A rough start

to my new class, that is! The assignment this week was to arrange for a "real" photo shoot. We had to choose a new location, plan for props, and stuff like that. So, I thought I would challenge myself and go after a toddler. I'm getting quite good when shooting Hannah and Emily because they aren't constantly moving and I have time to play around with my settings. I knew Aaron wouldn't let me do that, and as much as I didn't want to step out of my comfort zone, I knew I had to.

And, it was a challenge indeed! It wasn't really Aaron that was challenging. He did run around and didn't really stand still or look at me, but the real problem was me; I was having trouble metering for him (partly because he kept moving). I must have overexposed and missed focus I don't know how many times. It was becoming exasperating! We are supposed to post up to 5 of our best images...my best are far from best...

Here he is on the swing...great, tack sharp eyes, but the composition isn't the best...

He was sitting on a little stool. How I managed to actually underexpose one, beats me...

He was sitting on a picnic table here...I didn't see the sippy cup until it was too late. (I was using backlighting...)

I really wanted to use this house more, but he wasn't interested...

I did try to play around with some using my very limited editing skills...This first one was so overexposed...I broke the rule of finding beautiful light. This light casts harsh shadows on his face. But look how cute it would have been!

I cropped the one with the sippy cup...

And tried to lighten the underexposed one...

I think if I had better editing skills, a lot more of these pictures would be usable. So, if Vickie was a paying customer, I would be able to give her some, but it was so disappointing for me to ruin so many of the pictures. I ended that last class on a high note, and now I feel like I've taken a few steps back.

But, like Ray said, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I just need to keep practicing and practicing and practicing. It was good for me to push myself today, and maybe one day, I'll be good at nabbing great shots of toddlers too!!