Comparing.

I came home a few weeks from a photo shoot and I was excited. Like super excited. We had just had so much fun and I LOVED the images I got. As they loaded into Lightroom I was happier and more excited as each image came in. I yelled to Scott in the other room - 'This is my favourite session EVER!!!'

Then I decided to quickly get caught up on my favourite photographers blogs - and in a swift moment, it felt like the wind was taken out of my sails. I felt deflated. Disheartened.

The images I had just taken, and had been in love with two seconds ago, did not even come close to comparing to the images on these blogs. My favourite session ever wasn't even close to being in the same league as these photographers....

Or, that's how I felt.

It wasn't the first time this had happened to me - I've struggled with this for a while. I have a pretty bad habit of letting someone else's work make me discount my own. Of letting the quality of other people's work dictate the quality of mine. Was it worse? Better? WAY SUPER NEVER COME CLOSE WORSE? We are our own worse critics - but, I loved my work, until I realized it wasn't as good as their's.

This has got to stop. I have to value myself, and my photography, more. It's okay if someone produces better photo's than me. I have to learn to use that knowledge, not to discount myself, but to push myself to be better. To improve. To learn from these more experience photographers.

And so, I have come up with a sort of system to help me with this. If I really like a certain photo and it's something I would love to see in my own portfolio - I ask myself why. Is it the pose? The lighting? What can I take from this photo and apply, in my own way, to my photo's? Then I pin it (Yes, I am shamelessly addicted to Pinterest!) so I can actually come back and reference the photo.

Secondly, if I really like a certain photo but it isn't the style or type of photo I would want in my portfolio - I look at the photo with appreciate for the wonderful work of art that it is and then, move on. Why should I get hung up over a photo that doesn't fit into my style of photography?!

This isn't a change that will happen over night. I can't just stop comparing my work to others. But, I am willing to work really hard to change my mindset about it. Do you struggle with comparing too? Any tips on how you handle it? I would love to hear them :)



Here's to turning a new 'leaf' - and to really bad puns!

3 Ways to Improve Your Photo's.

Last May, I found myself looking at my photo's and feeling like something was missing. They just weren't up to the calibre that I wanted. So, I set out to learn as much as possible about my camera and photography in general to get the most out of my photo's.

There were 3 main changes I made that drastically improved my photo's.

#1 - I started to shoot in Manual Mode.

I had been coasting along using the Aperture Priority mode and it just wasn't cutting it. But, I have to admit, I was SO intimidated by the idea of shooting in Manual. It's kinda like putting together Ikea furniture without the instructions. Difficult, but it can be done! I put my camera in Manual and forced myself to take pictures ONLY in this mode. It meant I really had to learn how all the camera settings - aperture, shutter speed, & ISO - interplayed with each other and how to manipulate them to get the image I wanted. I can't even say how much this small change improved my photo's. Absolutely worth every minute of frustration!


#2 - I switched to back button focus.

I wrote about when I first made the switch to back button focus and I am still just as in love with it. I love the ease of pushing the button and being able to choose my own focal point instead of letting the camera try to figure out what exactly my focus is. Takes practice but again - so worth it!


#3 - RAW instead of Jpeg

This was the easiest change I made - switching from using Jpeg files to RAW files. It just takes one quick change in your camera menu and it made a HUGE difference to post processing and the overall quality of my photo's. Read a really great and more in depth article comparing RAW & Jpeg here. One note: You must have a computer program able to read RAW files and convert them to Jpeg - I use Lightroom (also where I do all of my editing).


Putting all 3 changes into use at Troy & Alison's wedding!

Hope that helps even just a tiny bit if you are wanting to learn more about your SLR camera and improve your photo's!

I've been busy...

...this past week. All my down time has been spent admiring my new love. My 7D. I fall a little more in love every time I pick it up.

Oh, hello beautiful.



My favourite thing about my new camera though? How it has given me a renewed excitement in photography. Everything I've said in the past week and a half about this camera has been half shouted and followed by shrieks of joy. I think the best way to describe my feelings are like this:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, just a tiny bit excited.



I am loving the chance to learn more about photography - and just what all these new buttons on this camera are for.



I'll show you a little photo evidence to prove just how amazing this camera is. This photo is straight out of camera. Not even one little tiny bit of editing. Yeah, told ya. Amazing.



Good things to come. Oh, and I promise to blog more.