Getting Your Name Out There!

Fair Time In Middle Tennessee

Well it's Fair time in Lawrenceburg! The Middle Tennessee District Fair has begun. Each year within the exhibits portion of the fair is a photography contest. I have never entered before, but decided this year would be a great time to start. I was nervous and honestly had no idea what I was doing. This was my first photography contest ever! I hope to make it a little easier and less stressful on you, if you decide to enter. Here's what I did.

Tips for Success

All photographs had to be 8"x10" in size and matted or mounted to 11"x14". I had my prints made and mounted by a professional photography lab (Miller's). However, they were still 8"x10". So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought ready made mats at $2.99 each for my entries. There is not a large selection of ready made mats. However, they are cheaper than having custom mats made. Be flexible and save money. Especially when they are not being bought by clients.

 I then purchased drafting tape(similar to masking tape in color) to secure my pictures to there mats. This tape is recommended for photos because it is acid-free. It is not a permanent bond. This is so you can easily remove the photos from the mats without leaving residue or damaging the photo or mat. I chose to use a tape that was removable so I could reuse the mats in other contests. DO NOT USE JUST ANY BRAND OF TAPE! Make sure the tape is acid-free and safe for use on pictures! You don't want the tape to ruin your pictures! Even if you don't see any damage today, you might in the future. Don't ruin your hard work and waste your money with just any tape.

Go to Hobby Lobby's website at http://hobbylobby.com/ and sign up for their Email newsletter in the top right hand corner of the site. They will send you 1 weekly newsletter(never more than that) with their weekly sales add and a coupon for one non-sale item at a discount. I use this every time I go! I've gotten as much as 40% off. That's a good deal and you can always find some wonderful props there. Think giant letters, mirrors, rugs, flowers, material, etc.

RESULTS

I was hoping for at least one of my pictures to get third place. I got pretty stressed out about it as more and more people found out I had entered.

And the results are.....

3rd Place in Child/Children Category

3rd Place in People-Black & White

1st Place in Group(2 or more)

Wow! How awesome is that!?! My first time to enter in a photography contest and I got 1st place! Awesome! My advice is just do it! Don't procrastinate or doubt yourself! If you don't know what to do, just ask. There are many people who will help you find your way and wish you the best. Good Luck in your contest!!!

Learning To Use A Camera In Manual Mode

OUT OF THE BOX

So you just got a new camera? You open up the box, in excited anticipation, and what do you find? A large machine with more buttons than you know what to do with!

 Getting your first DSLR camera can be overwhelming. In this blog, I will give you tips and tricks to get you successfully started with your new camera. You will be surprised at how easy it can be!

HOW I GOT STARTED

I have been taking wonderful pictures my entire life. A friend of mine finally convinced me that I needed to buy a nice camera and go into business. So, off to the store I went and I bought a nice starter camera, the Canon EOS Rebel T3. When I opened it up and started to take my first picture, I was overwhelmed! There was so much I didn't know! With a point n shoot camera (which is what I had used up until this point), I didn't have to think about the shot before I took it! Now I needed to think about aperture, exposure, shutter speed, light, and much more.

As you are doing now, I quickly took to the internet for information. Well that can be very time consuming and there is a lot of hard to read and bad information out there. So I will put it all here in my blog to save you some time.

A BOOK TO GET YOU STARTED

The first and most important purchase I made was the book "Understanding Exposure" Revised Edition by Bryan Peterson. You can find this book on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347993961&sr=8-2&keywords=Understanding+Exposure I recommend this book to everyone I know. It's great for any beginner or even those who already know there way around the camera! The author explains everything in an easy to understand format and even includes hands-on exercises for you to go out and try for yourself.