Better In 30 Days Photography

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Published by Sydney on September 30, 2015 | Updated September 30, 2015 | 14 Comments

The first edition of the Better in 30 Days Challenge for me is photography.

When I started out this year I had a long list of things I wanted to do or change. But, I’m sure as you know, life happens and what I wanted to accomplish and what I have actually accomplished so far is very different. Then earlier this month my friend Cat from Pocketful of Posies suggested the idea of doing this Better in 3o Days challenge. The idea of it is to pick one area you want to improve yourself in and focus on getting better in that particular area for 30 days. There are so many different things I want to get better in but ultimately decided the first area I want to improve in is photography.

My photography isn’t horrible right now but it could be a whole lot better. I want to get better not only at taking pictures for Tastefully Frugal but also taking pictures of our life as it happens too. You can always tell who the photographer in the family is because they are never in any pictures. I want my boys to be able to look back in 20 or 30 years and have pictures of them with their mom AND their dad (my husband definitely is way better behind the lens than I am). I’ve divided my focus into 3 areas.

Learn my camera. For my birthday, back in April, Jeremy bought me this awesome book, From Snapshots to Great Shots. They make it for just about every camera model and also for different subjects too (like pet photography, portraits, food photography and more). Unfortunately I haven’t made it to the end of the book because, well because life happens, but the first thing I want to do is finish this book so I can learn how to use my camera the right way and all it’s capabilities. One thing I really like from what I’ve read so far is that there are little assignments at the end of each chapter so you can learn how to implement what you just read.
Use my camera. Yes, I use my camera on an almost daily basis but I want to start using it for more than just taking pictures of what I’m making for the blog. I want to take pictures of my boys, of the leaves changing, Halloween, and more. I think the best way, for me, to do this is to do one of the Photo A Day challenges. I’ve found one I really like from Amy over at The Idea Room and even though it’s on Instagram, I plan on taking the pictures with my camera, emailing to myself and then sharing on Instagram. I think someone needs to invent a feature for cameras so you can upload to Facebook or Instagram straight from your camera, what do you think?! Be sure to follow me, @sydney_tastefullyfrugal, on Instagram to follow me in this challenge.
Take better pictures for this blog. Since this is my creative outlet I want to be able to share with you how great my projects, recipes and more really are. And what better way to show how yummy something tastes or how cute a craft is than with a great photo. I’ve been going back and forth on buying Tasty Food Photography from Lindsay at Pinch of Yum or The Food Photography Book from Nagi at Recipe Tin Eats. I’ve heard great things about both books and as soon as I’m done with From Snapshots to Great Shots I will buy one (or both) and start this part of this challenge then.

Yes, I know I have a lot of work ahead of me but I’m excited to put this out there and give myself some accountability and follow through. Check back on October 28th to see the progress I’ve made. Until then check out a few of the pictures we took over the weekend.