You Asked, I Answered...

After I posted an option to ask me any question last Friday...I thought, "What was I thinking? Who am I to dispose of photography information, when I myself have so much to learn!" So, I was a bit relieved to see that most questions were kind of random personal ones who my true friends would only find interest in. Read on if you're curious and have nothing else to do, believe me it's really not that exciting! Here they are in the order they came:

On your birthday when you get to pick your favorite meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner--what would you pick? First of all I've never had that tradition and usually just picked what dessert I would be having....BUT this is what a perfect meal day would look like for me: Breakfast-Belgian Waffles Lunch-Sandwich (turkey, cheese & lettuce only), chips (Doritos) and a pop (diet root beer) (from a quaint cafe, like Old World Deli) Dinner- Fettuccine Alfredo from "Mama Stortini's" with lots of bread and a salad (house, ranch on the side) in Sumner, WA. And of course dessert-chocolate cake of some sort, the really moist kind.

If you had a night just with the girls, what would you most want to do? Something involving the spa, food and a quiet house with lots of time to chat.

How long have you lived here? Here in Bama? Almost one year! And we are loving it! I NEVER would of imagined myself living in the South, Alabama for that matter, but Mark's work provided an opportunity and we are enjoying it. We love our home, we love the people, we love the new adventures it will bring...for now, it's a good place to be.

In reference to your photography...have you always been able to "see" things artistically (composition, lighting, etc.) or is that something that you learned in a photography class somewhere? I have always LOVED art and felt drawn to it....always. My first art class (besides at school) was during the summer while in elementary school taken at the Corvallis Arts Center and since have taken a variety of art classes throughout high school and art was my minor in college. The first time I did photography was in high school, basic photography class and then was on the yearbook staff. I always enjoyed taking pictures, but when I started this blog and got looking at all the other photo blogs out there and the amazing photography...I saw it in a new light and yes took a more artistic approach. I think a little bit more about it now (they way I compose a picture) and all the editing software that's available and the way that you can manipulate a photo is way different from when I was shooting in high school.

I believe there is no such thing as copying in art...one of my first painting professors-Lin Yang, would start us off by copying painting after painting, but change it slightly (if some of you remember the infamous red stripes in many of my paintings)...so is the same with photography. When I see a picture that just WOWs me, I go out and try to do it. I would tell anyone to do the same, if you see something you really like done by someone else...try it! Try the angle, the pose, the lighting...it's those bits and pieces you glean from others combined with your own that make it yours. Plus, if you have a cool photographer friend like Leah you can just email them and ask them to divulge their secrets! Seriously, it never hurts to ask...

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? The beautiful Pacific Northwest...there's no place on earth like it. By the way this question was one of the most thought provoking. I have been a lot of places, lived a few, want to go to many....but it boiled down to if there were no ties or strings of sorts...that is where I'd want to be. Near family, friends, the green, the rain, the mountains....my home, me.

If you could only eat one thing, what would it be? Some sort of carbohydrate like bread or pasta...or chocolate cake or cookies, or bread...did I already say that?.... Do you see now why I have to run half marathons or at least attempt to????

Do you think you will ever start hiring yourself out as a photographer? Not anytime soon, but maybe-if timing and everything else is right.

What would you use in cases like florescent lighting from a gym or indoor lighting? Let me get back to you on this one. Mark just bought me a Nikon SB800 speedlight and I have only managed to make it through the first two pages of the manual. I am excited to explore this new concept of lighting. I prefer natural and available light and use it...basically all the time. But I realize sometimes there might be a time and place you would need a flash...this is what I am going to attempt to learn over the next few weeks....so I don't have any great advice to give. I have wondered that about fluorescent lighting...anyone have some hints or suggestions?

Here is a link to a favorite wedding photographer and she briefly discusses when/what she uses during receptions: click here

Did you ever kiss Mark B. from Australia? No, but we did hold hands in the Caravan on our trip to Yellowstone. Come on...this is me we're talking about!

Why or what made you such a non-animal person? I used to love horses and unicorns (is that considered an animal) as a child. I even had a horse birthday party once. Nothing in particular; I just don't care for them, they smell and I feel dirty if they touch me or I touch them. I think they're cool in the wild, but just don't care for them domesticated. Note: I have some VERY good/close friends who are avid animals lovers and I love them dearly!! We can still be friends, can't we?

Do you think, "Oh that would be nice to capture" and then go out and do it or are you able to "see it" in the moment? Usually once a day or every other I feel the itch to go take some pictures so I just head out with Grant...nothing is ever pre planned. sometimes I will be out and about and think to myself, "That would make a cool shot," but those are the times I don't have my camera on me. For my Macro Mondays I do have to think of things to take pictures of...as I'm running out of ideas! Ideas anyone??

What is your favorite room in the house? I love my great room and my kitchen.

If you had to choose painting or photography as the only art you would be able to do your entire life, which would you choose, and why? This is a tough one. Although I haven't painted in a while the feeling I get from painting is one of the most exhilarating and exciting...I know it probably sounds weird...the only thing I can relate it to is those people who have a passion so deep for something, like people who can dance so amazingly and evoke so much emotion. That's what painting is like. BUT, I am not a realistic painter...my style is more abstract. So for that reason I would have to say photography, because I can capture a moment so pure and true, right then and have it forever to look at. I'm thinking of my son or the places I have visited around the world...I have probably almost a photo from every day of his life and those places I've been and there's no way I could of painted all that.

If you could choose ONE emotion..what would you say is your favorite emotion to capture? Is true an emotion? If it were that's what I'd say. I don't think I could choose just one emotion. Some of my favorite photos have been those moments where the subject is deep in thought, not even smiling.

Do you have any photos that you've taken that make you emotional...any kind of emotional...like laugh every time you see it, or cry? Of course. Those pictures would be the ones of those people closest to me. Most likely they aren't even technically correct...it's the subject that brings those emotions for me.

Where do you and Mark think you'll end up for the rest of your lives? Together.

If I were wanting to venture out of my comfort zone, into the "manual" options on my new camera, what should I experiment with first? Shutter speed and aperture...I'm still learning.

D's questions relating to the bike..... I don't think so.

Store bought or homemade frosting? Store bought..yum, on a moist chocolate cake!

What's your favorite non-professional photograph that you didn't take? I have many. Some old family pictures that my dad took and some pictures he took on his mission in Germany, some pictures my sister Diana took while in Denmark, a candid picture someone randomly snapped of Mark and I right after we were married in the Portland temple, he's cradling my elbow with his hand and we're deep in conversation.

How do you store your digital photos on your computer? And some sub-questions: Do you use an organization program like Picasa? Do you use a naming scheme or folder structure to find them easily? Do you save all shots you take or do you delete the bad shots? Mark laughed when he saw this question as I don't really have a great system YET for storing categorizing my photos...YET. I do have Picasa, but don't ever look at it. I used to store my pics on an external hard drive and now they're back on my computer....I do have them categorized in folders by year and then date and tagged with a name of the shoot. I get a headache every time I attempt to think of how I should back these all up...on disks. I have learned to be picky and I do delete quite a few shots now (when Grant was first born, heaven forbid I even deleted a blurry shot of him!). When I do a photo shoot with someone and after I have given them the CD of photos I only keep the edited ones on my computer. Any helpful hints when it comes to organizing or storing photos? Please share...

Whew! Are you still reading? You are a true blogging friend! Are you sick of me yet?