It’s week 29 of my Project365 on Flickr. We are in San Francisco for a quick family getaway. Later this week, I will be posting about the wonders of San Francisco with kids. Until then, here are some photos from our adventures.

_______________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.

It’s week 28 of my Project365 on Flickr. I’m learning to do black and white conversions in Lightroom 3. I love a great black and white photo, but I’ve never been happy with mine. That can only be remedied with Practice. Practice. Practice!

_______________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.

Piper Toth of One Sydney Road is hosting an Alphabet Walk and Blog Hop. You know how much I love a photography challenge. Plus, let’s face it, I’m a big fan of the alphabet. I took my camera on a little ‘Q’uest for the letter Q. Technically speaking, my walk was more of a stroll around our house. After several crazy-busy days, I was grateful for a ‘Q’uiet evening at home. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

For more alphabet fun, be sure to visit all the bloggers and photographers participating in the Alphabet Walk. The banner graphic is courtesy of Katrina from Pugly Pixel. Thanks Katrina!

It’s week 27 of my Project365 on Flickr and we’ve reached the midpoint of our summer break. I think this image says it all. Yep, it’s summertime and the livin’ is easy. How’s your summer so far?

_______________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.

I’ve reached the halfway point of my Project365 on Flickr. 26 weeks. 182 photos. Countless lessoned learned.

I’m so thankful my eyes have been opened to the joys and challenges of photography. I’ve been forced to learn the ins and out of my camera and notice the subtle details of the world around me. I can’t believe the beauty I see in everyday things that simply passed me by before beginning this project. My husband even says he notices interesting clouds or cool lighting he never did before.

I’m learning and growing every day. Here are a few of the skills (all done in camera) I’ve learned since beginning in January:

• Shoot exclusively in manual
• There’s a meter in my camera! Who knew?
• Create a starburst effect
• Silhouettes
• Bokeh
• How to shoot fireworks
• Create haze
• Lose the flash (Yeah!)
• What the hell a catchlight is
• And so much more…

I’m still a novice, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come during the last six months. I know my learning will be life long and I look forward to the journey. From my current perspective, my best tips for learning photography are:

• Learn to shoot in manual. Wow! What a difference.
• Plan ahead! If you know you will be at the aquarium or a fireworks show, google it. Read about it. Take notes. Then set your camera’s settings before the action begins and make adjustment from there.
• When you think you’ve got this thing licked, take a class. You will learn so much and realize how much more there is to learn.
• Use your camera everyday. If you get bored, it’s time to learn something new!
• Lay on your belly in the drive way for a fresh perspective. Screw what the neighbors think. You’ll be happy with your results.

Here’s to the joy of always learning! Now, get out there and shoot something… with your camera!

_______________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.

It’s week 25 of my Project365 on Flickr and summer has finally arrived! This is how we celebrated.
_______________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.

It’s week 24 of my Project365 on Flickr and I’m wearing a sweater. I know it’s summer because I ate a charred marshmallow over the weekend. I hope Mother Nature catches on soon!
_______________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.

Week 23 of my Project365 on Flickr marked the end of the 2009-2010 school year. In the fall, Jack will be a second grader and Kate will start kindergarten. But first we have a glorious summer ahead of us. We kicked it off with:

1. The wind in our hair. Kate had strep throat this week. An afternoon drive and some clean mountain air helped combat cabin fever.
2. A freezing cold trip to the park. I was wrapped in a blanket while the kids played. Now, that would have been a picture.
3. Jack + Mom’s annual first day of summer date. Each year we go to a cafe where we sit down to write a list of Jack’s summer “to do” wish list. A few of the items on this summer’s list: A trip to San Francisco, sleepovers, fishing and rock painting. We can check off the painted rocks as evidenced by his grimy hands in my latte.

_______________________________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.

During week 22 of my Project365 on Flickr I finished up my Rock Your Camera 101 class from Clickin Moms. One of my goals was to take quality spur of the moment shots. I managed to do that by getting to know my camera really well. After four weeks and thousands of shots, I finally feel I am the one in control of my images, not the camera. I learned to recognize good light, adjust my settings for the look I want to achieve and use custom white balance to get accurate skin tones. More importantly, I feel somewhat comfortable doing these things on the fly.

Each of this week’s images was taken on a whim with no set up or prior planning. I love how they capture the kids’ personality along with their super cuteness. Yeah!

__________________________

What’s a Project365? It’s a personal commitment to make photography an everyday event. Essentially it’s a photo a day for a year, forcing me to slow down, learn my camera and see the world with an artistic eye.