One step, one day at a time

I used to think being a photographer boiled down to the art of picture-taking. And at its core, of course that IS what it's about.

But I'm also learning there is a lot more to it than just pressing the camera's shutter button and saying 'That's it. I'm done!"

Truth is, after I've put my camera away, I'm not "done." I haven't even started.

There is SO much to learn when you are new to this art form — and I'm not even talking about how to better use my camera in manual mode — and the learning curve is so steep, that it is easy to feel completely overwhelmed and question yourself about little things.

All that being said, I am reminding myself that, as Bob says, life's challenges are better approached in baby steps. So that's what I'm doing ... just sticking with this goal of mine and ending the day happy if I've done any of the following:

• Picked up my camera and taken even one image.
• Flipped through a photography book and learned one new thing.
• Trolled the photo forums I stalk online and discovered something (a camera setting, a software suggestion, a composition tip) that I didn't know before.

Tonight, my baby steps have come in learning how to use Lightroom (that's the image editing software a lot of pro photographers use and that I currently have a trial copy of) and its presets for touching up images.

Here's a sampling of what I did from a shoot pre-Christmas of my friend TJ's daughter, Riley. The preset gives it a bit of an "antique" feel. You like?