Photography 101: What Do You Like/What Are You Trying to Do? Edition

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

So, a confession: I've been thinking a lot about photography, reading and doing some things outside my comfort zone, but have been hesitant to write about it here for some reason...maybe because I am so not an expert and who am I to talk about this stuff, you know? But that was kind of the point, to let you guys follow along with what I was learning. So today I'm going to dive right in....kind of stream-of-consciousness but these are the things that have been on my mind and I think where I need to start.

Something I've been thinking about a lot as far as photography is, what are my preferences? What really got me thinking about it was this post (great advice on photographing kids, which I've linked to before), which advises iPhone photography over DSLR, because with an iPhone you're always there in the moment, which isn't true with a bigger camera. And I totally see that and I really admire this woman as a photographer, but me personally I don't like my iPhone pictures as much as my DSLR pictures.

So I got to thinking, what else do I like and not like? The pictures I take that I really gravitate towards, what do they have in common? For me (and I'm not suggesting anyone else's list should look like this, just that it's probably valuable to think through your own list). Anyway, for me, the pictures I take that I like best have the following things in common:

• They are taken with my DSLR
• They are outside, in natural light
• Evening light is by far the best
• They are closely cropped
• The background is carefully considered
• And, in iPhoto (post-production), I tend to overexpose the pictures a little, and increase the contrast, and the saturation

Looking at this list is really helpful for me, before I even start doing new things with my camera I know where my preferences lie and that I should probably honor/highlight these preferences...I know if I take pictures at night, for example, I'm most likely not going to like them (although sometimes there are picture-worthy moments at night, or with less-than-ideal backgrounds, etc., and you just have to do your best).

Also and changing the subject a little, I think it was Van Gogh that said something along the lines of he and his friends weren't painting the world according to how it looked, they were trying to reproduce how it feels...and that's what I'm trying to do with my pictures, too...I know that's why I personally care so much about the light...I'm trying to recreate how I experience the world, what it feels like to me, always trying to stop time and remember, know what these days and months and years feel like, this time which people tell me will be the happiest of my life...

How about you guys? Are there commonalities to the pictures you take that you really like? Are you trying to recreate things accurately or capture how things feel? Curious to hear...

XOXO