I'm an amateur photographer.

Why I choose to practice photography

I have been selling vintage apparel and items online since 2007. Every online seller knows how important the quality of the photograph is. For years I used a point and shoot camera in decent natural lighting. It was until I started selling my own handmade hair accessories on Etsy that I realized the attention "professional" looking photos were getting. And by professional I mean great lighting, tack sharp photos, and of course a model decked out in awesome fashion.

Off to a bad start

A few years ago when tax season rolled around, I decided to purchase a more expensive camera. I knew that Nikon cameras were very popular, what I didn't know was anything about them. I had one idea in my head, big bulky camera = good. $400+ price tag = good. I was pretty wrong. My first mistake was purchasing a camera at our local Walmart. I didn't want to order it online because I wanted to feel the camera in my hands before I made a purchase. The only bulky Nikon camera left was the Coolpix L320. At the time, I didn't realize that this camera was pretty much a point and shoot. The lens didn't even come off so I couldn't use a different one. (Took me longer to figure that out than I'd like to admit). My photos did come out better than previous cheapy digital cameras though. 
Last year I started re-searching on how to make my photos better, because the photos were not coming out as good as I had hoped. That is when I came across some blogs slamming the exact camera model I had. I was a little bummed out that I didn't research cameras before spending 400 bucks on one.

When I began getting serious about learning how to actually use a camera

One of my closest friends asked me out of the blue if I would take photos of her new baby girl. I accepted and told her that she didn't have to pay me because it was good practice for me.
That week I spent hours on researching how to do baby photos. I found out about aperture, shutter speed, etc. I honestly had no idea about those settings before. 

Since it was in October, we decided to do photos with her daughter in a pumpkin. Also she had purchased really cute baby angel wings.

Finally the day came - grumpy babies are difficult to deal with.

Here are some of the photos - Now remember, this was my first attempt at taking baby photos and I was still learning how to use Lightroom.

This one turned out to be my favorite, even though she is pale from my editing.

Naughty me, I used a filter and she looks totally uncomfortable there. Every time we got her to fall asleep, she would instantly wake up when her mom put her down. I had to use a stock lens so I wasn't getting the blurred effect in the background. I decided to blur it by hand.

We tried positioning her arms to look more soft and delicate, but every time she would swing her arms out. I know spot coloring is a little out of date but I wanted to practice it. I wish I had colored her tutu as well.

We decided to do the pumpkin shots last. We were a little exhausted from trying to pose her and failing. Surprisingly, the pumpkin one was the easiest to shoot!

I had a few comments that this photo was a little too dark, honestly I wanted that look but I understand what they meant. Once again, I hand blurred the background, which is totally obvious. 

Her mom supported her head in these photos which you can kind of see. I did this photo right before I purchased Lightroom so I didn't have the clone option on the free program I used.

Her mother and their family loved the photos and I got practice out of it. At the time, I decided I was done with taking baby photos. I ended up changing my mind a few months later though.

Family photos

The same friend asked if I would take pictures of her and her family. I didn't want to turn down experience so I agreed. We all went out to the local nature center. I should have researched outdoor family photos first because I choose the worst time of day to take photos.

At the time, I had no idea diffusers/reflectors existed so they squinted in the photos. Their eyeballs aren't even visible. Using Lightroom, I tried to make their skin a creamy color. 

This one makes me giggle because it has a story behind it. Her husband decided he wanted to take pictures up in a TREE. My friend had such a difficult time climbing up and especially climbing down. While climbing down, she was stuck straddling the trunk. Butt crack hanging out and everything. Some folks walking around the nature center walked by as this was happening, probably wondering what the hell was going on. As for the editing, I was frustrated that the sky was not blue and all the colors looked so dull. So what did I do? Over processed it. I realize now that this was something I shouldn't have done. Once again I tried to blur because I couldn't get that effect on my camera. It came out looking rather odd. 

I posted this to their FB and surprisingly people liked it and complimented it. Although any true photographer would cringe at the quality. 

I am a bit embarrassed to post this photo. Remember how I said I was frustrated that the sky wasn't blue? Well.. I photoshopped it.... and once again over processed it. This photo doesn't even look real to me. But what mattered is the family loved the photos (even hung them up in their living room) and I learned some "what not to do with photos".

Giving it another shot

I began feeling discouraged. I was looking at all these awesome family photos by other photographers and theirs were perfect. Before I could completely give up my friend texted me and told me that some of her husband's co workers were asking which photographer did their pictures on FB and that they really liked them. 

"You should start doing photography"

After hearing that, I felt some hope so earlier this year, I purchased another Nikon but this time it was a refurbished D3300 body that came with 18-55mm lens and a 70-200mm lens as well. It cost me almost the same price as my Coolpix.

Can I take photos of your kid?

I started asking a few close friends if I could take photos of their babies for no charge because I needed the practice.  2 of them accepted.

I kept researching photography but there was only so much I could learn without actually taking photos.

Here are some photos of my 2nd baby shoot.

 This little girl was a dream to take photos of. She was soooo good while taking pictures. I love her porcelain skin and rosy red cheeks. I am pretty sure her parents are sick of me mentioning how much she looks like a little doll. Haha. On a side note, I made that headband for her.

I realize I was focused on the bunnies face in this picture. I am still learning about manual focus.

Nom Nom Nom

Needless to say, her parents loved the photos. Even though they aren't professional quality, I think I learned a lot compared to the last baby photos I took.

I decided I needed a back drop for my "studio" AKA my workroom. Thanks to some awesome DIY bloggers, I found out how to make one out of PVC piping. I put the link below

http://www.dandelionsonthewall.com/2012/04/diy-photography-backdrop-stand-pvc-pipe.html

I purchased fabric from Joann fabrics, used wood framing left over from my mom's bathroom she remodeled and I can't think of the name for what I used for the flooring right now.

I asked the two friends of mine if they wanted Easter pictures of their little girls. 

Here are some of the photos

                                             Easter bunny show down ;)

 I read up on eye enhancing. My first attempt

I wasn't kidding when I said this little gal looks like a doll. 

 This is the pumpkin baby and she has grown a lot since those photos.

 Her face was out of focus in this picture, but I really liked the pose + props.

 No fake blurry background! Yay.

 One problem that I haven't been able to figure out is that the photos are too soft/noisy. I read up on how to get tack sharp photos but I just cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. I try to focus on the eyes. I don't know if my aperture doesn't match up with the shutter speed or what. If any professional photographers read this, could you give your insight? 

Well that is all for now. Thank you for reading. I'd appreciate any tips or tricks that will give me tack sharp photos. :)