Fun, Fun, Fun

Today was a super fun day!  First of all, my new goodies came in the mail.  I have been a little disappointed with some of my photos and did some research to find out what I could do to correct them.  Montana is VERY sunny.  Even on the coldest day, the sun is very bright.  I was finding that a lot of my pictures looked bleached out.  I could correct them to a point in Photoshop, but I'm a perfectionist and I go for those perfect-the-first-time photos.  I was also noticing that my pictures I took with my longer lenses (300-500mm) came out blurry, even with a tripod.  So, I bought a remote control and an ultraviolet, circular polarizer and fluorescent filter set.  Of course it's snowing and windy here today, so I didn't get a chance to try them out.  I also ordered a new tripod with a ball head for easier movement than my old one and two new cards.  I've found that I take a LOT of pictures on a couple different settings to ensure that I get a least ONE good one.  So my cards fill up fast.  Unfortunately, it's much to cold, snowy and windy out today to practice : (  But, the weather is going to perk up after the weekend and I intend to head out to play next week!

The second cool thing was that my photo paper also came in the mail! Here's the scoop with that...first, I did some research to find the best paper for the value.  And around Cut Bank, Montana, there aren't a lot of options as far as photo paper is concerned. I've never printed my own photos, I've always sent my work out. I was a little concerned with printing my own photos for a couple of reasons.  First, quality.  I wasn't real happy with the quality of my previous printer.  However, I recently purchased a Cannon Pixma and decided to give it a try.  Another reason was the cost of ink.  I was always under the impression that it was cheaper to pay someone else to print them than have to purchase the ink.  But, now that we're in Montana, I've found that it's cheaper to print them myself rather than pay for shipping and have to wait a week for the prints to come.  I think part of that, too, is because my camera is 12 megapixels versus the 6 megapixels of my old camera. I'll still outsource my large prints, but I'm very, VERY happy with the quality of my 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 shots.  Now I need to buy some mats and frames : )

And the best thing that happened today is that one of my friends in Ohio asked me to photograph her wedding! I am so excited about this! Not just of adding weddings to my portfolio, but that I get to create HER wedding memories.  Hoping to get together with her and her fiance this June to do engagement photos : )

I really got a lot accomplished today.  I transferred all my photos from my laptop to my desktop so that I can "play" with them.  I worked on a Mother's Day project for my mother-in-law and have to say it came out great!  I'm also working on some DVD slideshows, another part of photography that I fully enjoy.  I've made several over the years and gave many as gifts.  For some reason you can get a totally different perspective of a group of photographs than when you are looking at them one at a time.  It creates a story that each viewer can incorporate into their own imagination.  I found that they are great for graduations (photos of the graduate from birth through high school), weddings (photos of the bride and groom from birth to wedding), rememberances (photos of a deceased family member), birthdays (photos of the birthday person from birth to current birthday), anniversaries (photos of the couple from birth to current anniversary), gifts for moms/grandmothers (kids/grandkids from birth to current) and holidays/special occasions (gathers all the photos in one fun collage).

But, it is time for me to turn off the photography side of the brain for the day and enjoy some time with my family!  I hope you enjoy today's photo! This is a herd of antelope (pronghorn) that we saw on a trip to Great Falls.  My husband pulled off the freeway and I hopped out to get a couple of shots.  They were definately watching me and as I crept closer they ran.  But, I still had enough time to get off a few good shots.