinary wonders.  So without further ado, here's a brief gallery of my "around the house" album. "Stage of In-Between" Somewhere on the border of fall's colors and winter's wonderland, this frosted leaf found its way into my awareness.  The story behind this picture- real life difficulty of navigating "grey space" with no clear directions or short solutions- is so ...

Welcome back to the gallery of my self conducted photo shoots!  I want to share more of these expressive pictures with you, hoping that in the process I can encourage you to find outlets for your own emotions.  Having a safe, effective way to process what's going on inside our heads is astoundingly important.  For me, this looks like photography.  But this space might also take the form of journaling, art, dance, music, games, getting outside... the options are endless!  The most important thing is that this safe space be just right for YOU! For this blog post, I'm going to match each picture I present with an emotion or a chapter I've gone through in life.  To me, this practice proves quite valuable because it allows me to match abstract feelings with something concrete and controllable. "Pause" I love the texture in this photo, and the ones similar it to follow.  The mixed blue and purple of the sky simply take my breath away.  And the corn stal...

 A friend recently asked me to share some basic tips for taking pictures.  So, with the help from a mentor, I have come up with several photography basics.  These concepts run through my mind every time I snap a photo.  They provide for depth, interest, professional outcomes, and attention brought to the subject.  I hope that this blog provides a good list of suggestions that help you grow in your own photography journey! Subjects Every picture begins with a subject.  This is the object which catches your eye, the main character of the story your photo tells, and the thesis of your work.  Every good picture begins with a subject.  Finding your subject can be accomplished several ways.  Do you already know the story you want to tell?  Go out looking for a subject which portrays that story well!  Or maybe you grab your camera and walk around, having no idea what you want to photograph.  Look for things which catch your eye! ...