Photos by Lindsay

With classes ending soon means I will be able to spend more time with family and photographing all the fun times we will have together. This upcoming break I plan to relax but pick up my camera more often and go out to take pictures of the beautiful scenery and even portraits of friends and family. I cannot wait to see what this upcoming month holds and what new experiences I will go through.

Over the past 3 months I have learned a ton of new things about my camera and Photoshop and/or Lightroom. I have learned how to fix exposures to adding a vingnette to a photo. I cannot wait to see what else I will learn in the near future and see what job opportunities I will experience. Over the winter break I plan to do freelance portraiture for my friends and family and gain more experience for the future.

Lately I have had to reach out to professional photographers in the United States. Very few replied but I had the opportunity to get my work out to them. I have been given other opportunites to work with wedding photographers but Im not quite ready to go out and do other jobs especially when I am still learning more about my camera.

For the past week I have been doing mini photoshoots for my cousins baptism and now their holiday card. Since my cousins kids are very young (2 years old and 6 months old) their parents have decided to hire me as their photographer since their two kids know me very well and know how to make them smile easily. Though it was tough at first, I managed to get over 300 amazing pictures of all my cousins smiling and laughing.

This entire week has been crazy, whether its meeting up with professors to learn more about my camera exposures to trying to get in contact with professional photographers to ask them quesions about their job an their experiences. I have had a few photographers in mind to speak to but I cannot decide beacuse they are all amazing and do very different photography jobs.

This past weekend I recently visited my neighborhood park where I used to play when I was younger. Coming back to this spot with my camera made me realize how beautiful this place really is. Since I've been learning how to use my camera and its shutter speed, I decided to go down to the lake that is right next to the park and I shot a few amazing pictures of the scenery with a fast shutter speed and the pictures came out great and not over exposed! Needless to say I will definitely be going back more often to take more pictures.

Today I met a new photographer that used to go to Suffolk Community College. He taught me that it was not easy to get to the place where he is now and that it would take a lot of time and hard work to be known. He traveled all around the world and explained the pros and cons of being a traveling photographer.

These past few weeks have been absolutely insane but very fun. Over the weekend I finally had the chance to sit down and experiment with exposures and shutter speeds. The photo down below was taken on Route 109 in Farmingdale. It was taken with a one second exposure as a huge 18 wheeler sped down the road. There were many other pictures taken with one second exposures but this one by far was the best one.

This picture was taken about a month ago of my dog in my backyard. The one thing I absolutely LOVE about this photo is how my dog is staring off into the distance, paying no attention to the ball that is sitting right next to her nose. Since this photo was taken, I have learned so much more about my camera and its settings from my photography classes. Last week I met a professional photographer who taught me what settings to use in a low lit room, but this past Friday I attended a family wedding where I met another professional photographer who offered to have me come along to another wedding and be a photographer along with her and her crew!

This past week I have learned a lot more about my camera and how to adjust my ISO in different types of lighting. I have also recently had help from a professional this Saturday and she gave me a few helpful pointers on how to get the perfect shot in a poorly lit room and how to get the perfect angle.