Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Finding My Eye: Creative Breakthroughs 2012

Sunday's assignment in Kat's Journey of Fascination class was to look back at my recent past and try to pinpoint things that caused Breakthroughs in my creative work. These three stood out in 2012.


Creative Community
My first creative breakthrough in 2012 came in the form of a creative community. This community came from a Facebook Group formed from the class participants of Kim Klassen's Behind the Scenes blog related class. These are my best friends that I have never met. The support of like-minded people that "get" you is priceless. We encourage, motivate, learn from and even enable each other. I would not be where I am today without this group, literally, since my friend Viv introduced me to Kat.


Lightroom
Before I took Kim Klassen's Lightroom class - Roundtrip, I was shooting in jpeg and doing minimal processing in iPhoto. After taking Roundtrip, I was confident enough to shoot in RAW and process in Lightroom. The creative freedom that shooting in RAW has given me is again priceless.


Walk and Click Wednesday
In early September a friend that I met in my creative FaceBook Group, started a feature on her blog called Walk and Click Wednesday. I fell in love with this idea of going out for a walk once a week, exploring with my camera and then posting those results on Wednesdays. I now have a "bucket list" of over 20 places I want to go explore and shoot this year.

**These are my creative breakthroughs in 2012. I will post my creative breakthroughs in 2013 in a separate post.

13 comments:

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

Dear Sarah so lovely thanks for mentioning me I am honoured I too bless the day that Denise started groupies it's so lovely to share with people who understand how I tick. I've still not gone down the RAW route as I can't then process directly on my iPad which I love doing but Lightroom well it has resurrected photographs that I thought were beyond saving. here's to more adventures.....

Helen said...

I can identify with all your breakthoughs as I went through the same ones too at the same time! It wasn't obvious back then though.... so it's good to look back and recognise these moments. I think we're blossoming ok aren't we?!

Roxi H said...

It's been a wonderful journey for you hasn't it? I love to see people grow! And that you have.

Kat Sloma said...

You discovered some great things for yourself around creative breakthroughs, Sarah. Knowing that having a creative community inspires you, along with having the challenge of classes and exercises like Walk and Click Wednesday, can keep you moving ahead. Isn't it fun to look back and see what's important to your artistic growth? It makes it easier to keep moving ahead!

Unknown said...

It has been a wonderful journey following along with you as your photography and creativity continue to grow!!

Justine said...

what a wonderful journey and I love seeing how you have evolved

Denise Fabian said...

Could definitely agree with number 1 and number 2 for me, too!!! It has been a wonderful journey...

Lissa Forbes said...

Thanks so much for the shout out, Sarah. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do a Walk and Click together one day!! Your continued support brings little tears of joy!! I love the picture of your hand on the keyboard ... what a beautiful ring. ;-> I've yet to shoot raw ... I'm having trouble with laptop performance and those files are soooo big. I know I should get started. Thanks for sharing your heart and your talent, my friend. ;->

smiles, Sharon said...

Good morning...clear and beautiful here. I love how everyone is sharing different facets of their breakthrough moments. We are all different. I rather LOVE your paisley rain boots...they make me want to get out and do some walking myself!!! Thank you for visiting my posting, I too was in rainboots, but rather plain jane boots at best...anyway, I appreciate what you have shared and agree that having a community does spur one onto shooting more and more and thus one can't help but improve. Your Wednesday group sounds marvelous..so fortunate.
I am still working on Lightroom and ready to give up....but when I read you and others are making it through I figure I should "buck up" and try again..... Thank you for your thoughtful posting, and yes, your photos are beautiful, very clear and vibrant, just the way I love photos. smiles; sharon

Anonymous said...

I so agree with everything you posted - we have been blessed.

Cathy H. said...

Wonderful post! You chose some beautiful images to represent your words! I'm struggling with this exercise! Have yet to write anything. I'm so glad we met through Kat's class. I enjoy your blog and wonderful images. You then led me to Walk and Click Wednesdays which I enjoy very much!

Anonymous said...

These are wonderful breakthroughs, Sarah. I took Kim's Roundtrip, too, though I haven't tried shooting in RAW yet. (Were we in that class at the same time, I wonder?) And today I joined in on Walk & Click Wednesdays for the first time. That creative community connection makes it all so much more fun!

Deborah Tisch said...

Sarah,
I remember when I began shooting in RAW about a year ago and how it changed what I do with my images. Thanks for reminding me of this creative breakthrough...it truly does have a big impact on what we can do with our images. Your photos here are so beautiful!