So many times we second guess ourselves, so many times we hold ourselves back from showing what we can do, what we love to do out of fear I guess it is. But what happens when you step out of your comfort zone? Good things. Good things happen.

I love photography but always kept myself from sharing my photos. I guess I just had it in my head no one would like them. Those are those voices we have to keep telling to be quiet ’cause they are just doubts and fear and they can keep you from a lot in life.

You have to step out of your comfort zone

Why am I telling you this? Because not long ago in a facebook group I’m in we were offered a challenge. The challenge was to submit something to BlogHer’s Voices of the Year. BlogHer is a BIG blogging conference. I didn’t think I could face this kind of challenge. I mean really, I’d just be putting my work out there and hoping they didn’t just not hate it but actually think it’s good. To say it was not easy for me is an understatement. But I mustered up all the courage I could and I submitted a couple of photos. And then came the waiting game. Do you know how hard that waiting is?

And then the time came

Then one day when I wasn’t expecting it I got an email from BlogHer. Oh jeepers, I really didn’t need to hear, “thank you for your submission but…” but I braced myself for it anyway kind of expecting it. But to my surprise that isn’t what it said. It said this instead!

We’re thrilled to inform you that your photo submission “Week 22, my Daddy’s hands” was nominated in the Eye Candy category and . . . has been selected as a 2017 Voices of the Year Honoree!

The 2017 Voices of the Year Honorees will be celebrated at #BlogHer17 . . .  We hope you will join your place amongst our Honorees at the conference and ceremony this summer.

To say I was floored is an understatement. I am so honored to have my photo selected. And I must tell you there are some other amazing bloggers included in the list of honorees. I’ve known for awhile now but couldn’t let anyone know yet. That was sheer torture and here I thought the submission waiting game was hard.

The point of this whole post isn’t to brag, “oh look what I did” no not in the least. The point is, don’t let fear stop you from stepping out of your comfort zone. Good things happen outside of that comfort zone you’ve kept yourself in. But you aren’t ever going to experience it if you don’t step out of your comfort zone. Yes, it’s scary I won’t lie but boy it feels good when you get to experience the joys of the good that comes from stepping out of that comfort zone.

So tell those nasty negative voices in your head to be quiet and take that step out of your comfort zone whatever it is. Is it creating something you want to sell, opening your own shop? Whatever it is I just want to encourage you to do it. Push fear aside and just do it.

This one really made me think as I never really thought about whether or not I have a favorite fruit or vegetable. Do you have a favorite fruit or vegetable?

Then I was thinking, do they mean a favorite fruit or vegetable I like to eat or to photograph. There is a difference, at least in my case there is. I like strawberries but they just don’t cooperate with me when I try to photograph them. Kind of like my kids.

I do love citrus fruits, limes, lemons, grapefruits, and oranges. So, I sliced up some oranges and lemons and took a few shots by my open window. The same one I always use for my photos. I get great natural light there. I liked the lemons but the colors just didn’t make you want to reach out and grab it and eat it. That’s what I wanted to feel when I saw it. So I switched things around, opted for an orange and moved things around, took some shots, moved things around a few more times. Jeepers, I don’t think I’ve ever taken so many photos of an orange before but in the end, I was pretty happy with the results.

As you know, I’m not big on editing so many of my photos are straight out of the camera. I probably could have increased the lighting a bit. I do like the details on the whole orange and how tasty the sliced orange in the front looks.

Great, now I want an orange so I think I’ll go have one.

Get your camera out and keep snapping photos. Are you doing a photography challenge this year? I’d love to see what you are working on. If you are, drop me a message below so I can check it out.

For this photography challenge, I not only wanted to photograph something I’ve never photographed before which was the challenge; I wanted it to be something that would make me smile. This made me smile for the obvious reason.

Cause I just can’t help smiling when I think about Disney! These are our first magicbands and I am beyond excited to wear them. Right now they are just the plain simple bands that you can buy from the DisneyStore.com or from the ShopDisney app. Yes, I have the app on my phone.

But soon they will be personalized with stickers and bows! I can’t wait! Oh, did I said that already? Is my excitement showing THAT much? Oh, it is. Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you can’t see my Mickey ears then.

I had a hard time photographing the magicbands though. I think it was a lighting issue and the background isn’t as bright as I would like it to be but at least they are in focus. Rainy days don’t bring in much light to the only area in my home that I can photograph from. Plus, my camera was having trouble focusing on them today.

Product photography is one of my favorite types of photography so I enjoyed it even if I had to fight my camera just a bit. But all in all, I’m pretty happy with the results especially since this photo is straight out of the camera.

No editing. I like it when that happens. I am not a fan of photo editing. Are you?