Saturday, June 5, 2010

Happy Birthday Ella!

Savannah's good friend is having her birthday party this evening, so we went over for a while when we dropped Savannah off and helped with tie dying! I took over 400 pics, but to be honest, Rey is home for the first time in five weeks and I just can't find the heart to go through every single one tonight! I thought this one captured the heart of a just-turned-12-year old girl! LOL

Friday, June 4, 2010

Making a splash...


f/ 4.5
ISO 200
1/50 sec
taken outside in a partially shaded area at about noon

Our trip to City Museum was a hit! Savannah commented several times that it wasn't mu-seum it was a FUN- seum, lol! The kids had a great time climbing and exploring. I would have a great time just going in to take pictures. Unfortunately to really take good pictures I have to be a little removed from the action. That just wasn't possible today since I was trying to keep up with a pack of kids! I also REALLLLLLY need a new lens. It was a little dark in there and I had trouble getting decent shots in certain places. At times I just gave up and switched to auto WITH flash (gasp) because I didn't want to miss the moment trying to get the shot. It wasn't a total loss, I did get a few good shots and some fun snapshots as well. I think I foresee an adult field trip in my future so I can just focus on pictures...

When in doubt...just shoot the dog.

Today was not a day for the camera. Rey is coming home tomorrow after having been gone over 5 weeks and I spent the day taking the dog to the vet, cleaning, cutting the grass, and taking Dylan to drums. HOPE was off having fun taking pictures on a fieldtrip with our homeschool group! I can't wait to see them! Savannah was with Hope and our group on this little excursion, I'm excited to hear all about it! So, I took Max to the vet b/c he's been limping and found out that he has a torn ligament (basically without going into technical stuff) and will need surgery to the tune of TOO many dollars! This dog should be in pictures b/c then at least he would earn his keep! ;o)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Make a wish...


I can hardly believe that she's 10. In some ways it has gone by so quickly. In others it seems like forever because I can barely remember life without her.

f/ 4.5
1/80 sec
ISO 1600

She rocks...


what more can I say? I only took 24 pictures today and this was the last one. I just liked it, kind of a raw looking shot, completely candid, which seems hard to catch lately.
f 4.5
1/100 sec
ISO 200

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Just messing around with the sunlight this afternoon and my blooming hydrangeas.
F16
1/160 sec
ISO 200

ISO 1600
f/5
1/15 second

I understand now why baby photographers get paid so much- it is NOT an easy thing to do! I took over 200 shots of this little guy and kept only a handful. The lighting was poor so every little movement created blur (and babies move A LOT) not to mention that he was very unhappy. His mamma kept saying it was okay, she didn't mind crying pictures but I did. We're going to try again this weekend with some outdoor shots. Hopefully the natural lighting will help and we'll be able to do more!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010


f/ 5.6
1/200 s
ISO 800
WB- flash (I used filler flash on this shot to compensate for the window)

Can I just say that I HATE fluorescent lights!! My white balance was difficult today under the harsh lights but I managed to get a few decent shots. This was an attempt to learn to use filler flash. Not perfect but not horrible either- which is just fine for learning new things.

Birthday girl!

or almost! Her Birthday is actually Thursday. Today was Kya's bday party and hopefully her mother had a better camera day than me! The lighting was frustrating and I had the wrong lens, so I wasn't very pleased with my shots today. It's not a big deal, I find it comes in cycles, I have a great day and then a not-so-great day. But, I liked this shot of the birthday girl, she was looking at Hope and showing her the telephone that she painted.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Mancala anyone...


I don't have any great Memorial Day shots to share. We pretty much just hung out at the house today because we have a busy week ahead. Kya and I enjoyed several games of cards and Operation today but our favorite is Mancala.

BONUS shot!


I know I already posted today, but this evening as Savannah & I were driving home it was raining but the sun was out. I told her to keep an eye on the sky for rainbows and she immediately said "right there!" (I thought she was joking she said it so quick!). I pulled over and jumped out in the rain, the sun was shining on the field and I was just in the right place at the right time, it was gone 5 minutes later! I didn't even have time to mess with my settings, so all I could do was meter and shoot!
f4, 1/1000 sec, ISO 200
I wish I had another lens on, but I had my zoom, so I could only get the shot at 55mm and no wider, but I was happy to catch it!

Memorial Day

Couldn't pick just one again today!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Lilies...


I carried lilies just like these in my bouquet when Robbie and I were married. I love that I now get to enjoy them in my garden every year.

Swimming!



I have a client that offered to let me swim at their house while I was petsitting! Savannah & I had a great time in the sun and I snapped a few shots as well, naturally!