Your Life As Art Photography by Pam
Artist & Intuitive | Pamela Zmija
Mount Forest Patriots Jr C Hockey Team, a set on Flickr.
Check out photos of the Mount Forest Patriots Hockey Team during the 2012-2013 year! In over 10 years not only did the Mount Forest Patriots coaches receive Coaches of the Year Award and one of our players, Brad Larkin received the Ideal Supply Scholarship Bursary, but they have made it not only INTO the Playoff’s but now into the Semi Finals!!!!!!!!!!GO PATS GO!!!!!!!!!!
SO proud of these boys! They have played their hearts out this year and especially during the playoffs! Game 1 is tonight… they are currently in the 3rd period with the Walkerton Hawks who JUST tied it up… At the end of the 2nd we were winning 2-1 (end of the 1st it was 0-1 for Walkerton). Go Pats Go!!! Cannot wait to shoot more tomorrow night 🙂 Saturday night at home in Mount Forest 8pm! Be there!!!
Although I did just win this little guy and I am very impressed with the capabilities on this camera – see my post from the other day. I am having a very hard time adapting to the smaller DSLR. I am used to my bigger DLSR… so rather than sit and it not be used to its full potential – which as my post says, is a lot! This was a very tough decision for me, Ive played around with it, I love what it can do, however I just prefer my bigger camera, which I have been used to in my hands for over 6 years now (wow!) so, I have decided to sell it.
Today is a day which will hopefully bring more help and sunshine to those who have ever or are suffering in silence.
Mental health, mental illness unfortunately has a stigma and everyday gets ignored, by too many. Those around you could be struggling or be very willing to help their loved ones in need. An invisible illness, yet like Cancer, Mental Illness can and does kill.
Too many people suffer in silence, yet various forms of mental illness are all around us. Have you ever seen a mother ready to pull her hair out ? Of course we all have. As a mother myself of course some days are more stressful, I may feel overwhelmed. I’ve learned to talk, to voice my need, even if it’s simple for 15 minutes in complete silence. There are days I feel I can do it all and others I’m content doing nothing. I’ve learned to take things one step at a time, nothing is perfect, I don’t need to do it all, what truly is important and family is by far the most important.
I am no expert. I am not perfect. I make mistakes just like everyone else. I work hard. I work and live to not be in debt. I enjoy life. I set goals. I cry. I laugh. I love. I am hard on myself. I (now) make time for myself. Photography is my artistic outlet and at times an escape. Being a mom is a hard but very rewarding job. Somedays suck and don’t seem fair. Children know when you’re stressed. Children are the best and (at times) hardest thing that’s happened to me. I have invisible illnesses-they suck, they will always be a (challenge) part of my life. I survived infertility, the scars will always be there. I choose quality over quantity, even in friendships. Love what you do, never compare to anyone else. If you are blessed with a talent, embrace it. Marriage is hard work, the 2nd best job (next to being a mom). My husband is my best friend. I believe it was fate when my husband and I met. I am very proud of my husband and kids. I do not trust others easily. I will never have too much or too little pride. I love technology, so what I’m a computer and camera geek. I adore my cameras, when in my hands we are like magic, capturing timeless moments. I value my talent and education. Being in a family business can be hard and amazing. I look up to and admire my parents. I am thankful. I am natural, I rarely wear make up and love my long red hair. I can’t live without a dog, my cat is special too. I love exercising, yet lack motivation at times. I love food, but can’t love it too much. I stand behind my ethics and values. I am honest and trustworthy. I choose not to be sucked in by fake people. I believe money does not buy love or solve problems. I believe in learning by your own mistakes. I do believe in Karma, sometimes it sucks waiting. I want to be a good example for my kids as a woman, mother and spouse. I sometimes have a hard time letting go and take things personal. I am very sensitive. I’ve been betrayed, it hurts, a lot. I do not believe in ever living a lie. I’m not interested in being or who is popular. I never want to see my kids hurt. I value my relationships. I enjoy spending time with family, friends and am very content also at home. Being near, in or on the water is very peaceful for me. I value tradition. I value respect. I would be crushed if I lost my photos. I pray everyday for my family to be kept safe. I am now finally feeling more comfortable in a crowd. I’ve always been reserved.
I do not have a perfect life, but it’s perfectly mine and I love it.
A young man from our community lost his life this past weekend. My heart aches for his friends and family. A pain no parent should face. A pain he also should not have faced alone.
It’s time to break the silence. This world we all live in is ours, not perfect, just like all of us. We can make the choice to open our minds and our hearts. Let’s talk.
The Truth Will Set You Free!
As a Canon girl, when I received my Nikon I was somewhat lost, everything is backwards as it is with my Canon’s LOL! Alas I can honestly say its a solid little camera. Would I give up my Canon DSLR’s? Nope ! But this little guy will be a perfect purse or pocket companion.
What do I love about this little guy? I can shoot entirely manual – well almost, for my own ease and keeping it more “point and shoot” convenience, I have my ISO set to Auto – which ranges from 100 to 3200! Shots at ISO 3200 aren’t as great as my 5DMIII, Im sure that would be obvious though, but they are still impressive! AND when out tobogganing with friends yesterday I was able to fit the camera with the small lens into my coat pocket – yes it was tight BUT it fit! This image below is at ISO 3200.
One thing I love about my DLSR is I toggle my focal point so rather than the camera choosing what to focus on, I choose. I haven’t figured out if this little guy does that yet, Im hoping so, however if not such is life. Here is one example of if I could have toggled I would have focused on the buggie, in retrospect though Im enjoying the aspect of this shot – also shot in RAW.
This shot I took the same day and also took it in Manual in a break during the storm. Our nest.
This photo was the morning of the storm on Friday, leaving my garage we had over 2 feet of snow to get through. This shows one disadvantage of auto iso… auto anything on a camera wants anything white to be grey – this is not edited in anyway is and SOOC – notice how the snow is grey. All I set was the Aperture and the shutter speed. Yes I should have lowered the SS, however this is where the ISO could compensate and could have increased to 200 at least to get more brightness out of the snow – however thats not what a camera shooting on any auto settings looks for. Also with any variable aperature lenses (which is a lens that has an f that has a range, such as f3.5-5.6) as I zoom in, the aperture closes down more. Which is why this snow shot is f4, I wasn’t right at 10mm when I shot it.
RAW on a point and shoot? Yup… Once you are used to it, you will miss it. Regardless of if they are quick snaps. I took these photos on Saturday while tobogganing with friends. The first was over exposed slightly – I was still adjusting my settings – however IF this had been in RAW I could have easily saved the snow (or any blown areas of a photo). What does “blown” mean? When a part of your photo has zero detail – see the bright parts of the snow.
Now this next photo is shot in RAW, notice how the snow is bright but yet has detail…
What is interesting is that BOTH photos have the exact same settings (except for the aperture) – both have a shutter speed of 1/500th and ISO 100… the bright photo of my daughter has f5.6 aperture (which would let in less light) and the one of my son is f4. Interesting! See how you can save detail. Im a HUGE RAW fan 🙂 Unfortunately when you use a camera in auto modes it does not know how to compensate completely for the very bright areas so when you shoot in RAW you have the ability to correct the image to how it should be properly exposed without having to use completely manual modes – which in all honesty you would have to save some blown areas most times anyway.
Some more from yesterday outside. I did raise my shutter speed so that the snow was not as bright. This little guy handles bright sun quite well. I was impressed!
My boys lol! Notice in this image there is bright snow and shadows, one reason I love shooting in manual and RAW is to ensure the quality of the detail like these areas.
Ignore the winter boogy’s in this photo of my lil lady lol – the colours are gorgeous, this is very very minimal processing. One drawback, even though the background is nice and blurred, I certainly do prefer the creamy brokeh of my Canon DLSR lenses – which I do know the Nikon DSLR lenses are equally as good at producing bokeh. Perhaps with the zoom lens that came with the camera may offer a better bokeh background option.
My loves enjoying the snow!
And… mama’s turn!
All in all, I am quite happy with this V1 as my “compact” alternative, especially to take with me in my purse and never be without my camera – hey you just never know when you will come across something! Does that mean my Mack Daddy 5DMIII will sit on the shelf – not a chance! He was my first choice last night for the hockey game… which by the way – they won!!! I’ll dedicate an entire post to the Patriots!
Yesterday I woke up feeling very rough, two reasons I can admit, one having a kid-less night out and two, the cold I have been fighting for the past week or more had made its way from a head cold to a chest cold and it hurt 😦 This morning I got the kids fed, ready for school and on the bus and went straight back to bed until almost 1pm – unlikely for me. Its helped. Still not feeling the best but feeling better.
After making myself some tea and toast (Im a brand new Davids Tea lover as well now thanks to my mom!), I pulled out my playbook to check emails… low and behold I had one from someone I didn’t know and almost deleted it as junk mail, thank god I did not! The subject line of the email said “Every Photo Tells A Story Photo Challenge” , being sick I was not in the mood to get my brain going with creativity to get myself into the office. However I decided to open it just to glance through it….
The story behind this photo is one that will always bring a tear to my eye. The day I took this photo, was the 2nd day we were in our new home, we moved on June 30th into a home that we both loved and knew we would spend many happy years here watching our kids grow. A huge part of our family was our family dog, my companion who had been around since before my husband and thus before my kids. He truly was my best friend, there for me through thick and thin. The week before we moved we stayed at my parents place and I knew he was not looking very well, he was not his typical self, even though he was an older dog. Moving day he spent the day with Paisley (our cat) at their great grama McLellan’s. I was SO happy to bring them home that night to our new home. The next day, July 1st was hubby’s birthday and also a 3 day ball tournament with the Patriots Jr C Hockey Team, we all fit in quite well and were already enjoying our new space. I will never forget the morning of July 2nd, my boy Elwood just was not his normal self, I had known for some time that his time would be coming, perhaps selfish on my part, I was never ready to say goodbye to him. However this morning it was July 2nd that I knew I was going to have to make this hard decision, I called my husband and mom while in tears, who came right away. Trying to keep myself together for the kids I managed to get Elwood out to the deck from the livingroom, I knew that I had to capture a few last photos of the kids with him.
Even though he was almost 13 years old he always had time for these two kids, he loved them to pieces and watched over them.
And my old man in his new back yard. I truly believe he waited until we got into the house and knew we were going to be ok.
My husband and I took our beloved dog to the vets, a familiar place for our old man Elwood and were both with him as he drifted off to sleep. When we arrived home again, my mom had thankfully began preparing the kids for why our Elwood was not coming home. Even to this day they still mention him and talk about how they miss him. Or on the off moment they remind me they might miss him but they don’t need to because they have Becker now so its ok 😉 After my mom left and hubby went back to the ball diamonds it was just me and the kids, they told mommy they wanted me to be happy, so I said to them lets go outside and mommy would love to take your picture. We went out into our new back yard, a backyard that our old man was only able to enjoy for a day and the kids suggested where to take a picture – in the field right beside us. The horses were not out so I lifted them each over, got myself in place and this photo is what happened…
Why I love this photo is more than just because it is my kids, it is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives, having to say good bye to a very cherished and loved family dog and moving into our new home all within the same weekend, when mommy said to them that I wanted to take a photo to make mommy happy, I didnt have to say any words, give them any direction. They knew. I love it. I will cherish forever.
You can see my entry here -> Vistek Facebook – Every Picture Tells A Story Contest
We are so lucky to have so many gorgeous natural and peaceful locations to photograph at. Where you can relax, be at one with nature and truly breathe in everything around you! Just one of my favorite locations!
Of course mama had to venture out to capture them in the snow, what a gorgeous winter Sunday morning!
He is my big suck. Love this dog so much! He truly is an awesome family dog for our kids to grow with!
The other Sunday morning after one of the heavy snow falls, I was busy in the office when I heard the ever familiar sound of the backhoe coming to plow the driveway, hubby was already out on calls so I called to our boy to tell him who was on the way. Faster than I may have ever seen our boy move before, he had his snow pants, coat, boots and hat on and was out the door. To return just a few moments later announcing he was going with Granpa to plow.
Our little man was in his glory. Our lil lady was almost just as thrilled she had some time completely alone to play. Just after I heard his little voice announcing he got to go, I quickly grabbed my camera to run to the front window.
Priceless moments…
Love these two, a man I admire and look up to and my little man in training! Completely warms my heart, this is the exact reason my love of photography blossomed and I always keep my camera ready to go and near by!
If I was truly given the choice of either having a photography business of any kind or enjoying this passion in the daily life of my family – there is absolutely no question, I love capturing our family’s precious moments, especially as the kids are getting older. Time just goes by so very fast, they’re growing up its seems over night.
Its also why I chose to help found the Mount Forest Camera Club – photography (to me) is much more than just taking photos or making money, its about capturing memories and treasured moments forever! Being a working mom with two busy kids and finding time for myself everyday to work out, photography is my “me” time and I am LOVING the artistic view I see this world in. Whether its snowing, raining, leaves falling or sun shining. I had someone ask me why I helped start the camera club when I have in the past had clients, its very simple, my family comes first, Photography is a pure love of mine, photography is artistic and everyone has their own view and ability, photography will never become “work” to me, I am lucky to have a full time job I love and photography is a passion, I LOVE to talk photography lol, competition is normal – yet I would never compete for photography work.
These photos above are the true reason for taking the leap into photography, which is funny because for a lot of photographer’s its our kids who build this passion within us, its like becoming a mom opens up this new part of us being a mom and our great desire to share with other moms and families. Its a blessing… a true blessing that I am so very thankful for! These images above and the time I have taken over the years to build at my skills, the time I still take to invest in this amazing part of me and hobby, my investment and knowledge of my equipment. All an investment in me.
Now off to enjoy my other blessings, my children, home and first off … something for myself – Jillian and I have an appointment for exercise 😉 Another love of mine as of these last 3 weeks – who knew I could actually enjoy fitness 😉 Best of all I can make much needed time for myself for something important, it may be called a “work out” but it doesn’t have to be only “work” I make time for 😉
PS part of my love of photography includes photographing the Mount Forest Patriots Jr C Hockey Team… which I will be doing tonight at their home game 8pm in Mount Forest – would LOVE to see you ALL out to cheer them on!!! Especially their sponsors!!!
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