Hi everyone!

sjhill419 · Nov 16, 2013

Hi there!
My name is Sparkle and I am a Ga girl, born and raised! I have three beautiful children and have been married to my best friend for 14 years. I recently started digging deeper into photography about 7 months ago. I have read TONS of articles, watched a million (seems like) tutorials.. as well as several books. I visit as many photographer's pages as I can. I just love to learn and look for inspiration and education everywhere I can. I am a "dive in head first" type of person. When I set my mind to something, I do it.. period. I have shot approximately 80 sessions with friends, family, as well as complete strangers in the past 6 months. And I have taken countless photos.. in which I try to learn from each one. So I have basically been eating, sleeping, and breathing photography since the day I felt the notion.

I love natural light photography! It is pretty much the only type of photography I will do for others, simply because my equipment isn't "high tech"... yet. I have shot babies under a year, toddlers, seniors, families, couples... you name it. I seem to have a great response from others pertaining to my work.. however, I have no doubt that I am NOWHERE near where I want to be yet. I have learned a lot for sure, but I still have a long way to go before I will say that I am right where I want to be on my skills. Many of my sessions leave me feeling completely satisfied with my work once all editing, etc has been complete.. others, not so much.. I think consistency is my biggest issue that I have with myself. I have done more than I am proud of than not.. but that's not good enough for me. The competition in my area is pretty fierce. So I am ready to step up my game. I decided the best way to do so was to come to a place where everyone can relate, and everyone has been in my shoes.

I appreciate constructive criticism. I welcome it, and I value it. So here I am...

I plan on upgrading my equipment in the next few months.. I want to make sure I make the right decisions. I currently have a Nikon D3100.. and I am fully aware that this is a low grade DSLR. It was what I could afford at the time, and honestly, I have LEARNED a ton from it. However, I am ready to upgrade. I will be looking for a lot of equipment advice. I want to decrease my editing time and I truly believe that will be my biggest step towards that. I also want to learn as much about editing as possible.. if nothing else, to give my photos the "style" that I am looking for. And by the way, I have no particular set style.. I may once I learn a lot more.. but my style varies from session to session, based on who/what/where I am shooting.

So let's get this thing started! Pretty sure I will become addicted to this site.