Friday, October 07, 2011

How to Keep Yourself Busy During College

As a mother of a college student, I often find myself with a lot of spare time. Even teenagers need to be taken care of and with my nights free to pursue whatever I want for the first time in 18 years it was difficult to fill it. I turned to the Internet to start reading blogs and websites and came across a lot of information about photography. I decided to read more into until one day I purchased a smartphone and began my new adventure.

Because of sophisticated smartphones, I never had to purchase a fancy digital camera. This is very convenient because I can multitask on one device. While I am outside snapping pics, I can send them straight to my son through text message or email. The cameras on these phones are almost as good, if not better than most of the devices you find in the digital camera section of photography stores.

Social media websites allow for easy storage of all of your pictures. You can find apps for social media websites through the Android Market and Apple's App Store and send your pictures directly to your computer in order to share them online. My photography became so popular with certain users that I was able to sell my pictures in custom prints. After I started this venture I was able to purchase certain equipment like software, lighting effects, and backgrounds with one of the best small business credit cards I could find.

I never realized how important image editing software was until I started snapping pictures. “Lite” versions of Photoshop are available for purchase both online and through retail stores. This powerful software allows you to manipulate things like red eye, bad lighting, and other undesirables out of your photographs. Because they are not as expensive as the fully loaded graphic designer version, they are much more affordable. They are also very intuitive and easy to use because all of the features I need are listed in plain sight.

College is not just a new time of the year for students. It is also an important life changing event for parents who have never been away from their kids. If you begin to research hobbies on the Internet and get immersed in something new, you can start a business of your own and be a little surprised when your kids come back home from breaks.