Photography Challenge 1

This is my first ever challenge in the photography thread on BG. Here's the challenge:



**********Have you found your 'style'? What do you love photographing? What photographers do you follow, admire, look to for inspiration? Where do I want be in 1 year and then in 5 years in photography (and for those of you not in this for a biz that's ok- just share your personal goals).

This week our challenge is to answer these questions AND share 2-3 images of your THEN (from about 1 year go) and then 2-3 of your best from NOW. If you have a blog- blog it. If you don't- just share here. *********



I've enjoyed taking pictures for many years now, but I only started attempting "professional" pictures a year ago. It all started when I wanted to get newborn shots made of Ashlin (my youngest) and my husband said no, that it was a waste of money. I knew she was only going to be that small once, so I got a white sheet, the boppy, and my little Sony Cyber-shot and started trying to get shots of Ashlin as I'd seen by doing an internet search of newborn poses. I was so proud of myself when I was done! I thought they turned out pretty good! From that day on, photography was my passion. I still wanted to get real professional pictures done, but I felt like if I couldn't, it would be ok because I could do it myself.

As far as what my style is, well, I don't know what I would call it. Maybe it would be several different styles that speak to me. There are 3 people that I can't get enough of (one I actually saw from someone else's challenge today, but I saw the pictures and thought That is what I've been looking for!!! That is what I would love to do!). The first two are people who are in the photography thread, Shannon and Amy. I don't know what it is about their work, but it just makes me happy. For lack of a better way to explain it, their work makes my heart sing (cheesy, I know). Here are links to their work:
Shannon: http://basicbeautyphotography.com/
Amy: http://www.amymcmasterphotography.com/
The photographer I saw today (I don't know the name): http://pastelphotography.com/blog/

What do I love photographing? I love taking pictures of my kids, of course, but they are a hard subject since they never stop moving. I really like taking pictures of people, though. There is so much you can do and I love capturing emotion. My favorite place to take pictures is outdoors/natural light. I'm completely clueless on how to make indoor light look good, so natural is best for me! I love nature shots! That's definitely one of my favorite things to shoot. I adore macro, but I can't really do that without the equipment.

The next question to answer is where do I want to be in 1 year and then in 5 years. To be honest, I'm not completely sure. I know for sure that I want to master editing. I use photoscape right now. It's just a free editing program someone told me about. It's really good for beginners because it's easy to use and easy to learn, but I really want to get some kind of photoshop program. I know there is a lot more that can be done and I really want to learn it. Will I have the time to learn with two small children to take care of or the money to buy it in the first place? I don't know, but that's my goal. My other goal would be to master my camera to the best of my ability. I'll be getting a new camera in February, but unfortunately I won't be getting a dslr like I want because my husband absolutely will not cave no matter how hard I try. It's not all about the equipment, though, so I'll do the best I can with what I have. What's my goal for five years? I would love to have the dslr by that time. I'm not one hundred percent sure if I want to go pro one day, but I'm leaning that way. I guess the big thing that's holding me back is the business side of it because that kind of stuff confuses me. What I really hope is that I see a huge improvement every year in my skill. I already see a huge growth over this past year and it's very encouraging.

Ok, so the next part of the challenge is to share some pictures from a year ago and my best from now. Here you go!

Then (1 year ago) Now (1 month ago-1 week ago)