Learning more about photography

[Luckylove]

Hey Jackie,
I noticed on your website that you are self taught. How did you teach yourself? Are there any books you recommend? I would love to learn more so I can take great pictures of my kids and be more creative.

Lynette: I was going through Jackie's website yesterday with Ava sitting on my lap. She was looking quietly at all the pictures with me. Then a picture of your daughter came up and she just started babbling away. Like they were old friends catching up. She was just staring at her picture talking away. It was very cute.

[LMS]

I took a lot of online courses and read a lot of stuff online. I rarely have time to sit down with a book, but if you are interested, I recommend "Understanding Exposure"
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/sr=8-1/qid=1170779365/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6877145-3069723?ie=UTF8&s=books

or
Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-See-Creatively-Composition-Photography/dp/0817441816/sr=8-2/qid=1170779365/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-6877145-3069723?ie=UTF8&s=books

It has taken my hundreds upon hundreds of hours of research to get to where i'm at right now, but if you are relly committed to it, it's totally possible to self-teach.
I'd say I devote 3-4 hours a day to researching things... techniques, exposure, histograms, lighting, etc.

A lot of the information you'll find really pertains to using SLR cameras or dSLRSs and it can be hard to find a way to make it 'fit' with point and shoot cameras b/c many of them lack the settings that the books/onlien courses are asking you to play with.
I deffinatly recommend the MLK Online Courses
http://www.mlkstudios.com/

hope that's a good start :)
Also, read your cameras manual. I know it sounds obvious and very boring, but it's SO important to understand your camera.
The trick is not that your camera takes good photos, it's that you have to know how to use it so YOU can create the good photos ;)

[Lynette]

Lynette: I was going through Jackie's website yesterday with Ava sitting on my lap. She was looking quietly at all the pictures with me. Then a picture of your daughter came up and she just started babbling away. Like they were old friends catching up. She was just staring at her picture talking away. It was very cute.

:lol I was just searching old posts looking for the one Jackie posted about good compact cameras and stumbled across this which I apparently missed the first time! Too cute, Alaina does the same thing including blowing kisses and air hugs :)

[shawmich]

Thanks for the online site, I've been looking around at online classes but none interested me. This one looks like what I've been looking for and the price is reasonable.

[becky]

i was looking through the photographers portfolio and I'm surprised to actually find myself home sick for Hollywood.