Cedar's Photography

Passion...and Calm

2012-02-24T00:14:00.001-08:00

I thought for sure with a challenge only 4 weeks long I would be able to participate and visit each week. I guess not :( There is some really gorgeous work out there that I would love to see all of it.

We were out of town for last week's challenge, but I can't resist posting this picture of my Sunflower. It is my favorite photo from this last week. She views everything in life with PASSION and enthusiasm. Experiments in electricity are not excluded.

I wish I had half her excitement about life and adventure!

Last weekend on our trip we did add in a spontaneous visit to some waterfalls. If I'd known, I would have had my tripod with me. I always find the flow of water and soft movement of waterfall shots very peaceful and CALM:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...no Tuesday

2012-02-21T16:44:00.001-08:00

So I knew I'd have to give up ~~some~~ most of my blog time after our daughter comes home, but I am afraid some of it is already gone. Not because I'm actually accomplishing things, but because each new step is more paperwork, more stress, and I waste hours and hours of time calculating estimates to travel. The range never changes...sometime between late March and early May...but I spend too many hours trying to narrow that range down which is NOT something I can actually do until we get our Travel Invitation to China. All that to say, I cannot believe it has been over a week since I last posted here. I miss my on-line friends when I don't visit or have visitors, but I don't know where all the time goes. At some point I will probably have to back off from Scavenger Hunt Sunday...my photos are certainly more snapshots than art as it is...but while it may be my most time consuming photo challenge, it is as always my favorite. I love playing games and the scavenger hunt is one of the best games to play. In fact, while I didn't get to work on my pictures until today, I actually could post two complete sets since I hunted twice :)

Once on our trip to the Science Museum on Friday (took one child out of school and went away for a 4 day weekend with lots of fun, family, and fotos), but since I've used that location more than once for a hunt, I'm going with my first hunt...breakfast Friday morning.

SnapDragon was DUPLICATED in...

...the griddle in the middle of our table at the restaurant.

Many restaurants seem to be TRENDING towards...

...the fad of the customers cooking their own food. I must admit the kids thought it was fantastic and my chef-made non-pancake meal was pretty good, too.

You can pick from several different types of batter that come in PLASTIC bottles.

We had a peanut butter batter, sweet potato batter, and two buttermilk pancake batter bottles.

The boys loved creating their own pancakes in different shapes with many different topping choices.

Including this tree which is the source of all PAPER that SnapDragon created. We had apples, blueberries, sausage, bacon, cheddar cheese, white chocolate chips, and bananas as our toppings. I personally really loved the peanut butter with apple slices pancake that Oak made me to try.

But overall we just LOVED the experience in general...

...especially since it was time together and with Aunt H whom we all LOVE. Uncle B had to work on Friday; too bad, because he missed out on some great fun.

Happiness is...

2012-02-13T19:03:00.000-08:00

The constantly running song in a child's heart...

Kim Klassen's Annabelle 85% Soft Light Masked off Face and hands

And working on a paper lantern with your Daddy...

Well, chewing on the string that holds the paper cup lantern.

I do really have a very sweet life.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2012-02-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday we went as a family to the local Annual Asia Pacific New Year’s Celebration. There are several different booths to visit and several different performances representing many different Asian countries. This time we planned our arrival and eating around the Chinese performances, though many of the other dances were also quite fun to watch as time permitted. My goal was to capture all my hunt photos at the celebration. I should have checked my list one last time before leaving...well, you'll see.

Facial Feature:

Sunflower's eye peeking out from one of the pieces to the flower lanterns the kids made at one of the craft booths. This year they still had plenty of colors of paper petals left, so our three little lanterns aren't only green and white like last year.

And here's a gratuitous photo of Huckleberry with his finished lantern so you can see what they made.

Spicy:

My husband's Kim-chi was spicy, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture before he ate it all (because I was busy eating my own food) so here is the drink we had to wash down the spice. Ummm, I prefer Coke.

Gold:

The children from the Chinese Academy looked really cute dancing in their gold tops with sparkly gold crowns. (I blurred their faces on purpose. I hope it doesn't make it too creepy. Trust me they were adorable.)

Fabric:

There were many beautiful fabrics and outfits all through the center...

And since I forgot to even look for shadows I'll give you a few more fabric photos.

I love the intricate embroidery. Reminds me of some of the needlework my mother used to do.

One last photo of the dances. I thought the fabric of their outfits and the red fabric they were waving around made for a beautiful dance.

We are looking forward to next year's event.

Warmth

2012-02-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

It is almost time for the second week of the Poetic Winter Challenge. It was actually unseasonably warm the first half of this week. I must say I love seeing the sun.

Ah, warmth...

Be sure to check out the other entries at Bumbles & Light, Sweet Violet, Project Alicia or Live and Love out Loud.

Some Photos

2012-02-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

A few shots from my photo walk with friends on Saturday.

I can't wait to go back to that location!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2012-02-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

My husband was updating the computer, then my blogs disappeared completely for 10 minutes...no access and gone from the internet, so then we finished out the evening by backing up my blogs. Now I have a few minutes to work on my Hunt. These were fun prompts, and I didn't get too creative, but I felt like I had several choices for each prompt. I look forward to visiting the other hunts this evening.

Strike a Pose:

Yeah, this is what you get when you ask for cooperation. Much better when she doesn't "know" the camera is there.

Footwear:

My little girl really does rock the cowboy boots passed down from a dear friend. Love these boots!

Hobby:

Yesterday I spent the morning indulging in my second favorite hobby--photographing nature on a walk with 17 people from my photo club. Then the afternoon was spent indulging in my absolute favorite hobby--taking pictures of my kids while they played. Sunflower was on a little trike and Huckleberry also rode his bike to the little store down the street.

Shiny:

The lake was so shiny it reflected the geese as they flew by.

Color Me Green:

In our area we have green all year, but the sun coming out after the rain makes the green even more beautiful.

Have the most blessed of Sundays!

Solitude

2012-02-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

Today is the start of a new winter challenge -- Poetic Winter. Today's topic is Solitude. Personally I love solitude. Nothing appeals more than the idea of a day completely to myself, okay, not nothing, but it is in the top ten. But representing solitude in a photo really takes me out of my comfort zone in a great and challenging way. I hope we aren't supposed to be poetic, too. I can only work towards mastering one art ~~at a time~~ ever.

This photo I took at a night photography workshop where we took pictures of posed models and practiced using our flash. It was quite a departure from my usual candid children shots, but she really looks alone (surrounded by 20 photographers with flashes).

When I took the next one, my mind might have decided that the prompt was isolation and not solitude.

All the snow is gone now.

This child is the main reason, for now, that I don't get solitude very often. Totally worth the sacrifice.

Be sure to check out the other entries at Bumbles & Light, Sweet Violet, Project Alicia or Live and Love out Loud.

This or That Thursday

2012-02-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your kind and helpful comments on my Scavenger Hunt Post. I sent the basketball hoop and the fence into class and got a lot of positive, useful feedback. I must be missing Shoot and Edit, because I feel a need to share that feedback with you.

Everyone felt the fence had a lot of potential, but they didn't like how over-saturated it was. Said it looked fake. That doesn't bother me since it totally did. I was so tired of the gray weather and dull light I went a little overboard in post work. So in class we played with black and white and desaturation and crop and ended up with this photo about.

I still didn't think it screamed "print me" so I came home and added some textures and a frame and tried other crops.

This is my "final" version, but I might just like the first version that reminds me of Gilligan's Island or a stage in a play best. No worries. It is my dad's fence. I can keep trying.

Now the basketball hoop everyone really liked and my teacher was amazed that this "child photographer" took it, so that all felt really good. They said often if you have a bright, white rectangle in a picture it can be really distracting, but because this one was not too bright and out of focus it added to the photo in terms of square with a circle of the basket. Some people liked that I wasn't directly underneath the basket--said it gave the basket movement and others wished I was (though then the light would have been behind the shot and not so great.) We did boost the black slider in lightroom in order to get all the other details that were not basket or light in the shot to drop out.

I agree it is much better. My teacher did wonder why I titled the photo 5 baskets because he could not see the "10" in the photo.

It was a great class. We all talked about a lot of great pictures and said what we did or did not like about it. By explaining why we felt the way we did it became easier to see how that critique could be applied to future shots.

Now I'm working on my Black and Whites for tonight's class. It is my last one and a makeup of the one we missed the week of snow. Should be fun!

Seriously this girl has some looks!

Have a fantastic Thursday! I am. We got an update on our future daughter...though no pictures...the orphanage answered 10 questions that are a treasure for us now and for her in the future.

Scavenger Hunt...Monday

2012-01-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

It was a busy week and weekend. Then because of the snow I have two photography classes this week instead of one and the homework is brutal. Okay, maybe not brutal, but I am really struggling with it--Take a picture of something you haven't taken a picture of before and Black and White.

The black and white can be easy, but I always overthink it. But something I've never taken before?

A. Because of photo memes, particularly Scavenger Hunt Sunday, I have taken pictures of many, many different things. Many I would not have tried without the challenge. I LOVE that and it definitely stretches my photography (hence the homework).

B. If I haven't tried to take a picture of it yet, it is because it does not interest me as a subject at all.

So I spent all week trying to take pictures of something different instead of focusing on the Scavenger Hunt this week, though I kept the prompts in the back of my head.

This morning I sat down to look at all my different photos, and really there is nothing I want to submit to class. (By the way, my class is called Art of Photography. We each submit a few photos and then talk about what could make it better and what did or didn't work. Usually he can find something good, but he really detested my submission for rule of thirds -- my Four shot from last week -- so I am feeling particularly leery of sending a photo in. I really enjoy the class and getting honest feed back will help me become better so I will submit something.)

Anyway, while I don't think any work for class...it turns out they can work for Scavenger Hunt Sunday with only a little tweaking.

Smile:

This photo makes me smile. Partly because this is what you get when you ask me to take a picture of something I haven't photographed before and partly because I like how it makes the number ten. I purposely scooted over while lying on the floor to get it lined up just so...photography with intent...even if the intentions are a little lame.

Stand Alone:

I know the world represents many different religions, so I won't go into why this photo fits Stands Alone for me though it does in many, many ways that I love, but I know this is NOT what my teacher meant when he said "Black and White" since the focus of class is going to be on converting to black and white.

Rusty or Something Old:

This is the fence between my dad's house and his neighbors. I remember when it was strong and red and tall, when the trees were on the other side. I guess I might be old, too. I don't shoot fences often, but I submitted a fence, snow shot last week, so it won't fit my homework.

Artificial:

Okay, this one is a stretch. I did take some pictures of artificial flowers, but I just like kids better. Do you note the artificial coloring? (I'm pretty sure as long as I submit a photo that is not a person my teacher will accept it.)

Repeating Patterns:

I spent a lot of time taking pictures of the brick because I thought "oh, something I haven't taken before AND repeating patterns." But you know what, I've taken a picture of almost every brick I see...they just aren't very good pictures.

So anyway...feel free to skip the words and just comment on the photos. Feel free to give me actual criticism. I have reached a plateau in my learning and need some aha moments.

Have a happy Monday! I'll be shooting some other things I haven't shot before...if I can think of any. Sunflower, when asked, said, "Me?" No. But you can be my Black and White subject!

Fabulous Friday

2012-01-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

My boy...

...because this is my favorite picture from this week and his sister does get most of the limelight.

I hope you are having a great Friday! Mine is just starting but I expect it to be fabulous, especially since my SIL is coming over to babysit so Oak and I can go out a few more time before we meet the baby. I am looking forward to our date even if most of it will be spent shopping for packing.

Tuesday Again

2012-01-23T20:49:00.000-08:00

This week's theme for Tuesday Texture is story. So many different directions this could go. But I thought this photo told the story of last week, especially when you add Kim Klassen's Texture "More Magic" (Once on Screen 100%, and once on Soft Light partially masked off in varying degrees.)

The snow did get deeper than it is in this photo and we had a lot of love, joy, laugh, peace...as we all stayed home together.

If I liked textures more on people, I might have chose this picture to represent our week.

Instead I'll use it for Tones on Tuesday :)

On Saturday we were finally able to escape the house. We got home just in time for me to meet a friend for dinner...and for me to drag Huckleberry into the spot of sun for 10 minutes of photos. He was not terribly pleased, and I did not get the exact shot I wanted, but still I think it is pretty sweet.

We cut his hair after I saw these pictures.

I hope you have a fabulous Tuesday. I actually have plans so I won't be sitting around home obsessing about paperwork and things I can do nothing about so I expect it to be a great day for me -- playdate with friends and photography class in the evening. The snow was fun and being with my family was great, but doing things...that is good!

The Boys Fishing

2012-01-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

I was going through my archives and found this photo of the all my boys together. Surely nothing represents "The Simple Things" better than fishing with your Dad.

Love my boys...but I am excited the girls will match the number of boys in a few months. Then Oak will take all four kids fishing while I go ~~shopping~~ on photowalks...

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2012-01-21T20:22:00.000-08:00

I could not focus on prompts at all this week. My mind was pretty scattered and focused on something completely different, so please forgive that some of these are a bit of a stretch.

Sunset:

Since the sun never came up/out this week, I didn't have much chance to take a picture of the sunset. However this was taken right before the sun "went down" as I did want to make sure I took some pictures of the ice (though I stayed on my front porch because ice..not rain...was actually falling from the sky.)

Black and White:

These are the icicles hanging from the bottom of my car...I did "convert" the picture to black and white, but it didn't actually make a difference.

A Day in My Life:

Okay, so this is not a typical day in my life, but it was like this all week. No school, no work, all fun.

It really was serene to stay home all week and the landscape looked peaceful and calm so linking the above photo with Saturday Sareenity.

Four:

Yes, I took pictures through the window of the 4 of them building snowmen. I did this solely for artistic effect. Staying inside warm and dry had nothing to do with my choice of photographic vision.

Colorful:

With all the white snow and grey snow the most colorful thing I took pictures of this week was my family and their outfit choices. Oak and I are telling the children our great news at this moment and I needed it to be on "film."

Well, I hope you had a great week and a fun hunt! It rained all day today, so most of the white is gone, but many are still without power and there are many fallen limbs from the heavy ice and wind. Hopefully the power will all be restored soon...and it will be business as usual by Monday.

Sunflower in the Snow

2012-01-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

We still have a ton of snow, but the icy rain yesterday and today does not make for fun play. This is my favorite shot of Sunflower in the snow this week.

But it is not my favorite picture...sorry, Sunflower. Thursday we received a picture that is not very good and not taken by us that is my secret favorite picture. While I won't be posting the photo further details are available on my real life blog.

This or That Snow

2012-01-19T00:18:00.000-08:00

I apologize for all the snow shots, but this is pretty unusual weather for us so I did go outside with the kids to take pictures of them in the snow.

I think the last time we had this much snow was the week SnapDragon was born (8 years ago) so I figured I had better take pictures while I can.

This is Wednesday right before the kids ran outside. I was glad there was more snow this time. On Monday SnapDragon asked me to walk only in the footprints already made so I wouldn't waste the snow.

Sure he looks sweet, but he was very serious about it.

On Monday Huckleberry stored as much snow as he could under the play equipment. It really is a precious commodity in this area (though not completely unusual like for those of you further South.)

Notice the grass on the ground while they enjoy the stockpile on Tuesday?

It made a nice snack for Sunflower...not terribly recommended.

While we went to sleep Tuesday night with the roads bare but school canceled on Wednesday there was enough snow to build some forts/snowmen and to justify the missed school.

Sunflower helped Oak while the boys built their own fort. But it was soon too tall for her to see over.

They are both standing. Oh wait, let me show you from their eye level.

After the above shots I did run into the house for Sunflower's coat. Apparently she thinks a snowsuit IS a coat.

She really loves the snow...so very much.

But so did the boys.

Especially once the fort? was done and it was time for the snowball fight.

Maybe it is a snowman? But still there was a snowball fight.

Though SnapDragon chose the hide behind the tree method of participating.

(No one threw snowballs at me...I was holding the most expensive thing we own--my camera.)

I did try a group shot...but we had some technical difficulties.

Huckleberry slid out of the shot because of the plastic bags on his feet. It really is fairly rare to get this much snow, so we were a little unprepared. Too bad for Sunflower. She thinks this snow is the best thing in the world.

She is always the first one to want to go out and the last to want to go in, even though she did get stuck in the deep snow a few times.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

Some photos from last week...before the snow.

With both schools and my husband's work also canceled, maybe I'll get some photos of Oak and Huckleberry tomorrow. Maybe. I don't really like going out in the snow with them.

Snow

2012-01-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

I always think that an extra day with everyone home means more stuff accomplished...I'm always wrong. We did have a nice day which included some Wii, some snow, and some shopping. I only took pictures of the snow.

This is a lot of snow for us...and they are expecting more. So far school is still on for tomorrow.

The Holiday meant Huckleberry was actually home in the light...but SnapDragon was at a friend's house.

Let's clear the snow off of the roof...you don't want the play structure collapsing...or it is just fun.

Linking this with Tones for Tuesday.

Different hat and gloves for the after lunch trip outside. Me, I stayed inside second time, so this is through the window, but I still think she looks sweet.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2012-01-14T20:40:00.000-08:00

Ah, this week did feel more normal...no forgetting school. I also got plenty of chances to take pictures and experiment with the subjects I'm passionate about plus some sun. That doesn't mean my pictures are necessarily better, but it was more fun. The hunt was also more fun as I remembered the prompts all week even Monday at the zoo.

Stacked Up:

The girls loved their critter drinks, but thankfully the whole family split the rice crispy treat later at home.

Winter Wonderland:

It is a wonder that leaves are still hanging on the tree this late in winter, but I think the low golden winter sun is really, really wonderful. Our golden hour lasts all day.

Sweet:

Sunflower as my choice does not surprise you, does it? Though I was more successful with backlighting in other shots.

Hole:

She cooperated with her face in the hole for only a very short time.

Frozen:

The ground was quite frozen, but with the sun out we went out to play anyway. Sunflower thinks it is snow.

I hope you had a fun hunt. I look forward to seeing how winter looks in other places of the world.

Sunflower in the Winter Sun

2012-01-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

It is cold...so cold...but it is so sunny! It keeps me going these long gray months to have some sun...even if it is cold. (I know others are colder, but I'm a wimp.)

So Sunflower and I have been going out in the morning to catch that sun.

I do need to comb her hair better...and she needs a hair cut...but it does make for a good cloud of light!

Those were all Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon my new reflector came in the mail. So we went outside to play with the backlighting and this time be able to light her face properly. I found SnapDragon a slightly more cooperative subject.

He would at least stand still...though he kept waving that stick around. But following Sunflower around while carrying my camera and a large round thing (which she thinks is a trampoline) was tricky enough without wanting the sun to be behind her with her looking at me. Still, I think it is my favorite shot for the day.

Even if she looks like she is the one being tortured.

I am linking this photo with both Shoot, Edit, and Submit and Favorite Photo Friday. But right now it is sunny again...so I'm going outside with my Sunflower. I look forward to checking out other entries when the sun goes down.

This or That at the Zoo

2012-01-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Monday I went to the zoo with a friend and her little girl. She is also really into photography and has already started her own business. It is great to hang out with her and her daughter who is almost only a year older than Sunflower.

Which meant they did fight over pushing the stroller occasionally, but mostly they played great (and sometimes pushed each other in the stroller.)

We saw very few animals but...

...did ride the carousel. The person made me stand next to her, so when it was done I got down to take the picture, but she wouldn't look at me. What? I'm sitting still waiting for you to take the picture when I really, really want to get down and play!

We went to the petting tank, but Sunflower didn't actually put her finger in. She did enjoy washing her hands 3 times.

The girls got to go into a wind tunnel...I thought it would scare them.

I was wrong.

They also made otter puppets.

Though Sunflower's looked nothing like the otter since she cut her template into shapes and glued them on upside down. Abby girl had some help.

Thanks, Mama!

We did see one animal that was my absolute favorite...

Sunflower enjoyed pretending to be a shark and a caged animal.

My friend and I took lots of pictures of each other's children...and our own. This is my favorite of her daughter.

I cannot wait to see the ones she took of Sunflower. Sunflower already saw them on the back of the camera.

We will be going back again soon. In fact, my family is going Saturday with some other friends, but we'll be back again with Julie and Abby girl, too. Zoo passes are awesome!

(Oh, and I am not intending to watermark my pictures in general, though I am planning to start using my real name soon. It is just that I had exported these and others for facebook where I do watermark and I was too lazy to export them again.)

Embrace Joy...?

2012-01-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

In an effort to at least feel like things are back to normal, I decided to participate in my most longstanding Tuesday photo links. These are the links I first found and have experienced much joy in.

First...Texture Tuesday:

This week's challenge was to use Kim Klassen's new texture, Embrace. I took this picture at the zoo today...fabulous time with a friend and our daughters. Our zoo always has the most interesting plants though winter created slim pickings. This is one layer of Embrace at Soft Light 100% partially masked off of the flower. Also, one layer of the photo again on top at Soft Light 44%.

Something we have been trying to help our middle son do is choose to focus on the positive rather than the negative. The easiest way to teach him this will be if we embrace joy ourselves.

Now no matter how sweet my little Sunflower appears...

...she doesn't always embrace joy...

...but she certainly embraces life with a passion! You would think she'd look a little more pleased after Mommy spent $3 on a crazy critters juice and put food in front of her. She'd been claiming she was hungry every 5 minutes since she finished her last snack only a little more than an hour earlier.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2012-01-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

Since I had a pile of laundry all week, the laundry prompt was "easy"...

...at least to take a snapshot of it. I had to take a break from folding occasionally.

But today, as we prepared for SnapDragon's birthday party tomorrow, I wondered if there was any way to squish the photos playing with custom bokeh from Thursday into the prompts, as imperfect as they are. There was NO WAY my family was going to work through our to do list while I worked on Scavenger Hunt prompts.

So while SnapDragon did agree that making pumpkin soup for the first time just because it is the ONLY thing they eat in Zelda gave me the time to edit photos, taking more was not an option. So prepare for some squishing.

One Color:

I am so glad to have only one color of lights on my tree...even though they photograph at different colors.

Empty:

My life would feel pretty empty without my beautiful children.

One Dozen:

Here is a sampling of the almost dozen shapes that my husband cut out for me to play with...some work better than others.

Soft:

Nothing softer than the skin of my baby girl.

Here is one bonus photo...not very good since nothing is in focus, but I never imagined that out-of-focus catch lights could be custom bokeh, too! Here is my big eight year old with stars in his eyes...

Literally.

I really hope to be more on top of things next week. The Holidays were great and so nice to have the whole family home, but I am finding it difficult to get back into the swing of things. After tomorrow's plans, I think life will be back to normal...for a few months.

Anyway, have a fabulous Sunday and be sure to hop on over and see the other entries. I bet there is a lot less squishing involved and some really beautiful shots!

Top 11 of '11

2012-01-03T22:07:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is hard to go through and choose just 11...but it does show me that I miss, miss, miss the sun of the summer :) I also need to take more pictures of Huckleberry. He is not the ham the others are; he'd prefer my camera left him alone.

Sunflower:

SnapDragon:

Huckleberry:

All Three:

Sunflower:

SnapDragon:

Huckleberry:

All Three:

Sunflower:

SnapDragon:

Huckleberry:

Memories, Dreams, and Reflection

2012-01-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Me! - picture of yourself (you don't have to show your face). What are you most proud of accomplishing in 2011?

Mostly I am proud of all I have learned about photography this year...and the friendships I have because of it.

I Love You - picture of your husband, boyfriend, children, pets, etc.

My husband who supports me and encourages me and entertains the kids when I "disappear" for a few hours because of photography or other events in my life.

Still Laughing... - a moment you're still laughing about now...tell us a story.

On one of my recent photo walks with friends, my good friend convinced me to climb this giant sand hill. It was hard, but I had hiking shoes on. She had to abandon her black heeled boots and was teased by everyone for wearing heeled boots to a beach walk. She said it was easy to do in bare feet, but oh so cold! It was November after all.

Winter Wonderland - a picture that reflects Winter.

The frost and sun have been very entertaining this winter!

Birthday - share a birthday picture (your own or someone you love).

Sunflower, whom I love, turned three in August!

Friends - a picture with friends (this could be your friends or your children with their friends).

Last April with several of my closest friends on a woman's retreat. Our next retreat is in March and I cannot wait. (Last year we were so disturbed by the Scriptural inaccuracy of the teaching that this year our church is planning our own retreat and we four are all on the planning committee.)

I Was Inspired... - could be a picture of your inspiration (person or thing), or inspired by...

The sun and frost was so beautiful together, I was inspired to spend hours taking pictures...ignoring the cold.

Spring Fever - a picture that reflects Spring.

Nothing says spring like short sleeves and buttercups!

Travel or Vacation - a picture taken on vacation or on a recent travel experience...even if it was only a few miles away.

Our summer camping trip to Mt. Rainier provided lots of opportunities to practice landscape photography.

Summer Days - a picture that reflects Summer.

'nuf said.

A Day In My Life - a picture of a typical day in your life.

This is a common scene around our house, especially during the Holidays. Of course sometimes everyone is on their own electronic device--though Sunflower is usually not sitting this still.

All Smiles - a picture that makes you smile or of smiling faces.

This photo makes me laugh every time I see it. Good thing photos are digitally date-stamped because I cannot tell the season by how they are dressed at all!

Autumn Harvest - a picture that reflects Autumn/Fall.

It was one of the most beautiful falls ever...at least in our area. The beautiful light!

Family or Home - a picture of your family or a picture that represents family/home for you.

Home is where my family is. I'll miss the boys when school starts back up on Tuesday.

Celebrate! - a picture that reflects a celebration.

We just finished celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus; though we celebrate Jesus all year long.

Let's Do It Again... - a picture of something you'd like to do again soon.

Saturday I went on a photowalk with several people from my local facebook photography club. It is so great to hang out with other photographers and encourage each other. I cannot wait for our next walk or workshop.

I Miss You - a picture of someone or something you really miss.

My mom. She died when I was 15, but there are times when I could really use Mom. (I'm the girl in blue.)

Beautiful - a picture of someone or something you find beautiful.

Mt. Rainier is beautiful...from any angle.

Dress Up - this might be a picture from Halloween or not...but someone who is all dressed up!

He was a magician for Halloween. I kind of like the blur in his hand as he does his magic!

Macro - share your favorite macro or close-up image.

Oh, I love how close you can get with my friend's macro lens...someday.

Holidays - a picture from the Holiday of your choice.

I really do love Christmas with all the pretty colors and lights and happy children.

My Favorite - share your favorite picture or memory from 2011.

So far this is my favorite edit/photo from the night photography workshop I took on Friday.

Don't Ever Change - something you love about yourself, someone, or something that you never want to change.

I never want how sweet my children are together and how much they really do love each other and take care of each other...Sunflower's ruling of her court notwithstanding...to change.

Just Because...So There! - share any picture(s) that you really want to share, but doesn't fit in any other category.

Just because her expression and pose make me laugh, but the photo doesn't make it to my top 11 from the year.

Hopes and Dreams - share what you hope to come or dream for 2012. Feel free to share an image of your choice.

Someday I hope to be able to make money doing portrait photography, but first I need alot more practice and I plan to be distracted this spring by our own addition to the family.

Week 51 good to WOW Happy New Year

2011-12-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

I didn't have a chance to take a picture of it, but IF I was going to post a picture representing our new year it would be a photo of our I-800a approval...our year will be waiting for referral, then I-800 approval, then travel approval, then traveling to China to bring home our child...nothing else represents what we expect to be a HAPPY NEW YEAR for us as well as the latest step in this process.

I do have a collage of some of my edits from this year. I only joined in March, but since I didn't always limit myself to one photo...this is not all my photos; I promise!

I'm hoping you can click it to make the collage bigger, but I'm having some problems with blogger photos. Going through the photos I thought it would be more obvious on how far I've come, but I couldn't quite bear to add the really bad edits to the collage. Just know I have learned a ton by having a challenge each week and a new editing tool to try out. I cannot believe how much I did not know...and there is still more to learn. It'll take a lifetime, and I expect to enjoy it immensely!

Thank you, Ashley and Jill, for doing this challenge. I really loved it!

Week 50 good to WOW Edit Holiday Traditions

2011-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't even had a chance to look at the other edits and at this point I imagine every one is enjoying their Holiday time, but it will hang over my head all weekend if I don't just do this...so here are my edits from Monday. I do love this picture even though the focus is a little softer than I want, but it does capture my Sunflower during the holiday...

Original:

Edit:

I basically took it back to the lightroom import presets, sharpened, and cropped.

Ideally I would take the picture again, but Sunflower now wants to see the picture as soon as I snap, so I only have one chance. After looking and asking her to go back so I could take another, this is what I got.

Yeah, I know. The tree isn't in the shot at all, but we do get the head of sleeping dad instead of his feet...

Then for fun...

Converted to BW...the preset I used had split-toning to add a yellow tinge; I changed it to red in the spirit of the season.

I hope you have a most blessed Holiday Weekend. As for me and my house we will be celebrating Our Savior's Birth with Joy and Thanksgiving!

Holiday Traditions -- Monday Rewind and Week 50 Good to WOW SOOC

2011-12-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

So many Holiday Traditions...

Making an ornament at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) for 10 years now...

This year I made 5! That's something for non-crafty me.

Dancing to Christmas Music...

A few new Christmas CD's would be good with such active dancers

Putting the lights on the Christmas tree...

Dad had to do the top few branches

Putting the star on top...

Someday I'll find the perfect tree topper...on clearance

Decorating the tree...

Or playing with the ornaments depending on who you ask.

Eating the traditional Christmas tree decorating spread...

Cheese, Sausage, and crackers and candy, candy, candy.

Taking out the Christmas books...

We never fight over them; no, we don't!

Of course, decorating Gingerbread houses with Cousin L and Aunt J...

And then Sunday we had our family Christmas party on my husband's side. Sometimes we still see everyone over the holiday too, but not this year, so extra special. Especially since Huckleberry got to play his saxophone with Cousin J for the first time...

They did a great job! I'm so proud of my son who first picked up his instrument in September. Cousin L held the book...a very expensive and beautiful music stand...

Even if Sunflower did block my view.

There was (and will be) lots of fun playing games...

They moved on from spoons, leaving me with some photographic material.

Of course what Holiday Tradition would be complete without the best apple pie in the world...

My husband's sister's husband makes the most amazing pie crust!

And finally, beautiful Christmas dresses (SOOC)...

35mm 1/80 sec f/2.2 ISO 200 -- zeroed out in LightRoom

May you have a most blessed week before Christmas enjoying your own Holiday Traditions!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday Snapshot -- Gingerbread Edition

2011-12-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

Today we had the joy of going to my sister-in-law's house so the kids could decorate gingerbread houses.

This gave me three hours to play with my camera.

It was a real JOY to take pictures of my sister-in-law's beautiful decorations.

Sunflower put HALF of her gumdrops on her gingerbread people instead of her house.

Aunt J decorated the house...leaving Sunflower free to eat candy and play.

She did take a moment to SLEEP, well for pretend, under the tree for me.

Cousin L's house was the most carefully decorated.

Though I love the WINDOWS on Sunflower/Aunt J's house and on the boys' house.

I'm sure every one will be happy to know that Sunflower is fully recovered from her head staples...if you cannot tell from her photos.

The boys are happy she is all better, too.

Oh, I had to get one last Scavenger Hunt prompt before we headed home, so I pulled a present from under my sister-in-law's tree...assuming it would quite nicely fit the "WHAT IS IT?" theme.

Though it turns out if you look closely you might see what it is.

I hope you have a fantastic week!

Week 49 good to WOW Edit Bokeh Lights

2011-12-15T16:43:00.000-08:00

So...I am a little bit busy, as are most people during this season, and I should be doing something else, but to not participate in Shoot and Edit this week when we only have a few more weeks left...that would make me sad. Just looking at the thumbnails over at Ashley's I know there is some gorgeous bokeh light shots out there. I cannot wait to look at them...though I will.

I have not had much time to experiment with bokeh myself, though we do have our tree up, but as is typical for a Thursday morning I had a half hour at our church while waiting for a meeting to start...kid free and camera in hand. Only one tree to play with, but still fun. Oh, and I had a can of coke with me.

Original:

1/200 f/1.8 ISO 200 50mm (Most of the 30 min. I thought I had my 35mm, and was wondering why I couldn't get as close.)

Clean Edit:

Straighten a little, crop, remove pine needle, boost clarity and contrast.

Fun Edit:

A retro preset I got from Adobe Lightroom Share

So the coke in the white cans might not have a reputation for tasting very good (I found the first sip of the first can really did taste and feel different) but they sure are pretty...and still get me the caffeine I crave. One tip, though, they balance a lot better on cotton batting when they still have something in them.

And I think there should always be an ornament self-portrait:

And then a left over from our Holiday photos a few weeks ago:

I told her I just wanted 5 more photos...and all 5 have her with her hand held up counting down. She always makes us laugh. The doctor takes her staples out tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T00:31:00.000-08:00

A reason to keep your camera out...

...to capture those real, sweet moments, dirty clothes and all.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-12-10T21:48:00.000-08:00

And the hunt is on...

Less is More...

Luckily Sunflower only needed 3 staples in her head, but even less would have been even better!

Holiday Lights...

Ornaments...

Cup of Cheer...

Coke is always my cup of cheer...even if they say it doesn't taste as good in the white can!

Nativity...

We don't have our decorations out yet, but this is our nativity. Sure the picture is from a few years ago, but I learned how to take a "screen shot" this week...

Ummm, I think I might have stretched a bit far this week. Be sure to go look at the other interpretations to see all the pretty pictures!

Week 48 good to WOW Edit Holiday

2011-12-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today I am guest posting over at Ashley's blog Ramblings and Photos...the first photo blog I started reading. Please do visit me over there. I have learned so much about editing photos from her weekly tutorials, and I really enjoy using what I've learned. All of her tutorials really came in handy with this week's photo:

Original:

Edit:

Since my tutorial is kind of wordy, I'll skip all the steps I did with this photo. Suffice to say that I used almost every tip we learned in this last year during Shoot and Edit, plus I cropped to a 5x7 aspect ratio because that is the size I'll be printing and it framed them better. Last year at this time my family would have just gotten the original...and been pretty happy with it.

If you are someone who, say, just bought Photoshop Elements, starting with the first of Ashley's tutorial posts and working your way through them is a great way to learn your new program and how to edit photos to boot.

Tuesday's Photos

2011-12-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

It was such a fun and busy week. We got to spend some time with my sister-in-law as she was decorating for Christmas.

We got to spend time watching my oldest son compete in his lego robotics competition...and celebrate with him for his team's trophy in "Gracious Professionalism."

Kim Klassen's Dream Texture, Multiply mode, Masked off his hands, face, and shirt

We got to spend some time enjoying the cold, winter sun at the park while waiting for Huckleberry to be done.

Such gorgeous later afternoon sun, though it threw me off color wise, but I was still able to capture a few sweet shots (including my ducks from Sunday's Scavenger Hunt). Any tips on white balance settings for that golden hour?

But nothing beats 45 minutes to photograph the beauty of winter frost, sun, and some scrumptious frost bokeh...

Balancing my home life and photography can be tricky at times, but when I'm photographing nature, I spend time with God. My heart swells with worship for my God who can create beauty out of the ugliest things.

And if sometimes I forget to honor God with this gift of photography, He gives me a photo that just screams for a verse to remind me.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-12-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

There is something so satisfactory about completing a good hunt. Even on weeks when I struggle with my photography or don't have quite the time I'd like to dedicate to the task that I would like, it feels great to hit publish and go enjoy the creativity of the other participants. This week was busy...with lots of bad pictures taken (my photography class was a macro lab with water drops which was a lot of fun to practice as a group, but I am having no trouble deleting the pictures)...but the hunt was still oh so much fun!

Portrait:

This isn't my best portrait of Huckleberry ever, but this was taken today at the completion of his all day Lego Robotics competition. His team did not go on to state (only 5 of 26 did) but did win the trophy for Cooperation/Core Values. It may sound like a sympathy trophy, but it really was based on the team's demonstration that everyone played important parts, encouragement for each other, and demonstrated empathy. We were very proud watching our boy and his teammates encourage and cheer up one discouraged teammate.

Nostalgic:

Time:

It is Christmas Time at my Sister-in-Laws house who we "dropped in" on between robotic competition rounds. Huckleberry had to stay at the school, but thank goodness we didn't!

Full of Light:

Winter CAN be full of light when you put the low, bright sun together with some frost!

Motion:

Sunflower fell over while I was taking this shot...my husband says it was totally worth it. She would have fallen anyway; I just might have actually witnessed it.

I hope you had a wonderful hunt and have a most blessed of Sundays!

Week 47 good to WOW Edit Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T23:14:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to share my Thanksgiving edits as I have a busy few days ahead...busier than normal.

Nothing too exciting. I straightened a little and adjusted some sliders in LR. I should possibly have straightened a little more but I didn't want to cut the flowers; sometimes editing cannot fix composition issues.

I thought it would seemed a little too busy, so I converted to BW with Lightroom's preset Creative Look 2 and added a little cream/orange to give back the warmth.

I cannot wait until next year to take more Thanksgiving photos!

Have a fantastic Thursday!

Week 47 good to WOW SOOC Thanksgiving and Monday Rewind

2011-11-28T10:57:00.000-08:00

The long weekend was so wonderful, it is hard to get back into the swing of things, but Monday eventually comes and with it Shoot and Edit. I never did post my edit for last weeks photo on gratefulness (and it only had 3 views on flickr, so I'm sure no one minds), but I thought I would start with it today.

For those that didn't have a chance to see it:

SOOC ISO 100 f/1.8 1/200 sec 50mm

Ultimately it came down to me being grateful for many, many things...but that my thankfulness goes to God, the provider of all good and perfect gifts in my life.

First I did my usual edits...fix exposure, take down saturation for this photo, noise reduction, sharpening, and a creamy white vignette. My theory was it would create something soft in keeping with the sweetness of my little boy praying (even if this shot is actually posed.)

But I felt like it just wasn't quite right and that it had actually lost the mood created by using one lamp (and external flash) to light the scene, so I tried again.

This time I brought up the exposure with an adjustment brush in Lightroom only on his face and the wall leading towards him and noise reduction. Then I took it to Elements, ran a soft layer--masked off of his face and hands, used Pioneer Women's Black Beauty to convert to black and white, and saved. Back in Lightroom I added the dark vignette and cropped a tiny bit. The seat of the rocking chair was kind of glowing through the vignette so I used an adjustment brush to lower its exposure and brightness.

So now that I am caught up for last week...though no one is keeping score...here is my photo for today.

Thanksgiving (SOOC):

I wanted to take more pictures of this scene, but my aunt wanted me to take the plates back to the buffet table and get out of the way for dinner.

And just to make this post really, really long because that is my favorite thing to do, here are a few more snapshots of our thanksgiving...the ones without brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws, aunts, uncles, and cousins...it is a blessing to have family.

Wednesday extended family dinner at a local Chinese restaurant -- Thanks Uncle B and Aunt H!

Thanksgiving breakfast with Oak's extended family here at our house...No one will play w/ me!

My Dad's Sister sets a beautiful Thanksgiving table

Lots of tasty food--okay, I'm not big on the traditional turkey meal, but the appetizers were superb and my cousin did do an excellent job smoking the turkey. We brought the green bean casserole. Almost too easy to count as contributing, especially since Oak made it.

Let's Eat! Huckleberry said he was thankful that the aliens had not attacked and taken over the planet...then he said, I'm just kidding...okay, I am thankful that hasn't happened, but I'm really thankful for my family. Most everyone said a variation of family...I said photography.

Pie and whipped cream...the left overs made a perfect breakfast for me Friday.

Time to go home...jammies for Sunflower and a coke for Oak to prepare for the hour long drive.

The next three days were spent with a trip to the zoo, working on pictures, taking apart electronics, playing games (mostly Wii and DS) and basically relaxing as a family...oh, and an experiment in Christmas pictures which should show up next week :) I love my family.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-11-26T20:57:00.000-08:00

These prompts all have so many creative interpretations. I cannot wait to see the other participant's finds!

Waiting:

While I waited for my husband and kids to come out of the aquarium at the zoo (I didn't want to have my lens fog over), I had the privilege of watching these birds.

Foliage:

The foliage at the zoo is sometimes more fascinating than the animals. I had never before seen a black plant.

Candid:

With my speed light, I was actually quite happy with some of my candid shots over this Holiday weekend, but most of them are of extended family who I do not have permission to post on a blog. So you get this one. I know this photo would drive my photography teacher nuts--who/what is your subject? SnapDragon, Oak, Sunflower, food...

Knife, Fork, or Spoon:

Just a fork...

Rule of Thirds:

I was waiting for them to come out of the aquarium quite a long time. These are some of the lights set-up for Zoo Lights, but we visited the zoo during the day.

Be sure to check out the other Scavenger Hunts linked up on Ashley's blog...which such fun prompts they are sure to be fantastic.

Exploring with a Camera: Aspect Ratios

2011-11-26T00:18:00.000-08:00

I always learn so much from Kat's Exploring with the Camera series and this time is no exception...except it was a little easier this time. After all, while I have a lot to learn about the art of cropping and composition, the math of aspect ratios I've known for awhile.

I had to learn because my first camera didn't shoot pictures in any of the standard printing sizes. It shot 3:4 as did most point and shoots (according to Kat's article).

3:4 Aspect Ratio

Costco print, or any other place on the street, were offering 4x6 or the now mostly outdated 3x5 (with 3% zoom and crop to create clean edges). Everyone owned nice hundred page 4x6 photo albums waiting for those darn digital pictures to get printed. I had to learn to crop so my pictures could fill those little plastic slots.

4:6 / 2:3 Aspect Ratio

It would take me weeks to prepare all my pictures for printing...now you can just use the upload tool for cropping...but I used Photoshop Elements 2. I was thrilled when we got a Mac and I could just crop in iPhoto. It was so easy. But I was still always behind in my printing.

1:1 Aspect Ratio

For one thing, sometimes the most artistic crop wasn't a standard print size...do I add white edges and crop? But then it doesn't fit in my album! I tried scrapbooking a little...it was the thing to do...and while it eliminated the pain of non-artistic framing/cropping...it was WAY to much work and NOT very fun for my non-crafty self.

Do you KNOW how excited I was the first time I looked at pictures from my new dSLR last February to realize it shot in a 4:6 aspect ratio? Now I would save so much time on editing and get upto date on my printing!

Ha!

For one thing...4:6 is still not always the best ratio for my shot. Knowing I intend to mostly print 4x6's, I tend to try to compose my shot with that in mind, but with moving kids and my single-minded thoughts (focus on the eyes, focus on the eyes, focus...), I often fail.

4:6 Aspect Ratio (original)

But even if I have to try every size on the chart...

5:7 Aspect Ratio

...to find the right one...

8:10 / 4:5 Aspect Ratio

...the amount of time I would spend on editing in order to crop is only a minuscule portion of the time I now spend in Lightroom or Photoshop Elements (now 10, yeah!).

I'm pretty sure my husband would be thrilled if I went back to the days of the only editing I did being a crop and some red-eye reduction, especially as that would be so fast! Certainly adding a little pop to each image takes very little time...even less time all together than my old edits would take...but I just have so many, many, many images, and there are so many, many fun things to try.

Now that I have so much creative control over my images from start to finish, photography is just too much fun...all aspects of it!

Shades of Autumn -- Finale

2011-11-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thursday! I certainly did! Now it's time for the Shades of Autumn Finale...and you really should link up because this time there are prizes (random number kind!) I thought I would just use one from each post, but it seemed like every week when we'd moved onto the next color, I would find the perfect photo...so here they are:

Green:

Yellow:

Orange:

Red:

Purple:

Brown:

White:

Then my favorite photo of the week. I used my new Photoshop Elements 10 (Thanks, Oak!) to create a panorama and to layer two different exposures. Fun!

unThemed Tuesday

2011-11-21T20:52:00.000-08:00

Usually I like to tie my pictures together somehow, but I've been doing such random shooting recently in an effort to practice using my new speedlight and absorb what I'm learning in my photography class. Really it is good to expand my repertoire...really I have more in my life than Sunflower...but I do so like to match! Hopefully the real artists that visit my site are a little more accepting of an eclectic mix. Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility...some day I'll get it.

I know we are not the only family who entertains ourselves by taking things apart while Mommy takes pictures. Many a pleasant afternoon is spent in such a manner.

Of course there is the ever fun Wii games...chewing boy not withstanding...I am the Queen of Mario Party (Okay, maybe Oak/Sunflower won.)

Now my favorite way to entertain myself is by taking pictures...even before reading big books...and Huckleberry spent a cold 20 minutes letting me practice with my new speedlight. Now just to narrow the 30 or so remaining pictures to one or two since he was standing and smiling exactly the same in every one of them. I guess I need to practice my posing instructions more, too.

Though telling Sunflower to pose is a useless waste of time. I can still capture some sweet photos of her, though. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I am lying down on the little slide with my feet up on the larger slide per Sunflower's instructions "This is your bed, Mama!" Sunflower is standing at my feet leaning over me with the sun behind her. I happen to have my camera on me because that is the deal...Mommy will go outside and play IF she can take pictures, too.

Then, of course, I do love playing with photos! I probably have enough photos to edit I could just stop taking pictures for the winter, but what would be the fun in that? In the meantime, I did finally have a chance to play with textures because textures are fun!

This is Kim Klassen's Serious Magic, 100% screen. This photo was taken on our photowalk early, early Saturday morning. It really was as cold as it looks.

Kim Klassen's Stained Linen, Soft Light 100%, though I circled the bird and ran a Gaussian blur on him to remove the texture from him AND Magic Edges Screen 100%. Birds don't take posing instructions well, either, but I think they were too cold to move.

The birds did stay really still at times and let me get awfully close to them, making for a few sweet shots.

Do you see the little ripple in his neck feathers? That was the wind. We went to breakfast once the wind started picking up!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-11-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

So my friends picked me up at 6:15 a.m. this morning and we went to the waterfront to view the sunrise...or more to point the pretty colors and clouds since we couldn't actually see the sun. It was cold, but fun, and most of my prompts were found on the shoot.

Mainly One Color:

My favorite shot from the shoot...I sharpened and ran noise reduction, but the whites were exactly like this and the bird was just that close.

Around the Home:

Now that I have a speed light, I can take pictures of the boys, too, since they are only around the home as it starts getting dark. Still getting the hang of it, but I love having it.

Reflection:

I tried some HDR, but the clouds moved too fast for my setting changes (no auto-bracketing on the d3100; yes, I'm sure), plus I don't understand the program...I kind of liked the small thumbnails, right and left, but when I asked for full size the middle is what I received. I'll play some more with it for fun, but I'm pretty content with just a regular picture.

Water:

Most of my pictures are of the water, so I had trouble deciding, so you get two shots.

The above shot taken with a wider angle. Such a beautiful location and fun, fantastic photographers with which to spend the morning.

Writing:

You'd think with writing like this staring me in the face I would pay close attention to my horizon lines, but I still had to straighten and crop some of my photos (though less than usual, so I am learning.)

I hope you had happy hunting. I certainly did! Have a fantastic Sunday!

Shades of Autumn -- White, plus some

2011-11-18T00:32:00.000-08:00

I haven't had as much time this week to create blog posts and take pictures...I've been playing with my pictures though: organizing, tagging, sorting, and deleting--though not nearly as"ruthlessly" as my photography teacher wants...but he doesn't have to pay for my hard drives, so no skin of his nose. I do want to finish transferring my photos from iPhoto and tag them all, or close to all of them. It is fun to look at old pictures, see my babies when they were smaller, see how far my photos have advanced in even just the last six months, and really fascinating to see how heavy handed my edits were when I was first learning photoshop. Some pictures really are worth deleting. I am afraid of what I will see when I look back to now six months from now.

Certainly I sometimes keep favorite photos that are not good photos, but at times my dancing baby is just too hard to get in focus.

Or keep in the frame (and in focus):

Thank goodness for black and white. Photos of my little girl dancing around the church while we wait for a meeting will always be favorites for me...even if they are just "snapshots."

She did agree to pose...for a second...and without too much enthusiasm. I guess I'd better get better at focusing on quick moving darlings.

I think converting to black and white doesn't count for the white shades of autumn...and wouldn't you know it IS actually snowing at my friend's houses, but in our tiny pocket of warmth we have rain. That's okay...I did find some white foliage the last few weeks. I would have NEVER seen it without this challenge. Some people love photography because it allows them to capture the beauty that they see...I love it for that, but more because it causes me to see beauty in the first place.

And here is the tree from which some of my orange leaves came--today:

I hate to admit it, but I think winter might actually be here. Why am I getting up at 5:30a.m. Saturday to shoot the sunrise? I've done more hiking, squatting, walking, carrying things, and overall WORK since I started this hobby...am I really that excited to endure the cold for a photo that might not come out in the snow and gray? Yes. Especially with friends. Thanks for taking this journey with me!

Week 45 good to WOW Edit Family

2011-11-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

I didn't link my straight out of the camera shot on Monday because I kept hoping to be able to try again...once I'd figured out the angle I needed and where to put the children, that last move caused Huckleberry to hit his back on the kitchen table and SnapDragon to bang his knee on the chair. Once the boys were crying, Sunflower certainly wasn't going to pose anymore. Someday I do plan to try this again.

Original:

Edit:

All I ended up doing for the edit is lens correction and converting to BW with a preset. Mostly what this photo needs is a retake...take it with a wider angle lens, dress the kids differently, a slightly different angle to get all of SnapDragon's face, and a much deeper dusting on the photo. Still I'm happy with the idea and hope to have a chance to perfect it at some point.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-11-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

All week I was resigned to not doing a hunt this week...though I'd taken many pictures, but I read the custom bokeh information and told my children about and then I couldn't not do it as they thought it sounded so cool. I gave them my lens cap and they spent a bit of the morning creating custom bokeh shapes for me out of a Corn Chex box.

Luckily, I had taken some pictures this week that would fit the other prompts, so I have a complete Scavenger Hunt and without further ado, here it is.

Before:

We had a lab in my photography class on Thursday where one of the student's sisters came and our teacher set up several different lighting situations. It was kind of a free for all in terms of who was shooting where, so a bit crazy, but I did learn alot about lighting and shadows.

After:

I don't think this is my best photo from the workshop, but it is the one I'm done editing :)

Opposing Lines:

I don't know if these are opposing lines so much as lines, lines everywhere, but it will have to do for today.

Which Pair of Shoes Should I Wear?

Sunflower has more shoes than every one else in the house combined (due to the generosity of a friend) so it is sometimes a fight over what to wear...no, you may not wear your flip-flops...put Daddy's shoes back!...I cannot find your other cowboy boot...please just wear these!

Little Features:

I love little baby teeth...before the big teeth come in big and crooked and cause me to worry about braces every time they smile. I know her eyes aren't exactly in focus...she was moving with too slow a shutter speed...but is it obvious that I used my speed light? I know what horrible flash work looks like, but I'm still learning the nuances of okay to good.

Custom Bokeh:

From Top Right Corner to Top Left Corner--Clockwise--No filter, square, hearts, Mickey head, triangle. That was fun! My family even laid the Christmas lights out on a white background on my couch for my photos. How sweet are they?

I hope you enjoyed my hunt...if you want to see more hop on over to Ashley's blog to see the rest of the hunts.

Shades of Autumn -- Brown

2011-11-11T00:40:00.000-08:00

I thought there was a lot of purple in the world...well, brown...it is EVERYWHERE! So we better just get started.

It has been a most gorgeous fall here this year. I don't know if it is because I see the beauty more easily with my camera or because the colors have just been all that more beautiful. Certainly the sun shining has caused all the spectacular fall colors to shimmer and shine in a way that causes me to fill my memory card day after day. This is my selections severely culled!

Now I don't have very many photos for white yet, so next week might be a more reasonable post. However, most of these photos are from this week. The leaves on the trees seem to be following the shades exactly as we progress, which I know is not true for other areas. I hope that doesn't mean we get snow for white next week!

A Little Bit of Everything

2011-11-10T00:54:00.000-08:00

I finally started shooting in RAW. Before I only used it when I was going to be in a low light or bad shooting conditions and needed all the data I could get. But I've finally gotten fairly aggressive in my deleting (so I won't run out of space so quickly) and I want to please my photography teacher. It puzzles me what SOOC means with a RAW file and Lightroom's import settings, but I set all the sliders (except white balance) to 0 for my "macro" for shoot and edit.

SOOC:

Edit:

Crop, Blacks +7, Brightness +10, Clarity +25, Vibrance +10 and sharpening

As far as I can tell the biggest down side to shooting in RAW is all those presets designed for RAW now work on my images and every picture has 10 ways it can go that I like. Fun...but time consuming!

Even when hiding the beautiful fall colors in black and white

giving Sunflower some "fashion" colors.

Jelly on her face and all.

Of course I can still do clean and simple edits.

Still Life

In order to please my photography teacher I also bought a speedlight for my camera...okay, mostly to please myself, but I really do like getting A's even in ungraded continuing education classes. But today we have our first lab and he is bringing in all of his Canon gear to show us lighting set-ups etc. I figured I have the money set aside I might as well buy it now and benefit more from his knowledge (his Canon speedlight wasn't going to work on my Nikon). So of course, I did play with it a little. I think I might get to really like it. (I also bought a diffuser and a cord to take it off camera.) Besides learning how to use it, the biggest downside is that it is heavier than my camera.

Now I know I have a lot to learn, but I am really excited about the idea of being able to take pictures in lower light settings without losing details. While shooting pictures of Oak in the kitchen, Sunflower fell out of her bed. I went up to check on her and she was instantly happy...sitting on the floor. Since I'd carried my camera with me, I was able to take a picture even though the only light on was the hall light behind me. The hard part was focusing.

No editing...but I did leave the LR import preset. What do you think?

Of course, there are some little quirks I need to understand a little better. One is that my camera does not support high speed sync...but if the flash isn't mounted all the way in it can stop talking to the flash just enough that it doesn't force my shutter speed to 1/200 but still flashes...makes for a funky photo.

It has something to do with having two shutters to get higher shutter speeds, overlapping, and some such stuff...but I did think I'd gotten a very broken flash for a bit. It might be fun to play with someday, but in the meantime I experimented with basic ttl and some pears...after all everyone takes pictures of pears and we happened to have some. Oak said this was a good example of pictures I can take 500 of for experimentation and then delete them all.

(I added the grain in lightroom because I like to play, but the colors and details were just right with the flash)

I told him that if I ever made money selling pictures of pears...as some people do...I would not share the profits with him...anything else, yes, but not pears. So I am now planning to go into the pear portrait business. I think I need some French text.

I am linking up with This or That as that is exactly what this post is.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-11-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

We are spending this weekend with our BiL and SiL and today we visited the Science Museum...we bought the annual pass last time we were with them and must get our money's worth. It seemed a great time to work on my Scavenger Hunt and some of the things I am learning in my photography class. And it was.

Purple:

Okay, not that much purple...if you need more feel free to check out my recent purple post...but I like this shot and it does have purple in it.

Shapes:

The science center is full of shapes, but this is the view out the windows through the space shaped stencils at the exhibit.

Photographer's Choice:

Speaking of the view...the large picture windows from this floor led to a lot of beautiful scenes. This photo is an experiment in using flash per my class instructions. If I took a picture of Huckleberry without flash the scene behind him was completely blown out, so I exposed for the background and turned on the flash...first I used the ttl mode but it was a little too much. This photo is with the flash set to its lowest setting. I didn't sign up for this class to learn about flash, but we are spending a lot of time on it...and a lot of money since I did today order an off camera flash...which my teacher tells me will help with those pinpoint catch lights.

In Disguise:

This is me taking a picture in the mirror/window that depending on how much light you gave each side would adjust how much was reflected vs shown through. The camera, hands, and curly hair is me...the face, glasses and straight hair is my SiL...so me in disguise. Works for me. The question is...does it count as a creative self-portrait for my photography class assignment?

Food:

After the Science Museum we went out to lunch...the burrito shots are not that appetizing...so here is a picture of my drink. Should have ordered a coke...I am very sleepy.

Have a very blessed Sunday. We are hanging out with BiL and SiL, eating at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, and going back home and North to witness our 16 year old niece get baptized. I expect it will be a very good day...if a little tiring.

She's Just Such a Fun Subject

2011-11-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

I really do take an enormous number of pictures of Sunflower. It isn't that I don't love my boys...they just are not home as often. But if I want to go outside and take pictures the best way to make sure I am supervising Sunflower while enjoying photography is to use her as my subject. In some ways it isn't a problem...even though it is always her, she herself is so varied.

Yes, her lips are a little blue. It isn't because she is wearing no coat in November, it is that blue sucker from Halloween.

Check out SnapShot By Michelle's Guest Tutorial on Ramblings and Photos to create your own word templates.

Shades of Autumn -- Purple

2011-11-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

There are so many different shades of purple...so many lovely purples...and I've been collecting them for a month. Purple is everywhere, and I love these themes that help me to notice it. Autumn is more beautiful to me than ever this year because of my camera and God's gift of photography.

Have a very happy, purple Friday! And be sure to check out the other purple entries!

Week 43 good to WOW Edit Costumes

2011-11-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

I'll let you go to my original post for the SOOC if you really want to see them, but it is probably sufficient to know they are worse than the edits. With all three photos I basically did a little white balance, exposure, and brightness adjustment with a lot of noise reduction. There was not enough data in the original images to really do anything fancier...oh, and some red-eye reduction. I know...no on camera flash...but sometimes you really don't have a choice.

So here are my edits:

And just for fun, because Sepia makes everything fun, I did another edit/collage:

But then, because Monday was Halloween...I did take a ton of pictures...but with the kids standing cooperatively for Auntie J and running off when it was my turn...no group shot.

Sunflower as an Elephant:

Okay, as a little girl in a gray sweat outfit. She would not keep the trunk or ears on that her brother had so carefully made her. This is the closest we got to having her wear it in a picture.

SnapDragon as a Magician:

He made his own cap and wand and wore an old cape from Huckleberry's stint as the "Prince of Stars."

Huckleberry as King Edmund from "The Lion, Witch, and the WardRobe":

He made his own shield, sword, and scabbard...if you didn't know yet, I am really, really resistant to spending money on Halloween. But the kids don't seem to mind and it forces them to be creative and innovative, certainly traits I aspire to instill in my children.

So...this didn't really teach you anything about editing...and I guess it doesn't have to...but I did get a lot of complements on the lighting in my photo yesterday so I thought it might be worth mentioning how I did it because a lot of it was in post processing.

Here is my original:

First, I basically did a clean edit--boost exposure, blacks, brightness, change white balance and flat tone curve LR preset. Then some noise reduction and sharpening.

Then it was fine, but a little dull. It had brought out a little more of the sunshine from the day, but not enough. We really had fabulous weather this October.

So then I tried the Preset: Soulshine [Holy Night]. I'm not exactly sure all of the things this preset does, but one thing it does is add a split-tone that I really like--blues for shadows and yellow for highlights which I find almost impossible to duplicate without starting with a preset. I think it might be designed for RAW as I always need to tone it down a little (perhaps I could have toned this down even more, too). Specifically I usually take the Highlight Saturation of the yellow down...this time only -10, but sometimes until it is almost gone. Thanks to the tutorial on split-toning a few weeks ago I learned how to control this preset and use it happily. I also tend to take down the brightness a bit when I use it and add back some noise reduction. Anyway, here is yesterday's photo:

I'm pretty sure that I got this preset on the Adobe Exchange but I couldn't find it to link you to it. However, the wonderful Rosie of Leaves 'n Bloom Photography found the original creator and source so I can now link you to the set. I'm so glad! It is four really wonderful presets. Thank you, Rosie! Be sure to check out her tutorial on table top light studios over as a guest post today for Shoot and Edit, too.

In the meantime, I hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday -- My Boys

2011-11-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

Huckleberry

SnapDragon

Sweet Shot Tuesday

2011-11-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

I feel like maybe now I know too much and not enough about photography...because I notice all the things wrong with my photos (easier on the deleting goal) and not enough on how to take the picture better in the first place.

People say a good artist is the one who can envision an idea and then capture it. I should be happy because I am starting to envision what I want...but I feel even further from capturing it than before.

Not to say I could have captured anything like this on purpose even 3 months ago...but that struggle for perfection can overtake me at time. The "need" for new equipment to "take my photos" to a new level.

But I don't want that. God gave me this passion for photography in order to glorify Him and for me to start to see the beauty in the World--the beauty He created.

I cannot capture the detail I want...and it can't be the lens because other's can do better with similar equipment. But the temptation to say...if only I had a macro lens. If only my children would shift properly for catch lights. If only I had an external flash. If only...

Well, God gave me this gift of photography as a good gift, not to be an idol or to sow discontent. I will continue to learn and strive to do better (kind, constructive criticism might help with this) but I want to retain the joy...

So here is my sweet shot, even if she is looking off the frame and not into the space, her shoulder is cropped off, and her eyes are underexposed with not great catchlights. It is my beautiful baby girl...not so baby anymore...and she is sweet. Taking photos of her is sweet. Having a hobby in photography is sweet.

Oh, and by the way, I made the Top Five over at Simplicity. Feel free to hop on over and vote for my photo (or one of the others). I actually voted for one of the others because I liked it better, but I am honored to be included.

Week 43 good to WOW SOOC Costumes

2011-10-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I won't have any pictures of the kid's costumes until Monday night, but since I've been slowly moving my old pictures out of iPhoto into my Lightroom Catalog it seemed right to share old pictures from Halloween's past. Now they aren't great photos, but that just makes the edits more fun on Thursday.

First year with a digital camera:

This is the year that Huckleberry was a Knight and SnapDragon a pumpkin. The digital age missed the year Huckleberry was a trapezoid.

The year Huckleberry was an Astronaut and SnapDragon was a bear. Thank goodness for older cousins that pass on their costumes--we have had several years of astronauts.

The year Huckleberry was the "Prince of Stars" (started out Prince Caspian and then he changed it to a "made up" prince) and SnapDragon was a pirate...a very nice pirate as he informed every one.

That brings us up to the end of 2007...as far as I've gotten in moving my pictures. Sunflower was born in August 2008...so 2008 is gonna take a bit of time to move.

Be sure to come back Thursday where I'll share my edits and perhaps a few pictures from this year's Halloween. Huckleberry made Sunflower a really adorable elephant outfit.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday Snapshot -- Pumpkin Edition

2011-10-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Auntie J's to carve pumpkins.

At first, Sunflower was a little skeptical at the request to touch the gunky stuff...Mommy wasn't doing it.

But then she decided it might be a little fun, though Daddy did end up doing most of it.

So since they were all busy playing safely with knives, I decided it was a great time to do my Scavenger Hunt. In a quest to find balance and to organize my photos better, I had ignored it all week, hoping I'd have the will power to just skip a week. But since I had nothing else to do...

Macro/Close-Up:

Found Texture:

Certainly if you take away the texture on the pumpkin, it would still be round. These were very juicy pumpkins.

Tree:

This is the Kent Weakley tree...at night. Okay...maybe not.

Finally, the pumpkins were finished.

They chose creations that didn't take much skill at pumpkin carving. Frankenstein and His Bride.

Huckleberry chose a castle and a catapult. He did a fine job on his pumpkin all by himself and no one lost any blood.

Cover:

Sunflower had trouble putting the cover back on the pumpkin, but no worries, it'll be there for Monday.

Home:

We are so thankful Auntie J and Uncle M opened their lovely home for pumpkin carving. We are also very glad to have relatives so close to our own home, because family is what makes a house a home. Now if we'd been there a few weeks before, I would have had a more creative "seeing faces in strange places" to share that week:

As we left, I found one more...not so pumpkin related...macro.

Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home. That is what we did.

I hope you have a fantastic Sunday. Check out the other Sunday Snapshots and Hunt Photos!

Shades of Autumn -- Red

2011-10-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

I bought my newest accessory to my camera. Most of the things on my wish list are a little pricey--well, I can afford one, I just don't know how to choose. So I went with a cheaper accessory, though I spent a little more than I usually would on this type of item, but I couldn't resist the color.

These boots, at $30, help me to go outside when the light is gorgeous, but the ground is wet. So much more fun to go outside and take pictures if you don't get wet feet or have wet cuffs on your last pair of clean jeans for the rest of the day. If it means Sunflower gets to play outside more often (she also has boots) then that is only a huge bonus.

Now for some leaves, since I've been hunting them the last few weeks.

Have a Happy Friday! And check out the other Red photos. There is some serious talent out there.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-10-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

Time to share our hunt finds for the week. I just spent the last hour shooting a macro...or trying to...only to just now realize the prompt was orange. What? That's what I get for writing my prompts on a 3x5 criss-crossing all the different challenges. Well, my orange might be a stretch, but I do like it better than my macro attempt anyway, and it is from this week. So on to the hunt...

Orange:

Orange buttons and orange leaves?

Words:

Under:

The car is UNDER Sunflower. She has amazing climbing skills.

Always Look on the Bright Side:

When things seem dim a can of coke can help me look on the bright side.

Fly:

Look, Mama! Ducks! (They were actually geese.) I fly, too!

I hope you had a fun hunt and a great week!

Sunflower...Again

2011-10-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

I found our church parking lot is the most spectacular place for photos! Even though she wouldn't be still...no reason to assume she would...I got several favorites of Sunflower from the 30 minutes we had to kill before Bible Study that I absolutely love. I shared one for Wordless Wednesday, but this is my favorite. I didn't even bother to edit it; I love it so much!

Mommy! I'm flying! Like the Geese!

Shades of Autumn -- Orange

2011-10-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots of orange! My mom's favorite color was orange--growing up our kitchen was a bright, cheerful orange. Growing up I never understood the attraction...not with pretty pink around. But as an adult, I can see it. So many shades. Such a happy color with the ability to be dramatic.

At the Zoo:

My church parking lot:

Did you know if you stand in the church parking lot at night with the street light leaves look like fire?

Have a happy Friday!

Week 41 good to WOW Edit Pumpkins

2011-10-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

Time to share our edits! This weeks edits were pretty straightforward. I am very glad Ashley shared that video on split-toning...it makes a ton more sense now...kind of similar to a two colored gradient map in PSE, but in some ways a lot simpler. However, neither of my photos really lent themselves to split-toning well...though I did try.

But with the pumpkins I ended up with a clean edit...basic sliders in Lightroom, crop, and white balance.

Oh, and I took out the distracting, little, round bits of bokeh in the lower right hand corner with the LR round clone tool. I find it much simpler to do in PSE but I don't like to go back and forth.

Then I did a very simple edit on Sunflower...simple and subtle was my goal.

I adjusted the white balance and used an adjustment brush on her face to lighten, brighten, and soften just a smidge. Plus a tiny bit of noise reduction -- + 25 luminance, +6 color.

Then I played around with split toning quite awhile. Here is my final...split-toned, but not necessarily favorite...edit.

This is with a pinkish/purple for the highlights and a green for the shadows and with my blacks boosted (removes the haze a bit and gives it some shadows for split-toning.) But I just couldn't get the colors or balance right, so I desaturated it all. I definitely see the potential for what split-toning can do (that video added a blue sky to washed out sky voila!) which is very exciting, but for this one...not really necessary.

Some Sunflower Snapshots

2011-10-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have been following Katie Lloyd's 31 days to releasing your inner artist. I've spent so much of my life thinking of myself as anything but an artist--the literal one, the one good at math, the geek...it is taking me time to accept that in photography I might just be an artist. It has definitely always been a "creative outlet" and now more so than ever, but art? That is really hard for my mind to wrap around. I really dislike reading posts about how you can learn all the technical stuff but an artistic eye cannot be taught. But there is still a lot of the technical side of photography for me to learn before my photos start being judged solely for lack of art. Anyway, that is just a thought I'm mulling over. Am I an artist? Do I have what it takes? Does it matter?

In the meantime, I'm reading all I can to learn more and taking a lot of pictures to get better...I certainly haven't maxed out my potential yet. And Katie challenged us to find inspiration in what we have around the house since we cannot always go out to capture beauty. I feel like it is almost cheating to participate since over half of my pictures are taken at home...and are of the same subject that is with me everywhere. But it is true that my daughter inspires me...to be more active, to be more creative, to have more fun, to be a better mother, to be a better example...each and every day.

She also makes me laugh and laugh and laugh so I'm also linking to Simplicity's Photo Challenge: Laugh Out Loud. (Simplicity is hosting 31 Days of Inspiring Photography for the month of October.)

Here is where she tells me that this rock is her "pecial rock...it's precious to me."

This is right after I told her that she could not go into the house and bring her stuffed animal into the wet yard. "She's my baby! It's dry! Daddy said I could!" Ummmm, still no. (Yes, this makes me laugh.)

Here is where she decided to change her clean boots for the boots the boys had left out only to discover a spider web in one of them. "Get it out, Mommy." No.

"Push me, Mommy!" No...again.

"I could have climbed up the slide better if you'd helped me put on those other boots." No, I don't think so...but I will give you a hand. It seems like these stories are more about me saying no than laughing out loud, but I assure you that her sheer enthusiasm, determination, persistence, and overall energy can usually crack us up. She is a real joy to be around.

As my 7 year old said yesterday, "Mommy, was I as funny as Sunflower when I was her age?" Ummmm, sorry, but no. He came into his funny a few years later. His idea is that if Sunflower is ever homeless she could make money by going around and making people laugh.

Texture Tuesday

2011-10-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

We still have roses. New buds are still even coming in, but it is starting to get colder, and they won't last much longer. But today they were beautiful with the dew and the sunlight. Too bad I messed up my focus on most of them. Still fun, though, and perfect for textures.

Here is my original (cropped a little):

Here is my textured version:

Pure Soft Summer Action--masked off of bud
Kim Klassen's Texture -- Dream 49% hardlight, 38% masked off of bud
Kim Klassen's Texture -- Canvas Magic 100% softlight

I wish I had more time to play with pictures tonight, but we are busy with some other paperwork...finally!

I hope you have a fabulous Tuesday, and if you need a pick me up be sure to check out all the beautiful art over at Texture Tuesday!

Week 41 good to WOW SOOC Pumpkins

2011-10-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

I'd almost finished my post when I had to take my son to school. I thought, I'll actually be early (for me)! When I get back from school I can have my post done and linked up by 9:00 a.m. PST. But then I saw the angle of the sun and the lack of clouds and the millions of dew drops and decided it was a perfect bokeh day! So I spent an hour taking pictures instead.

And I had fun, and Sunflower had fun playing outside--luckily she has boots to keep her feet dry from the wet grass. I've gotta get me some of those! But my focus was off on pretty much every single shot...particularly the close-ups...and there was NO wind and my shutter speed was quite fast, I'd even stopped down my aperture some in order to get a wider depth of field. Turns out that little circle thingee you can adjust so you can see without your glasses was turned by a quarter. Doesn't matter if you are taking pictures of bokeh, right? Well, hopefully we'll have more sunny and dewy mornings, because the great light has passed for today.

My white balance was set on auto instead of cloudy which I have found also makes a difference in my contentment of my pictures outdoors, though I am fairly happy with this SOOC shot of Sunflower.

1/1250 f/1.8 50mm ISO 100

Do you see my reflection in the sunglasses? I'm not sure how to edit this, because I'm bound to lose the haze with my usual processes...usually I want to lose the haze. Maybe just add a little warmth (which would have been there if my white balance had been on cloudy) and dodge her face a little? Any suggestions would be great!

Now back to my originally scheduled programming. We saw many, many pumpkins at the zoo Saturday. Here is my SOOC shot for Shoot and Edit. I had one identical whose framing I liked better, but the focus was not as sharp. So I'm choosing the one I will need to crop, but has all the elements I need to make it what I want.

1/800 f/1.8 50mm ISO 100

The rest of these pumpkin shots I am sharing with Monday Rewind over at Chic Homeschool Mama.

We were greeted at the entry with pumpkins:

But the most fun for the boys was the professional pumpkin carver. Who knew that was a job option?

They stood there in complete fascination and asked lots of questions.

We were supposed to go meet Dad and Sunflower inside for lunch (Sunflower needed the bathroom), but we lost track of time. The boys watching the carving, and I taking pictures of all the pumpkins around.

I was apparently quite intrigued by the curve of this pumpkins stem because I took a lot of pictures of it...even switched lenses.

Finally Daddy and Sunflower did come find us and we had lunch and then finished the zoo. Only to find a few more pumpkins at the end of the day. By then my camera battery had given out on me--it only lasted 1500 pictures (plus the 150 at home). Well really.

So I used my old camera...A Panasonic DMC-FZ3 3mp camera...a very good camera for it's time. But I do want to gently suggest that the next time someone says "your camera takes good pictures" please ask them how old their camera is before giving them a lecture about food and ovens. (Not that I don't agree, but some people really do just have horrible cameras that are limiting their ability to ever become good photographers.) I used the manual settings to try and creatively compose my shots, but changing settings is beyond awkward. My old camera does have a really fast shutter speed compared to other cameras 7 years old, but I had to run significant noise reduction to deal with the noise produced on ISO 200. In fact, I'll first show you a SOOC shot so you can see.

1/200 f/2.8 7.5mm (yes, I don't know what that is compared to dSLR) ISO 200

Yes, I know the bad composition is my fault (something my new fancy camera does not fix), but the noise in Huckleberry's sweatshirt, the lack of color range...those are my camera. Even with 2.8 (widest aperture) the dof is not terribly interesting...right for this photo, but not interesting. 8.0 is the narrowest aperture option. Those translate to some other number on a dSLR, but I am not going to look them up.

Anyway, after color boosting, cropping, and noise reduction, I was able to produce a reasonable shot.

Actually, one of each child...clearly we are getting tired :)

Next item on my purchase list is definitely a spare battery for my Nikon!

Have a fantastic Monday! I plan to...after I fold 8 loads of laundry since we were busy, busy, busy all weekend. Being productive is a joy in and of itself...no matter the task, right?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-10-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the zoo! Not our zoo, but the zoo in the "big city." We won the tickets from the talented lady at The Good Life Documented. It was perfect zoo weather--60 and dry! And such a cool zoo! We love zoos! So all of my photos for today are from our zoo visit...meaning some of them are a stretch, and abstract is from our other camera. My battery died. I was feeling quite worried that it died when I'd charged it a few days ago...until I realized I'd taken over 1500 pictures today before it gave out on me. Definitely time to buy that second battery.

Abstract:

Round:

Fire:

(The boys helped me "build" a fire with left over lunch items.)

Seeing Faces in Strange Places:

Stars:

They are the stars in my life!

For more pictures from our zoo trip, feel free to pop over to my family blog...though I went armed with a list of prompts so more pictures will be showing up in the next few weeks. Have to do something with 1600 pictures.

Shades of Autumn -- Yellow

2011-10-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

This time I was determined to take pictures of yellow leaves...and I found red, green, orange, and purple. Last night I saw a yellow tree illuminated by a street light, but my husband did not think it was safe for me to go back there with my camera and leave him home with the kids. I suggested Huckleberry was old enough to stay with the kids, but he thought Huckleberry should go to sleep not stay up and babysit. I would regret that my husband is not willing to suffer for my art, except he really is quite accommodating in general and the Netflix DVD was calling my name quite loudly.

So here is a yellow flower I took a picture of on the World Wide Photo Walk a few Saturdays ago. I'm not sure it is more than 50% yellow, but I think so...and the main subject is definitely yellow.

While working on deleting and organizing photos, I found some more yellow from the Farmer's Market last month. Lots of colors from that day that I saved for later use, too bad I forgot I had them.

Week 40 good to WOW Edit Leaves

2011-10-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'll start with my most complicated edit...the one where I did a bit more than just change a few sliders in LR and crop. Mouseover to see the original.

1/250 f/5.6 102mm ISO 200

I did my usual boosts--My combined Flat Tone and General Punch preset, plus a little to blacks. I also adjusted white balance a tiny bit and boosted +10 brightness and +18 saturation. Then I used the clone brush in LR to remove the extra bits of glass that cropping still left. Then I used an adjustment brush to desaturate and brighten the background until I was satisfied with it. The automask feature for the brush kept it off the leaf quite satisfactory. None of the automasking in PSE6 is as good as the new technology. One reason alone to upgrade to PSE10 in the distant future (when 11 comes out.)

For the rest of my edits I basically used my preset, boosted the blacks, brightness, and saturation, and for some cropped. Again the original is under the edit on mouseover.

1/640 f/4.2 80mm ISO 100

I did play with white balance a little on the one above a bit cooler and +9 in tint.

1/60 f/5.6 135mm ISO 800

Because of the high ISO I did move the luminance noise reduction slider a tiny bit. I didn't want to take away the details, but I wanted the background to not be as grainy.

1/500 f/1.8 50mm ISO 100

So there are the four photos I shared on Monday. You would THINK that meant I was done. However, I have some more leaves to share with this or that Thursday. One Monday comment suggested that the last picture could be improved by taking it from a different angle. Since I totally agreed, on Wednesday I went back. The original was taken on Saturday so first there was just a lot more leaves, so it couldn't quite be duplicated. Also, I tried to take pictures before Bible study (this puddle is at my church) and couldn't quite get myself to get on the ground...so I shot blind by lowering the camera to the ground. Again you can see the original on mouseover, and on these all there is just my basic preset, plus +5 to blacks, and some cropping.

After Bible Study was over, I went back to take some more. First I got down on my knee. It is wet pavement after all and no one is paying me for these photos!

It was good to have more focus control, but still, this wasn't the original shot just from a lower perspective, so one more. I actually laid down on the pavement. Luckily pretty much everyone had left the church by then so I didn't get run over (Sunflower was home with her dad which is what allowed me the opportunity.)

I also straightened this one a little bit. So now I have another 100 leaf pictures and none are exactly what I envisioned (that does not mean I don't like them). I could personally now go back and take the same pictures with a slightly narrower aperture (larger dof). With the extra leaves having fallen, I don't have the original puddle reflection as much. I do have some from above as was also suggested, but I'm saving those for another prompt. This post has enough for today. After all, almost everyone has their own leaves to look at and if you don't check out the linky party over at Ashley's for other edits!

Red Texture

2011-10-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Kim Klassen's WarmGrunge 100% Soft-light

This week's theme is red. Go and take a look at the other interpretations of red...I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Week 40 good to WOW SOOC Leaves

2011-10-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

This week's theme for shoot and edit is leaves. The nice thing about having a prompt ahead of time is it increases my creativity as I take pictures I wouldn't normally think to do. The problem with knowing the prompt too far in advance is you end up with a million pictures of that item...okay, 500. I've narrowed it down to 4. You would think with 500 pictures I'd have one that was awesome SOOC, but while my photo taking is improving...I had a loooooong way to go. So these photos are chosen because they were fun, taken with this prompt in mind, and for some a bit different from any one else's photos will be.

Now show us your leaf photos and link up your SOOC with Jill and your edit's on Thursday with Ashley. It is a fantastic way to grow in your photography and editing!

Color

2011-10-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

I learn so much from The Kat Eye View of the World and her Exploring with a Camera series. This week's theme is no exception...except I am finding it so hard! Knowing that the current theme this month was The Color Wheel Part 2: complementary, triadic, and tetrad, I went on Saturday's World Wide Photo Walk with the intention of capturing color. Ummm, not as easy as I thought it would be.

For one thing, there was a lot of monochromatic images. The skies were gray and so was the cement and a lot of the glass. For a moment the blue sky was reflected in the gray water, but that only gave us one color.

Monochromatic:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- Blank Space

Sometimes it appeared like lots of colors--which is was--but it turned out they were all analogous, colors next to each other on the color wheel, like purples and blues.

Analogous: purple, blue, and almost green:

or
Analogous: red, orange, and yellow:

And this next one was monochromatic, too, blue again being the only color from the sky, but I converted it to Black and White just because, making it nochromatic, right? No color?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- Black and White

But I tried to find some complementary, like red/green or yellow/purple or blue/orange, and maybe this is a stretch, but I have decided that in this lighting, the "blue" hour the grey benches and yellow lights become blue and orange, right?

Complementary: blue/orange:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- Complementary Color

No? Okay, I'll throw one from my archives. This whole color wheel thing helps explain why my little boy with blue eyes looks so good in orange; this was taken in the area we took the walk, so really it fits right in.

Complementary: blue/orange:

or How about Complementary: Yellow/Purple:

Kind of muted colors, but the yellow in the walls and the purple in the windows, right? The whites and browns and grays all count as neutral colors. (I am ignoring proportions for the moment because I can only learn one thing at once.)

Or Complementary: red/green:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Food (The restaurant we were supposed to eat at on the walk.)

So then I was supposed to find triadic color--3 colors on the color wheel that form a triangle like red, yellow, and blue--but that was difficult since there were so little color in a lot of the scenes. But maybe if we define the colors in the building picture a little differently?

Triadic: red/yellow/blue:

Okay, that is a complete stretch, even more than my other stretches, but I like this picture! The brownish walls and brick could be red, the mustard yellow walls are yellow, and the windows are now blue--just ignore the green and purple in the windows.

Okay, to prove I do know what the primary colors are, I'll share one from a few weeks ago.

Triadic: red/yellow/blue:

If you only have two of the three colors from a triangle it is called a triadic variation. Those were easier to find on my walk since it only required two colors. (I have a triadic purple/orange/green in this post.)

Triadic Variation: red/blue:

And

The last type of color sets we learned about is called a tetrad or tetrad harmony. It is 4 colors that form a square (two sets of complementary colors) or a rectangle. (Not all rectangles are squares but all squares are rectangles.) 4 colors in a picture, well that is too much to ask. I can do two, three, five or more, but four...not so often. At least not on the walk. Or at least I thought so, but if you look closely...

Tetrad Rectangle: red/green/blue/tiny bit of orange:

But just as there is a triadic variation, there is a tetrad variation where you can leave off one of the four colors and have only three colors. This makes it possible to fit almost any picture into the theme :)

Tetrad Variation: Rectangle: yellow/purple/green...missing the red:

Tetrad Variation: Rectangle: blue/orange/green...missing red:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Landscape, because I don't have a good landscape photo from the walk.

Then the question just becomes, where do colors like burgundy and teal fit in?

Is it a red/blue triadic variation, or is it just a photo from the walk that I want to share? As a child I colored almost every picture/outfit in coloring books a combination of burgundy and teal, or some variation of them. What does that say about me?

Shades of Autumn -- Green

2011-10-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

Live and Love Out loud, Project Alicia, and Bumbles & Light are starting a Autumn Photo Challenge--Shades of Autumn. The first shade is green. I have a lot of green in my photos. Apparently I love green, but also, I live in the Pacific Northwest so there is a lot of green around...year round. So here are a few of my green photos from the last few weeks. Some of these don't have quite enough green in them to count, I didn't read the rules closely enough before hand, but I can't quite bear to delete them. I'll do better next week.

This is from almost two weeks ago, but it is my favorite photo today now that I finally got around to processing it.

I do have better pictures from my "shoot with Sunflower" but this one cracks me up. I couldn't convince her that sitting on my lap wasn't a good pose.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone's shades of green...such a versatile color!

Week 39 good to WOW edit Orange

2011-10-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Time to edit our orange photos from Monday. Here is my original if you didn't have a chance to view it on flickr.

As you can see, it is a pretty bad picture, but it is just so ORANGE! I had just picked up my friend's macro lens and only took 3 pictures (of the leaf). I did not yet realize just how small the depth of field could be and how tricky focus can be. But while the photo will definitely not win the SOOC prize, it is a great photo to practice all the different skills we learned about editing this last, almost, year.

First I used my very first personal preset--since I was almost always using the LR presets "General Punch" and "Tone Curve - Flat"--I saved them together as one preset w/clarity. I plan to save one without the clarity, too. Then boosted the blacks and saturation a little and call that a "clean edit."

Then since the biggest problem was the snail being out of focus, I cloned that out, and I actually was pleased at how good it looked, except then the photo was boring. So I took it and another picture into PSE6. I cropped the flower from the other picture, added a drop shadow, and dragged it to the spot the snail used to be.

Then I used Kim Klassen's texture, Scripted Edges Magic 100% screen. But there was that blank space next to the flower, and it cried for some text, but then the pretty orange leaf would be completely covered up, and that would defeat the point...

So I remembered the lesson about adding the blank space, added the green (giving my photo the triadic color scheme: purple, orange, and green), gave it some of the same texture, and searched for some text to add.

"But out of limitations comes creativity" seemed to fit this experience perfectly. (Debbie Allen is some actress from the 50's).

Be Imitators

2011-10-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

There is so much beauty in this world, but I have spent most of my life noticing the ugly. Photography to me has been a gift from God to help me notice the beauty, just as He notices the beauty in us even when it feels like it is buried in ugly. Saturday's World Wide Photo Walk was a great opportunity to walk with 12 other photographers from my area interested in and capable of spotting beauty and interest in the unusual or mundane and share it with their art. It is quite thrilling to see how different our photos are and yet, they are all beautiful (at least the ones we're sharing). But there is one artist who is always beautiful, who is never buried in the ugly...especially if you seek Him. He is the one I want to glorify with this gift He has given me and who I strive to imitate...not the other talented and nice photographers, but the original artist.

Ephesians 5:1-2

You can visit my flickr set if you are interested in seeing more of my photos from the walk. If you were not able to participate this year, I encourage you to go next year. It was really fun!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-10-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

This was a really fun hunt! Maybe because I felt like I had enough time for each one and an idea...though time can be a detriment. You'll see what I mean. I cannot wait to see others for this week! Hunts are just so fun...photography for a purpose!

Inspired by a Book or Movie:

I'm not 100% satisfied with my pictures or the collage, but I knew when I saw this prompt that I had the perfect thing to enter! This is a shadow box (upper left corner) holding the letter I received from Hogwarts this weekend--the owl was very, very late because the letter came in a shadow box instead of an envelop. (This was a birthday present from a very creative friend. Since we do not yet have the two story library with spiral staircase and leather chairs, it will be hanging in our family room soon, close to our Harry Potter books.)

Brown:

I don't really have much to say about brown, except after choosing this photo I realized there are 3 sets of beautiful brown eyes in my family that I love a lot more than random decorations.

Hazy:

I'm a little hazy what hazy means, but I hope this counts. I absolutely love this photo.

Tea:

It wasn't so much that I couldn't pick a favorite as each one was incomplete without the other. Our tea party was more than one moment--finding in brother's left over lunch, moving, and "microwaving the corn nuts," borrowing Mommy's creamer because we couldn't find the tea pot, taking our princess dress off, getting the baby settled, and eating corn nuts with a spoon.

Linger:

I hear people like to linger over a good glass of wine. I kind of figure that is because it doesn't taste good enough to drink fast. But Sunday, my friend and I ducked into this wine shop in order to change lenses out of the wind, and ended up lingering for almost an hour taking photo after photo after photo.