"Sage" Creations

My Ideal Day! Paula in a neighbors hammock!

This summer went by so quickly I can hardly believe my class at Tri-C begins next week and I am still tweaking my syllabus. There were a number of highlights this summer one was a day trip with a travel buddy to Presque Isle, in Erie, Pa. but I have say taking a digital photography class with my friend Paula was one of the brightest.

My dad was an avid photographer. At one time I thought he might actually switch careers to become a full time photographer but instead it remained one of his passions until just about 3 years ago when macular degeneration took most of his site. Fortunately I reaped the benefits of his interest spending weekends learning how to use his treasured Nikon and develop pictures in our basement darkroom. I can smell the fixer marinating in the tubs, stacks of Kodak colored boxes filled with photo paper sitting next to the enlarger and the inviting red light signaling magic was about to happen. When the opportunity came about it wasn't hard to say yes because the extent of my digital camera skills was Focus, Point & Shoot and this would give me a chance to learn a skill I could use personally as well as professionally. So the class started on July 3rd, 4 hrs, 3 days a week for a month. Paula & I thought we'll go in hear a lecture and leave by noon to take pictures the rest of the afternoon..... NOT THE CASE but we didn't care, most days we wanted to stay longer.

So what was it about this class that made me want to stay longer most days. For starters the professor was very knowledgeable and taught from a creative perspective which I really enjoyed. Second I would have to say is the equipment I got to use. I was able to borrow a Nikon D60 for the class (in camera speak it's a "SWEET") and we were in a brand new photography lab with state of the art Mac computers and Epson printers. My creativity went amok. I took hundreds of photos, discovered the joys & pains of editing and learned new applications in Photoshop I only touched the surface of before this class.The entire experience was opening the windows on a spring day and I was utterly completely in the ZONE. Enough of my chit chat hope you enjoy looking at some the photos I created. Happy snapping!