Reflections On the Year

I have now published a year's + worth of photos. Although I started strong and stayed diligent for several months, eventually life got the better of me and I was not able to take one picture a day. This was a lot more work than I thought it would be. I feel I have learned some valuable lessons over the course of the year. Here are just a few of them:

1. The biggest difference between a good picture and a great picture is what's directly behind the viewfinder (or LCD screen). It's not about the equipment, it's about the photographer.

2. Cropping is one of the best (and easiest) ways to enhance a picture.

3. When I started doing this blog, I wanted every picture to be "artsy." As the blog progressed, I realized that my camera was capturing life on a daily basis. About halfway through this blog I stopped caring about how the technical aspects of my photography would be viewed and focused more on sharing with the few people that viewed my blog what was going on in my life. As I looked at other photo blogs I was just as intrigued by what the pictures were telling me about the photographer's life as I was by the technical aspects of the photo (DOF, framing, rule of thirds, etc.)

4. 1's and 0's are free. Take a ton of pictures. Burst mode is a digital photographer's friend. You can always delete. This is very true when shooting children. This is the best way to capture the perfect expression on a constantly moving child's face.

5. Aperture Priority mode is BY FAR my favorite mode to shoot in. Manipulating depth of field is a powerful tool.

6. That being said, when it comes to depth of field, smaller is not always better. Think about what is important in the picture and adjust DOF in order to get all the main subjects in focus. Sometimes a large object behind the subject that is out of focus can be distracting.

7. Try to get a good image to begin with. As the saying goes: You can polish a turd all you want, it will still be a turd.

8. We are surrounded by beauty, take a minute every day to admire and enjoy it!

These are just a few of the things I've learned. I'm going to continue this blog, but it will no longer be a photo of the day blog. I like Ken Worley's idea of having people present ideas, challenges, etc. for me to attempt. So if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. If I get no suggestions, I'll come up with my own ideas and challenges. So comment your ideas, please!