A Girl & Her Camera
In Italy!
A photo journal by Ellie Rose Photo
For this practicum I wanted to increase awareness of my brand name, Ellie Rose Photo. In order to this, I wanted to enter into contests and showcase my work for the semester by holding a private gallery. I didn’t accomplish as much as I wanted to, but I did learn a great deal.
To start out my practicum, I did a lot of research with looking into different photo contests. There truly are a lot out there. However, I learned that most of them require an entry fee. We are on a budget, so I was not too keen on paying an entry fee. Most of the photo contests I was interested in required the fee. However, I did not seek to enter them because of the fee. I wanted to start out smaller with the contests. I had stated in my contract that one of my dreams is to be published in the National Geographic magazine. I researched the contests a great deal and found that you had to participate in an excursion in order to qualify to enter. That entry fee is a thousand or more dollars! This new found knowledge did not damper my dream to be published in that magazine, it just helped me understand what my new goal was and I was able to determine the next steps I need to take to make that goal a reality. This was a pattern that I found occurring a lot during my practicum this semester—a lot of the things I was doing were helping me to understand the smaller goals I need to complete first.
I had finally found two contests that I wanted to enter into that did not require an entry fee. One of them was for a local magazine out here in the Chesapeake Bay. I was really excited about this contest and I was looking at the past winning photos and reading up on the requirements for the contest. There were five different categories and all those who entered were allowed to submit one photo in each category. I compiled the information into a spreadsheet along with the information for the other contest I was interested in. I felt very prepared and ready to enter the contest. The deadline wasn’t for a couple months, so I decided to keep looking around at different contest. The time for the deadline was quickly approaching, so I picked out a spot along the Chesapeake Bay to go and take pictures. Right before leaving I wanted to double-check the requirements for the photos. As I looked at the deadline I realized I had missed it by 30 days! I was so disheartened. I thought I had done a good job at staying organized, but I was greatly mistaken. I decided to go out and take pictures anyways. It was a beautiful day in our city. As my husband and I were getting near to the spot where I had chosen to take pictures the sky turned dark grey and mist rose all through the area. These are not ideal circumstances for taking outdoor photos, especially for an amateur. As the day seemed to be getting worse and worse, I decided to not let it get me down and went out anyway. It wasn’t raining and there was some light, so I thought this would be a good experience for me with practicing taking shots in different types of weather.
Surprisingly, I got some really great shots. I was able to get to know my camera in these circumstances and I was able to see what it could really do. Below is one of my favorite shots of the day:
One contest I entered was for Deseret Book. It was a temple picture contest. It was a free one that you entered. It was one of those where people vote and I didn’t find out about it for a while so when I entered it, there were only 5 days left in the contest. It was more of a “get all of your friends to vote for you” contest. I enjoyed doing it and reading some comments from my friends and acquaintances about the photo. Here is the photo I entered: It is of the Orlando Temple.
Next on my agenda after entering into contest and really having much success, I was working on getting ready for my gallery. My husband and I went on our belated honeymoon this semester to Italy, so I was going to do my gallery on those photos. We just returned this past Friday, so getting ready for the showing, which is tonight, has felt a bit rushed. Again, I thought the deadline for the report wasn’t until the fourth of April, but when I received the email saying it was due on the second of April, I panicked just a little bit. I have been preparing for it Saturday and today, picking out the pictures to use and editing them. I just got back from the printers and I am very, very pleased with how everything turned out. I am really excited for the show tonight. My last gallery I had all the pictures in frames, but I decided to do something a little different for this one. In Italy, most people don’t own dryers so they always hang out their laundry to dry. I decided to incorporate this into my gallery tonight. Some pictures will be in frames, but a lot will be on a string held on by clothespins. In Italy, I learned a more about shooting and framing the picture. Last semester I focused mainly on buildings and nature—things that didn’t move. While in Italy, I really wanted to capture the life and culture of the people there. I learned the hard way to always be ready for a shot. We visited Rome, Florence, and Venice. I love water and really wanted to capture the Italians life on water. I got a lot of practice with being ready to take the shot. It was fun to follow the boat to the exact point in the frame where I wanted the shot. I also learned that I should get faster with getting the right exposure. I realized that taking good shots requires a lot of practice in many different settings. I really want to become a well-seasoned, well-rounded photographer and I feel that I am getting much better at my skills as a landscape photographer, but I wish to start moving on to portraits. With these last seven months of really focusing on photography I have learned a great deal.
I feel that I have not accomplished much according to the world’s standards, but I feel that where I have accomplished the most is within myself. I really am gaining more confidence in my skills and talents. I am grateful for all the critique I have received from both seasoned photographers and viewers. I know that I have lots to offer the world, but more importantly to offer my family. I have been able to capture wonderful memories through the lens of my camera. I am also grateful for the lack of success this semester with all of my entering into contests. It is amazing how much you ccan learn from success, but also how much you can learn from failure. I now realize where my weakness lies and I know how I can improve it—being more organized! I look forward to the future and what lies ahead with Ellie Rose Photo.
My gallery has gone very well thus far. The idea of the clothespins was great! I loved it! I love showing the photos and seeing people reactions to them. It is still so amazing to me to feeling I get when I transfer the digital picture onto a real print. There is nothing like seeing what you have created. The following pages are more pictures from the gallery.
Here is the Rome Italy Temple in the making! It was very exciting to see the work continue to progress.
if your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.
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