Challenge Your Photography Skills

by MCA Designs on March 5, 2010

Roll call. Got skillz? Have you been wanting to improve your photography skills?

Recently, I have had numerous friends asking me to help them to take better pictures.  Like any good friend would do, I have pointed them in the direction of my favorite photography books and sites.  You would think with all the great new resources I’ve recommended, they would be off and running.  But no, think again.  Every time I point them in the direction of another resource, they point their fingers back at me.  “We want it to come from YOU, not someone else!”  This has gone on, back and forth, for many months.

All the while, I have been trying to figure out what I can do to appease them.  I feel like an impostor.  I do not consider myself an expert by any means, so charging for a class was out of the question.  Finally, after thinking about what has had the most influence on me, I came to the conclusion that a photo challenge group would be the best route to take.

When I first developed an interest in photography, I happened to be participating in a forum where there was a weekly photo challenge.  The challenge was not usually all that difficult – just one word.  However, this weekly challenge is one of the greatest things that contributed to my increasing interest in photography and the improvement of my photography skills.

This is how it will work.

Each Friday, I will post a Friday Photo Challenge.  I may offer a tip or some type of instruction or explanation, and also a “word”.  The word will represent the challenge.  Your photos should represent the word.  You will have all week to post your photo in the Flickr Friday Photo Challenge gallery. There you will be able to view other members’ photos, be inspired, and comment on them.

This week’s challenge:

This site is all about encouraging creativity.  I believe that the God who created the universe, day and night, land and sea, the heavens and the earth, is the ultimate Author of creativity- The Creator.  He also created you and me in His own image; therefore, I believe that no matter how each individual is wired, we were all made to be creative.

I am not going to give you a skill challenge this week.  Just one word.  Creative.

Take a photo that represents the word creative.  Go ahead. Take several.  Then, upload your favorite one to the Friday Photo Challenge gallery.  Spend some time there and allow yourself to be inspired by the way others have interpreted this word.

You can click on the Friday Photo Challenge button in the sidebar to register for the group.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Be sure to link up here with Mr. Linky if you post your Friday Photo Challenge favorite to your blog.

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Winner of Hear No Evil

by MCA Designs on February 24, 2010

Random.org has chosen Joe C. (aka @jojosfire ) as the winner of Matthew Paul Turner’s new book, Hear No Evil. Congratulations Joe! Please contact me with a mailing address so that I can send your book to you.

Thank you to all that participated. I will be giving away another book very soon.

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P{otd} February 20th

February 21, 2010

This weekend Kate led worship for a Disciple Now event. We went tonight, and I took a few photos. Let me just say that this band was incredible! It was the first time that all seven had worked together but you would have never known. 
This is my photo of the day for February [...]

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Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul Turner

February 17, 2010

Book Review and Giveaway
Hear No Evil is by far the best book I’ve read recently in the non-fiction Christian genre.  Matthew Paul Turner shares his journey from a Christian fundamentalist upbringing, which even swore off christian music as being “the devil’s excrement”, to his career in the music business with transparency, authenticity and humor.  [...]

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Valentine’s Day Gift

February 14, 2010

Nothing says “I love you” like a big country-style breakfast with heart-shaped biscuits, right? I was trying to speak my man’s love language – not food – “acts of service”. I rarely cook breakfast, which is one of his favorite meals. So, I thought I’d serve him on Valentine’s Day. I even [...]

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Makeover

February 13, 2010

Many of you asked to see my new hairstyle the other day… So, here it is!  My genius hair wizard (a.k.a. Kate Carlson) did a great job executing the hair ideas floating around inside my head. That in itself is no easy task!
You may also notice that my blog got a  makeover and an upgrade [...]

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Praying for a Community

February 6, 2010

This is my friend, Dedra, getting ready for Blissdom 2010 earlier in the week. I was sitting in a chair talking to her, and noticed that the light from the window was shining in on her face just right. She looked so beautiful and happy scouring over her workshops for the weekend. I knew that [...]

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Spoiled Brat

February 5, 2010

A couple of weeks ago, I pulled a load of towels out of the dryer, and went upstairs for about 2 minutes. I came back downstairs to find this:

Just in case you cannot clearly see how he’s stretched his body across the warm towels, here is another view:

It was really cold outside, and I suppose [...]

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365: P{otd} January Recap

February 1, 2010

I joined the Designer Digitals’ P{hoto} a Day group about a week or so into January. I typically take lots of photos anyway, so only a few days are missing. I was disappointed that I did not take a single photo on Cole’s actual birthday. I guess I took so many at his party the [...]

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It’s Great to Be 8!

February 1, 2010

My photo of the day is my nephew celebrating his eighth birthday. He had his party at Laser Adventures. While I have some hilarious photos from the game (mostly of the big kids dads playing like their life depended on it), I wanted today’s focus to be on my nephew and the fact that he [...]

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