practicing

I find that most everything I do takes a lot of practice in order to do it well - or at least up to my standards. My standards aren't high mind you, but I do want to be able to look at it (whatever it may be) or listen to it without cringing a little. So, as I try new things, I realize they may take a lot of practice on my part before I can look or listen to them straight on. I say listen because I used to take piano lessons and boy, did that take a lot of practice! Anyhow, I am practicing a few things at the moment. One is taking better photos with my SLR camera. Oh, how I wish I were better at it. A lot of it does have to do with lighting, but most of it has to do with just knowing how to take a good photo and understanding an editing program (mine is Photoshop Elements) so that you can refine those photos later. When I first got the Elements program I was determined to learn all about it. I even bought a recommended book "Photoshop Elements Classroom In A Book" and have it all loaded up ready to go (it comes with CD lessons), but haven't gotten past lesson 1. I took some photos my my little girl last week because I realized the day light was ideal outside and thought it would be the perfect time to practice. I like how some turned out and edited a couple in Elements to see what I could come up with. Here is the end result. Not bad, but I am looking forward to practicing some more because I heard practice makes perfect and I am not looking for perfect, but just something that I will enjoy looking at.