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!}

2011 | A Photographic Journey

2011.



What a year this has been! But specifically for photography. I think I enjoyed taking photos more than the previous year- not having to think so hard about the meaning of f.stops and metering definitely made the process a whole lot faster, at least! And I had a lot of fun experimenting and breaking all the composition rules. (But shh, don't tell!)

I thought I would share with you some of my happiest photos from this year. I don't say 'best' because I'm a self-confessing perfectionist and I always think my photos can improve! But these photos all made me smile.

| January |

{taken at Annual Conference - loving the catchlights in her eyes in this photo}

| February |

{cat + warm early morning sunshine = happy photo}

| March |

{photography wise, perhaps this isn't the best photo. But this was taken at a children's program, and the little girl in the picture grabbed my camera and took a self portrait - I thought it was adorable!}

| April |

{because little sisters & fields make me happy}

| May |

{imagine the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, warm sunshine streaming into a rocky cave and the soft gritty feeling of sand under your feet, and you might understand why this photo makes me happy}

| June |

{the joyous strains of a newly acquired viola began to fill our house around this point - I just had to include a photo of this very [squeaky] exciting time}

| July |

{ so many }

{ happy memories}

{and happy smiles from this month}

| August |

{not really focused but I love it anyway}

{happy times with happy people with big cameras}

| September |

{birthday food}

| October |

{because sparklers are happy things}

| November |

{Adoration: music & memories}

| December |

{because little sisters & fields make me happy}

{for God so loved the world that he gave it his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him won't perish but instead have eternal life. John 3:16}

May God bless all of you in the new year 2012!

Love,

Eloise