April Photo Challenge | It's tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a big day, friends! 

Are your cameras out? Batteries charged? Lens cleaned?

If you have any other questions/queries, then let me know. Otherwise, I'll hear from you soon! Remember to comment with the link to the blog post with your weekly photos in it or alternatively send them to me to post & critique! :-)

{Happy Photo-ing!}

April Photo Challenge | The countdown begins...

{3 Days till the APC starts}

Because I am hoping to instil some excitement in all of you, I thought I'd start the countdown till the photography challenge starts on the first of April! (Which is coincidently also April Fool's Day. Hmm, interesting... *grin*)

Before you all get too alarmed (Don't worry, I'm not really going to play a trick on you. I'll probably forget all about it, and you'll be the ones playing tricks on me!) I thought I'd post a few photos that I took this morning...

{6.45 A.M. I left to go for a walk this morning, but promptly ran back inside and grabbed my camera when I saw how beautiful the morning sunshine was! Isn't the lighting amazing? I kept thinking about mango sorbet (one of my fav. things to eat ever) whenever I looked at this photo! Slightly random, but it's so golden and smooth and... okay, never mind!}

{Another shot of the same flower. I didn't even edit these ones!}

{Just had to post one last one! Isn't God so incredible for creating so much beauty?!]

Have a blessed day!

April Photo Challenge | Explanations

A tremendous thank you to all you wonderful people who are going to participate in my photo challenge!

Firstly, I'd like to clarify a few things and in doing so, hopefully answer all your questions!

1. You don't need to be good at photography to join in! The aim of this challenge is to improve your own personal photography skills - it's not to compete with other people. :-) So it doesn't matter if you've never taken a photo in your life - just join in and look forward to the results at the end! 

2. This challenge isn't necessarily a guarantee that your photos will be like Ken Duncan's at the end of the month! (That's what IPS is for! But more on that exciting topic later...) But I seriously think it will help you develop an eye for photography and maybe even provide you with the motivation you need. ;-)

3. You don't need a DSLR (a.k.a big camera) to participate, but if you have one or if you know someone who has one then feel free to use it.

4. It starts on the first day of April and ends on the last day of April! 

5. You will need to take a photo each day, because there will be a given assignment for each day. (I'm going to put the assignments at the end of this post so you can look at them in advance) 

6. If you'd like me to post your photos each day and put a personal critique with them, then let me know! I'd seriously love to. Otherwise you can post them on your own blog, send me the link and I'll comment my critique. :-)

7. In case you're wondering, this is going to be fun. Seriously. 

Any more questions? Let me know below in the comments and I will post the answers! 

{Introducing *clears throat* the April Photo Challenge in all its glory!}

Looking forward to hearing from you! Have a blessed week!

April Photo Challenge

Whenever people ask me if I have one tip or something that they can do that would help them become a better photographer, I can only think of one thing to say:

Take photos. 

Being a good photographer isn't merely about having expensive equipment or a thorough knowledge of all the composition rules. It's not about having creative 'genes' (though that helps) or even about all the photography courses you've been to (that helps, too). 

It's about experience. 

So if you were to ask me right now for my greatest 'secret to success' (not that I am a success story by any means! I seriously still have so much to learn!), I'd have to say that it's actually just getting out there and taking your camera with you. After I did a week-long photography course in 2009, for a while I took hundreds of pictures of anything and everything I could find to photograph. Believe me, my family were thoroughly bored of having to wait every five minutes each time we went for a walk so I could take a picture of that interesting little bush on the side of the road. :D

But the more photos I took, the harder I critiqued myself and the better my photos became. 

So this photo challenge is about just that - merely taking photos. You don't have to be super creative, or own a DSLR or even have been to a photography course. All you need is a willingness to take photos and a desire to improve! The challenge I'm hosting is going to be taking a photo a day for one month of a different subject and then either posting it on your own blog or alternatively sending it to me to post on this blog (and I'm even willing to critique it, too). It's going to be so exciting seeing you all become incredible photographers in just one month! :-)

And now that you've made it this far reading my long boring monologue, I'm going to reward you with a little preview of something I got up to over the long weekend...

{More on that to come!}

2012 | Another sort of Journey

I don't know about you, but I find journeys exciting. When we were younger our family used to go road tripping a lot (way back when we seemed to have so much more time on our hands) and I used to love them more than anything. We'd get up super early, while it the sky was still a deep blue and the air was cold, and rush around frantically trying to get everything in the car before finally leaving (generally about thirty mins late) for our trip.

A few weeks ago, I was blessed to be able to attend a different sort of journey - one that went straight to the  heart. On this week-long retreat out in the countryside, we studied spiritual heart conditions and gained incredible insights into His amazing, unfailing love for us along the way. It was so good, learning to love Jesus with a deep appreciation for who He is and what He's done - not just with the emotional "warm fuzzies" which I could never seem to muster.

And it was also a lot of fun! Our group of about fifteen got to know each other really well over the week, and  by the end of it we all felt like sisters. :)

{Awww, I love these girlies! Sadly, I don't have photos of all of them - but here are some!}

My prayer for you is that you'll come to know and experience Christ in new and incredible ways as He takes you on the greatest journey of all - to His heart! :)

A/N: I'm considering posting a photo challenge for the month of April - but I need to know if you guys are willing to participate first! So pretty please contribute to the poll on the side. Thanking you in advance! :)