Mamarazzi Boot Camp

This was how I got to start my morning.  I woke up at 7 am and got cleaned up for the day and headed off to my Mamarazzi photography class, which started at 8:30.  We had all sorts of fruit for breakfast along w/ some juice and water.

I loved these flowers and grass in the vase.  We spent the morning learning the technical aspect and terms of photography from Emily.  Then we took a break and had some La Madeline’s for lunch (super good).  After lunch, we learned more of the artistic side of photography from Stephanie.

At 3:00, it was time to put into practice all of the things we had learned during the day.  Here’ Stephanie taking a picture of the group.

She was running over to get in the picture, but she kept setting the timer on 2 seconds instead of 10, so we had to keep re-taking it, but we were all laughing and having such a good time.

This is Tracy and she sat next to me most of the day.  She and two of her friends, Tricia and Brooke, came all the way from North Carolina for the class!  They were such a fun group of ladies and we all had a great time.

There were two other ladies in the group as well…Molly and Janet.  We all got along really well and just had a blast talking and asking questions and learning together.  There were 3 little girls that were our models for us to practice our photography skills we had just learned.  My pictures were so bad, I decided not to post any, but I learned a lot from the mistakes I made.

Here’s Stephanie telling us a few things as we wrapped up the class.  She is so much fun and so is Emily.  They make a great teaching team b/c they have such different aesthetics for their styles of photography.  So, I was able to learn a lot.  Here are a few things I learned:

• How to go from taking pictures in TV or AV mode and shoot in full manual mode.  It was a little scary at first.
• I have to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
• I need to get a 50 mm 1.8 fixed lens.  The f-stop on my lenses are crap and so I’m not getting good bokeh in my pictures.
• I have to learn how to use Photoshop Elements.  Taking great pictures SOOC (straight out of camera) is important, but all good photographers have to edit their pictures a little bit.
• There is still a lot I need to learn about photography, and I need to push myself to be creative and think outside the box.

I came home and got out my 70-300 mm lens to practice.  Below are some of the pictures I took.  I really wish I could get more bokeh, but the lens I was using only goes down to an f-stop of 4.  Any of you out there that read my blog that are good photographers, please feel free to give me constructive criticism on my pictures so I can get better.  I am happy to say that all these pictures I took were in manual mode, so that’s a huge step for me in the right direction.

   Kissing a frog.
   Autumn was so happy to see me when I got home and came running over and gave me a big bear hug around my neck and kept saying, “you home, Mama.”  It was so tender and sweet.

For dinner, Mom made this AH-MAZING Oriental rice.  It is so flavorful and good, and it makes a ton of it.  Here is the recipe and I highly recommend y’all try it:

2 sticks of butter (or margarine)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 c rice (uncooked, but NOT instant)
2 c water
1 lrg onion, chopped
2 large cans mushrooms
3 c beef broth

Melt butter, add chopped onion, oregano and mushrooms.  Sautee until onions are soft and translucent (about 20 minutes). Add liquid and rice.  Bake in a covered dish for one hour at 350 degrees.

 

A HUGE thanks to Mom & Dad for watching Autumn for me most of the day so I could go to this class.  I am so blessed to have such incredible family support and help.

My favorite part of today was one of the lines Stephanie used in her power point presentation.  It just struck a cord w/me and is something I hope to incorporate into my photography.

Photography catches moments of life from immersion in it.

I hope to always be immersed in my life and use photography as a way of catching those moments and making them meaningful for years and years to come.  I want to live life to the fullest and capture those events and people and memories that mean the most to me.  That’s why I’m so avid about taking pictures and making sure I have a camera w/ me everywhere I go.  Here’s to immersion in life!