Photo Contest

When I went to my local Target in early 2008, I informed the sales clerk that I needed to purchase a digital camera for the express purpose of entering a birthday card photo contest. And I needed the camera in a hurry. I stated that I knew absolutely nothing about digital cameras, since I had never been interested in them before, but I was motivated to enter the contest. The young woman's face registered surprise. Had she never heard of anyone buying a camera simply to enter a photo contest? Making a long story short, I came home with a Kodak EasyShare MD853.

First, I baked a cake from scratch, with homemade frosting, of course. No boxed cake mix for my photo contest entry! Second, I set the stage for my photo shoot. Next, I took a first shot of the cake by itself, just to get a feel for my new camera. And then, when Rebel's buddy volunteered to be his stand-in, I took one photo of Mark Twain. However, I was determined to have Rebel as the model for my photo entry. That meant I needed to get Rebel to stand on the dining room chair and also to persuade him somehow that it was okay--even though it was unprecedented--for him to lick the cake stand. That took some major convincing. But with luck and perseverance, I succeeded in my objective.

In hindsight, I should have read the tutorials first. It would have made my life much easier if I had read about editing photos. If I had only known about cropping! But I just jumped in, so to speak, the way I usually do--preferring to figure things out as I go.

These are my first digital photos. Thus, another amateur photographer came into the world. (Guess which photo I entered in my first photo contest.)