Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Photographer Me

For some strange reason I decided to undertake the job of taking my daughter's senior pictures.  Trying to save money, I guess.  That and the leading photographer in this two horse town... well, he takes awesome pictures, but I don't like him on principle.  (Long and boring story there.  Suffice it to say, he's a butthead.) 

If you've been around here enough, you know I like to take pictures.  And I'm not so bad at it, if I do say so myself.  Here's the thing.  Taking portraits is a totally different animal from taking nature shots.  Totally.  And while I can blame some of the crap shots on not being as familiar with my Nikon as I should be, the rest of the blunders are on me. 

Like this one...


Okay, so I told her to make a goofy face - just for kicks - but the blur?  That's on me.

I've flattened the top of her head, turned her pink, caught her in a pic worthy only of a mugshot, but most of my gaffs are just blur.  Holding a camera steady for longer than a few minutes is harder than one would think. 

Still, I think I have a few good photos to print for actual Senior Pictures.  The family members who replied to my email think so, too.  (Although Mom insists that if I can't edit the strand of hair out of her favorite casual shot, I have to take more.  And I will.  Anything for my Mom.  She's a goddess, after all.)

All in all, it's been an interesting and educational exercise.  If I had it to do all over again?  I might go back a year in time and fork over the money - regardless of how much of a dork that photographer is.  Still, I'm glad I gave it a try.

Ever undertaken something you could've easily paid someone else to do?  How'd it turn out for you?

6 comments:

  1. Oh yeah. Stuff like changing my oil and fixing something around the house. It's always better to let a professional do stuff like that. I just make a bigger mess.

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  2. I'm with Elana. I tried to change my oil one time and it backfired BIG TIME. Let's just say hole in something and who knows why the hell I was using a crowbar to prop pieces of the car up.

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  3. I did all my own wedding flowers. Saved a few thousand dollars (no joke). I did a lot of research and they turned out awesome and it was super fun.

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  4. lol- too funny! I cut and color my own hair and do my own manicures.

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  5. So when my husband and I bought our first house, we had the option of paying the builder extra to stain our stair posts (just the pickets and railing, as the steps were carpeted) darker for $800.

    No way, I thought. I'm not spending $800 so some dude can slap on some stain on a few pickets. I'll do it myself. So the house was built with unstained stair pickets. Which looked awful. I had to stain them right away. Guess how long it it took?

    THREE 8-hour days! At the end, I had a sore back, was nauseous from the fumes, and I was exhausted because I did it right after we moved in. And I still missed a few spots!

    I'll never cheap out on something like that again!

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  6. I'm sorry, is it bad that that picture made me laugh really loud?

    I have a 50/50 success rate with doing things myself. I'm too impatient and usually botch things.

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