32/365

31/365

I was working more with studio lighting and a basic white seamless backdrop today. My son was having fun being my test model. No costume today, but many different props were used. I am going to roll with it as long as he will let me! There were a lot of photos taken, here is just one.

30/365

29/365

Tonight's photo, tonight. As regularly scheduled posting is back in place.

28/365

Yes, I know this one is late, but I am just happy with the fact that it was taken yesterday. Today's is not far behind!

27/365

Today we are experiencing some fun winter weather. UG, not really, this was a rain/sleet/snow mix which has now turned to snow and we'll probably have about 4 or more inches when it's all done. This was the spatter on my windshield before I left work tonight. Can't imagine what it'll look like when I have to clear it off tomorrow for work!

26/365

25/365

24/365

I had a hard time picking one photo to post today, so I picked a few. I was testing some new studio lights. Something I have not used since the college days. (Really, I don't need to hear your comments. I know how long ago that was.) These shots are by far not great ones, but they are the shots that actually were in focus, had the sync right, had the least of the hot spots (no diffusers) and as you can see, only a few issues with the backdrop.

I've got hours of practice to go before I can do anything amazing with these lights, so you'll have to bear with me. My model gets props for helping tonight. E stuck with it for almost 100 photos. He took many breaks to do costume changes and going behind the makeshift backdrop to "get ready" for me. Eventually he'll sit still for me, Right? Sure, I can dream, but still, he was a great subject to learn with. If I keep working on taking photos of my guy, I'll be able to take photos of just about anything in no time.

Thanks all for taking this journey with me. It's fun, challenging, and well, a little stressful too. My head hurts from today. ACK! Off to dreamland to think about tomorrow's photo!!!

23/365

22/365

We were having some internet issues last night, but we're back up and running now!

21/365

This morning I drove like a crazy person to find a place I could stop and take this photo. It really was amazing.

20/365

A nice change of pace sitting down to find things to photograph – outside – while the sun was shining. Have I mentioned I cannot wait for summer and the warm weather and the longer days?! Today was a nice break in the bad weather stretch we've been having, and a reminder that spring will get here. Hopefully soon.

19/365

I'm not sure that I am the only one enjoying today's photo. 

See the little hand in the upper right hand corner in the photo on the left.

Then look at my bowl in the photo on the right. It seems to be missing a strawberry now!

 

18/365

One day, two completely different photos.

They were both taken inside only moments apart. It never ceases to amaze me what you can find to photograph when you look around.

It might be hanging around on a railing where it doesn't belong, or just be standing in front of you being cute. Either way, it's your moment to capture.

SNAP!

17/365

Tonight I almost missed daylight again, but the timing worked great for this shot. It looks like the moon is full tonight, but it's not going to be full until Wednesday.

16/365

At 6pm I still wasn't sure what to take a picture of for today. Obviously I had missed the sunlight. Boo.
Just a bit later the Big E saved the day when told me HE wanted to turn on the lights so we could take more pictures with the E's. Surprisingly enough I didn't jump up and down for joy, but contained my excitement. I was really happy it wasn't me persuading him for a change!

For this special occasion, we couldn't just use the same thing from yesterday now could we? Since he had on his new batman cape and his birthday mask, well, what else would you choose? Hope you enjoy!

To get an idea of how I created the bokeh the background is just a string of Christmas lights. You can see the cords more in the background in this photo. (now you'll see them more in the first photo too, but oh well, better invest in some white cord lights to do this again!)

Here's a better view of what is happening. On the left is a quick view creating bokeh by not focusing on the lights. Then on the right is how they look once I add my lens cover that I cut a batman shape for tonight.

I definitely like this exercise, but now I want studio lights to light the front subject indoor. Baby steps, baby steps!

15/365

Bokeh is tonight's technique. Not just your everyday bokeh today we have special bokeh.

I decided to give this fun trick a try. I've seen it blogged a bit and some tutorials and decided - it's time! DIY photography is a site I go to a lot, and is where I learned how to make my own lens hood to create shaped bokeh.

And cause I knew exactly what I wanted to attempt, I cut mine out in honor of my son... Okay, so maybe I didn't pick the right subject for a low light shoot tonight, but I got a couple. Mind you, with peanut butter and scratches on his face. He's still cute. Especially when I get one where his face is in focus.

As our photographer friend said as she was trying to coax him into our holiday photos, I've "got a photographer's son." He doesn't like slow down one second when I want him to let me take his photo! but that's good practice for me. Tonight I told him if he let me take 20 pictures of him, we'd watch a movie. What was awesome was he said, no, you have to take 100. I think I got to almost 50 to get this one shot. Good thing we made a deal for 100!

It kind of helps when you put the cover on the right direction!

I will practice shaped bokeh more another day. I had a hard time with auto focus and manual was tough because you needed to move the cover to focus. With a moving subject, the time to do that was way too long. I think I need to make a bigger area so the lens will focus easier, I am not certain.

I'll do some more research and try, try, try again. Maybe another 100 or so images and I'll get it right?!

14/365

As I drive around these days, all I can do is think of what to take a photo of today. It's good and it's also kind of annoying. Not because I don't want to take pictures, or continue on this journey, but because it's too cold out there to get out of my car. I am not a cold weather person in the slightest! But (and yes, I started a sentence with but) I did it today. I made myself stop and take advantage of the fact that the sun had not set yet, and took some pics. I stopped back at the location I took photos of earlier with the gate. I think it's going to be my go-to place for another 351 days.

This mansion is going to be the first place I go to because:

1. It is right on the way to pick my son up from daycare
2. There are lots of things to explore and photograph, and 
3. It is about the only place I can get to before the sun actually sets.

These photos were taken at about 4:45 tonight. I am happiest with the first photo, but the second you can see how low the sun is in the sky and there are some fun rays there. I will definitely try this type of shot again. I want to learn the best way to get contrast in the trees while not blowing the color out of the sky.

Yes, any and all suggestions are welcomed and encouraged!

13/365

As always, things got a little crazy tonight. I tried to take some phone photos to meet my daily goal. This one is not out of the ordinary, but I still think for an iPhone, it's not too bad. Maybe I'll buy some fun little lenses for it and play around with that next!

Carousel's are another little obsession of mine, but that's something I inherited. My grandfather used to own one and my dad has been working hard to track down photos and whether it got moved somewhere. He's even working to create a replica of it. Now that might be just a little more obsessed than me, but I can't wait to see the finished results. I also inherited my passion for cameras from him. I have a long way to go before I have as many as he does, but I've still got time!

12/365

It's all fun and games, especially where a 4 year old is concerned! Well, unless you tell him you'd have to start taking photos of this guy since he doesn't want to cooperate and let you take a photo of his new waders. This was not what I had expected...

Then peace was found in the house, and we played a fav game, and I got a decent shot.

11/365

It's been a rough evening here, so it was a definite scramble around the house for something to shoot. After a few failed attempts, I found something that made me feel warm fuzzies or something like that!

This well worn quilt was inherited and I have thought time and time again of repurposing it into something else, but I just can't make up my mind what that should be. Maybe one day, when I find a spare minute!

10/365

Today it was insanely cold here, but still we went in search of a great photo. It wasn't exactly a sunset of extraordinary beauty, so that wasn't really an option. With the sun dropping fast along with the temperature, it was time to act quickly!

A little drive around town lead us to an old mansion and having never been there before, it was perfect. Not at all what I was expecting. Can't wait to head back during the day where there is much better light and  a better exposure to work with. Here's a hint of images to come from this locale.

9/365

Today was a nice sleep in morning, but then a busy get things done/bookclub/friend visiting filled rest of the afternoon and evening. In the midst of it all I got to play around with my light scoop and a friend's new awesome barn floor backdrop.

Even sick and quite tired, this little one's beauty keeps shining through.

7 & 8/365

I missed taking yesterday's photo, but the day turned funky so I kind of had a flake out and missed it. So, I made up for it by taking two different sets of pics today. One of a co-workers' grandchild and then another set when my son decided to put his chair up on the couch to "relax" and watch a movie. Such different sets of images, yet both of children. I guess I point that out because every photo shoot we do as a photographer will bring us images that are their own, no one else's.

Individual.

I think that is why I enjoy capturing images so much. I love to see what happens after the shutter has clicked.

6/365

Today I had to go pick up a book I had on hold at my Public Library. I am such a huge fan of the library system. I have to tell you I might really be a bit obsessed. Now you can even get wifi there. You can buy the old books they are taking out of the system, get movies, cds, learn languages, and the computers that are always full when I go in there. I was so sad the day I walked in and almost 80% of the magazine subscriptions had signs that they were being cut due to budgets. BOO! I know they cut the hours for staffing and hours open, I hope that we begin to build up budgets again soon so that these important parts of our communities can continue to operate.

I have tried to instill how important libraries are to my son as he is growing up, I've been taking him since he was born. I personally was a bit intimidated with the library as a child, but I came to understand just how important and powerful it can be and I want to make sure he continues to go and feels comfortable there always.

Needless to say - I took a snapshot today of my favorite books, maybe the first real stories I ever read. One of these days I am going to go get the book that tells the story about this author. Or combination of authors that have compiled the stories of Nancy Drew.

LOVE them!

Day 5

Spent the evening running errands. I'll see this view many more times this year.

As I was looking closer at this photo, I would have been pressed to do this better if I was really taking a product shot. Not tooting my photo skills, trust me, but I think every logo is recognizable, yet, not 100% there. You can even see the store I was shopping in on their cart strap. People get paid for this kind of stuff don't they?

2011's 365 Photo Challenge Begins

Yes, that's right, I am starting my blog on Day 4 of my 365 Photo challenge. I had to decide how I wanted to show my photos and finally came to the conclusion that a separate blog from my daily rants would be best. I hope you enjoy as I try to learn my camera, visualize what I want to appear vs just what is seen through the lens and struggle to keep up with this challenge.

If you have seen the other blog I have, it's titled One-More-Minute. I am always behind. I hate it. This is not only a photo challenge but one where I have got to be dedicated 100% or I will fall behind and falter.

I hope that is not the case!

Here's Day 4's photo. and then behind are day's 3-2-1. I officially started this challenge on December 31.


And we're off!

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

There are actually two from Day 1. This first I couldn't resist 

making it more whimsical with some Lightroom edits.

And this one which I only edited a little bit with brightening.