Monday, November 29, 2010

where i've been.

over the last month ... i have had this unbelieveable privilage of spending some time with some really amazing and wonderful and talented ladies in an online workshop.

ha.  workshop.  that doesn't even begin to describe what this was to me.

this is sheye.  do you know her yet?  if you don't.  you should. 
her workshop - click here ... i would recommend it in a heartbeat.

is amazing.  it's like paying a minimal fee to be given an unbelieveable amount of supportive like-minded people that give you boosts of confidence.  and give you critique in the most-nice of ways.  and they encourage you to do things like this.

which is a quick glimpse of the me ... right now.  with a sleeping baby on my lap.  studying her class on my laptop.  my camera manual to the side and my girly-girls sharing their halloween candy ...
 and this.

a glimpse of the old me.  through an opportunity that i put together to have my stellers feeding an apple to a horse that i trained when i was much much younger. 
 and this.
an attempt at capturing joy.  in my stella ...

and these ... my backup attempts at finding joy in all of my children.


which is funny.  because what i really found?
was joy in me.

and i've realized through all of this amazing interaction that these images are all me.  magnified. 

i am more energized and excited and scared of this photography piece of me than i have ever been.  i still don't know if i'm ready to officially call myself a photographer.  but i've most definitely become a manual using eye opened finder of the beauty-full things in life.

and it is near impossible to find a way to say thank you to these women for something so big.

oh.  and i've been over here some more too.  babies.  and baby bumps.  and families.  so.much.fun.

11 comments:

Pamela said...

joy rocks.
xoxo

MollyinMinn said...

isn't that the best? When you find unexpected joy. Your shots are terrific.

Minnesotagal said...

Ooooh! Those classes look fantastic! I love your blog pictures too. With Christmas coming those classes are perfect for my wish list - thanks!

Minnesotagal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Minnesotagal said...

PS - what camera do you have?

jen said...

@minnesotagal ... i have a nikon d700 and a nikon d50 ...

dearheart said...

Magical stuff. So glad you took and enjoyed the photog classes. Joyful, indeed!

Kelly Hutcheson said...

How many hours is the workshop and does she cover lightroom at all? Photoshop scares me!

jen said...

it's a four week long workshop and she covers photoshop. (and it doesn't scare me anymore!) i stuck with lightroom before because it was easier to me ... now i find myself using photoshop MUCH MORE.

Minnesotagal said...

I am looking to upgrade from my Sony a500 (meh.) - I bought it because it was the least intimidating foray into DLSR cameras. Back in the "old days" I coveted my Nikon N2000. So I've been looking at Nikons (the D7000) and Canons (the D7 and D60) and have been asking all the photo-bloggers I know what they use. Nikon is definitely in the minority but I was such a Nikon fan in the film days. Decisions, decisions...

jen said...

@minnesotagal it's a tough decision. my guess though is that if you've liked nikons before stick with them. i find that i prefer what i get from that probably b/c it's what i'm used to. i know where the buttons are. it feels more right in my hands. if you go to national camera exchange - my guess is that if you hate it ... they'll help. i've had such amazing service there.