Fun Facts For Friday

Friday is a happy day to me. I wake up in a better mood. Getting to 5 o'clock doesn't seem to take nearly as long as on Monday. And it's a day to have some fun in anticipation of the weekend!

In that spirit, I have prepared two fun lists and a little competition for our time together today!

Many of you that stop by our blog know one or more of us through various means, either on-line or in person. And you've had a chance over the past six months to get to know us a little more intimately through our blog posts. But how much do you really know us??

I have collated a list below that contains 10 interesting and oh, so fun facts about us....one for each of the FOL sisters. I have purposefully left off the identifying name for each fact because that is your job! You must correctly match up each cool fact with the FOL beauty to whom it belongs. And to make this even MORE fun, I have a special prize for the person who makes the most correct matches....a $25 gift certificate to a photography-related class or store of your choice!

Please leave your answers in the comments below. I will share the answers and the winner on Saturday, so come back and check it out!

10 Totally Fun and Fabulous Facts About Us:

1.  I was a legal secretary for eleven years before I quit to have children. Who knew that I would have gone from a left-brained world (analytical, logical) to a right-brained hobby (artistic, intuitive)!  Terri
2. Records of my ancestors have been traced back to the mid 1300's in England as a descendent of Sir Warin de la Strode, a French Knight who accompanied William the Conqueror in the conquest of England.  Kim
3. I was Carl Sagan's personal banker when he came to the bank that I used to work at. I would escort him into the bank vault and I got to see all the amazing astronomy photos, film reels, books and other paperwork that he had stored there. He was a really cool man, and always came dressed in a suit and tie.  Judy
4. I am somewhat ambidextrous. I can bowl and play tennis both right and left handed.  Leigh
5. I was the valedictorian of my high school class.  Stephanie
6. I worked with Ron Howard, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the movie "Far and Away." I worked hiring extras for the land rush team.  Claudia
7. I absolutely, completely and totally love to swim! The colder the water the better and especially completely submerged.  Carol
8. I went white water rafting in the Grand Canyon.  Dotti
9. I used to act in a community theater.  Deanna
10. Not very many people know this, it's been top secret for obvious reasons, but I'm gonna tell you now....I am Iron Woman.  Linda

I've kept all of these answers a secret, even from the other FOL ladies. Although they are not eligible for the prize, they will be guessing right along with you! So submit your answers below....you might be our winner!

And because our blog focuses on our love of photography, I will leave you with one more list that hopefully provides you encouragement to get out there and keep shooting!

10 (or more!) Things We've Done Over the Past Few Years that Have Improved Our Photography:

1. Deanna - Learning the proper exposure so I don't have "blown-out" colors and becoming much more aware of composition.
2. Carol - Participating in workshops, particularly destination workshops. The emersion into the subject for days at a time, with little real-world interruption, allows for complete concentration. I always find I am leaps and bounds ahead when I come home, and it tends to stick with me.
3. Claudia - Approaching my photography from different perspectives. "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." ~Wayne Dyer
4. Dotti - Sharing my photos online in classes and groups.
5. Leigh - Shooting what I think is beautiful and not what I think other people will like. Photography is first and foremost something I do for myself and that crazy out of focus shot may not be something that others would even glance at, but to me is pure beauty.
6. Judy - To shoot, shoot, shoot. And doing it as often as I can. Reading photography books and taking courses has made a huge impact as well.
7. Kim - Simply practicing. And learning how to shoot in manual mode so that I could have more control over my creative outcome.
8. Stephanie - Being involved in photographic communities, either through flickr or Big Picture classes, where I can be inspired by and learn from others.
9. Terri - Shooting daily. Being involved in the "Picture" series classes with Tracey Clark at Big Picture Classes, I was forced to get out and shoot everyday. There is nothing like using your camera (and a little inspiration from others in the classes) that can improve your photography more!
10. Linda - I was always disappointed in my photography because all my pictures were so dark. I kept trying to figure it out and kept adjusting things without much luck. Then one day I figured out that I could take pretty decent photos when I took the lens cap off first! It was amazing! I highly recommend it to everyone!

I hope you enjoyed all of our fun facts for Friday! Don't forget to stop back tomorrow to see the answers and don't forget to keep posting your water photos to the flickr gallery!

Happy Friday and have a fantastic weekend!

July 22 - Updated 10 things about us with correct answers!