Review of January 2011-Month 1 of my 1st Project 365

I started a Project this year... actually I started a few projects this year, but more on that later!

This particular project, my Photo-A-Day Project, has been really fun so far!  I had been thinking of doing something like this for quite some time now, and when I read this article from PhotoJoJo on January 2 it finally got my wheels in motion! 

I did a little research on Flickr, found a small group that I liked, and joined in on the fun!  

Here is a Review of my January photostream... 

If you haven't ever tried a Project 365 I highly recommend it!  You don't have to start on January 1, start any day...

Start with doing a Photo-A-Day for a month...see what you think!

I think it's helping me to improve my photography, when you think of something to capture and you try it, you may have to play around with your camera settings, lighting, composition... It's really enlightening!

It also is so cool to look back over the month and remember what you were doing :)  I know sometimes I don't remember what I did yesterday, much less a month ago!!!!

I'm linking up to Miss Jenny's Alphabet Thursday for the letter "R" (for REVIEW of January.....).  Be sure to check out the other fun "R" posts on her Blog!

Contact me if you want me to capture your unique personality and have a fun, stress-free photo shoot in the Galveston-Houston area!

Cheers!

Gina Hickman

409-256-9116

Gina Hickman Photography

http://ginahickman.blogspot.com

www.ginahickmanphotography.com

www.oohlala-boudoir.com

www.flickr.com/photos/ghickmanphoto

www.etsy.com/shop/ShopGinaKay

Galveston Photographer, Senior Photography, High School Senior Portraits, Newborn Photos, Boudoir Photographer, Family Photography, Santa Fe, Dickinson, League City, Friendswood, Pearland, Alvin, Texas City, La Marque, Hitchcock, Seabrook, Kemah, Webster, Clear Lake, Houston, GISD, SFISD, CCISD, SFISD, DISD, FISD, TCISD, LMISD, HISD

Missing Erinn and San Antonio Memories

Monday.  Another dreary overcast day.  These days make me kinda sad...and while I was reflecting on upcoming Thanksgiving plans, I realized this would be my first Thanksgiving without all my girls here with me.  

Erinn joined the Air Force last December, and while I'm so very proud of her, I'm still somewhat selfish and wish she was closer! She's stationed in South Dakota...a Texas girl up there freezing her buns off ...although she did sound quite excited when she called the other day to say it was snowing.  I asked was she dressed warmly and what does she tell me???  She's wearing flip-flops!!!!  I miss that girl!!

Here she is at BMT (Basic Military Training a/k/a Boot Camp) Graduation in San Antonio in January - the Air Force only has one BMT facility and lucky for us it is in San Antonio, so the whole family was able to go see her graduate. 

PRIDE - I tell you, I was so overcome with emotion several times during the events, if you have ever experienced anything with the Military then you will know what I mean, but I was simply bursting with pride that my daughter, my little Erinn, is a part of something as awesome as our United States Air Force!!!

We got to enjoy some time in San Antonio during the weekend events so I thought I'd share these for my Mosaic Monday post.  

Check out the Little Red House blog and browse thru other fun and beautiful Mosaics!

Contact me if you want me to capture your unique personality and have a fun, stress-free photo shoot in the Galveston-Houston area!

Cheers!

Gina Hickman

409-256-9116

Gina Hickman Photography

www.ginahickmanphotography.com

Galveston Photographer, Senior Photography, High School Senior Portraits, Santa Fe, Dickinson, League City, Friendswood, Pearland, Alvin, Texas City, La Marque, Hitchcock, Seabrook, Kemah, Webster, Clear Lake, Houston, GISD, SFISD, CCISD, SFISD, DISD, FISD, TCISD, LMISD, HISD

There's a Weiner in my Bed! and Pet Photo Tips

Daisy is simply the best weiner dog in the World! Have I mentioned that lately??? Hopefully you won't get tired of hearing about her because she really is such a joy and makes myself, and my DH, laugh every single day!  If you know anything about dachshunds, you know that they are cold natured and love to snuggle up in blankets and specifically, in your bed between two warm bodies!  I'm not saying she sleeps with us every night, but it's pretty frequent, LOL! Even when we get up in the morning, after she goes outside for a quick potty break, she wants back up in the warm bed...even after I make the bed!  Well yesterday Mr. H left very early (5:30am on a Saturday???) with son Keaton for a quick overnight boys 4-wheeling trip to a new place they haven't been yet called Mud Buddy's.  I went ahead and got up too and made us some delicious coffee with my beloved Keurig single cup, and went about my day.  I started looking for Daisy some time later and pretty much knew she had to be in my bed!  So I went in there, camera in hand, to see if I could "catch her".  Below are some of my attempts as I walked into the room (facing the windows) and you will see that they are just not lit very well (images 1, 2, 3).  So I moved her to the other side of the bed, directly in front of the windows, and shot from a couple different angles (images 4-8).  Now doesn't that make a huge difference?  My camera is on manual, on the very same settings for both groups of images.  No flash at all, just window light (Camera set on Manual, ISO 800, F2.8, 1/60, 50mm lens).  I just love image 4 - she looks so sweet! I know if she was human she would look at image 6 and say "Mom - this is so unflattering, I have 3 chins!!!"  I guess even dogs have a bad side!  Image 7 is her "OK I'm so done taking pictures face"!  

My pet photo tips of the day:
1) move around and try different angles - if you look at your image and it's not what you were looking for, change your angle.  Get down at their level, move around!
2) look at how the light is falling on your subject and particularly if you can see the "catchlights" in the eyes then you know the lighting is great! (Catchlights are the little squares of light you see in Daisy's eyes - you can see them very clearly in image 4.  These are from the light coming through the windows and falling on her perfectly.)

I'm submitting this as my Mosaic Monday post at the Little Red House blog - check out all the weekly cool mosaic posts from readers everywhere!

Cheers!
Gina Hickman
Gina Hickman Photography
www.ginahickmanphotography.com
409-256-9116
Galveston Photography, Pet Photographer, High School Senior Photography, Boudoir Photographer, Location Photos, League City, Dickinson, Clear Lake, Webster, Santa Fe, Texas City, Kemah, Seabrook, Alvin, Pearland, Friendswood