Amber Bounds Photography: I've Seen Better Days...

     Today was not a good day. It was filled with crazy WalMart ladies skipping in line, a teething 6 month old and a computer that decided it no longer wanted to work when I have three sessions to edit. Nope, today was not the best day. But I did get finished editing one session that has been nagging at me for a couple of weeks. I promised myself I would be honest on this blog about my struggles, my mistakes, my whole journey as a photographer. Many photographers are snobs. I don't want to be one. I want to be able to admit that I still have more to learn than I already know. I want to help others who have discovered their love for this addictive artform.
      So back to this session that I've been avoiding for 2 weeks now. It was a family session for my sister in law. In direct sunlight. In a field. On a bright, hot Sunday afternoon. And I had forgotten to reset my ISO and exposure compensation from a previous low light situation. I figured out that second one pretty quickly, but I didn't catch how noisy many of my pictures were until I got to work on them the next day. And on top of that, it seemed at least one or two of my subjects were squinting in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE. Where was  my head?!? I could use the excuse that we were rushed because the brother in law had to leave for church pretty quickly after I got there. But, I have no excuse. I've been doing this soley and seriously for a year now. Time to quit with the silly mistakes. So I've edited the pictures and I will post a few below. But, we are rescheduling the session at no cost to the family.
     See, I don't want to be a decent photographer, or a good photographer, who people use because the price is right. I want to be a great photographer. I want people to look at my photos and take a breath. I want to make people pause. The way I do when I see greatness. So, if by being honest and telling the world about my mistakes causes the loss of a client or two, or makes those photogs who have "arrived" mock my learning process, then so be it. But, this is my journey and my passion and it can take me as long as it takes me. So, I'll continue to spend hours everyday reading articles on aperture and metering and noise reduction. And I'll continue to practice. And I'll continue to have fun. Because, isn' t that why we started taking pictures? Because of the beauty and the sheer joy of capturing a moment?