Remember I said Spending Too Much Time on the 'Puter?

Yup, I did. That was me. Here is a little something I finished off a few nights ago, I wanted to document all that we did this summer. I saw the idea in the august 2010 Scrapbooks Etc. magazine. I scraplifted the idea from Candi Gershon.

When I look back through my albums, I have to laugh at the transformation I've gone through. I started out quite simplistic [well actually, I started out cutting around pictures with fancy scissors... Eeks] Then I went through a phase where every layout had to be a 2 page spread. The pages HAD to go with one another, absolutely HAD to. Then, I went through a phase that I had one picture per page. Lately, with digital scrapbooking, I've had LOTS of pictures per page. I love that you can manipulate and re-size, with out having to cut up pictures. I love the freedom it gives me to change things up. So far my 2010 album is very plentiful in the way of pictures.

Did I mention I was taking an on-line class? I am. It's about getting out from behind the camera and capturing yourself in photos. I am shocked when I look through pictures of our vacation, or really, our every day, and see how few pictures there are of me. So, when I came across this class, Finding my Joy, I thought it might be useful.

She teaches you how to take good 'self-portraits'. She talks about camera angles, camera settings, posing, lighting. She encourages you to take a bunch of pictures of yourself, using a tripod and the self-timer on your camera. She gives tips and advice, and tells you to go off and try it. Which I've done. And yes, I feel like a total dork. And I'm sure I look like a total dork. I don't know how many pictures I've taken, but there are only a few that I would be willing to share. Barry is seriously wondering if I've joined up with an on-line dating service and have something I need to share with him. [And in his shoes, coming home from work and finding a tripod and camera set up in our bedroom, I can sorta see where he's coming from] But let me set this straight, first and foremost, it's was a NATURAL LIGHT thing... Honest, cross my heart. I went where the light was.

So after dozens of pictures [and a few wardrobe changes] I had all these pictures. The process is running back and forth to the camera, focusing on an image that's supposed to be me, setting my timer and returning to my posing position... I attempted to try the things she suggested, and in my mind, they came across as me looking suggestive. [Seriously, when I review the pictures, it's no wonder Bar's wondering what the heck is going on] But again today, I set up my camera and took pictures of myself. Then said to Madelyn, "Come sit with Mummy", which she did, and I got this shot. And it's totally staged. I knew what I was planning on doing, but you just can't control what a 5 year old might do. But she did what she did, and I got this shot. And I LOVE it.


So, maybe I'll be in a few more shots... [And just WHERE did this little blondie come from?]