Guest post by Alisa Whitley, one of the tasra365 challenge photographers. If you’d like to be a guest blogger or featured photographer on tasramar.com, leave a comment below.
I’ve had a love of photography since I was eight years old but I didn’t start seriously learning the art until about ten years ago. Due to this thing called life, I let my photography fade into the background…(like the play on words??)
Looking for the lost artist…
As my everyday life seemed to get more stressful, I found myself looking for a way to let the artist in me out again – so I picked up my camera. I needed a push, a challenge, something to stretch me so I would learn new things. I started attending the local PUG meetings and met some wonderful photographers. One of them mentioned Tasra’s 365 challenge and I decided that was what I needed to motivate myself and improve my photography.
Water Abstract Photo © Alisa Whitley
What have these first few weeks of a year long journey taught me?
- I’ve found there are some amazing photographers that are more than willing to help me.
- I’ve made new friends, learned that my photography reflects more of my personality than I realize, and I’ve found I still have a lot to learn.
- Looking back on the photos I’ve taken these first few weeks, I see myself in them much more than I thought I would.
- I tend to be a detail person – many of my photos are macro and detail shots.
- Unusual things tend to catch my eye – having a camera handy gives me the opportunity to share what I see.
- I love to learn new things – I’ve already tried a few things I have seen in viewing other photographer’s work and found out by reading my manual that my camera does more than I thought!
- I want to share what I’ve learned – some of my friends have asked “how did you do that?” and I’ve been happy to share.
- Most of my photos are of places and things – I need to get out of my comfort zone and take more photos of people.
- I’m still trying to figure out exactly what my style is – I know every click of the shutter brings me one step closer.
I’m Telling a Story… My Story
My main goal with this project is to improve my photography, but looking back at the images I’ve taken I realize I’m telling a story – my story, day by day. Some days may be mundane and others exciting. Some days I may be challenged to keep going and shoot just anything, other days my photos may be filled with more emotion than I really wanted to show. But isn’t that what photography is all about?
"Falling Apart" Photo © Alisa Whitley
Today I can look at that first photo I took when I was eight years old and I go back to that day….I want to capture the moments that tell the story whether it’s a special event or everyday life. I can already see an improvement in my photography. Hopefully after 365 days the improvement will be 300%.
On Pinterest? 
