Amateur Photographer

In order to truly show you how far I have come in the world of Photography, I am going to post some of my earliest photos.

I remember in High School the first day of my Photography class. I had my camera, all nice and shiny, with its new bag and a few extras to make sure I took good care of it. I was a little nervous going into the class. Just like any first day of school, I didn't know if there was going to be anyone in the class I knew. It turned out that a friend was with me in this new adventure.

The first year of Photography class was overwhelming. There was so much information to learn and so little time. Any 101 class will start out with the basics: How to use your camera. I thought I knew how to use a camera, but little did I know that there was an all manual setting. And in addition to that setting, there was a lot of information on how to photograph without a computer doing the hard work.

We started out building a camera of our own, the pinhole camera. With all the years of my education, I have only made 1 of these cameras. I still have the one I made in High School, which is actually the one I used again in college.

This is the one I took time to decorate:



I wanted to put up here some of the photos I created with the Pinhole Camera, but unfortunately I will have to do some searching through all of my photographs to find where I had placed those specific ones.

Another project that we created my first year was a Photo gram. This is created by putting a piece of photography paper on the enlarger and placing random objects directly on top of the paper. With the light on full the paper is exposed and the objects block the light on parts of the paper. Here is one of a lot that I had created:















As you can see, most of the objects came from my purse at the time because I had forgotten about the assignment and used what I had with me. I was a typical procrastinator during my school years.

Taking My Time

I haven't had a chance yet with my very busy schedule to look at how to do things here. But I am still here and needing to put a few things in writing.

This week has been a whirl wind of things to do.

For starters, because of my job, my week starts on Thursdays. That's when my schedule starts and when I start my employee's schedules. I am a restaurant manager and I actually enjoy my job. I deal with all kinds of people day in and day out. Everyday there is something new and I never get bored with my job. If I am bored, then that means there is something wrong. If I am not having a good day, there is always someone around to lighten my mood and vice versa. I actually had Thursday and Friday off because my nephew's birthday and a small Passion Party I hosted. (Which was a blast, by the way.) Saturday was Valentine's Day and I closed at work. It was actually a very busy night because we had a lot of athletic teams come in for dinner. There were quite a lot of games going on around town and at the University. I do believe we have a saying for this kind of night in the restaurant industry.... ass raping. Hand out the KY jelly and go to town. Everyone got slammed and was running around, but in the end all of my servers walked out with at least $125 in their pockets. Night like those we do all appreciate a good days work.

Even though I do enjoy my job there are a lot of things that I wish I do not have to deal with. For an example, Sundays. I never understand why I encounter so many rude people on Sundays. Is it because they all go to church and repent their sins and then since they are starting clean slate it gives them the excuse to be rude and demanding to their servers. And on top of that, they are the worst tippers. Seriously people, do you not understand that these servers get paid $2.15/hr and the tips that they make is really all they take home. Taxes usually take all the hourly wage they earn and their checks are always under $10. For the few people who know how the restaurant industry work, please help us educate the people who have no clue and lets take care of our servers.

Okay I think I am done venting there. And the next task I am going to work on is getting some photographs up here.

Oh and by the way Dragonfly, this would be considered a weekly post right now. ;)

My Introduction

Hi.

I don't know how to start here, so I will just do it.

I am the baby of four girls. While growing up I have learned that being the quiet one isn't all that bad. I learned what not to do from my older sisters and in turn got away with murder with the parents.
Each of us have our own special talents. My oldest sister is the English major, so to speak. I am sure she will be able to find numerous problems with this blog as I write here. :) My next sister is the self-employed and is doing well from the looks of it. My sister that is 2 years older than me is the adventurous turned Susie Homemaker. I love them all and have a different relationship with each one.

Enough about them. I am the photographer of the family. I will say I owe -and I tell everyone this- my oldest sister for my love of Photography. She is the one that got me interested in Photography. I was a Freshman or Sophomore in High School when she first showed me her 'big camera'. I fell in love instantly and signed up for classes as soon as I could. She was also the one to help me research my perfect first camera. (We are talking about the real ones here.. not point and shoot) Since then I haven't stopped. I have graduated from the SLR Cannon Rebel and have become an owner of a wonderful Hasselblad.

I then found my calling and went to Sam Houston State for Photography. In College I took seminar classes that required you to travel. I didn't know many people so I took the class to make myself get out there. My first trip away from my family was to go to New York 2004. I had a blast. It was scary being away from home and anyone I knew. I was a fish out of water, but I was loving it. I could describe my time there, but that would take too long.

The Professor that took us on this trip came back and decided he wanted to go somewhere Bigger and Better. The planning for next year's trip started... we were going to London, UK. Wow, I never thought I would get the opportunity to travel outside the US. I saved money and worked hard and got a school loan to finance it. I was going to do anything to go there. I even made plans to take an extra week for backpacking through Scotland. Luckily I had a friend who was excited about my other plans and asked if she could come, of course... I wasn't going by myself.

Well London and Scotland were awesome and I met so many people. In Scotland we stayed in Hostels... now it is nothing like the movie so don't worry. I even made some friends that I still keep in contact with today.

The next year was the same. My professor wanted to go somewhere Bigger and Better. So Paris it was in 2005 and I took another side trip. This time by myself, back to Scotland to stay with local friends I'd made the year before. What a culture shock. The whole trip by myself to Scotland was nerve-wracking.

This started a trend... for the next 2 years I went on trips with the school. We went to Rome, Italy and Madrid, Spain. I also set up an impromptu vacation, just myself and a friend. We went to Prague, Czech Republic... a place I researched years before and was the number 1 on my list of places to go.

With each new place I traveled, I learned more about myself and how I look at the world around me. I learned from the photos I took and how I see with a camera in my hands, and I love it. It is better than reading a book on a stormy night... and that is really high on my list of loves.

My plans for the future have changed drastically since I went on that first trip. I am now working my way to living in Europe somewhere. I already have plans with a close friend to move to London and I am happy to finally have something tangible to work for.

I am new to this blog and am still trying to figure some things out. So as soon as I do I will posts some photos from my trips.