Living it Up

by Terri

Having just had a very momentous birthday a week ago, I am determined to not let it get me down. As they say, it’s better than the alternative. But I wanted to think of it in more positive terms and when I saw the photo above on Facebook, I knew that was going to be my mantra. This is the youngest I’ll ever be again so I need to live it up!

No, I’m not planning on dancing ‘til dawn or traveling around the world! Part of living it up is going to be doing more things that I WANT to do rather than focusing on the things I NEED to do. I want to take some classes and learn something new. I’m still trying to master Lightroom and this is going to be the year I accomplish that. I’ve also gotten a bit lazy with my camera and relying on it to make decisions for me. Moving the focus point had become a chore and so I was focusing and recomposing and the result has been less than sharp photos. I am vowing to change that.  A friend of mine is planning on spending a week on each of the functions of her camera until she has mastered them all. I’m  not sure I’m quite THAT adventurous but I do know there are things my camera can do that I’m not using and I’m planning on finding out what those are and how they work.

I also want to become more active on Flickr than I have been the past few years. I really enjoy the community and there is so much inspiration. I have just fallen out of the habit and I’m going to make an effort to get back in there, join some new groups, share my photos and comment on others’ photos. I joined a group called 52 Week Photography Challenge and our first challenge this past week was to do a self-portrait, something I usually try to avoid, but I am determined to be involved in this group and so out came my tripod and remote and after about 20 shots, I finally had something I was okay with posting.

And I want to have more fun with my photography. Sometimes I think I take it way too seriously. A few months ago, Kat Sloma asked me if I would be willing to review her new book “Art with an iPhone: A Photographer’s Guide to Creating Altered Realities”. I have long admired the art she creates with her phone photos and am really looking forward to learning and playing along with her. If you’re interested, her book is available on Amazon.

Yes, it’s all still going to revolve around photography, but that is my passion so I make no excuses. I’ll be living it up but it will involve photography in some way or other – learning more about it, perfecting my techniques, getting out and shooting more. It’s not that hard, Terri. Just pick up your camera and go. They say that the one thing that will make you a better photographer is to shoot, shoot, shoot and it’s the thing that I haven’t been doing enough of.  I’m changing that right now, so I’m off to take a walk and see what there is to capture.  Care to join me?

P.S. The photos in this post were some I took during that walk I mentioned. :-)