The Perfect Picture

Since I am the 'photographer' in my family, all things photo related come to me. My latest project is scanning all of my Grandmother's old photographs. I left her house this weekend with a plastic tub filled with photos. This one is just one of thousands, but I love it so I have dubbed it the perfect picture. The depth of field is perfect, and the subject (my Grandma) is what you focus on. Even though the color has faded, it stands out to me as a great photograph. These are the kind of photos that make me want to keep shooting.

Winter Wonderland - Alabama Style

Today (and last night) Alabama got blanketed with snow. Now, I totally get that in a lot of places snow is not a big deal, but in the South, it is a really big deal. This was one of the prettiest scenes I have ever seen and a picture can not even do it justice. This is a small 1800s church outside of Selma, AL. It is tucked off a main road. I was coming back from Miss. with my parents when we spotted it. My Dad said we needed to go back and try to take a picture of it and he was right. This looked like a scene out of a movie. What a wonderful day.

God Bless

Studio Work

I have been given the chance to take classes with a real-live pro photographer, and he is letting his students practice during class in his studio. My little model here did a wonderful job, although I know her head had to hurt after a million flashes went off in her face! It is just amazing though what a little good lighting and a clean background will do for you! Since I do not have a studio at my fingertips, I am trying to 'build my own' ...so far, it is very scary and it involves really hot shop lights and flammable fabric backgrounds...more to come, if I do not burn the house down!!

God Bless

A sideways perspective

I found this old abandoned building while driving around lost. It got my attention because it was two-toned, but when I tried to shoot it there were some really harsh shadows. I decided to compromise by tilting my camera, and I could not be happier with it. It is just a fun picture.

Finally got a 50mm pic

Well, after a couple disappointing days of of shooting and just not feeling very artistic I got a shot with my 50mm lens that I just love. It is of one of my favorite subjects, my niece. She was sitting on a bed full of stuffed bears (my proud collections from my younger years..ssshhhh don't tell anyone). The set up was that I had my flash pointing toward a wall that bounced light into the left side of the picture.

Settings were:

Focal length-50mm

Aperture-f1.8

Shutter-1/100

ISO-200

God Bless

More Water

Here is another picture from the skiing this weekend. It is just a different perspective, and it focuses a little more on the scenery than on the skier.

Focal length - 35mm

Shutter Speed - 1/1250
Aperture - f7.1
ISO - 200

God Bless

Not a 50mm picture

OK, so I failed at getting a great picture to share that I took with my new lens. Instead, I put my 18-135mm back on. Truth be told, the 50mm is a birthday present from my parents and I really should wait until my birthday to use it...that is my excuse anyway. It will just take some getting used to and this week I wanted to just stick to what I knew. I am glad I did though, because I got some fun shots. My brother-in-law wanted me to get some pictures of him skiing on Saturday, so I decided to share one of those pictures instead. Here are the settings:

Focal Length: 135 mm

Shutter: 1/640
Aperture: f7.1

ISO: 200

50mm Photo - First Try

This is just an idea of what kind of photos my new lens will take. I took this last night.

The specs are:

focal length - 50mm,

aperture-f1.8

shutter- 1/160

ISO 400.00

Monday - New Assignment - 50mm Photo

This week's assignment is going to be to show a picture using my new 50mm lens. Over the weekend I got the AF 50mm f1.8 Nikkor lens. It is a huge adjustment from my 18-135mm lens that came with my camera. Last night I was playing with my camera and I noticed that (1) I will have to get used to moving myself instead of just moving the lens to zoom in and out, and (2) I have to stick to slower action because this lens is slower @ 1/200 of a second. It is a great portrait lens, and with the aperture going to 1.8 you can really focus on a subject and blow out the background. Some people calls it the 'poor man portrait lens' because it is very affordable, but don't let that fool you, it is a great lens.

God Bless

Smiles - or Not

My assignment for myself this week was to capture a picture that represented 'Smiles'. Now normally that would probably mean a picture that had someone smiling or a smiling face shape. The picture I picked makes me smile becuase it is such the polar opposite of a smile. My nephew was having fun in his swing, but he looks like a member of the mob.

This was taken with my little Coolpix. I needed to probably have it on the action setting, that may have made it a little clearer.

God Bless!

Missing my D80

Today I finally dropped my baby (my Nikon D80) off at the local camera store to get its sensor cleaned. They told me it might be four days before I get it back, which feels like a hundred years. I have been very successful in taking pictures everyday since the 1st, and it was really becoming a habit. I have a little Coolpix that I am shooting with now so I keep up the action, but it is not the same…at all…seriously. When I got my D80 last year for Christmas (and by last year, I mean year before last – 2007) I just dropped any point and shoot camera usage to nothing. All I have used has been a D-SLR, except maybe a few lame pictures of myself with a camera phone just for the heck of it. I did not realize what I had at my finger tips and just how versatile a SLR really is. I shoot in manual mode about 90% of the time meaning that I pick my Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO setting for every shot. I have ultimate control, and consequently I take a lot of pathetic pictures, but when I get a good one it is so rewarding. On my Coolpix, I am at the mercy of what the camera sees and what it records and that is pretty much it. There are no real artistic options to it. I drove around today to try to get ideas of things to go and shoot once I get my D80 back and to keep my shooting rhythm. I got lost a few times, but I found my way. I did notice that I was more willing to stop and shoot with the little point and shoot camera. It is so much easier to use without drawing attention to yourself, or so it feels. That is one advantage I guess to using a good ole point and shoot. However, that does not make me miss a SLR any less. I think this brief separation will help me be more determined than ever to take quality pictures when I get the camera back. I a mean time I will do the best I can to get a great picture with what I have!
God Bless

I ate too much

Just a funny, I thought my washing machine looked like it was sick! :)~

Angel on your Wing

I caputured this pic in a cemetary in Montgomery.
I have to give credit to a lady in my last photo class who
had taken a similiar picture. I thought it was so pretty that
I wanted to try to shoot it also. I caught the vapor cloud
from a jet that had flown overhead. I love the color and I thought it was a cool pic.

Topic for last week: Learning

Last week I wanted to take a picture that would represent 'Learning'. I had to take my SPHR exam. I had to study, study, study and I wanted to capture the momenet somehow. I was sitting at my computer desk when I saw the moment to capture. I noticed that the sun was coming in and shining through the blinds onto my paper and my book. I stood up in my chair and took a picture of it.

This weeks Pratts assignment is to capture something that shows 'smiles'.

God Bless!

My Visit with my Grandparents

Check out my creativeness, click on the document to blow it up, so you can read it!

Fitness

Happy Sunday to you! It has been another fun week of me doing, well nothing really. I am looking back on my week trying to figure out where it went and what I did, but not a ton comes to mind. I did however have a chance to take some pictures last week. In fact, I have been able to take pictures every day this year so far (keep your fingers crossed!). If I make it through January, and I take a picture every day then I will make it a ‘resolution’ to take a picture every day.

Last week I gave myself an assignment to get a picture of something that represented ‘fitness’. I had the pleasure of running (and walking…a little…okay a lot!) my first 5k this past Saturday. At the conclusion of the race, I took a ton of pictures of the racers and of the runners that were going to run in a 1-mile race. I think the picture I choose from this can represent ‘fitness’.

Next weekend, I will be traveling to North Carolina to visit with my Grandparents (my Dad’s Mom and Dad), so next week I will have a picture that represents ‘Grandparents’.
God Bless!

To Weird

This was a weird nick-nack that I found at a thrift store.

Fireworks

My little assignment last week was to shoot some fireworks. I did not have access to a professional show, but my hubby and his brother gave me their version (which I really did appreciate, and I know I laughed a lot more than I would have at a big production – you know, “Hurry up get out of the way, your going to get blown up”). I took this photo handholding my Nikon D80 with the shutter on ‘Bulb’. The exposure could not have been but for a second or two. Since the fireworks were shooting out of a canister on the ground, it made it fairly easy to get some of the action (except when we had to run for cover because of that weird firework that took off like a UFO and flew toward us, that makes picture taking kind of hard). I would like to make it to a big firework show sometime this year and set up on a tripod and get some really crisp clean shots. But hey, this will have to do for now.

My assignment this week is to get a picture of something that represents fitness. Hmmm that sounds scary. I don’t think the vanilla cappuccino I am sipping would qualify. My scales? Who knows!

I was listing to my favorite podcast, This Week in Photography, and the team there was talking about their New Years Resolutions in regards to taking Pictures for 2009 (check them out at twipphoto.com). Their resolutions ran the gamut from organizing their files to taking more diverse photos. I want to make a resolution (even though I swore off resolutions) but I am scarred I won’t be able to do it, so I am hesitant. I am thinking about making a resolution to take a picture every day this year. With some exceptions of course, like my sensor is dirty so some time this week I have to drop off my camera for a professional cleaning. Hmmmm I will think on it and see if I can put that commitment out there. Maybe a resolution to shot 250 days this year….more to come.
Happy picture taking and God Bless!

Christmas 2008

Christmas has come and gone once again. This past week I gave myself an assignment to get a picture that represents Christmas. Now – I have to put a HUGE disclosure out there about my picture, although I know artistically this is not a great picture, it captured what I wanted to show…an empty Wal-Mart parking lot. The one day a year when even Wal-Mart closes down and it is almost as if time stops. Please excuse the composition on this one and just let the thought carry it through. One last time, Merry Christmas, I hope you and your loved ones had the best one ever. Until next year…

Now it is time for a New Year and a new week of pictures to take and to share. My assignment this week is Fireworks. I hope, I have an opportunity to actually see some fireworks this week that I can shoot. Wish me luck.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and God Bless!

Here is looking at you

Just an FYI, I am still looking for the perfect picture that represents Christmas. Yesterday I went shopping, and I was oh so tempted to take a snap shot of a disheveled big-box retail store and frantic shoppers, but that is not quite what I had in mind. I will post as soon as I get the shot that captures what Christmas should be about. Until then...

God Bless.