Saturday, October 26, 2019

I am a Scavenger

I've been a Scavenger for a while now.   It seemed such a little thing, but it has made a HUGE impact on my photography, my attitude, my confidence and my life.
That may sound a bit mellow-dramatic, but I assure you, it is not!!!

I have done things.
Many things.
I never would have done these things if not for the Scavenger Tribe!!

I remember the first time I heard about this thing called the Photo Scavenger Hunt on a now obsolete platform called G+. Ron Clifford had shared a link for the signups in his stream. I had recently joined this thing called G+, discovered him there and immediately followed him because I loved his style of photography. This was at the beginning of my own photography journey. I was still discovering my love for photography and learning on a whole new level!
I had NO idea the journey I had put my self on!!

I said "I'm in!" for the first time in March of 2015..... I remember it being so fun to see a group of people that enjoyed photography AND each other!
The first meetup had just happened and there were many post in my stream about how awesomely wonderful it had been.  I'm guessing Ron was commenting on some posts as well, so I saw the posts that way!  It looked like a fabulous time was had by all!!!
It got me very motivated to jump in and become a part of this "community".
What I didn't realize at the time was how truly WONDERFUL being part of this community would be!   I had NO idea of the friendship that would form, the connections across the world that would be made, the encouragement I would receive, the happiness I would have from meeting people in real life!
 That's right!!!
This small town girl right here got on a plane (for the fist time ever) flew across the country (Alabama to Nevada) to meet people I had only "met" on the internet!!!!

It.
Was.
Epic.

I cannot describe to you how absolutely wonderful it was to meet these precious people!!
These Scavengers.
My tribe!

Life changing. Enormous amounts of FUN. Hugs galore. Photography.  LAS VEGAS!!!!

That will be a blog for another day.....

For now, I'd like to take a look back at my first ever Hunt Photos.
It was Round 15...there were 10 words.

....quick explanation on how it works..... It happens about four times a year. There is a "sign up" day. On that day you say (type) "I'm in" if you want to participate in the Hunt.  After you sign up, we are given the rules of the Hunt.
My favorite rule is "Have FUN"!!!!
It's important.
There are a few technical rules about how to post the photos, how to name the photos, how to participate in general.
Then, we get the List.

The list is sacred.

The list is magical.

Every.

Time.

We are not allowed to talk about the list outside of that particular Round's community!!! (It's one of the rules!)  (it causes confusion, jealousy and world hunger. The list must be guarded at all cost!!)
We are given 7 - 10 words to interpret into photographs!!!
Sounds easy, right?!!?

My first list was as follows:

Bite


Bliss

Cobweb

Curved 

Greasy
  
Hang in There 


LadyBug

Risk



Wax

Yellow























I SO wish I could take you back to see all of the FABULOUS interpretations of these words!!! Let me tell you.....Scavengers are amazing, creative and fun!! For each word there are hundreds of interpretations!!!
So.
Much.
Creativity!!!
I was hooked after this round!!!
I haven't missed a single round since my first sign up!!!
Even when I was at my own personal worst, (life was very ugly for me for a bit there) the Hunt helped me focus on something else for a while!
I have submitted a photo for every word on each List.  Not always the best photography, I'm a work in progress, but motivation to keep plugging on.
The List has made me think outside of the box, inside the box, under the box, through the box, around the box, and made me look for the essence of the box!
It is because of the Hunt that I found the Arcanum. I learned more about photography and post processing under my Master Instructor, Bob Young. As an apprentice in the Arcanum I had access to people all over the world giving feedback to help me improve my skills. Much like the Scavenger Hunt, but consistently.  It was like having my Tribe with me every day, not just during the Hunt!!! It was another of my life changing experiences.

Because of the Hunt (and consequently, the Arcanum) I now have my own photography business, a web page for my work and have made actual money doing something that I absolutely LOVE!!!
<<<  My website  >>>

I found my niche, my style and my voice because of the Photo Scavenger Hunt, the people of the Hunt (my Tribe) and the process of the Hunt.

My latest entries for Round 26.....I think (hope!!) you will see a bit of improvement....


Courage

Coward

Curtain 

Home 















Monkey

Rainbow

Road

Selective Color

Sepia

Wizard
You can see everyone's entries here ----> Round 26
I highly recommend that you go see just what this Photo Scavenger Hunt is all about!!!

This is not the end of my story, just a quick  look into how it started!!!!
I will forever be grateful to the people of the Hunt.... Chrysta who had the idea and made it happen, kept it fun, Lauri and Elizabeth who have kept it going through ALL of the changes that were forced upon us,  and each person of the Scavenger Tribe.
Y'all are in my heart, always.

#HappySads

Friday, October 25, 2019

Life happens when we're not paying attention!!

Well, Hey Y'all!!!
It's been a minute since I last posted...SO much life has happened. 
Tragedy and triumph.
Loss and gain.
Death and life.
It would take me ages to sort out the whole story so let's suffice to say....it's good to be back!!! 
I've been doing things..... lots of things.

I'm now considered a "professional" photographer!!! Although, I still have so much to learn! Since I have been paid for (many) jobs that seems to make one a professional. Who knew?!?! 
I also have a website (with a blog that is also neglected) where I post my work. I'll post a link in a later blog. 

I also started working outside of our home!!! O.o  That's probably the biggest change for me!!! The Army decided they needed my husband in a different place. An hour and fifteen minute  drive form our home!! =/ That change along with the actual job change put our budget in a deficit for a while there!!! It was tough at first, but we adjusted, made some changes and I started working part time. We didn't love it, but it helped.  There is not much funny in this story, but our family has had some really good times together these past few years!!! 



My oldest child is now a National Guard soldier!!!! He graduated (homeschool) high school (early)(because he worked hard!) and shipped to Basic training in April!!  Since he is National Guard he is now home and working on getting his college stuff going. The Army does not make it easy, but he is making progress!! It is important to us that he gets his college in before joining full time. He wants to be an officer one day and this is the best way for him to reach his goals!!! 


My middle child continues her pursuit of musical knowledge and writing prowess!! She is so talented!!! I could listen to her play the piano all day!! She is also teaching herself the guitar, ukulele and cello!!! There is no boundary to what she can accomplish when she sets her mind to it!!!  She still has a desire to be a fireman. She is finishing up her latest book. 90,000+ words. 350+ typewritten pages!!!!  She is discovering she enjoys science, through the fabulous teachings of my sciencey friend!!! 



My baby boy is still the same fun loving kid as he has always been  just taller, much taller!!! He enjoys mentioning that he is taller than me frequently!!  It's adorable!! He was the shortest of us for so long and very recently has grown past me and his sister!!! He has discovered a love for classical music!! Playing it on the piano and listening to it while doing math or whatever!!! I couldn't be happier!!! I share a love a classical music with my dad and now with my son!! =) 




We had a few pet additions to our family as well, but they deserve their own blog so I'll save their intro for another time!!!

Blessings!!!