Favorite Photos of 2014

At the beginning of 2014, I told Seth that I wanted to spend the year really studying photography. I had exhausted all I could do on my own, and I had developed a desire to learn. Not just technical things for taking better photos, but the works of other photographers as well. If there's one thing I find myself really enjoying, it's studying something I'm passionate about. So, I did just that (and I'm still at it). I read hundreds of books and blogs, started my own notebook of things I wanted to remember, perused thousands of photos on flickr, pinterest, and my dad's overflowing stash. I even watched hours of tutorials on youtube.

My goal was to see a difference in my photography from last year to this, to perhaps see if this is something I want to pursue as profitable hobby instead of just a enjoyable one. I've learned a few things about the whole process and myself as a photographer. Not only can I see a difference in my photos, but I feel so much more confident and satisfied with photography, and that is probably more important to me than the actual photos themselves. I feel like I generally know what I'm doing now, whereas before, half the time I was going on a gut feeling and a prayer.

I have learned that I am most pleased by photojournalism style photos, especially in black and white. These are also probably the most challenging for me to shoot, but I enjoy pursuing the photos in my head. I've learned that part of being a good photographer is poring over other people's photos and finding inspiration and learning from them. I've learned that Dorothea Lange is my favorite photographer, not only because of her moving images from Depression-era America, but because she was also a deep thinker and wrote beautifully about the art of capturing photos. I have learned that photography is a better way for me to express myself than writing (alas, poor blogs!). When dad died, I couldn't form words about it, but I could shoot what was in my heart. I've also learned how to do fun things like long exposure shots and different flash techniques and reading the histogram and editing in photoshop (even though I still don't have photoshop).

I'm excited about 2015 in this area. I'm going to start saving for a full frame camera. We're planning to update my poor, literally hanging on by a thread laptop to a better computer for editing. Once that's done, I'll start working with Photoshop (still intimidated by that one.) I have a new external flash to learn. I've got a list of potential projects and photo essays I'd like to work on. And still on the horizon is the possibility of getting into stock photography. We shall see!

And I'll still be checking out a constant stream of photography books from the library.

Here are some of my favorite shots from this year.