03 10 2010

How do you juggle it all? With balls of course. I attended a training course a few years ago and the teacher would juggle during the breaks. He taught me how to do it and I keep the juggling balls on my desk at home as a reminder of how to get everything done - just take each thing one at a time.

03 09 200 - Ready for Bed!

I was ready to go to bed and i took this picture. It captures that end of the day, settle in. I had my computer ready to go, that is the best way to wrap up the day.

3 8 2010 - A Lazy Cat

This is another one of my pets. The is Seymore and he was laying on my husband's legs.

03 07 2010

This is such a great sign of spring to come. This little bird was sitting on a fence at Cooters Pond. He was modeling and acting like he wanted his picture taken. What a little ham!

03 06 2010 - A Barn

Headed to Santuck (the best flea market around) we were stuck in traffic. I asked my Mom to crawl into the back of her Explorer to grab my camera because I loved this barn, especially the star. She did as I asked and I rolled down the window and starting snapping. Thank goodness for traffic!

03 05 2010 Sida...again

Okay, we have a year. Sida is my most common subject. I have to take her picture all the time because she is always with me.

03 04 2010 - Playing with light

This photo was taken in my bed room. I put my SB600 flash on the ground pointing up at the vase to give it a kick of light and to emphasize the bottom side of the flowers. The vase is sitting on a stool with a plain wall behind it.

03 03 2010 - Callie

Big yawn from Callie at my house. I had a reflector on the white side and I bounced a flash off it into her mouth.

03 02 2010 - Sida again

So when I am at a loss of what to shoot or just laying around, my pets are always around and they end up being my subjects. Here is SidaLeigh again, wrapped up in my snuggie!

03 01 2010 - The Cross

This cross hangs on my cross wall in my home office. I have a collection of ornate crosses that are all grouped together and my collection started with this one. This was the first one that I got from my Grandma in Mississippi. I love it.

The picture was just a quick snap. I think I had the on camera flash on, but I jazzed it up with Elements to make it look at little different.

02 28 2010 - Baby Joseph

Meet my nephew Joseph! He was born in November and all ready he has taken the camera. This picture was taken while be was being help in his Granddad's arms. I cropped it up and played with it to make it look a little more like a portrait. The colored version may be cuter, but I like to play with black and whites.

02 27 2010 - Making Potatoes

I decided to take a picture while I was trying my hand at cooking. I am not a cook and to be honest, this was probably my first try at cooking potatoes. It went pretty well, but I am not sure if they make a good picture!

02 26 2010 - A Perfect Day

This was the perfect sunrise this morning. The sun was coming up and it was so pretty reflecting light. I was shooting in fairly low light, but it was perfect to focus on the light that was coming up and reflecting off the clouds.

02 25 2010 - Seymore and slow shutter

This is Seymore, my model cat. I took this photo while resting my camera on the coffee table in my living room so I could drag my shutter speed. I took this at f5.6 and 1.00 second for the shutter which is longer than I could ever hold still. This could have been a sharper image if I had set up on a tripod and used a remote. Even the press of a shutter can give a little blur to the image when you go slower than .60 seconds. The cute light flare is another Elements trick.

2/24/2010 - My sidekick

This is my baby, SidaLeigh, and she is my constant companion - she is my sidekick. I took this photo early in the morning while she was sitting with me on the couch in my house. I gave the background a grain treatment with Elements and I softened her fur my lowering the sharpness.

02/23/2010 My last year in my twenties - A photo 365

Well, I have finally reached the last year of my 20's. I am officially 29 years old, and I am oddly excited about it. For some reason I am looking forward to my 30's. I think it must be because I have seen so much changed and happen in the last 10 years that I am excited to see what 30 will bring. I do however want to remember and cherish this last year though so I am going to try to do a Photo 365 Blog. I have tried this once before and I failed misserably, but maybe this one will be better and I will make it more than a month!

So here is photo number 1 - it was my birthday cake at my party thrown by my parents. It was yummy, and the busyness of it made it kind of crazy cool looking. I shot it with my SB600 flash at f/3.8, 1/100 of a second, at ISO 200. 

2010 Snow Storm in Alabama

Today we got a rare treat in Alabama, we got SNOW!  If we get snow it  is usually just a dusting that does not stick, but this winter storm did good and it impressed.  Snow Storm of 2010!

By Amanda Griffin Smith

Cool Cat Callie

Are you my friend?

The End of the Day

A lazy photo drive

Working on my DAM Problem

Okay, I think I have 2/3rds of my DAM problem worked out. To bring you up to speed, the goal is to have 3 copies of any pictures I have so if something bad happens, I have them backed up. I shoot too much to store everything on my computer, so that is not an option. Right now I have all my pictures backed up on 2 external hard drives. 1 is in my possession and 1 is in my parents. But what is the 3rd solution? I keep thinking about cloud storage, but the cost seems a bit much to me. It would cost me over $40 a month to store so much data in a smug mug vault. I have however found the Google accounts and the option to purchase 400 GB of storage for $100 a year, which does not sound bad.
Maybe I have a plan. I am going to keep 1 external drive at my home, another 1 at my parents home (who I visit once a week, so could update it every week – or monthly if that works better) and then cloud storage through Google for my third level. I already use Picasa for my file management, so when I add a new file I just need to pull it up to the cloud.
I guess I will give it a go and we will see if this solution works - got to love that DAM.

God Bless,
Amanda

High Stress Over DAM

Ok, I am having DAM stress!

That's right, I said it.
DAM stands for Data Archival Management. I am not sure who coined that term, but I am experiencing stress from it. I believe I blogged early this year that I had over 20k pictures. That number is now got to be over 30k and I have added video to the mix so the Gigabytes of storage just keep growing and growing and my anxiety of storage and backups is growing just as quick. I believe it is Alex Lindsey who always says you should have 3 copies of anything for it to be properly backed up and that those 3 copies can not be in the same place. After having my house broken into a couple of months ago, you would have thought I would have learned...but no, I am still milling about debating about my strategy and what to do.
The highest point of stress for me right now is that I essentially have 1 copy on 1 external hard drive of a TON of my work. So if that drive goes bad, or burns, or whatever else, I am in deep molasses. Now that I am getting ready to go on a trip, I want to clean my SD cards, so can reuse them (oh yeah, I forgot that part, I have been buying SD cards like they are film or something, crazy I know). But I have to get my data backed up (in 3 places!).
Ok, I have to go rack my brain on this.
More to come....
God bless!

Amanda Griffin Smith

Check me out on www.achievedreamsdaily.com

Hello, I am trying to blog and share info at http://www.achievedreamsdaily.com/.

Also, I am at http://www.prattsphotography.com/ for my photography!

Some times you need the tools!

So, I bought a new HP laptop computer.  I was fighting and fighting with my old tired desktop, but I had enough and I made the leap.  The best thing though is that today, you can buy a computer without loosing and arm and a leg.  Even though I feel like I should have a Mac because I am a photo junkie, I decided to stick with what I know.  I am loving Windows 7.  It is sleek and fancy.  So, maybe now that I have some horsepower again maybe there will be photos on this photo blog-what a concept!

Workflow

I am a heavy amateur photographer and I am being crushed by data. My rinky-dink desktop is choking trying to handle the volume that my raw files dish it. I currently have over 22,000 pictures that I have taken in the last 4 years or so, so in another 4 years…oh I don’t even want to think about it. I was talking to a fellow photographer about the importance of workflow and I realized that I did not really have a workflow, bummer.

So what is a workflow in the first place? For digital photography, I would define it as how your photos go from raw data files in your camera to final product – which would be defined by the job (from a web album to framed prints). Right now my workflow involves downloading the files, saving them by a crazy date list that I would have to be some sort of history nut to remember. Then praying like crazy that nothing happens to my external hard drive that houses all that precious data. Think I need a change???

One thing I have always heard is that you need to have at least 3 copies of any data in 2 places…so I will try to incorporate that into my mix. I have also heard that your post processing time should be double your shoot time, so a 2 hour shoot equals 4 hours of post.

Here is my contingent plan – highly subject to change:
1 – Download pictures to internal hard drive.

2 – Burn a DVD of the original raw files. This way there is at least one copy on disk that has not been messed with in any way. (storage 1). Delete pictures from memory card on camera (I am totally committed a this point).

3 – Send the pictures to a cloud (storage 2).

4 – Copy pictures to external hard drive. (storage 3). At this point there are three copies of the originals.

5 – Return to internal hard drive and make a list of ‘keepers’. The best of the best, and the ones worth looking at. Delete the rest off the internal hard drive.

6 – Begin editing my work, saving it in a file that ends in ‘share’.

7 – When complete with editing, burn a DVD with an event title, date, and client name (1 copy).

8 – Upload the file to my website, flickr, or cloud storage (copy 2).

9 - Copy the file to external drive (copy 3).

10 – Keep on hard drive for 3 months, then delete to save space.
Whew, that was exhausting. A 10 step work flow…hmmmm, let’s see if it will work!

Finally playing with Elements

I am an old school photographer because it is 2009 and I am just now learning how to use Photoshop Elements. I know it is pathetic, but when I bought the program a year ago I was just petrified of it. It scared me to death and when I opened it, I was not sure where to begin. So over this past weekend I sat down with my Missing Manual, and went to town. I am not that far in, but this is proof I am trying to learn how to work with my photos to develop my art.

I am still here....

I am still here and taking pictures. I have been slow on the post because I only want to post when I am moved to. I am searching for that muse that will help awaken my soul again and bring the artist back to life....

What kind of photography blog is this?

I know,...what kind of photography blog does not have any pictures in it?
You know I had the greatest break through this weekend though regarding photography. While I was at Books-a-Million I picked up an Annie Leibovitz picture book (that weighed about 100 pounds...or so), she is a world famous photographer who takes striking pictures of celebrities and she did the bared back Miley Cyrus photo that caused all of the chaos a few months ago, but anyway...the beginning of the book had regular pictures of her family. Just candid shots, nothing out of the ordinary, but the fact that they were there, displayed as art made them pop and stand out to me. It made me feel more relevant as a photographer. So what if 90% of my photography is normal subjects that are close to me. Art and beauty I believe are both in the eye of the beholder. You have to believe that what you do is relevant before anyone else will believe in what you do, and I would have to imagine, not knowing anything about Ms. Leibovitz, that she believed that her photos were 100% relevant even when it was her parents on the beach and that is what made her such a great artist.

Believe you are relevant.

No more silly goal...

So, I have to admit it...I missed a day taking pictures. My goal was to take a picture every day this year and last week I missed a day. I woke up in a cold sweat (not really, but that sounds more dramatic), thinking I had missed something. I think it was about the time that I was blow drying my hair that it hit me...I DID NOT TAKE A PICTURE YESTERDAY, NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! And I have only picked up my beloved camera 1 time since. Now I am out of town and I have nothing more than a cellphone camera with me. At first I felt like such a failure, my goal was missed and I felt like I had let myself down, but in truth I think it might actually be good for me. Taking pictures had become a chore and not a creative process. I started catching myself today looking at some skateboarders rolling down a hill towards a mass of red and yellow tulips. The sun was behind the trees and the light was pretty good. I though, wow - What a shot that would be...and that was the first time that feeling has hit me in weeks. They say absence makes the heart grow founder....could it be the same for creativity?

I need some tips/inspiration...

Back in January I declared that I was going to take a picture every day this year. At the time I was enjoying a forced sabbatical from work...and I made this goal a priority. I did great, and even when I went back to work in March I did okay for a couple of days. And then, I started getting lazy. I have taken pictures of my computer monitor, my office, my purse, and anything within my reach just to make sure I get a picture every day....but I am starting to wonder why. I am not getting anything artistic, I am just getting the mundane. When I set the goal, I was going to parks and finding old dilapidated buildings - things that I really found interesting. Now I have trouble finding the energy or the time to find anything thrilling. Wow, when I did become a Debbie-Downer? So how do you find inspiration to be an artist? What is my muse?

Can Flare be Art?

As I explore taking more pictures and learning the art of photography, I have found that I am drawn to ‘messing’ up pictures. I love to get pictures that have some sun flare in them. I think it is unique and different, but…I have not found anyone that reciprocates my thoughts. Now, this image is not one of my best, but I love the Mars Planet-like flare that came from the sun. What do you think? Can flare add…well - flare?

My first show was a smashing success!

This past weekend I had a booth at my very first art festival. I had about 18 photo prints in frames that I was selling, and I am thrilled to report that I sold 8 pieces. It was the most fun. It started off pretty rough, it was windy and freezing. About the third time all my work fell over off their easels, I was about to give up...but we persisted and by lunch time things really started to kick. It was thrilling to hear feedback from people who were not my family on my work. Sometimes just watching their faces could tell me what was working for them and what was not. I am not sure if anyone from the show will read this blog, but if you do I would like to say thank you for your support!

God Bless :)

So now you know

Well, I did not know until I went to Biloxi this past weekend where you should go fishing. Now I know!

The Perfect Picture

Since I am the 'photographer' in my family, all things photo related come to me. My latest project is scanning all of my Grandmother's old photographs. I left her house this weekend with a plastic tub filled with photos. This one is just one of thousands, but I love it so I have dubbed it the perfect picture. The depth of field is perfect, and the subject (my Grandma) is what you focus on. Even though the color has faded, it stands out to me as a great photograph. These are the kind of photos that make me want to keep shooting.

Winter Wonderland - Alabama Style

Today (and last night) Alabama got blanketed with snow. Now, I totally get that in a lot of places snow is not a big deal, but in the South, it is a really big deal. This was one of the prettiest scenes I have ever seen and a picture can not even do it justice. This is a small 1800s church outside of Selma, AL. It is tucked off a main road. I was coming back from Miss. with my parents when we spotted it. My Dad said we needed to go back and try to take a picture of it and he was right. This looked like a scene out of a movie. What a wonderful day.

God Bless