Project 52: Week 1

January 5, 2014 By DorkyMum in Photography Tags: 52 week photography project, phototography, Project 52 6 Comments

In 2012 I completed the 52 Week Project – taking a photo a week and sharing it on the blog. Last year I decided not to do it again and, in retrospect, I regret that. 2013 was so busy for us, and my poor blog was often neglected for weeks at a time. It would have been nice to keep it ticking over with some simple photo posts. It would also have been nice to share some of our adventures in picture form, rather than always feeling the need to write a long post about them.

For those reasons, I’ve decided I’m going to try and complete Project 52 again in 2014. In addition to the basic rule of taking and sharing at least one photo each week, I’ve given myself two additional challenges.

Firstly, I want to start using my DSLR more, instead of always snapping away on my iPhone. I love the convenience of phone pics – I almost always have it with me, and I can upload photos straight to my blog or Facebook without having to transfer them onto my laptop first. But I have dedicated macro and portrait lenses for my lovely Nikon, and I am determined to make better use of them both this year. Continue reading →

Tasmanian Spring: In Pictures

December 4, 2013 By DorkyMum in Photography, Tasmania Tags: Hobart, International Wall of Friendship, Lazy May Markets, Photography, Tasmania 27 Comments

It is three months this week since we arrived in Hobart, four weeks since we moved into our new house. I’m holding out hope that one day soon I will actually have time to sit down and write a proper blog post again – there is so much that I want to say, and so few hours in the day – but in the meantime, I thought I’d share some photos of what we’ve been up to.

Admiring the colours of spring.

Continue reading →

Photography with Children

October 10, 2013 By DorkyMum in Family, Photography Tags: children's cameras, children's photography, good camera for children, kids camera, kids photography, photography with children, VTech Kiddizoom 5 Comments

A version of this post appeared on the Just Photos By Me blog earlier in the year.

When DorkySon turned four, back in March, one of the presents we bought him was a camera. He had been showing an interest in my camera for a year or so prior to that, but it’s a heavy DSLR and he isn’t really strong or careful enough yet to use it without supervision. So we decided to get him one of his own – something that we’d be happy to let him loose with unsupervised. Photography is one of those things where I believe you learn best by messing around and making your own mistakes, so I wanted something that would be easy for him to use and wouldn’t necessitate me hovering over his shoulder the entire time.

We settled on a VTech Kiddizoom. It is not perfect, by any means. I wish it only took photos, rather than having all the games and clipart nonsense included, and I wish the picture quality were better, but as a starter camera – something to use while DorkySon decides whether he’s really interested in photography or not – it is fine. It is chunky enough that he can hold it and use the controls himself. It has been dropped and clunked into things once or twice and seems to have survived. Continue reading →