NoBs Digital Dogbowl
The NoBs Digital Dogbowl Newsletter:
Keeping you up to date and informed on the latest, coolest, and outrageous happenings inside the world of NoBS Photo Success.
Loaded with Free photography tips, Photoshop tutorials, photo reviews,
and other totally relevant essentials. Be sure to check out the whole thing!
Member of the Month: AussieGirl
I have always grown up around photos. My father was a good amateur photographer and took some great photos of us kids growing up. Each year, Mum would dress us up in our Sunday finest and we’d traipse down to the local shopping centre to have our family portrait taken against the standard blue mottled canvas background. It wasn’t until I left home that I even realised there were other photographers in the market. I met my (now) husband whilst studying engineering at university. He was a keen photographer with a photo journalism background and reignited my love of photography. I convinced my dad to lend me his 35mm Canon A1 and so began my photography obsession.
For the next few years, I worked full time in the engineering world, whilst tinkering with photography, attending some basic community college classes and reading library books. I still have some of the images that I took back then, and they are cringe worthy. However my work gradually improved to the point where others would comment positively on them. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was good at something. When I fell pregnant with Jessica in 2005 I was faced with the real possibility (opportunity?) of leaving full time employment. So I decided to turn my obsession into a more family friendly part-time career.
So where to from here? I am still very new to the professional photography world. My main aim for 2008 is to continue to learn. I am currently working for two different studios as contract staff. Amy is a wedding photographer and I second shoot weddings with her. Brian is a portrait photographer and I do both assistant and retouching work for him. They are both fantastic photographers who I am proud to call my friends as well as my bosses. They have both taught me so much, and I’m eternally grateful for the unique opportunities they have each given me. I do take my own clients when the opportunity presents itself, but I have decided to not actively market my own photographic services this year.
What does NoBS mean to me? My goodness, I can’t speak highly enough about it. When I first found NoBS back in the day when it was a tiny freebie site, I was a definite amateur with no plans on going pro. I just wanted to take better images. Posting images, getting feedback, then posting again is the BEST way to learn. Every question I asked, someone knew the answer and was more than willing to explain it to me. I have never known another internet community that is as professional, caring and friendly as NoBS. The mixture of honesty, yet genuine care is quite unique. I found that the more I posted, the more I wanted to get out and take better images, and the better I got as a result. There is something about being surrounded by stunning imagery every day that inspires you to keep trying to improve. And that’s what photography is all about.
