The Gallery – Education

I don’t think there could be a Gallery theme more appropriate for my life at the moment, unless of course next week’s theme is ‘what I look like after two years of sleeping for no more than three hours at a time’. I seem to be constantly learning something new or passing on my knowledge to someone else. Some things I am enjoying more than others, but it is all about learning new stuff and new stuff, in general, I like.

So, what am I learning? Apart from how to be a mum and how to operate the baby (which arrived with the manual missing so not an easy thing to figure out), I signed myself up for a couple of courses and started taking more photos with a little more thought than point and click.

One course is about childcare and, to be honest, I hate it. I’m sticking with it because I’ve done quite a bit of work and it would just be a waste to give up, and also because I’m a tad stubborn. I dread Monday mornings even more than ever.

I signed up for swimming lessons so I could take my son swimming and not be afraid, and although I can now swim 25 metres (yay me), I hate it.

The other course is to make the Rocking Horse. I am LOVING it. I am learning so much about wood, working with tools, carving, visualising, patience… it is brilliant. It’s only a small class, but what a great bunch of people they are. The tutor is fantastic, he makes it look so easy then I spend about five hours trying to recreate what he did in five minutes.

So this is my Gallery photo this week, the latest picture of my horsey. He now has lips!

The other thing I mentioned I was learning was photography. I’ve always enjoyed taking photo’s and they usually turn out reasonably well, but I never used to put a great deal of thought into them. Ooh, that looks nice, click! Since I’ve been blogging, however, it’s almost like I’m taking a photography course.

Taking part in The Gallery is teaching me to take a photo on a given subject. I actually have to go out and find something that fits. Silent Sunday is teaching me to open my eyes, to see something interesting in the everyday stuff, to remember to take the picture instead of just thinking about it. Looking through all of the amazing entries that other people post is giving me new ideas, new inspiration. They are making me want to go out and take better photo’s, and keep trying the same shot until I get exactly what I want. For me, it is the best way to learn about different styles and compositions of photographs.

So I guess I just wanted to add a big THANK YOU to Tara Cain and Mocha Beanie Mummy for hosting these great weekly blog link-ups, to all the people who enter their own photos for giving me something to think about, and to all the people who take the time to comment on my photo’s for making me believe in myself and that I can, on occasion, knock out a half decent picture.

Thank you, you are all fabulous xx

Don’t forget to pop over to Tara’s place and see all the other great entries this week.