Photo Frustration
The most time consuming aspect of blogging, at least in my experience, are the pictures. My pictures are often also my biggest frustration, hence the title of this post. There are many bad photos around these parts. This is particularly embarrassing for me because my grandfather was a professional photographer. Last year Douglas bought me a beautiful Sony α65, which improved the quality of my photographs a great deal, but I still do not know how to use it well. One of my goals for this winter vacation is to learn more about my camera so that I can avenge myself.
Part of the problem I have no control over. I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, so it is impossible for me to take pictures in natural light. For example, I made my DIY Holly Garland in the evenings when I got home from work. I tried many different settings on my camera, but none of them looked very good. I had to settle for the best of the bad.
I end up taking hundreds of pictures, trying to get one that I find acceptable. I spend a lot of time taking the pictures and even more transferring them to my computer and playing around with them.
Another difficulty is staging. I will often take pictures of an object in different places and from different angles, just so that I can have options. Often, while writing, I find that I still do not have the exact angle or picture that I would like. Sometimes, I am able to take another one, but I often write my posts at night, so the lighting is too bad.
Sometimes, I have a problem taking a shot because I am short. Then, you can find me getting really creative to obtain the one I want.
Often, I get everything set up just right, and then Crème photobombs. It can be her whole body or maybe just the tip of her tail.
Of course, if I am trying to get a picture of her she will turn her head at the last second.
I used to try to get everything cleaned before I started taking pictures. Since then I have learned that if I am going to take a picture of something in a pot, I should just take a close-up. That way no one can see that this is what the rest of the kitchen looks like.
So, now you know my secret struggles with my camera. I hope you still love me anyway.
Happy Holidays and Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
Boy, can I relate to this!! I take so many photos, and have trouble with light and color just like you do. Eric know a lot about cameras and has his own photography blog, but does that rub off on me? NO!! I’m trying to learn more, but taking pictures is still a crapshoot.
By the way … now I am sick! I think I caught it from you!! 😉
Oh No!!! I definitely did not want you to catch my cold. I hope that you feel better very soon.
Let’s see if we can both learn to take better pictures in 2014.
Hey Jessica! I’ve been trying to play catch up with everyone’s blogs and I loved all your Christmas posts. Your house looks so festive for the holidays. It’s so much work, isn’t it! But so enjoyable and pretty when you’re finished. Love all your holiday touches. And for the record… photos are hard for me too! Every time I get out my book or read articles about taking photos it makes such perfect sense and I feel like I can really DO IT… and then I go to take a picture and can’t remember what I just read. It’s an art and it’s not EASY! I think your photos always look great. The natural light is the biggest struggle for me during the winter months.
Merry Christmas and here’s to awesome (well… more awesome) pictures for both of us in 2014. xo
It makes me feel better to know that I am not the only one who struggles with this. I have a feeling that we see the flaws in our own pictures the way that we do in our own bodies and wish that our blogs could look as good as someone else’s. We need to learn to see ourselves and our blogs the way that others do! I love your pictures and your blog. There is always more to learn in photography though, so hopefully we will all continue to improve this year. Or if we could somehow alter the course of the sun to give us more daylight hours throughout the year… that probably won’t be possible.
Merry Christmas to you and Richie! I wish you all the best in 2014.
I just love your blog (and the sometimes not so great photos). Especially the ones where your delightful cat gets “caught” in the act. I found Speedbump yesterday curled up asleep in our Christmas card basket. Too bad he jumped out before I could find my camera. Merry Christmas to both you and Doug Sr.
Thanks for the encouragement, Susan. Merry Christmas to you and Jack as well!
Sooo true. I too work the dark to dark shift and struggle with the color correctness of photos. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
At least for the next six months the days will continue to get longer. Good luck with your photos and thanks for taking the time to comment. I will check out your blog over the vacation. Happy Holidays!
Love this post! So glad I’m not the only one. I think a lot of it comes down to why you’re doing the blog – mine is just to document our journey and share learning. So whilst I try to do my best with pics I ain’t in the game to try and impress anyone! And sometimes, those blogs that are trying to impress are just too perfectly styled and therefore not very believable and devoid of personality.
Jude, I like your way of thinking. I too like to see that the people behind the blogs that I follow are not afraid to show themselves as less than perfect. We are all human after all! Happy New Year to you and your 1910 home!