I love photography. I love pictures. I love looking at them. I love being in them. I love taking them. However, with the way I’ve been treating my camera, you’d never know it. While I am an avid Instagrammer, I have been neglecting my DSLR.  My camera body is pristine from lack of use.  My Lightroom is laughably outdated.  I need to make a change beyond toting my camera around with me like another member of the family.  I need to examine what it is that I love about photography, how I got here and why I want to keep taking pictures.  Some introspection was in order.

The photography blog, Click It Up a Notch, has a series of photographer interviews that I read voraciously.  The more I read, the more my mind sparked and fired, ideas pinging around faster than I could grab them.  If reading about other photographers created such a response, what would happen if I posed those same questions* to myself?   Over the next few weeks, we’re going to find out.

*photographer interview questions courtesy of Courtney Slazinik of Click It Up a Notch.

What Type of Background Do You Have?

Nikon D5000 | 1/1250 sec | 175mm | f/5.3 | Nikon 70-200mm

I’m self-taught. I have a great number of photographer friends who have allowed me not only to pick their brains and pepper them with questions.   When I’ve worked as a model, some of the photographers have let me see my film — or digital snaps, nowadays — and point out what’s working and what’s not with the lighting, speed, and depth of field. Being able to observe  in the field is an invaluable experience.

I’m a bookworm and have a pretty extensive collection of books to which I refer. One of my favorites is Nikon D5000: From Snapshots to Great Shots. It’s full of useful, instructional information as well as photos taken by that camera body that make it a great resource.     I have taken classes and workshops. I’ve taken ones offered by professionals on Groupon and ones offered by the fine arts museum in my city.  I read a lot of articles from bloggers as well as a scores of pins from Pinterest about ways to improve everything from the care of my camera and lenses to how to get the most natural looking expressions from feisty children.

Without a doubt, hands-on experience is the best.  Taking snaps of my kids, my dinner, myself — all of those instances provide me with information on what I can do to be better and more creative for the next time.