Hi! I'm Cora and I Take Photos of People!

Hello Steemers! My name is Cora and I found Steemit through a friend of mine! I must say, I love what I'm seeing so far!
My goal in starting a Steemit account is to share my images, as well as educate those who are either beginners in photography, or who want to challenge themselves to shoot in a different way and think outside the box. I will try to remain an open book as far as methods/settings I use, and I welcome any questions you might have! I also play guitar and am heavily involved in music, so there may be a music post every once in a while too!

Where I Come From:
I am from West Virginia. I was homeschooled from 2nd grade to 12th and I moved to Colorado immediately following graduation. I lived there for about 5 years and then moved back home. Now I'm in East Tennessee!

How I Got Started in Photography:
My parents got me an Olympus OM-1 as a Christmas gift in 1998 and I have been hooked ever since! I truly believe everyone should learn on a film camera! In this digital age, we can shoot thousands of images and see everything as soon as we shoot it. This is not so with film! You REALLY have to learn all of the settings and learn your lighting conditions because you only have 24 images per roll of film, and you HAVE to nail them on the first try. I encourage you to scour your local thrift stores and yard sales for a film camera and USE IT. You won't regret it! It's simply the best way to learn.

(one of the first images I took with my OM-1, on safari in Africa)

(one from a recent shoot, shot with Canon 5D Mark ii with 85mm 1.8 lens)

What I Hope To Accomplish On This Blog:
I'm not gonna lie, there's a crap-ton of photographers out there nowadays. I feel like everyone calls themselves a photographer. Even my middle-aged neighbor, with her 12 year old Dachshund that pees on the carpet and her 87 year old smoker-voice just got a Canon package "from Sam's Club" and is thinking of earning some cash "on the side". Hmmpf. This irritates me. Maybe it shouldn't. But it does. I mean, everyone is a beginner at some point, I get that, but at least put in some time before you start shooting weddings and newborns and charging what Sue Bryce charges. A digital camera does not a good photographer make. Educate yourself. Apprentice with someone more knowledgeable than you. Practice until you feel like your head will explode and your eyes burn from staring at your computer. Learn everything about Photoshop and Lightroom, practice it all, then scale it back about 80%. Accept the fact that there will always be someone better out there than you. Someone more creative, more marketable, and... well, just better. Accept the fact that you will more than likely HATE all of your own work and want to quit on a weekly basis. This is what I hope to accomplish on this blog. I don't want to sugar coat things. I hate it when photographers make what they used in a shoot to appear glossy and perfect. Example: "For this shot I used a Bushnell 600h attached to a Targus 3.85z". In reality they duck-taped a friggin' flashlight to their tripod and crossed their fingers. You won't see that here. I will do my best to be straightforward and honest with you, no fluffy stuff. We'll leave that to Kanye West.

More About Me:
Not sick of me yet? Want to see more? Fine. Here's my website: http://coraedwardsphotography.com/
My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CoraEdwardsPhotography/
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corabell99/
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/corabell99
My favorite dog video on Youtube: