My muses...

Tonight I decided to stick to what I like, people, while still tackling a challenge- my living room!

It's really hard to get good shots in my living room, especially with the lens I have. Since most family events that I want good pictures of (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) take place in the living room I need to learn to take better shots in there!

My largest aperture setting with my one and only lens is 4.0 to 5.6 (depending on the zoom) and my living room is pretty dark. So, that means tonight I needed a shutter speed of about 1/8 and an ISO of 1600 to get decent exposure. Throw in the fact that I was trying to get shots of three squirmy people who never sit still and almost every picture I took was blurry and/or noisy. I did manage to get a few shots that I'm okay with, not ecstatic but okay, and this one was my favorite. I'm more determined than ever to get a lens with a larger aperture but for now my budget is forcing me to get better with the lens I have.

Ok, I changed it.

So, I spent half the day trying to find inspiration in my shots. It was MUCH harder for me b/c it was cold and rainy. I did get a couple different shots and was happy that I at least tried today and worked with my camera. I posted a night shot I took initially, but changed it b/c I think I like this one better. I didn't have my tripod for the night shot and it just wasn't as crisp as I wanted. I guess I should be happy that I had more than 1 shot that I liked today. It was harder to choose though! Still have one of my cat that I loved as well.
~Karen

Cleaniness and a self portrait (sort of)

I tried this earlier in the week for my word of the week pic and I couldn't get it quite right. I was stumped today for inspiration so I decided to try again.

And this is as close to a self portrait as I'm going to get- I don't like having my picture taken, which is probably why I like being the photographer so much!

Triplets

Today was drum lessons for Dylan, so I took my camera in the store where he had his lesson and played around with my manual settings some more. I'm really getting more comfortable with it and I am enjoying making the time each day to challenge myself to work on my composition, lighting, and learning the best manual settings for each different situation.

Baaaaa

Another black and white... This one however was an artistic choice not a try to cover my mistakes, I promise!

I was feeling really overwhelmed when I first walked into the skating rink today. That place kind of zaps me anyway and all the flashing lights and colors just assault my senses and I couldn't really figure out what I wanted to take pictures of. I wandered a bit and took a few shots but nothing was really clicking. So, I decided to just go talk to my friends and forget about pictures for a bit. I could see Karen happily clicking away and wondered why I couldn't be more like that, she just sees things I don't! :)

Then a little later someone had a baby goat outside and I grabbed my camera. After that I got some cute shots of some of the kids. I realize that I enjoy taking pictures of living things more than of objects. I think that's okay, to know what I like and enjoy. However I also want to challenge myself. Eventually I'll challenge myself to take pictures of only objects. Landscapes is another assignment I see in my future. Right now though, I want to continue working on exposure, aperture, and shutter speed. I'll move on when I can get a decent picture in my bathroom. LOL!

The learning curve on a DSLR is amazing. I've had my camera for almost a year and still struggle with using manual. Today it all started to make sense! I finally got a grasp on my shutter speed and aperture settings and how they work together. We went to the roller skating rink for playgroup and it has always been a challenge for me to get any shots there b/c it's very dark and the kids are ROLLING around at fast speeds! I feel like I learned something new today though and knew when I had the shot. In fact, there were 2 shots, but this one I liked best. The other was artistic looking, but this is my favorite.

Cleanliness...

Well, the assignments were supposed to give me something to take pictures of other than my kids but I couldn't resist!

Indoor shots with poor lighting are a challenge... another opportunity for progress!

My feet aren't as pretty...

I admit it, I didn't spend too terribly long today taking shots, it was too beautiful! I did, however, take a shot from my vantage point as I enjoyed the sun.

Learning...

Kya had dance class tonight and I decided to stay and take pictures. She has beautiful feet that seem to know just what to do all on their own! She loves it when Miss Donna lets them try out the pointe shoes so tonight was a good night. She was clapping her hands and laughing when she would get a move just right. I must admit that I was too caught up in the moment to capture it with a picture but that's okay. I'd rather have the moment.

Kya wasn't the only one learning tonight. I took this shot with manual settings. It took me a while to figure out the right ratio of aperture and shutter speed but I eventually figure it out. I'm proud to say that I selected all of the settings of this picture and didn't edit it at all. I managed to get about 30 shots worth keeping during dance class but this one was my favorite.

Cleanliness is a Virtue

I used the word of the week for my shot today. I actually have two shots I would like to post, I'm undecided as to which expresses the word of the week better! Not much need to elaborate on the shots! I'm not bitter, really. LOL (for those of you that do not know, this is NOT my house, it's my neighbors)





~Karen

Trees... I WILL get this!

It was a beautiful day in Karen's backyard! From where I was sitting on her deck I had a great view of two trees that kept drawing my eye. I took several pictures of each but wasn't overly pleased with any of them. Trees are a challenge. The picture I chose isn't even really a picture of the tree- it's a picture of the streamers in front of the tree. But, like Karen, I realized that this project (like pretty much everything else in life) is about progress not perfection. I'm still on a quest for a better picture of a tree but this one is pretty good for today. :)

Sunny with a Chance of Meatballs?

Today was a glorious spring day! We had our weekly movie day with Hope, which is normally a Disney movie, but today we broke tradition for a movie the kids had been wanting to see. It certainly wasn't CLOUDY with a chance of meatballs, it was beautiful and sunny. We took our themed meal outdoors to eat, even. I didn't have the greatest luck with my manual settings today, I need to spend some time learning more about shutter speed. I'm not overjoyed with my shot today. I decided that I'm trying to improve, not start out with perfect shots, so I need to try not to be so critical. Hopefully when I look back over the year, I will be able to see my progress. This shot is Savannah eying the evil bee that she decided was after her spaghetti!

you read my mind!

Even though Hope & I didn't talk about what we had chosen to shoot today, it seems we both found Spring in our photography! Winter has been rough for me but I see the light at the end of the tunnel, or the bud at the end of the stem! ;o)

~Karen

Spring

It has been a long, cold winter. We've had more snow this year than we've had in a long time. The snow was fun for about a day but then I was ready for spring! Finally, it has arrived and today I found buds on the snowball bush in my front yard.