snapshop happy

Oh my stars y’all, seriously, I am jumping up in down and excitement right now.  Y’all have no idea.

For – like – ever, I have been wanting a DSLR camera.  But I couldn’t quite make one fit into our budget.  This past November, I finally got one.  We could justify spending the money for two reasons.  The first, I LOVE taking pictures.  This began when my first niece was born and my sister asked me to take her picture outside by the lake for her birth announcement.  I never really stopped taking pictures after that.  Then 2 1/2 years ago, Lil’ B came along, and well, the amount of pictures I’ve taken of him is just ridiculous!

The second reason is this blog.  I am a very visual person, and it’s hard to write on here without sharing pictures as well.

So, now I have a nice Canon DSLR, but I don’t really know how to use it.  I’ve read lot’s of information online, and have done an okay job figuring some things out myself.  But okay doesn’t cut it for me.  If we have invested the money in a nice camera, then I’m gonna go all the way to make sure we get our investment out of it. I also am not happy with just okay pictures, I want “beautiful” pictures.

I told my husband that for my birthday this year, I wanted to take some sort of photography class.

 

Specifically, Ashley’s SnapShop online course.  I am constantly inspired and encouraged by her blog, Under The Sycamore.  For example, an exerpt from today’s post,

“ For my kids, adoption is just normal. A good number of their friends are adopted and in their eyes it is just another way families are made. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

She is an amazing photographer, an incredibly talented crafter and an even more phenomenal mom.  She host’s a live SnapShop course that I would love to be able to participate in, but obviously, not possible.  When she announced her online course, I knew I had to take it!

When I came home Sunday evening and found an email from Ashley with the subject HAPPY BIRTHDAY I smiled.  When I read further and saw the gift of her SnapShop class I jumped up and down.

This is really a blessing.  I will never take for granted the gift of being a mom.  And this amazing kid of ours is growing faster then I can keep up with.

So to have the opportunity to learn to take pictures the right way, to be able to “tell a story” with my pictures, to capture the everyday mundane details to make them a part of the overall story of our life through the pictures I take is something I am and will be forever grateful for!

Thank you isn’t enough Ashley, but I’ll say it anyway.  Thank you!