Looking Back on This Past Year

When I look back on what I have achieved this past year I feel proud. Almost a year ago today is when I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a photographer. I had thought it would be fun to document my journey so I made this blog and I remember wondering where my photography would be in one years time.

One year ago today I felt like I had no purpose in life. I have always been creative and in the past I had  tried making a living out of my talents. I would make crafts and then sell them at local craft fairs. Unfortunately crafting is a hard business to compete in . I gave up on my dreams for a while and felt defeated. I also worried that my talents would never go to good use.

I was thinking about how much I love taking pictures and how I always had. I had dreamed about being a photographer for years but I was worried abut my eye sight. I did some research online and found other visually impaired photographers who have succeeded.  I had also checked out other photographers work to see whether or not I could do what they did one day. I believed that I could but knew I needed a new camera in order to do so.

Months passed and then I finally was able to afford the camera of my dreams The Nikon D90. Then I started learning how to take better pictures. The right lighting, angles and learning how to use photo shop really improved my photography.

I also started asking my friends if they wanted to partake in test photo shoots with me and they agreed to. When it came time to take there pictures I was very nervous and had so many thoughts running through my head. "Can I do this?" and  "What if I fail?"

I had been told by other photographer friends that the confidence would come with time and experience. I have done about five photo shoots so far and think that it is true. It does get a little easier for me over time. After I see the pictures and hear that people enjoy my work it  encourages me to keep on going.

I am forever thankful to my friends because of them I have great pictures to display on my new website. That is why I am writing this post today. My photography website is finally finished. When I go to it and see my work I feel great, like I am on my way to reaching my dream and that anything is possible.

I am glad that I have this blog so that one day I can look back on it like I am today. To see my work for what it once was and for what it is now. I believe that there is always room for improvement and that I can always do better but I will never look past what I have done. I am proud of who I am today and thankful for everyone and everything that makes my life what it is today.

Managing My Star Guard Disease

I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a photographer almost a year ago.I have always wanted to do what I love, to take pictures but there was something holding me back.

 In the 5th grade I was diagnosed with Stargardt's disease. This is an inherited form of juvenile macular degeneration. I can not see very well and there is no cure for it but that's OK because I can still see and I have figured out a way to achieve my dreams.

When I decided to go for it, to become a photographer I was not going to tell anyone about my condition. I wanted to be judged on my work and my work alone. However  I was thinking about all of the doubts that I had when I first started pursuing my dream. I was worried that I would not be able to take professional quality photos because of my limited vision.

I came across a video online of other visually impaired photographers and that gave me the hope that I needed. If I don't share my story than I will never be able to inspire anyone else who feels like they cannot do what they love because of a disability. I would like to share my tips for how I accomplish my photography.

School classes have always been very hard for me because I can not see the teacher's expressions, the boards or the books. I wanted to learn about photography but I would not benefit from taking a class. The way that I learned about photography was all online,  watching videos on a large computer screen.

 All you have to do is go to your web browser and type in what you would like to learn about. For example I wanted to learn about a particular kind of lighting so I typed in, What is the best lighting for men,s portrait photography and I found many helpful videos on that exact subject.

When I decided to purchase a new camera I had a few specific features that I needed. I wanted to make sure that I would be able to see through the view finder so I went to several stores to try them out. I also wanted the biggest LCD screen available and one that could take many pictures at one time.

I have a hard time seeing facial expressions so I made sure to find a camera that would let me take a burst of pictures all at once. This way I would have a better chance of capturing the picture that I wanted. After taking the pictures I view the them on my large screen computer and sort through them.

As far as I know, there are no cameras big enough for me to see all of the controls. There are so many buttons and settings on each camera and when you have a hard time seeing it makes it even harder to set.

On the bright side, high quality cameras usually have an automatic setting that can take great pictures for you. Also I am very lucky to have my boyfriend Justin who will set my camera when necessary. Thanks Justin!

Overcoming some of these obstacles can be frustrating at times but I don't let  that stop me because I absolutely LOVE taking pictures. When someone tells me that they like my work it means so much to me. I really do appreciate everyone's kind words. Thank you to everyone who supports me. You all  help drive me to keep on doing what I love. I hope that I can pass that on someday to someone who needs it.

Secure Your Pictures With an External Hard Drive

If something should ever happen to your home  have you ever thought about what you would save? For me it would be my family and pets first and then my external hard drive. I store all of my photos and home movies on it. However if my house was on fire, running  into flames is not something I  would like to do so I keep my hard drive in a fire proof box. 

Storing all of your digital photos on your computer alone may turn out to be a big mistake. Something as simple as a power surge can wipe your computer clean and you would lose everything. That is why it is so important to back up your files on other devices. I decided to write this because just last week we had a power surge and my mom lost everything on her computer.

Luckily at the time my computer was o shut off so it was unaffected. Luckily my mom was using her new lap top that my family and I had just given her for her birthday. She had only had it for about a week so she didn’t lose too much. For her next gift I would like to find an external hard drive so that all of her files will be safe in the future.

Why Is It Important to Own an External Hard Drive When You Have Digital Photos?

When I switched to digital photography I was excited about not having to develop film. I was also amazed with how many pictures I could download off of my camera at once. In no time at all I had hundreds of pictures stored on my computer.

One day I trekked out into my yard to take some pictures of the big snow storm we had the night before. The snow was more than 2 feet deep and was difficult to get through but I got all the pictures I wanted. I also got a great one of my uncle Dave shoveling his drive way. He has a long beard that caught all of the snow flakes. He looked like the abominable snowman in that picture and it was one of my favorites.

Sadly I only have memories of those pictures because our computer was infected with a virus and it erased all of my photos from that day. Since then I have learned my lesson, to keep all of my irreplaceable pictures backed up on a external hard drive.

My boyfriend Justin is good at researching products online. He always finds me exactly what I am looking for. So he was the man I went to when I was wanted to buy an external hard drive. I didn’t want to spend too much but also wanted one that was good quality and big enough so that I could be assured that all of my pictures were safe. 

The Western Digital WD Elements is a great choice. When I first heard about external hard drives I thought they would be big and heavy but this hard drive is about the size of a paperback book and weighs just over 2 pounds. That means it could easily fit into a fire proof box or in almost any drawer. 

This hard drive could be the right answer for simple, reliable storage. It is really easy to add pictures onto it too. Just plug it into a USB port on your computer and start saving your photos, music, videos, documents and you can even back up your whole operating system.

I have also scanned my grandmother’s old photos onto my computer and saved them onto my hard drive as well. They were kept in old photo albums with sticky pages. I have heard that if pictures are kept in albums like these the acid used in the glue will eventually ruin the pictures.

Sadly some of her pictures were already damaged and there was nothing I could do to save them. We could not bear to lose any more of them so I scanned them into my computer to be assured that we would all have them forever.

All of my pictures have been safe and secure ever since. I’m glad I decided to find an affordable external hard drive because I sleep much better at night knowing that my photos are as safe as they can be.