31 DAYS OF CREATIVE INSPIRATION: Day 4 {Everyday Photojournalism} (Nihao, Cupcake!)

This is the 4th post in a 31 Day series Creative Inspiration. Check out all the posts here.

Every week on Tuesday, I link up at Themomcreative.com for Project Life Tuesday. I find linking up there every week keeps me on top of my photos. Once a week I go through all of my photos and select one photo per day (or seven per week).

Saturday, September 25

When the weather is nice and we have no other pressing engagements on the weekends, Paul takes the boys downstairs for a little football.

PHOTO #2

A fun time at family game night playing Hoopla.

Sunday, September 25

The boys printed out templates of characters from Minecraft and cut them out and put them together with tape.

Monday, September 26

Braden reading his daily reader.

Tuesday, September 27

I came in to wake the boys in the morning and I found Braden on the floor sleeping on his beanbag with all his stuffed animal friends.

Wednesday, September 28

No photo.

Thursday, September 29

I wish I could show you the awesome photos I took at the orphanage today. The kids are doing so well. They love the school that was set-up. They are thriving and have made so much progress. It is making a huge difference in their daily lives and will make an even bigger difference when they are adopted and need to integrate into a more traditional lifestyle. This week the theme is friends and we were taking turns having three legged races. The joy on the kids' faces was amazing. I can't tell you how much individual progress each child has made since I first started visiting it over a year ago. It really warms my heart. I'm so glad I am getting to capture these times for them. Every child deserves to have their lives documented.

Friday, September 30

Home after our weekly date. Ready for a little shut eye.

MY THINKING ON 'EVERYDAY PHOTOJOURNALISM'

Capturing my family stories through a photo everyday, is the ultimate in "Everyday Photojournalism". To me photojournalism is showing "real" life through photos. It is not manipulating a situation as in the case of a formal portrait (although learning formal portraiture can be an excellent way to learn how to understand your camera which in turn makes you a much better 'photojournalist'), but documenting life as it is. As the photographer you can certainly influence many variables to change the feel or mood of your photo, but ultimately what is on the camera is more or less the way the moment happens.

What I love to do is manipulate the situation as much as I can without interfering to get a beautiful image. This may mean:

**moving my body to a different position in relation to my subject (left right, up down, over, back, front, closer, further away),

**changing lenses for a different effect,

**changing settings on my camera,

**framing my subjects with more or less of the surroundings depending upon the story I want to tell,

**waiting for a moment to happen whether it be an interaction between two subjects, the subject and part of the surroundings or waiting for my subject or part of the surroundings to move into a position that may make the composition of the frame more appealing.

I think of it like making beauty & order out of the chaos that is life. It takes lots of patience and practice and I've found it the most frustrating part of learning photography. Learning a new setting on your camera or suddenly understanding lowlight photography won't make your photojournalistic attempts instantly better. It will give you more chances at being successful because more of your images will be correct technically but patience, practice & study can't be rushed or improved with a new technical skill.

I find that deliberate practice and seeking out feedback have helped me improve the most. I also find that when I am 'trying hard' by practicing a lot and being conscious with my picture taking I improve. I also find if I study the master photographers I admire and then try to model the things I like about their style, I can also improve even if just a very little bit at a time.

Great photography is a long road! Or at least it is for me.

The master I have been studying lately is Steve Mc Curry, the infamous National Geographic photographer who took the photo of the Afghan girl. I subscribe to his blog feed and I get a dozen or so of his images sent to my inbox every week or so. I enjoy pouring over the images and asking myself what makes them intriguing. What draws me in? Then when I am taking photos the next time, I see if I can't attempt to bring the same elements to mine.

Do you have a favorite photojournalist? Tell me in the comments. I'm always looking for new inspiration.

To see everything PROJECT 365/PROJECT LIFE related on my blog, click here.

Tomorrow will be all about Family Photo Inspiration.

31 Days of Creative INSPIRATION Series (Links to all posts in the series up until today.)

Introduction

Day 1: Design Your Own Cupcake

Day 2: Storytelling Sunday

Day 3: Scrapbooking (Week in the Life Album)

Day 4: Everyday Photojournalism (Project 365/Project Life)

Day 5: Family Photo Fun - FAMILY x 12 BLOG HOP

3 Comments

I love the expressions on the boys' faces in the second shot. They look so happy!

Posted by: Mary | October 04, 2011 at 06:34

Thanks! I think that is my favorite photo from the week.

Posted by: Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie | October 04, 2011 at 21:18

All great photos, and very inspiring! I love the one of Braden sleeping on the floor! And the story of the orphanage, how wonderful that you have been able to make a difference to those kids lives.

Posted by: Linda | October 05, 2011 at 02:48

Nihao, Cupcake!

I am a mother to three boys, married to Paul. I write about cupcake & cake decorating, crafts, DIY, expat life, healthy delicious recipes, travel, photography, memory keeping, scrapbooking, Project Life, and other adventures. I'm a former expat of China, Japan & England.

October 04, 2011