Six Months with My DSLR. My Photography Journey.
My sweet friend Katie of Pickles&Paisleys inspired me to write this post. She paid me the best compliment ever. Katie told me she could tell how hard I have worked at improving my photography and that my pictures reflect my efforts. SO sweet. I have had my trusty little DSLR for six months. Let’s see how far I have come. No laughing. Okay a little laughing is fine. 
May
Shooting in Auto in my mother’s backyard. My husband had finally arrived from moving our things into our apartment in Ithaca. He was not amused with my latest purchase. I didn’t care too much since I was so impressed with my camera’s ability to actually freeze motion and capture all the bubbles. So. Impressed. I won him over. He is a nice guy that loves to see me happy.
Settings: ISO 3200 | f 4.5 | 1/320 | 36mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
June
Still shooting in Auto. I started venturing into other settings like ‘Creative Auto’. This is straight out of the camera. No processing. I fiddled with a setting in CA and was so proud of myself. I love this shot. Pweezy was feeding Cmoney a frozen yogurt stick on a crazy hot day. Look closely at the left of Pweey’s head. He was sweating bullets!
Settings: ISO 100 | f 5.6 | 1/200 | 55mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
July
At this point I began to take notice of the effects of light on my pictures. I was shooting in Manual if I am not mistaken. I knew enough to avoid the pop up flash but obviously had to crank the ISO way up. The picture is a little soft and fuzzy.
Settings: ISO 1600 | f 3.5 | 1/40 | 18mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
August
Awwww ya. I joined Clickin Moms and started taking my self paced photography education seriously. This is my current iPhone screen saver. To say I love this picture is an understatement. I *adore* it. Whenever Cmoney steals my phone and sees this image she gets the biggest smile on her face. Love. I processed this shot a bit in Photoshop. I don’t remember which action I used. I know I chopped off some of his elbow but I don’t care. This picture is perfect to me.
Settings: ISO 100 | f 4.0 | 1/320 |28mm | Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II (kit lens)
September
My sister bought me my first prime (non zoom) lens for my birthday in August. It is just a little 50mm f 1.8 II but it changed my life. I think I am a prime girl for life. After receiving some critique from fellow Clickin Moms I started paying closer attention to aperture. I kept reading to “shoot wide open” with my aperture as large as it would go but as it turns out all lenses have a sweet spot. I toyed with it a little bit. I also began shooting exclusively in RAW format. The files take up a lot of space so I only save my favorites in RAW and convert the rest to JPEG. I like to save my favorites in RAW because as I progress in my processing education I like to go back and play with older shots. It also gives me some beginner wiggle room. I can fix some of my mistakes when post processing. It was the first chilly day of autumn and we were outside having fun at the park as usual. I shot at 2.2 and although the picture is a little soft my sweet little garden gnome is clear enough. This picture is straight out of the camera with the exception of RAW to JPEG formatting that Photoshop does.
Settings: ISO 100 | f 2.2 | 1/125 | Lens: 50mm f 1.4 II
October
I am still a member of Clickin Moms and am addicted. I spend hours in the forum on my iPhone app when I am awake with a nursing/crying/fussy child. I have participated in a few great photography e courses, read a handful of great books, studied countless photography blogs, and signed up for my first Clickin Moms course. I have a long way to go but I am enjoying the journey. It isn’t easy to devote time to my hobby. I have sacrificed some sleep and sanity but I enjoy every minute of it. It is worth it to me.
Settings: ISO 200 | f 1.8 | 1/3200 | Lens: 50mm f 1.4 II
Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I appreciate it so much.
You should be proud of your progess. Looks like you’re learning quickly, which is not easy with two little ones. Which course did you sign up for? I am taking the 101 course that starts at the end of Oct. Can’t wait!
Great post! I always love to see how far along people have come in such a short amount of time…you are rockin your camera!
This is such a great documentation of how far you’ve come in such a short period of time! You should be so proud… I was stuck in auto settings for four years!! I can’t wait to see the progress after your CM class… it was such a game changer for me. You’re much further along than most people are in six months… you’re definitely rockin your camera already.
Great job!
You can tell you’ve really put heart into learning how to use your camera. Are those your kids? They’re gorgeous! 
Love this post! Happy camera birthday
I can tell how much youve progressed.
Nice job! I love the playground pics, you can get a lot of interesting shots there.
Great Job. Its really nice to see your progress!
This was great! I love seeing photography journeys. It’s awesome to actually SEE pregression! I also love to go back and edit old photos!
I really enjoyed this post – it’s so inspiring to see the improvements you’ve made in a short time. I’ve been dslring for a couple of years, but I’m not a quick study like you…haha…I somehow can’t manage to find the time. I would be interested, however, in hearing about what forums and blogs you’ve found helpful.
You’re doing a GREAT job and growing exponentially with your photography. Keep up the good work! I can’t wait to see where you are in another six months.
@lucilleinthesky
Your children make me swoon every time. Such beauties. As are your photographs! In fact, they’re so great that I just may be re-inspired to pick up my DSLR and do a little review. I’ve honestly forgotten so much…and now I just use my iPhone and instagram. (Lazy.)
What a great post! Love this and seeing your progression. You should be SO proud!
There’s nothing to laugh at here. You are doing an awesome job! We all started somewhere and your beginning was already good. You had the eye, otherwise you wouldn’t have purchased a DSLR. Congrats jumping in to manual so quickly. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad that you’re enjoying the journey so much, and that you’re able to see that your hard work is paying off. What a great post!
Amazing progress, I love all the connections you capture!
You’ve done amazing! And made great strides. Excited to see where you go next.
I love it!!! The progress was amazing! You can tell you are working hard – it is paying off!
@rosesdaughter
You are doing so good! I love seeing how your photography has progressed! Inspiring!
@HapaMamaGrace
Love your photography journey. I’m a ClickinMom, too, and love it! I’m just finishing up the Lightroom 101 class and have learned so much.
@CalliasCorner
Thank you for this post! I think I am you right now (minus about a year). I just got my Cannon 50mm f/1.8 II this past Friday and haven’t put my camera down since. I just posted about it yesterday! And, yeah…I’m shooting in the raw, too. Are there any other lenses that you use? I have the kit lens, a telephoto lens (that’s I’m not too happy with…kinda cheap), and the 50mm.
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