Favorite Photos of 2010

Okay!

This is the last "looking back" post. 

It's time to move on.

But.. the You Capture theme for this week is "your top ten pictures of 2010."

I've looked back at our silly year and our favorite family moments,

but this one is kind of all about me 

and what I've learned in regards to photography in the last year.

This is one of my very favorites because

a) it's awesome!

b) it's the very first picture that I took using the manual settings on my dslr

I had no clue what I was doing 

NONE at all!

The picture below was my first attempt to "shoot the moon" on auto settings.

But after I pushed this button and moved that dial and took a picture and another and another 

I got the picture I wanted.

And I was excited!!

The daffodil shot was just one of hundreds of pictures that I took on a trip to a local park/ botanical garden.

I love that it feels like a water color painting

And that's when I learned about bokeh.

I know nothing about taking night shots.

I have yet to use a tripod for anything.

And I was just randomly adjusting the settings without a clue as to what I was doing.

But I love, love, love this fourth of July shot.

The color!

I love the color on this one!

And this one too. 

Love the color.

This one just makes me happy.

I almost never edit my shots.  

Mostly because I haven't a clue how to use photoshop,

but I did add a slight texture and color to the shot with Picnik.

Oh!  And here's where I remembered that I could switch from auto-focus to manual focus.

I could not get the camera to focus on these little tiny branches that were swaying in the wind 

and I think the light was throwing the camera off too.

And a light bulb appeared over my head 

and the heavenly angels sang alleluia

and a voice came to me and said, "Manual Focus."

Or something like that... 

(really, though... that's kind of how it felt.)

I'm not sure if this is my favorite portrait,

(I do like it)

but it is the first time that I got brave enough to shoot someone in manual mode.

Guess what... it worked.  :)

Fun bokeh.

And this one.... 

I love the light.

(I think I like my pictures just slightly over-exposed.)

I love that it tells a story.

It makes me smile.

I've learned Soooooo Much this year!!!

And I have sooooooo much more to learn.

Like editing.

And metering.

I just read a whole article on metering and you know what I heard?

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah

really... I haven't a clue what it all meant.

I'm just waiting for that light bulb moment when metering all makes sense to me.

Maybe it will happen in 2011.