Thank
you for your interest in 31 Days to a Better Photo! I’m glad you’re
here and want to learn how to make the most of your dSLR. With a little
time together, you can be shooting manually in a month!
This is a repost from a blog. I think it's very good, but lately the post has been disappearing, so I fear it will disappear alltogether, and that would be a pity.
Hello! Welcome!
This 31+ day posting project is for anyone
who may be starting out in photography and even for those who know it
all. It’s been my experience that there is always more to learn and
photography is no exception, especially for me. I’m crafting this month
as a means to organize my own thoughts and help out those who wish to
learn more about taking better pictures.
Every post during this month may or may not resonate with you. That’s ok. I’m hoping at least something
will help you learn more about taking better pictures because that is
one of my passions in life; helping others learn more about
photography.
There’s no catch, there’s nothing you have to buy or
subscribe to. You can start this month of learning any time you want to,
take a break if you like, or skip down to the Challenges or
Assignments. It’s up to you to make the most of it!
It really isn't difficult. It's actually very easy and simple. But you might not want to do the work...
1) Get happy with who you are. You don't have to change at all, in any way, because your soulmate wants YOU, just the way you are. The fat, ugly, crumpy, unfit, sourpuss besserwisser, or what ever name you call yourself when you feel you aren't worthy. You just have to be OK with who you are. If you don't want to live with you, you can't believe anyone would.
2) Get active. Of course it's possible that your soulmate finds you - there is this story of a woman who was dreaming of an active, handsome and fit man, but she never left her house unless she absolutely had to. Her friends was trying to fix her up, trying to get her become more active, but she wouldn't. Then, one day, her dream man dropped from the sky... he was a parachuter and the jump went a bit wrong, so he fell into her garden. They liked each other the first sight, started discussing, and one thing lead to another, and they got married and have lived happily ever after. I mean... it happens. But the chances of it happening grow, if you increase the amount of people you meet.
So - get active in the areas of life, occupations, hobbies, you are interested in, and could imagine doing with your soulmate. I met mine at Tolkien society :-D
About 1/5 meet their spouse at internet; through dating sites or just social media.
About 1/5 meet their spouse through friends. Your friend's friend (or sibling's friend) might be your soulmate.
About 1/4 meet their spouse at school or work
About 1/8 meet their spouse at a bar or nightclub
About 1/10 meet their spouse at an event - sport, church, concert etc.
STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKEN.
If they are your soulmate, they'll find you when they are free.
And if you happen on a person who lies about their status, get rid of them immediately you find out they lied. It doesn't matter if they are separated or "the marriage is over" or "they are taking time off", or "in an open relationship", or what ever. If he/she can't wait until they are 100% available and not cheating on someone, you don't want to be with him/her, BECAUSE YOU WILL BE NEXT.
Also, "falling in love" means that you find the other person attractive and want to have sex with them. It doesn't mean you "love" him/her or that he/she is your soulmate or you "are in love". It doesn't excuse anything, it doesn't justify anything, it's not reason enough to do anything (except, PERHAPS, to have sex). It doesn't mean you have found your soulmate. One important question to ask here is if you want to see them happy even if it meant that you are unhappy or if you want to see yourself happy even if it meant that they are unhappy - meaning that you want them to be with you, stay with you, choose you always, inspite of the options. If you can be sincerely happy about them finding their soulmate when that person isn't you, and smile and congratulate them on their wedding day, even when your heart breaks, then you love them. If you would sabotage the wedding because you are 100% certain of that they would be happier with you, then you don't really love them.
BUT - it is very much possible to learn to love someone.
Most arranged marriages "succeed", because there is a trick in being in a
successful relationship. It is "make it work". Don't consider divorce
an option. It is possible to make EVERY ASPECT OF A MARRIAGE work with a person who isn't your dream spouse or soulmate. Millions of people do it every day. And might be that in the end, you realize this person WAS your soulmate after all.
(Unless there's violence involved in the relationship. Then
staying in it is not an option, how ever much it is possible to "fix"
it. People who use violence; physical, mental, psychological, social,
economical, any kind, on people, especially friends and family, should
not be in a relationship.)
As for now, there's about 200 countries in the world:
1 Afghanistan
2 Albania
3 Algeria
4 Andorra
5 Angola
6 Antigua and Barbuda
7 Argentina
8 Armenia
9 Australia
10 Austria
11 Azerbaijan
12 Bahamas
13 Bahrain
14 Bangladesh
15 Barbados
16 Belarus
17 Belgium
18 Belize
19 Benin
20 Bhutan
21 Bolivia
22 Bosnia and Herzegovina
23 Botswana
24 Brazil
25 Brunei
26 Bulgaria
27 Burkina Faso
28 Burundi
29 Côte d'Ivoire
30 Cabo Verde
31 Cambodia
32 Cameroon
33 Canada
34 Central African Republic
35 Chad
36 Chile
37 China
38 Colombia
39 Comoros
40 Congo (Congo-Brazzaville)
41 Costa Rica
42 Croatia
43 Cuba
44 Cyprus
45 Czechia (Czech Republic)
46 Democratic Republic of the Congo
47 Denmark
48 Djibouti
49 Dominica
50 Dominican Republic
51 Ecuador
52 Egypt
53 El Salvador
54 Equatorial Guinea
55 Eritrea
56 Estonia
57 Eswatini (fmr. "Swaziland")
58 Ethiopia
59 Fiji
60 Finland
61 France
62 Gabon
63 Gambia
64 Georgia
65 Germany
66 Ghana
67 Greece
68 Grenada
69 Guatemala
70 Guinea
71 Guinea-Bissau
72 Guyana
73 Haiti
74 Holy See
75 Honduras
76 Hungary
77 Iceland
78 India
79 Indonesia
80 Iran
81 Iraq
82 Ireland
83 Israel
84 Italy
85 Jamaica
86 Japan
87 Jordan
88 Kazakhstan
89 Kenya
90 Kiribati
91 Kuwait
92 Kyrgyzstan
93 Laos
94 Latvia
95 Lebanon
96 Lesotho
97 Liberia
98 Libya
99 Liechtenstein
100 Lithuania
101 Luxembourg
102 Madagascar
103 Malawi
104 Malaysia
105 Maldives
106 Mali
107 Malta
108 Marshall Islands
109 Mauritania
110 Mauritius
111 Mexico
112 Micronesia
113 Moldova
114 Monaco
115 Mongolia
116 Montenegro
117 Morocco
118 Mozambique
119 Myanmar (formerly Burma)
120 Namibia
121 Nauru
122 Nepal
123 Netherlands
124 New Zealand
125 Nicaragua
126 Niger
127 Nigeria
128 North Korea
129 North Macedonia
130 Norway
131 Oman
132 Pakistan
133 Palau
134 Palestine State
135 Panama
136 Papua New Guinea
137 Paraguay
138 Peru
139 Philippines
140 Poland
141 Portugal
142 Qatar
143 Romania
144 Russia
145 Rwanda
146 Saint Kitts and Nevis
147 Saint Lucia
148 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
149 Samoa
150 San Marino
151 Sao Tome and Principe
152 Saudi Arabia
153 Senegal
154 Serbia
155 Seychelles
156 Sierra Leone
157 Singapore
158 Slovakia
159 Slovenia
160 Solomon Islands
161 Somalia
162 South Africa
163 South Korea
164 South Sudan
165 Spain
166 Sri Lanka
167 Sudan
168 Suriname
169 Sweden
170 Switzerland
171 Syria
172 Tajikistan
173 Tanzania
174 Thailand
175 Timor-Leste
176 Togo
177 Tonga
178 Trinidad and Tobago
179 Tunisia
180 Turkey
181 Turkmenistan
182 Tuvalu
183 Uganda
184 Ukraine
185 United Arab Emirates
186 United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
187 United States of America (50 states)
188 Uruguay
189 Uzbekistan
190 Vanuatu
191 Venezuela
192 Vietnam
193 Yemen
194 Zambia
195 Zimbabwe
Also the dependent territories.
American Samoa
Anguilla
Aruba
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Caribbean Netherlands
Cayman Islands
Channel Islands
Cook Islands
Curaçao
Faeroe Islands
Falkland Islands
French Guiana
French Polynesia
Gibraltar
Greenland
Guadeloupe
Guam
Hong Kong
Isle of Man
Macao
Martinique
Mayotte
Montserrat
New Caledonia
Niue
Northern Mariana Islands
Puerto Rico
Réunion
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Helena
Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten
Saint Pierre & Miquelon
Taiwan
Tokelau
Turks and Caicos
U.S. Virgin Islands
Wallis & Futuna
Western Sahara
And the questioned areas that consider itself a country but haven't yet been recognized internationally
Republic of Kosovo
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Republic of South Ossetia
Republic of Abkhazia
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Republic of Artsakh
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
Republic of Somaliland
* write a book, fictional or biography, of someone who changed his or her life
* Create a "I could do anything" group at Meet Up. Read Barbara Sher's books, listen to her videos on YouTube - and her Ted speech, and create a group of people who want to make their dreams come true. You never know how you could help them make their dreams come true, or how they could help you. Barbara Sher's Ted talk "Isolation Is The Dream Killer" is very inspiring.
* Learn to talk to anyone. Go and talk to strangers, especially homeless people. Take with you two cups of coffee and ask if this stranger would like to talk with you and share the coffee with you.
1. Writing 2. Reading 3. Dog Walking 4. Squash 5. Horse Riding 6. Watching Movies 7. Art 8. Cooking 9. Singing 10. Join a Band 11. Running 12. Swimming 13. Scrapbooking 14. Jewellery Making 15. Wine Tasting 16. Track Driving 17. Pole Dancing 18. Knitting 19. Gardening 20. Photography 21. Join a Book Club 22. Collect Things 23. Learn To Play An Instrument 24. Candle Making 25. Yoga 26. Volunteering 27. Gym 28. Online Games 29. Foraging 30. Caving 31. Host Board Game Parties 32. Chart Your Family Tree 33. Run a Side Business 34. Restoration 35. Go Travelling
So, I would suggest some other things.
1. Blogging
2. Languages
3. Animal training 4. Bouldering 5. Circus arts 6. Critiquing movies 7. Ink drawing, comics, cartoons, caricatures 8. Baking (go extreme... ;-)) 9. Ballroom dancing 10. Martial arts 11. Carpentry 12. Diving 13. Bookbinding 14. Rollerderby 15. Brewing 16. Motorcycling 17. Biking (mountain bike, trick bike, even tour bike...) 18. Fine electronics - remember, all gadgets and machines are man-made. You can learn to make small machines and gadgets and learn to fix them... it's a great hobby! 19. Windowcill gardening - try growing your own coffee or bananas! 20. Film making 21. Speeches - join the Toastmasters 22. Origami 23. Paper engineering 24. Hiking 25. Hunting 26. Pottery 27. Acting 28. Divination - learn to read the cards or tea leaves 29. Cos-playing and maskmaking - why not learn to make wigs, too? 30. Miniature building 31. Calligraphy
32. Sailing 33. Community broadcasting 34. Rummaging carage sales, flea markets, trift stores, and second hand stores 35. Classic cars - buy one and restore it. Or build one from scratch.
This is why you can be implanted false memories. This is why eye witnesses aren't dependable. This is why people can experience something, get an explanation - how ever wild and unbelievable - and then believe they have really experienced that wild and unbelievable thing.
This is why a lot of people have a relationship with fictional characters from books, tv series and movies. This is why a lot of people think they know celebrities.
And this is why it is possible for people to train doing things they have never done. You can basically learn to play piano on a kitchen table or to play guitar by playing an air guitar. It might take some time to adjust the differences in what you imagined to what is real, but the principle works.
Most olympic winners say they spend a lot of time "imagining" performing perfectly and winning.
So - how can you use this when it comes to the bucket list?
When my niece was 10 she discovered Google Earth, and exclaimed "I don't need to travel there, because I AM there now!"
You can create yourself a false memory of having visited ANY place, from Egypt and Galapagos to hell, heaven and outer space.
If you just want the experience, your brain is fully satisfied with the fantasy. If you want the bragging rights, then you have to go there.
But "having been there before" does give you benefits. You are more prepared to the circumstances and can focus on the things you know to be important. On the other hand, there are things you cannot imagine... it's one thing to experience walking in Saigon and know the noise and heat and how many people there are, and totally different to experience the smells, how the land feels, the light, the atmosphere... but perhaps if you know to expect parts of the experience, you can better take in the parts you didn't expect.
This helps you learn anything, from languages and juggling to playing instruments and performing pullups. You can start learning tap dancing now, you don't need to wait for the shoes and classes and dance studio. You can start learning to play drums now, you don't need to wait for the drum set.
Go through your bucket list and write down a couple of suggestions how this could help you complete the goal. Then do it.
