Urban Photo Shoot

Two posts in one weekend! Impressive!

I've been wanting to try my hand at an "urban" photo shoot for a while now. Downtown, graffiti, edgy . . . In my travels to work in the morning I noticed these old buildings on Major's Path that were interesting. So, yesterday I took two of my boys along with me to check it out.

I could have spent a whole lot longer there trying out all kinds of poses, but it was freezing! And I had instructed the boys to wear their hoodies instead of their extremely busy winter coats. So we snapped a few shots and off to Tim's to warm up! I'll definitely make another trip there when the weather is warmer.

We also stopped at the playground for a little while and then the ORR overpass at Thorburn Road where I had scouted out some pretty cool graffiti.

I also learned a very valuable lesson, one which I hope I remember the next time I shoot portraits. Always remember to check your camera settings! Mine were still set from my visit to Quidi Vidi Village earlier in the week. Old fishing stages look great in vivid colour, children not so much!

Here are some of my favourite shots!

Getting Out of Your Own Way

I read an article yesterday about getting out of your own way. About stopping the self-sabotage in your life. This can apply to a lot of different areas of our life where we might have counterproductive habits. Staying up too late, procrastination, playing Candy Crush half the night . . .

The author suggested making a list of all the things I had to do tomorrow both small and large and then think about the bad habit I was trying to break. Do any of the activities on my to do list make me feel like engaging in my self-sabotaging behaviour? Then I was to look at each self-sabotage-inducing item on my list and ask myself the following three questions:

1. In a perfect life, would I do this thing at all?

2. If so, what would I change to make it more enjoyable?

3. If not, what would I rather do?

These types of questions inevitably always lead me right back to my photography. Self-sabotaging is the furthest thing from my mind when I'm looking at a beautiful scene and composing it in my mind's eye before I take a picture. I perk up, I'm relaxed, I'm in my element. I'm released from my cage and building my rat park (you had to be there and read the article! LOL)

Here are some of my caring for myself compassionately moments this past week!

Check out O magazine, February 2014 issue if you're interested in the article.

My Photography Style

I've been doing a lot more with my camera lately thanks to a 52 Week Photography Challenge with my sister, Pam. Life just seems to take over and you forget the passions that are important to you. Well, maybe not forget. Just temporarily put aside.




So, I've been giving some thought to my photography style. You know how there are some photos that you automatically recognize as belonging to a particular photographer. Wouldn't it be awesome to be so well known and recognizable.




Here's what I've come up with so far...




I like to take pictures of unappreciated beauty.

I suspect that a lot of people wouldn't consider this old door to be beautiful. I believe it is intriguing! And all the layers of paint tell a story, one that I would love to know.

I also LOVE portrait photography! I like a combination of relaxed traditional and candid portraits. Always creative!

I am also drawn to nature photography. Snowy scenes, sunsets, trees... Love trees! And red doors. And black and white photography. And abstract. :)

There. The beginnings of exploring my photographic style! Maybe one day someone will look at an image and say, "That's a Tina B!" :) One can dream! Happy Dreaming!