The holidays are such a special time and have always been my personal favorite. I'm actually quite bummed that I wasn't better about blogging last year, it would be fun to look back on Grace's first year of life. But hey, stuff happens right?!
So to kick start this effort to blog more I'm going to join my friend Megan in Project 365. An effort to take more and better pictures using my fancy camera I got last year but forget to take out. I've been honing in on my skills using the manual setting and they say practice makes perfect so this will be a good way. This isn't only to become a better photographer, but to capture the every day moments in the life of the Slusser family (or mostly Gracie) that I know I'll miss or forget about as she grows up.
Lets just be really clear for a second... This definitely doesn't mean that I'm ready to ditch the professionals for family photos and other major life events. That's just crazy, because lets face it, I'll never be able to get those precious newborn shots like this:
BUT I do want to be able to capture better everyday moments so I can cherish those, along with the professional photos my family has taken. So starting January 1st, I'm going to attempt to take one photo every day with my camera. I'll try to post them nightly, but we all know how life is and sometimes that just isn't possible, so if anything I'll do weekly/monthly recaps when life gets crazy. I'd love to hear any tips you have or if you can see through photos how I can get better. One thing I've definitely learned is that when there isn't great lighting and you have to turn your ISO up too much, your pictures get grainy. Learned that the hard way!
So anyway, here's a few I've shot over the last few weeks while playing around with manual mode:
