Well i discovered Digital Photography School what a superb site i joined immediately and attempted doing the assignments that they set, had some good fun with them but found that at my skill levels i was best just reading. I seem to be able to set myself more convenient tasks at the moment, mainly because i have so much to learn about the art of producing engaging work, i hope as time goes by i will get back to the assignments.
I entered a local competition (didn't win anything) but that gave me a month to go and get my shots so i will be trying more of those as i found the timescale more relaxed.
My other new addiction is Flickr great inspiration, browsing, talk to other amateurs and professionals it has been fantastic there is a Digital Photography School (DPS) group my own flickr pages and a group for people who use lumix Fz18's like me and so much more that i have yet to discover.
Between Flikr and DPS i have been so busy learning new stuff and getting inspired i have completly forgotten to write this blog for months so i thought i should do some updating and keep reminding myself what i have learnt.
I keep having this fantasy about becoming a photographer and dropping the whole amateur prefix, its only a dream (i think), i keep finding myself faced with oppertunities because i am carrying a camera.
Back in the summer i went to my local country park to shoot some wildlife, as i rode in the gate i saw a bloke photographing an AC Cobra, (Anglo-US sports car) being a bit of a petrol head i went for a look at it and introduced myself as an amateur photographer and petrol head. After a brief chat I learnt that he was a partner in the local kit car specialist workshop, i offered my photo skills in return for something other than birds to shoot, (i should say at this point that they where not considering employing a profesional to shoot pics for them and that as a poor petrol head this was my only chance to get so close to so many Cobra's for so long without someone calling the police) this is how i got to spend the afternoon surrounded by awsome cars and taking entirely different kinds of pics for a change, big thank you to Hallmark cars for that hopefully repeating the shoot again in a few weeks, will let you know how it goes.
Over xmas i was talking to some old friends at a party who said that they would like some portraits done, thats a bit scary but at least i can practice on myself before i start.
