A month of learning: the results!

Where have I been these last 4 weeks?! With my nose glued to the back of my camera!

I finally finished up my Natural Light 101 workshop through ClickinMoms and I'm so sad that it is over. The CM workshops are really an incredible experience, I highly recommend them. So to catch you up on my absence, I wanted to share the results of this class. Be forewarned, this is very photo heavy!

Quick note before we begin. These shots are not SOOC (straight out of camera), but they are also not heavily processed. I adjusted white balance, slightly nudged exposure, and might have added a smidge of vibrancy to some of them. Those small changes do make a big difference but I haven't done anything wild and crazy. The backgrounds and lighting are all very very real.

Week 1, we worked on natural light indoors. I'll spare you these shots since you see indoor work from me all the time!

Week 2, we finally headed outside and worked on open shade:

Week 3, backlighting, was the one I was most excited about. I love love love those hazy sunset type photos I see in portrait photographer's albums. Words can't even begin to describe how I would fail time and again trying to capture that effect. I can only imagine what passersby thought when they heard me squealing when I saw these on the back of my camera:

But perhaps the most challenging part of that week was finding a spot to do indoor backlighting with window light. I love this photo and it will truly be a classic in our family:

We finished Week 4 with silhouettes which are not really my thing. We had horrible weather that week and because of the timing of sunset, it was super challenging to do with the nap schedules/dinner time. I almost didn't even do my homework that week but Handyman Tim pushed me to at least give it a try. I'm so glad he did:

I loved taking this workshop during the fall with all the gorgeous colors but the hardest part is going to be waiting till next spring to get outside and really play. I'm so excited to take the family out on photo adventures now that I know how to use the light properly. Yippee for natural backdrops and scenery! And double yippee for having photos that are so much better than my "before" shots!