31st of January 2014. That was the day I started this blog. I said to my colleague how I was thinking about starting a blog. And he said to me: “Don’t think. Do it.”
Best. Decision. Ever.
I always knew there was an artistic part of me lurking in the corners of my mind. Nevertheless, it took me by surprise. I am a decent storyteller, but I never imagined I would write a poem. I never really had a taste for poetry. And suddenly there were these verses floating around, different forms, words I didn’t even knew I knew. Acrostic poem? I had no idea what that was and now I simply adore it.
It’s the same surprise with photography. Sure, I took photos before. I take photos all my life. Once I started this blog, I shared some of my old photos, at least those that were half-decent. People clicked the like button. Some even clicked the follow button. I was happy. Then I started to look around, follow some other people…and I was blown away by the quality of their images. At first it made me feel so small, thinking: What are you doing? You can’t compare to them. But one of the things I like most about myself is this unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
So, I looked more and my path crossed with Stacy Fischer. She hosts The After Before Friday forum, where people share their experiences in the world of post-processing by showing their before and after images. I was hesitant at first, but then I thought: What’s the worst that can happen? And I couldn’t come with one bad thing, so I sent her my first entry with few accompanying words. Few months later and we are still here. Celebrating many different things. Our persistence. New friendships. New knowledge. And it’s not just about liking each others images and saying how great we all are. What I appreciate most is when someone tells me that maybe I could have done a better job, pointing mistakes that were inevitable to happen. I am getting a feedback on my work and that is the best way to learn, to improve.
This is where you come in. We decided to ask all of our friends to choose from one of our images, so all participants of the ABF forum can edit the same image on the 6th month anniversary of the forum. There is a poll on Stacy’s blog.
Click here to vote!!! Visual Venturing Click here to vote!!!
The images are anonymous, so we have no idea who submitted which image apart from our own. You will have until the 5th of November to vote. The chosen picture will be revealed on the 7th of November. Finally, on the 14th of November, it will be showcased how differently all of us crazy folks of ABF forum approached the same image. So, please help us with your vote. It will be much appreciated.
I leave you with some of the after images I submitted over the last few months and I invite you to join us with your own after/before images. There is always something new to learn, isn’t it?
Snow's Fissures and Fractures 
I learn much from following other people- I get inspired by their perspectives and ideas!! This is a good example!!! These images by the way are wonderful!! I love the Milan Italy one, and the watch, and the ship and.. and… and 😀
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Thank you, it’s nice to see all those images together in a gallery.
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What a wonderful post, Loré! It’s so nice to hear your story and I’m so thankful you decided to take the plunge with the Forum. I absolutely love having you a part of it! Keeping fingers crossed that we continue to get more voters and, perhaps, more participants too. Thanks for such a great six-month idea!
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Oh, I have so much fun doing this, its you I need to thank. I learned so much in these last few months, it’s been a blast. Hope for many more ABFs to come.
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