Week 4 Goal: Digital Photography with Help from a Professional Photographer

It's the last day of Week #4 and that means it's time for my "demo" of the goal I focused on this week: #17 in my list of 60 until 60: 

Learn digital photography better with the help of a professional photographer (my sister, Michele)

Why did I want to do this?

I've been wanting to improve my photography skills for years. Michele is a professional photographer, so who better to help me? I especially wanted to learn to take better photos this year for my 60 until 60 project! I'm really focusing on celebration, connection, and experiencing new things, so I want to capture those special moments. I wanted to take advantage of the photo apps and editing tools that are available so I can create a special slideshow at the end of my project.

How will I know when I'm done?

This is tough because learning a skill is on-going.  The more I learned, the more I realized how much more there is to learn! For this particular goal, my acceptance criteria was:

* Complete any lessons Michele gave me and review my photos with her for a critique
* Feel confident and have a system for organizing and collecting the photos for my 60 until 60 slideshow
* Write a blog post about the experience (that's what I'm doing now!)

What we did:

Michele took her role in this goal very seriously.  She patiently taught me some basic rules of composition as well as some good tips about using my iPhone camera. She also introduced me to Snapseed, a photo editing app.

My first assignment was to capture some "rainy day" pictures. I was spending the day at Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my friend, Nancie, and, being a Hermione-like student (always an over-achiever), I took my assignment very seriously! By the end of the day, I had enough rainy day pictures to fill a rainy day art gallery. 

I'll include the 3 I choose for my assignment in the post below. Even Nancie wanted to get in on the assignment and was snapping puddles, rain-drops, and umbrellas. However, I have to include the video she took that CRACKED ME UP! She had the camera in 'selfie mode' pointed at herself as she was struggling to take a picture of me!

Throughout the week, Michele gave me more assignments, and every day I looked at the world differently..  looking at colors and angles and artsy photo composition in mind. I noticed the twinkling sparkles the sun made on the water and the iridescent bubbles in the foamy aftermath left from a wave, and the tree-like design left in the wet sand at the beach.

I tried to capture the natural smiles and candid moments of connection: my thoughtful nephew who guided me with my selfie-stick up a steep hillside to explore some caves. I love the photo I caught of him at the entrance to the cave. 

There were just so many photos and memories from the week that I absolutely loved.

What worked well:

• I absolutely LOVED this goal! It's like I've discovered a whole new world. 
• This really helped me tap into being more creative with my pictures.
• I learned a lot about using my iPhone camera more effectively and how to edit pictures.
• This was quite a bonding experience with Michele. I really appreciate how patient and supportive she was in helping me to learn. I also have a deeper appreciation for her talent and art.

What could be better:

• OMG! I have a zillion pictures now! And way too many apps that are confusing me! I really need to spend some time getting more organized in how I process these pictures.
• I have so much I want to learn. I've barely scratched the surface and I know that to really get better will take a lot of time. 

My rainy day 'artsy' shot

Rainy day selfie that shows we were at Universal Studios

I loved the colorful park against the cloudy sky

We laughed so hard when we saw this!

My nephew, Reece, after guiding me up a steep climwith my selfie-stick

Original: Michele taking photos at Oxnard Beach

Cropped and edited

Bubbles left from a foamy wave

Tree-like 'art' in the sand

Twinkling sparkles