One year later... And Photography!?!

Well, almost a year later, and I'm finally posting again!  Last year was a whirlwind, and suddenly it's January again!  :)  More to come on that...  Anyway, this post is specific to my latest adventure, a photography course!  My primary goal was to improve my ability to take meaningful pictures of my kids (and find a way to soak in and remember every moment!), but I also hope to apply what I'm learning to my Etsy photos.  Because let's face it, as hard as I try, my pictures are not the best!

My wonderful husband bought me my first dslr camera for Christmas - a Rebel T3!  I was so excited, and immediately signed up for Ashley Ann's photography course.  I've been a long time reader of her blog, and really admire her talent!  I realize I'll never be at THAT level, but I hope to soak in some of her secrets from the course!  ;)  For our first homework assignment, we were to practice the elements of composition and story-telling.  I'm still only in automatic mode, but already I see changes in the photos I took.  I have no doubt, there is still far more wrong with these than there is right, but I'm just excited to be able to "see" them differently!  I see the problems, and I can even pick out a few good things...  I didn't crop any of these, but just posted as is...

The lighting in my house is not the best...  Dark walls make natural light photos hard, but I do love this one!  Toy cars driving over all living room furniture is a daily occurrence!

Not the best look on B's face, but I like the arching lines of climbing toy in this one...

 Off into the woods.  Trying to follow the rule of thirds...

All kinds of problems with mergers in the next two, but I like the angle of the shots.  However, something about where I cropped B bothers me...  Not sure if I should have included more or less of him?

Again, not the best look on B's face, but like the framing.  Not sure if the framing should have been centered (like a narrowing bridge)?

Just another fun one.  I liked the movement of this one, and the idea that you can see where he's going...

Still working on the rule of thirds...