Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Oh! For the love of...
Reading. I've always wanted to encourage a love of reading in my kids. I think they got the message....
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Trashing Fun
We totally trashed the dress. And it was soooooo fun. Now my expectations are up for each subsequent shoot I do, great. lol. I literally took hundreds of photos. I widdled 632 pics down to a mere 88 with a hundred more or so that I still really like. The race was on to post our images to the DLS Facebook group so I uploaded these to my web album. Perhaps as I gain more time in my life, or at least, when I’m up in the middle of the night not sleeping, I’ll post some more. They have too many fun memories to stay stashed on my hard drive.
As far as my camera education goes, I was pretty impressed with myself. Not just for some of the images I managed to capture, which got better as the shoot went on, but for the simple fact that I can now look at a picture I took and see what I like about it and what I don’t, and what needs improvement. I am getting a lot better at getting it right “in camera” although there things that still throw me. One issue I have is that I forget to reset ALL my functions suitable for the next shoot. I’ll forget that my ISO is set too high, my WB is off, I have it set for an overexposure of +1.7 etc. It’s not till I take a dozen or so pics that I’ll look at ‘em and say “WTH?” and realize what happened. Oh well, at least I know what went wrong. There was a time, waaaaaay long ago, before the DLS, that I didn’t have a clue how I got that shot. Now I do. Well, okay, it wasn’t that long ago and sometimes I still don’t know what I did, lol but there’s been a massive improvement.
And I am still trying to cool my excitement and try to remember to frame my pic right and get the composure I’m looking for. It doesn’t help when you are on a really fun shoot and you want to capture every interesting thing you see, all the time trying to remember to actually “look” through your viewfinder and get that emotion/ excitement bouncing off your sensor. It’ll come. For now, enjoy these from the TTD session and hopefully I can keep posting more.
Btw, thanks J-L for trashing your dress and letting us all capture it on camera. Fabulous.
As far as my camera education goes, I was pretty impressed with myself. Not just for some of the images I managed to capture, which got better as the shoot went on, but for the simple fact that I can now look at a picture I took and see what I like about it and what I don’t, and what needs improvement. I am getting a lot better at getting it right “in camera” although there things that still throw me. One issue I have is that I forget to reset ALL my functions suitable for the next shoot. I’ll forget that my ISO is set too high, my WB is off, I have it set for an overexposure of +1.7 etc. It’s not till I take a dozen or so pics that I’ll look at ‘em and say “WTH?” and realize what happened. Oh well, at least I know what went wrong. There was a time, waaaaaay long ago, before the DLS, that I didn’t have a clue how I got that shot. Now I do. Well, okay, it wasn’t that long ago and sometimes I still don’t know what I did, lol but there’s been a massive improvement.
And I am still trying to cool my excitement and try to remember to frame my pic right and get the composure I’m looking for. It doesn’t help when you are on a really fun shoot and you want to capture every interesting thing you see, all the time trying to remember to actually “look” through your viewfinder and get that emotion/ excitement bouncing off your sensor. It’ll come. For now, enjoy these from the TTD session and hopefully I can keep posting more.
Btw, thanks J-L for trashing your dress and letting us all capture it on camera. Fabulous.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Brand New Bike....
We had some spring fun trying out Ethan's new tricycle a week ago, before we had a blizzard. It began to rain and we thought April was bringing showers but instead it brought snow. Anyway, here are some pics, just for some fun spring memories.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Have Patience
“Ethan we’re going for a drive. Can you put on your shoes?”
“Snows”
“You want your snow boots?”
“Uh huh”
“Okay here then.”
“Noooooooo!”
“Don’t you want to put your boots on?”
“Pooh”
“You want your rubber boots?”
“Yesssss.”
“Okay.”
“Shoes.”
“Ethan. Pick a pair. We have to get going.”
“Hat.”
~sigh~
------------------------------------------------------------
“Ethan, would you like a snack?”
“Snacks!”
“Yes?”
“Yesssss.”
“I’ll get you some cheese and crackers, okay?”
“Cheeeeessse!!”
“Go to your highchair, mommy will lift you up.”
“No.”
“No highchair? Do you want a snack?”
“No.”
“Do you want cheese?”
“Aaaaple.”
“You want an apple?”
“Cheese.”
“Do you want an apple and cheese?”
“Juice.”
~sigh~
------------------------------------------------------------
“Ethan, are you pooping?”
“Nooooooo.” (smile)
“Ethan, you need the potty for poop.”
“Potty!”
“Let’s go.”
Sits on potty:
“All done!”
“Ethan, you just sat down. Try to poop.”
“Pee.”
“Okay, then try to pee.”
“All done.”
“No, your not all done. Try again.”
“Potty.”
“Yes, hon. You’re on the potty. Try to poop.”
“Pee”
“Try to pee then.”
“Poop”
“Whatever. Just try.”
“All done!”
~sigh~
Patience
“Snows”
“You want your snow boots?”
“Uh huh”
“Okay here then.”
“Noooooooo!”
“Don’t you want to put your boots on?”
“Pooh”
“You want your rubber boots?”
“Yesssss.”
“Okay.”
“Shoes.”
“Ethan. Pick a pair. We have to get going.”
“Hat.”
~sigh~
------------------------------------------------------------
“Ethan, would you like a snack?”
“Snacks!”
“Yes?”
“Yesssss.”
“I’ll get you some cheese and crackers, okay?”
“Cheeeeessse!!”
“Go to your highchair, mommy will lift you up.”
“No.”
“No highchair? Do you want a snack?”
“No.”
“Do you want cheese?”
“Aaaaple.”
“You want an apple?”
“Cheese.”
“Do you want an apple and cheese?”
“Juice.”
~sigh~
------------------------------------------------------------
“Ethan, are you pooping?”
“Nooooooo.” (smile)
“Ethan, you need the potty for poop.”
“Potty!”
“Let’s go.”
Sits on potty:
“All done!”
“Ethan, you just sat down. Try to poop.”
“Pee.”
“Okay, then try to pee.”
“All done.”
“No, your not all done. Try again.”
“Potty.”
“Yes, hon. You’re on the potty. Try to poop.”
“Pee”
“Try to pee then.”
“Poop”
“Whatever. Just try.”
“All done!”
~sigh~
Patience
Baby Mohawk
"Excuse me?"
“Yes?”
“Why would you cut your babies hair into a Mohawk?”
“What!?”
“Your baby’s hair.”
Lol. “That’s nothing! You should see the tattoo I got for her butt!”
The Enchanted Tree
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tagalong
That was me. I played "Follow the Nikon" the other day when I followed Hope (DSL Pedagogue) to Jenn and Isaac's to get some further instruction on metering. They just recently bought their own Nikon so I thought we could compare camera's. Hope is on the out with her Pentax but hey, she's the mentor so you can't harass her too much. Anyway, I have been doing some practice since knowing how to use the meter in your camera is pretty crucial to getting a proper exposure. And if you don't understand lighting and how it affects your pictures then your pretty much screwed as a photographer. So I'm in the learning mode. I haven't been finding the proper exposure in a blink of an eye, its more like after a half a dozen pics first. lol.
Not too bad I guess but I really have the expectation that I can pick up my camera, snap the shutter and have it all play out like I want it in the LCD. Not too high of an expectaion for owning the camera for a month, lol.
Anyway, I really enjoyed being the tagalong. I didn't get any pics of Sydney, which is a shame because she is an absolute beauty but I did take quite a few of her baby brother Jacob. He provided a really good subject to practice metering. Don't take it to heart Hope, but the mouse wasn't that photogenic. :0)
Not too bad I guess but I really have the expectation that I can pick up my camera, snap the shutter and have it all play out like I want it in the LCD. Not too high of an expectaion for owning the camera for a month, lol.
Anyway, I really enjoyed being the tagalong. I didn't get any pics of Sydney, which is a shame because she is an absolute beauty but I did take quite a few of her baby brother Jacob. He provided a really good subject to practice metering. Don't take it to heart Hope, but the mouse wasn't that photogenic. :0)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Practice, practice, practice....
So I have been busy snapping away and have easily filled a 1GB memory card. I'm too scared to pop in the 4 gig. I'll never get through that many photos!! lol. (To all you skilled shutterbugs out there, just remember I'm new at this. I'm not use to processing this many pics).
Anyway, I finally managed to sort through some pics that I took two weekends ago when we travelled to Grand Prairie for my cousins wedding. The trip was good for the most part as Ethan slept more than half the way and then kept himself entertained by ripping up a sticker book while Daysha kept crying for her soother. I couldn't tell you what the scenery looked like as I mostly had my head ducked under the DVD player as I was constantly popping Daysha's sucky in her mouth. The South bound traffic though, had a good view of my butt. By the end of the trip, I had a headache from smashing my head on the DVD player at least ten times, the two kids and Glen were dying to get out, stretch their legs and eat. It wasn't until 9:00 that we managed to get into Tony Roma's and stuff our faces.
The wedding was at 2:00 which fell right in the middle of Ethan's typical nap. I don't think things would have been half as bad if we had had the correct address and weren't running in, literally, 3 minutes before the bride made her debut down the aisle, but Ethan couldn't hold his head up any longer. He was snoozing so soundly that he never even stirred when I carted him in on my shoulder, camera around my neck, running to find a seat in the pitch black while Glen carried the carseat trying not to trip up. The entire church was lit only by candles creating a BEAUTIFUL atmosphere for the wedding (and hopefully camoflaged the late arrivals), but made it very challenging for a newbie photographer to shoot a clear picture without using a blinding flash or stepping on the hired photographers toes. So I resorted to enjoying the ceremony and soothing a baby that woke up in the middle of the ceremony. Ethan didn't arise until he heard "I'm a Believer" from the Shrek soundtrack pouring out of the speakers while the Bride and Groom made their exit. He had no clue where he was, poor lil' gapher!
The rest of the day and into the reception, I decided I would try to take pics of some family members getting them to pose for the camera and squish their heads together. lol. And boy! Do people pose! As soon as they see a camera, it's almost as everyone freezes and gets a look on their face like they have to poop really bad! It's only after chatting with them either before or after you get a true smile! I got some people to pose but I do like the look of my candids a lot better. I think there is a lot more emotion in those.
During the reception I was dealing with really low lighting once again. They only had white Christmas lights and candles decorating the hall. Again, beautiful for a wedding; tough on the camera. I tried a few different things to help but I resorted to my pop-up flash. It wasn't until afterwards that I learned I could change the flash output so that may have helped soften the light. I also don't own, and haven't created, any diffusers to use but I did the best I could. I tired really hard to get a correct white balance because everyone was getting a orange halo around their heads and that warmness made their faces almost blend in.
So here are a few pics from the trip, let me know what you think!
Anyway, I finally managed to sort through some pics that I took two weekends ago when we travelled to Grand Prairie for my cousins wedding. The trip was good for the most part as Ethan slept more than half the way and then kept himself entertained by ripping up a sticker book while Daysha kept crying for her soother. I couldn't tell you what the scenery looked like as I mostly had my head ducked under the DVD player as I was constantly popping Daysha's sucky in her mouth. The South bound traffic though, had a good view of my butt. By the end of the trip, I had a headache from smashing my head on the DVD player at least ten times, the two kids and Glen were dying to get out, stretch their legs and eat. It wasn't until 9:00 that we managed to get into Tony Roma's and stuff our faces.
The wedding was at 2:00 which fell right in the middle of Ethan's typical nap. I don't think things would have been half as bad if we had had the correct address and weren't running in, literally, 3 minutes before the bride made her debut down the aisle, but Ethan couldn't hold his head up any longer. He was snoozing so soundly that he never even stirred when I carted him in on my shoulder, camera around my neck, running to find a seat in the pitch black while Glen carried the carseat trying not to trip up. The entire church was lit only by candles creating a BEAUTIFUL atmosphere for the wedding (and hopefully camoflaged the late arrivals), but made it very challenging for a newbie photographer to shoot a clear picture without using a blinding flash or stepping on the hired photographers toes. So I resorted to enjoying the ceremony and soothing a baby that woke up in the middle of the ceremony. Ethan didn't arise until he heard "I'm a Believer" from the Shrek soundtrack pouring out of the speakers while the Bride and Groom made their exit. He had no clue where he was, poor lil' gapher!
The rest of the day and into the reception, I decided I would try to take pics of some family members getting them to pose for the camera and squish their heads together. lol. And boy! Do people pose! As soon as they see a camera, it's almost as everyone freezes and gets a look on their face like they have to poop really bad! It's only after chatting with them either before or after you get a true smile! I got some people to pose but I do like the look of my candids a lot better. I think there is a lot more emotion in those.
During the reception I was dealing with really low lighting once again. They only had white Christmas lights and candles decorating the hall. Again, beautiful for a wedding; tough on the camera. I tried a few different things to help but I resorted to my pop-up flash. It wasn't until afterwards that I learned I could change the flash output so that may have helped soften the light. I also don't own, and haven't created, any diffusers to use but I did the best I could. I tired really hard to get a correct white balance because everyone was getting a orange halo around their heads and that warmness made their faces almost blend in.
So here are a few pics from the trip, let me know what you think!
Friday, April 18, 2008
More Homework....
So this was our most recent task and I am not thrilled with it, but I thought I’d post what I attempted to accomplish anyway.
The exercise: to photograph 5 “subjects” with unique family, individual, children, and parent shots.
Well, I had some dilemmas. First, no subjects. Its been difficult scrounging up a group of 5 that would be willing (and patient) that are not busy tending to kids or work. So I thought, well my house is FULL of toys, surely I could find something!
First attempt: The Spuds.
Problem: Very uncooperative. I threatened to deep fry their potato butts but instead Ethan kissed them goodbye and lovingly pulled their arms out.
Second Attempt: The Littles.
Problem #1: Very, very little. I had to crawl all over the ground on my belly, in the rain (thanks Hon for the umbrella!), with the most statuesque group of people. They refused to do anything other than hold up their hands. Who brings a cell phone while they’re getting their picture taking???
Problem #2: A huge giant of a boy, decided that he knew how to pose the Littles better than I and decided to help out. I lost track of who I snapped a picture of and who I didn’t. Oh well, lol, at least the Giant Boy had fun. (so did I!)
The exercise: to photograph 5 “subjects” with unique family, individual, children, and parent shots.
Well, I had some dilemmas. First, no subjects. Its been difficult scrounging up a group of 5 that would be willing (and patient) that are not busy tending to kids or work. So I thought, well my house is FULL of toys, surely I could find something!
First attempt: The Spuds.
Problem: Very uncooperative. I threatened to deep fry their potato butts but instead Ethan kissed them goodbye and lovingly pulled their arms out.
Second Attempt: The Littles.
Problem #1: Very, very little. I had to crawl all over the ground on my belly, in the rain (thanks Hon for the umbrella!), with the most statuesque group of people. They refused to do anything other than hold up their hands. Who brings a cell phone while they’re getting their picture taking???
Problem #2: A huge giant of a boy, decided that he knew how to pose the Littles better than I and decided to help out. I lost track of who I snapped a picture of and who I didn’t. Oh well, lol, at least the Giant Boy had fun. (so did I!)
Homework - Metering
Okay this is task was to learn how to expose for light and dark areas using natural light. I was most excited about getting this task done as I was having trouble trying to figure out how to meter properly. I think I had it pretty well figured out until I took a picture of my all-black puppy afterward and got a very over exposed photo! lol. Oh well, at least I know what I did wrong so that's a step in the right direction.
Dark Object on Dark Background
Dark Object on Light Background
Light Object on Light Background
Light Object on Dark Background
Dark Object on Dark Background
Dark Object on Light Background
Light Object on Light Background
Light Object on Dark Background
Homework - Emotions
Pictures need to evoke some sort of emotion to have an impact with whomever is looking at them. The emotions we needed to try and express using only still life were: Loneliness, Frustration, Exhaustion,and Serenity. I had the hardest time coming up with an idea for the last one. I sooooo wanted to take a picture of my hubby and his tired face (he was on nights but so lovingly got up to babysit so I could snap away)! I also had a lot of fun draging Ethan's bear around so I added some extra shots of his lonely day without his lil' buddy.
Lonely Day: http://picasaweb.google.com/mamabear365/LonelyDay
Lonely Day: http://picasaweb.google.com/mamabear365/LonelyDay
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Homework - Still Life
Okay, so here is my waaaaaay overdue homework from Week two! If this was high school, I'd flunk. And have some serious explaining to do to my parents. Anyway, the assignment in a nut shell:
PART ONE
5 objects, 5 arrangments, same shooting location.
Part Two
5 objects, one arrangment, different shooting locations/angles.
PART ONE
5 objects, 5 arrangments, same shooting location.
Part Two
5 objects, one arrangment, different shooting locations/angles.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Choo-choo Tracks
I was thankful that my hubby stopped the van on the way home from Grand Prairie last weekend so that I could take some shots of a train trestle. The stipulation that he gave was that I could snap away until the kids started to demand they be set free from the confines of their dreaded car seats. Soooooo, I only had 5 minutes. Lol. This is what I managed to capture….
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
An "Egg"cellent Morning
Last Wednesday, Ethan cracked his first egg and my camera was ready to capture every moment. That, and some playful time with his sister.
(Btw, for all those that are natural light fanatics….you know who you are…. the lighting in my house is awful. With only two measly windows in the living area of my home, flash is all that is available. So until I have softboxes set up in every corner and reflectors randomly placed, the harsh flash will have to do. Or, until I learn how to use my bounce flash effectively. Whichever comes first, lol)
I hope you enjoy the pics though!
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