158/365 giving credit where credit is due

Were it not for blogging, I don't know that I would ever have discovered my passion for photography. If I had, I don't know where in the world I would have begun to inform my passion.  To say that I am indebted to many generous bloggers who have shared their knowledge, resources, and inspiration is an understatement.  Today I want to give credit to a few who have been a constant influence on my learning, and truly a blessing to me.

Becky, who blogs at Life With Kaishon, interviews a different photographer every week.  These interviews are a gold mine.  You can see them all here.  Last week she interviewed a photographer by the name of Kim Klassen, who is truly an artist.  There were a lot of textures in her gorgeous photos.  I often drool over photos with beautiful textures, renewing my vows never to delve into one more time-sucking "craft" try them because I avoid Photoshop like the plague.  (I do quick edits in iPhoto.)  But Kim linked to a post on her free tutorial site called "Textures in Ten".  As in ten minutes.  Instruction, free texture downloads, example, practice and all.  Done.  I couldn't resist.  So I opened my Photoshop Elements and voila!  It really was just that easy.

As soon as I finished, I knew just the photo I wanted to try it on.  This original photo (textured above) captured a super sweet moment when Lee and the kids were playing "Red Light, Green Light" on the gigantic lawn at a park we visited.  The setting sun was beautiful, but so bright on the front of that big building that the glare was a little blinding and the background washed out.  This first attempt at textures makes me very excited about the possibilities.  Not that I think I'll use them often, but from time to time I'll have just the photo for it.

Susan Keller is another photographer/blogger who shares generously.  Her tutorials are here, at her blog Short on Words.  She has been a huge source of inspiration and encouragement to me.  I remembered that she has shared some posts about textures, which I have ignored completely.  When I went to look, I saw that she had linked to another generous artist, Jerry Jones at Shadowhouse Creations.  He gives away tons of textures for free, along with tutorials for using them.  I went to his Picasa gallery and downloaded just a few that I knew I would use to get started.

Finally, I am indebted to Amy and Angie and all the contributors over at iheartfaces.com.  They have provided a wonderful community for photographers of all levels that gives instruction, challenges, support, and opportunities for feedback, and abundant inspiration.  This week's challenge is "From a Distance", and my newly textured photo is perfect for the theme.  

So I'm curious.  If you read this far...where have you gotten your inspiration?