"What would you do if you could never fail?" - Matson Vineyards

I wish I'd heard that question when I first got my camera 3 years ago. I could never imagine where my life would be today without it. There was a time when it was always by my side, wouldn't leave home without it, I might miss that Once-in-a-lifetime shot & that wasn't going to happen to me. Now, I don't take it out of the house if it's raining unless I'm headed to an appointment & rarely when I know I'll be strickly donating my time during my 2nd graders classroom visits. Back then I took only a few photos of people but I mainly searched out nature shots, I wasn't considering myself a people photographer. Added to that, I'm completely self taught, only the internet (just got high speed about a yr ago), listening to just about every professional photograph that would give any advice through their websites or blogs & tried to cram a lot of data, into a little amount of time. Even getting a little local photography store portrait courses. thinking I would become a professional in no time (which I would highly recommend to others wanting classroom interaction. I barely knew there were so many rules to photography, little lone I was allowed to ignore them after I learned them. Yep, I was a little overwhelmed... Come on...I bet somebody out there relates to what I'm saying, I can't be the only one....right? Recently, I turned to a professional photographer that I have followed since before we got high speed internet, Amanda Pair (based in Birmingham, Alabama http://www.amandapair.com/) & emailed her asking for some advice I was seeking. Saying that I was amazed she got back to me the same night I emailed her is a complete understatement, not to mention the fact that I contacted her in the first place (only 2nd time I've reached out to a pro to ask for their opinion). If you knew me, you'd know why. For the others that don't know....I have security issues, it's as simle as that. I'm not necessarily proud of it, it's simply who I am. Amanda actually responded to my email (that resembled a novel to her I'm sure), with the best advice. To make a short story long, I applied her ideas into what I was comfortable with & just went for it. The future outcome is still to be determined & it's something I'm learning to move past & just let God handle it. I'm almost there....I hope :) Anyways, the point I'm trying to make (like I said, short story long), I wanted to include a post that gives you a few of my favorite blogs, websites & inspirational photographers & sites of all shapes & sizes. These helped me continue my love for photography, they seemed to be there when I needed them the most,...at times I would read a blog post or article, I could totally relate to what they were saying, it seemed that God put that little something in front of me when I truly needed it the most, to just keep going in what I love. He has a way of doing that you know. Sometimes you notice it when it's happening, sometimes it takes a little longer. He has this way of touching our lives... For whatever reason, you just found this site (or a follower) & you might think something I have to say is interesting, you might follow a link I added, then discover yourself & what truly makes you happy. Isn't it time to make ourselves happy from time to time, I'm still learning to take my own advice on that part. So for those of you interested in photography, here's a list of places you can visit that inspired me or just simply taught me something new (online anyways)....I would also recommend adding Showit to your fb page, I love how giving & inspiring they are. David Jay is awesome & btw, he was also Jasmine Stars wedding photographer & the reason she started her wedding photography career in the first place. See, didn't I tell you, God has a way of touching our lives when we need him the most. Ahem, I know, I know....back to the list....

• Amanda Pair http://www.amandapair.com/
• Jasmine Star http://www.jasminestarblog.com/
• Crash Taylor http://www.crashtaylorblog.com/
• Digital Photography School www.digtal-photography-school.com/tips
• Me Ra Koh http://www.merakoh.com/
• Melissa Koehler http://www.melissakoehlerblog.com/
• Melissa Jill www.melissajill.com/blog.cfm
• The Pioneer Woman http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/
• The Sartorialist http://www.thesartorialist.com/ (so addicting, don't know why)
• Shutter Sisters http://www.shuttersisters.com/
• B&H camera store http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
• Showit fb page http://www.facebook.com/#!/Showit

Well, there you are, just a few cents I wanted to give. It was hard narrowing down my huge list this far but I hope this helps somebody out there. Btw, these photos are sooc (straight out of camera, I didn't even take the time to resize them), I really love them just the way they are.

They were taken at Matson Vineyard during their Crush on Sunday, October 2nd. I hope to go back to the next event for more photos. I'm really enjoying this creative Marketing avenue it gives me. If you haven't saved Matson Vineyard on your facebook page or stopped by for a visit and you love wine (or just interested in it), you should & go by their tasting room too.

This last pic is my favorite photo from the day & for my niece Amanda...I used my 50mm 1.4 lens, the camera settings were Manual mode with the aperture @ f/3.2, Shutter speed 1/640, ISO 200 on overcast morning with the sun peeking through here & there. I got down a little lower than the grape bunch & shot a little upwards & tried to get the leaves in the foreground for that nice blur. I use my back focus button for a sharper image, used the center focal point, focused on the grape pod then reframed the camera for a nicer shot with the grapes off center. Yep, I'm pretty happy with it if I say so myself! I hope to be posting more pics in a future post soon.

And if you're asking now how I would answer the question in the title at this stage of photography, I would say....you're looking at it, you can't fail, especially at art, it's all subjective & how I "see" things, so there's no reason to give up on my dreams so soon.

I thank "Showit" for asking the question in the first place, LOVE that site!!!