blessed, three times

my hobby

A little more than a year ago, my husband gave me and iPhone as an early Christmas gift. After swearing I would never give into the hype, I was eating my words. My phone quickly filled with apps that I used daily, ok hourly. YouVersion, Words with Friends, Angry Birds, and other fun apps filled my time. In January 2011, I downloaded Instagram, and that is where my love of photography blossomed.

I would have never guessed that I would enjoy photography like am now. It pushes me to be creative in ways that my normal day to day life would have never presented. Taking pictures is more than just taking a snapshot of a pretty scene or a special time with the boys. It is finding the beauty in my everyday surroundings and capturing all the moments in my life. My iPhone became my only camera. I love iPhoneography very much. It is amazing what you can do with the camera and a handful of apps. Below is a collection of my favorite 16 shots of 2011. I have also created a tag on Instagram of all my favorite shots. They can be viewed here.

Midway through last year, I began wanting something more. Upgrading to a DSLR was the way to go. In October, I was blessed to receive a Canon T3i. Wow! I still feel I have so much to learn. I have been doing lots of reading and shooting pictures.

Just a few weeks ago, I began my first photography class.

I learned about this class on Instagram when a friend posted her homework. Looking into it, I discovered it was being taught by Little Fashion Diary. I was thrilled to be able to participate and really feel I am learning so much about photography, my camera's functions and how to use my editing software. Here are my pictures I've taken for my class so far.

Week One: An example of what we thought to be a "good" picture.

Week Two: Importance of learning color and balance in photography. This picture was picked (and five others) as a Class Standout! Yay!!

Week Three: Foreground, Background and Depth of Field as presented in a landscape photo.

I'm eager to continue in the class and soak up all the great information! I can only imagine where this hobby may lead!

Thursday Thanks

I've seen this done on a few blogs that I enjoy reading. It's something that I have wanted to do if I ever got my blog up and running. Maybe it's what I need to give me something weekly to come back and report. :)

Healthy boys

A working dishwasher

My iPhone

A hard-working (and cute) husband

Bedtime

With that being said, good night!

How does one get IN the saddle?

I would have asked how does one get back in the saddle, but seeing as I can hardly call my blog an active one, I decided to ask the original question.

It really isn't difficult. Really. Maybe it's not having enough time. It could have been that until Christmas we had no computer, and I had no idea if I could even blog from my iPhone. (Can you? I have no idea...) I'm sure it has something to do with having no idea where to begin.

It's been a new year for 26 days now, and I am just getting around to addressing my non-blog. What's funny is that I always have ideas for posts, but never follow through. So, here's to following through. *fingers crossed*