When I fell upon my love for photography I knew nothing about it.

I mean zilch. nada.

Okay, I mean, I could turn on a camera, point it and snap it.  But I had no idea how important light was, or what all the other symbols on top of a camera meant (except auto). 

Over the past year and a half I have studied.  Googled.  Participated in online forms.  Took classes.  Bought books.  I literally have been non-stop with gathering knowledge.

You could say I am obsessed.  

There were times while I was learning that I felt so defeated.  Almost as if there was NO way any of it would ever make sense.  I can recall reading a critique of a photo and others saying the focus fell here, or there is a green cast, or the skin is magenta.  I would look at the photo and think is was great, and could not see at all what the others were talking about.

It drove me mad.

But then a light went off.  I started to have the ah-ha moments. Where things just clicked. I started to really understand the online forums I belong to, or the lingo the photography magazines use. It all started to make sense.  *cue angels singing

The irony of it all though, is the more you read and understand, the more you realize the road is a lot longer than you ever imagined.

Now that I know how to nail a bokeh background, I want to learn how to achieve that look with different focal lengths. 

Now I can tell were the focus fell on a picture and explain to you why it fell where it did. 

Now that I can see natural light and how I can work with it, I want to learn studio lighting with artificial lights.

The journey.  I love it.  It has opened my mind.

Don't get me wrong, I still miss 50% of the shots I want.  My focus was wrong, I had too much noise, too much light, etc.  I also do not strive for perfect shots all the time either.  As I have said many times, happy accidents are the best kind of pictures.

Starting next week I am going to start with What the Heck? Friday posts.  I will share with you areas that I found to struggle with during this journey.  I want to give back what others have given to me.  Even if is the smallest tip in helping someone understand, or "see" will make it all worth it to me. (my tips will range from equipment to photoshop tips)

If any of you (15 readers or so..haha) have any questions you would like answered, I would love for you to share.  I would love to try to help out in anyway I can with someone's journey.

**I am by no means an expert.  If I ever state something wrong.. tell me.. :)

This picture of my little guy just makes me laugh so I wanted to share.. (notice the golf glove and the lollypop)