I'm sure this is just the 1st of many problems to come!

Well...I almost lost it last night. The kids are starting to put their print orders together....I've promised good products....I sold myself and my pictures to them. So last night, I tried to put together an order for my sister. She wanted a canvas wrap and other 8 x 10's. When I go to do her canvas wrap, MPIX tells me, can't do anything bigger than a 8 x 10. Needs more resolution. So, I thought...I better try to see what some of the "kids" pics are going to be like. Nothing bigger than a 5 x 7 for some...16 x 24 for others. We read the camera manual....which does nothing for the pictures I took. We google online....we tried a million options. Nothing changes. I thought for sure...I had really screwed up. But it didn't make sense. So.....I went to bed, prayed for help, and then proceeded to have a sleepless night! When I got up, I decided to go to another printing company. They told me...the picture wasn't large enough, needed to be resized. As soon as I saw "resize" a lightbulb went off.......go to Picnik and "resize" the picture. So I did that and.....problem solved! I guess it makes sense that "larger" pictures take up more space in a file, so they get resized when they are downloaded.
Last night, I was ready to cancel all of my appointments, give people their money back, and quit. Today....I'm ready to take on my problems, learn from my mistakes, think with a clear mind, and do the best I can do!

Starting to get the hang of this!

Last week I had my first paid photo shoot!!!!!! What a good feeling that somebody thought enough of what I am doing to not only ask me to do their child's senior pics...but also pay me to do their child's senior pics! I have 3 shoots under my belt and I can honestly say that I learn so much just by taking the pictures. I can't learn enough from the books I've purchased....reading online....studying other photographers...and just getting experience! I finally have 2 girl senior shoots tonight and I'm really excited about that. I still get really overwhelmed with the whole thing and have to remind myself to take it slow....Rome wasn't built in a night! :)

My first "Senior" shoot!

I just finished my first "Senior" photo shoot...now, it was of my son....but it was for senior pictures! How fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to edit them, get some prints, and see what they really look like! It was so good to practice on him, he was patient. I know I need to work on giving direction better. I am becoming more tuned into the little things, like hair, finger placement, foot placement...really looking at the shot before I take it. I'm becoming more aware of where the sun is coming from too. The other night I did a photo shoot for my daughter and her boyfriend of 6 years. That was fun, but I really need to do more research so I have a variety of "couple" poses. I had the most fun doing a photo shoot for my daughter Kayla and 3 of her friends. Lindie needs a kidney transplant and is going to start chemotheraphy next week to true to reduce the amount of antibodies she has so that when she gets a kidney, her body won't reject it. Well...that is going to mean being sick and most likely losing her hair. The girls gave her a wonderful gift of a photo shoot with her besties! They are so close and really truly enjoy being together. They laugh so much together...you can just feel the love they have for one another!
I'm feeling so good about this decision! The editing is the hardest part now...and I'll figure it out! I've got nothing but time to play with pictures and the worse that can happen is..I'll delete it and start over! In the good old days...you took the picture and there was nothing you could do after that...now...as Kyle would say...the possiblities are endless!