Shutterbug Resolved....

I read some where that 45% of New Year Resolutions fail by the end of January... so this year I decided to give myself some momentum into the new year. Recover from the holidays, get myself into a new pace of regular life before then heaping a new challenge onto my plate.  I think if more people did this - perhaps those grandiose endeavours, ideas, and goals might have a better success rate. Start in February!  After all the year is still pretty darn new and we're only really getting out of the holiday haze anyway.   I digress...

I've been thinking about what I want to focus and challenge myself on this year - I wanted to do something that wasn't just focused solely on me, but something that my family could also be involved with - yet still focused and presented me with the challenge.    It didn't seem too difficult to decide what that challenge, goal, endeavor would be for me: photography.   Last year I acquired some of my main tools of the trade in order to become a 'contender' in the art of photography.    I've always had the passion for a great shot, last year I got the tools for a beautiful crisp shot, and now this year I want to enhance my knowledge (and implementation) to achieve those shots.   This is my goal, my passion, my resolution for 2012.

I've always been a shutterbug.  I recall my first camera - it was a sleek long skinny blue rectangle that held the small film cases, I had the 5 bulb pop flashes that affixed to the top... ha! I even found one for sale on eBay when I went looking just now.  In high school I would expend excessive amounts of film goofing off with friends. I remember the anticipation of being able to rush to the store to see what had developed.   I used film all through college, it was only half way through college that I got my first digital camera.    How did I ever live so long without it?  My world of megapixels has only grown since then - my cameras went from big, to smaller and smaller, back to relatively big.  :)  Last year I embarked further into more equipment beyond just the point and shoot into the SLR world and further into the world of development and enhancement on the computer with PSE and Lightroom.     I am excited to challenge myself to learn more, take more photos (I can hear my husband groaning now!) and really try to capture life in the best light possible - and with sharp focus to boot! ;-)

So this year you'll see a lot more photography themed posts, more photo challenges participated in, and perhaps even though we're 4 weeks into this year, I might just catch up and participate in a Project 52 series.   We shall see.  But for 2012 I hereby resolve to sharpen my shutterbug skills.