Self Portrait assignment. WOW hard!

I love when it's a challenge because I know I am learning! Self Portrait was a challenge. Getting the camera to focus on my reflection in the mirror when I can't look through the view finder, yep hard!! Having to do it with self timer and focus on where I think I will be, also hard!!

My first idea was to do a before and after shot, before and after Mom has her coffee. The before shot was me a mess in my PJ's the kids pulling on me, toys every where. That shot was easy to get Owen even get it real and had no pants on his little tush hanging out as he tugged on my shirt. (I accidentally erased it or I would share it, it was cute!!) The after was the trick, the boys much prefer to pose out of control then to sit nice.

After trying for a while I moved on to reflection shots. Also challenging but I didn't have to fight with the kids over it.The first 2 are the ones I liked the best.

These next 2 weird-ed me out a bit. Like they were trying to be sexy, which I wasn't. I didn't love how much thigh was showing. And I found the composition boring.

These 2 were ok, but just kind of plain. Not really flattering either.

I think this would be my second favorite. I like that it's me in my environment. I like the composition. And I like that it's only half my face. Leaves more to the imagination. Also I never use to like black and white but Sara has converted me. Now I LOVE it!! It helps being able to have more control over the conversion process and get the light and darks just as I want them.

Looking for a challenge? Try color correcting Poppo's skin tone. No offense Dad! =)
Personally I like the red tint your skin has, adds to the whole Irish Leprechaun feel.

EDITING! AGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know how Sara does this all the time! It's fun sometimes. It's frustrating most of the time. I'm getting better though, I think...?
Here are some before and afters from my practicing this week





I see ways I could have done better on all of these but I also think the afters are better than the be fores! So I'm gonna go ahead and count that as success!
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More from the 365 Project

It was actually Super Heroes not super powers that was the assignment. I'm just too lazy to reopen and fix that typo.

Owen's TV was on btw, that's why he is green/blue.

This assignment was "10 minutes from home" This is the 90 bridge.

My pals on my facebook 365 Project really liked this one. So I thought I would show the before and after. I am not a huge fan of post processing. Partially because I am not good at it so I avoid it. But also because I am a less is more kind a gal. I have always been drawn to a photojournalist style of photography and with that comes a desire to show the moment how it actually occurred. However, sometime the camera doesn't catch the moment how it really occurred and some processing helps get things right.

And sometimes, a little processing is just fun and makes for a neat photo. Like in this case. It has a whimsical fantasy feel. Before the processing the photo was pretty bland and boring and I probably would have just deleted it.

It has been fun learning this week. Wonder what I will learn next week. =)

A few Pictures from the park today

Lessons from the 365 Photo Project

So my good pal Sara invited me to join a group on facebook she created. It's a 365 Photo Project group. Everyday there is a new photo assignment. I have really been loving the challenge.

I have always enjoyed composition and I do feel like it comes fairly natural to me. Even so I think the biggest thing I learned this week was to keep moving around your subject and trying different perspectives. I already *knew* that in my head as a basic principle of photography. But this week really drove it home. I love how my photos improved as I tried to look at them in new ways.

Here are some of the first pictures I took for this weeks assignments and then where I ended up as I kept moving.