A Pile of Pics

Fingers and Toes

2010-09-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

At the Paper Mama this week, she is looking for fingerprints. From the same set as the previous post, check out babe's first foray into the wonderful world of dessert, one fingerprint at a time:

for more fingerprints, visit:

Rather serendipitously, Perceptive Perspective has the theme of "toes". What's more delectable than toes covered in chocolate?:

And if that were not proof enough, check out this out-take, post shoot. Momma was hungry after all that fast shuttering!:

For more kissable toes, visit:

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Cake

2010-09-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Hmm, as K would say, delicious!

I just did a cake smash with my friend and her almost one year old, E. This theme couldn't come at a more perfect time!
E is such a doll, she even already understands the concept of sharing!

For more scrumptious shots, check out:

TMMPAC: Dance

2010-09-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

Awesome! I have been waiting for a good reason to share this sweet photo of darling K and her favourite person ever, Grandma. And my prayers were answered, thanks to TMMPAC's theme this week of "Dance".
These two are so good, they are dancing in the seat :)

ISO: 200, SS: 1/320, Ap: F/2.5
edited slightly to increase contrast and brighten.

For more dancing in the streets, head on over to:

Shoot n Tell: Bounce

2010-09-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

Do you need some bounce in your day?
We recently had some fun with Grandma's exercise ball. Despite the hellish memories of bouncing a colicky baby on that ball for hours and hours on end, perfect timing for Shoot n Tell's theme of "bounce":

ISO: 400, SS: 1/250, Ap: f/4
edited to bull out some blue and magenta. curves adjustment to brighten.

For more bouncy photos, check out:

Raw(e): Snacktime

2010-09-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

What a fun challenge over at Raw(e) and I was excited when I saw it because I just took this picture a few weekends ago. Perfect!

Nothing says county fair like mini donuts. Well worth the price of admission to get my hands on these suckers:

SOOC
SS: 1/500 (did I think the donuts were going to jump on their own accord?), Ap: f/3.5, ISO: 200, 50mm

For more drool worthy photography, head over to:

IHF: Vroom Vroom

2010-09-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Its been awhile since I have participated in I Heart Faces. Y'all have seen this before, but I adore it, so I am trotting it out again :)

K and her "security blanket". She doesn't leave home without it. Seriously. And obviously footed pjs and rainboots are this season's jeggings with knee highs:

check out more "transport" themed photos at:

TMMAPC: Favourite Shot

2010-09-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

TMMAPC this week is looking for our favourite shots of all time. I have a bajillion of K, most notably the one I use in my header for her blog here . Since I have AW'ed that one several times, I will go with something different. I decided on a shot of my other "baby" - my husband! Something about this captures his personality to me. He approaches everything in life with wide-eyed enthusiasm:

For more faves, follow the linky:

Shoot N Tell: Looking Up

2010-09-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

Over at the Franklin's, Shoot N Tell for this week is Looking Up.

SS: 1/400, Ap: f/5, ISO: 200
Edited slightly in GIMP: standard curves and unsharp mask.

This photo cracks me up because I can see exactly what her "whatever, mom" face is going to look like in 15 years :)

So what else is "looking up" here:

Simplicity Challenge: Snapshot

2010-09-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

I think this sums up our life nicely. Your toddler does crazy things and you can't believe what you are seeing:

(FYI - K's cousin S was crying moments before and K thought to cheer her up by making her best Gene Simmonds impression, and then a split second later, gave her a huge slobbery open mouth kiss)

SS: 1/200, Aperture f/2.5, ISO 1600 (what the....?!?!?)

ladies, don't try this at home. Why I had it set at ISO 1600 OUTSIDE at SUNSET is beyond me. Probably why the original had a ton of WB issues and (sshhh!) one of the reasons I converted it to B&W.

see more slices of real life here:

In a Yellow House: On the Water

2010-09-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

I love this week's theme over at In a Yellow House. I am a Pisces, and feel most natural on the water. Not to get all hippie dippie, but it speaks to me and keeps me sane. Remember the book Memoirs of a Geisha? In that book the protagonist talks about how each person has an element that represents them. Her sister was wood - she was obstinant, hated changed and extremely tenacious. The protagonist was water - easily maleable, fell through the cracks and went with the flow. Its what saved her from her sister's fate. I always think of myself as been represented by the element of water. Those characteristics cover me as well.

Ok, enough with the metaphysical crap. Let's get to the fun stuff!

Here is one of my favourite sunset photos, taken on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu:

this was taken in my P&S days, so no settings to share.

Welcome back from your European Tour, IAYH :)

For more great interpretations, visit:

Simplicity: Love

2010-09-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

A little different interpretation, but his big hands gently herlping her hold this tiny little cup, just says their cup is overflowing with love to me :)

See more goo-ey love-y goodness here:

TMMPAC: Pets

2010-09-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hmm, furry love for you!

SS: 1/640, Ap: f/3.2, ISO: 400, 50mm.
Curves adjustment and slight sharpen in GIMP

sadly, not mine. He was part of a small petting zoo set up at a local community event last month. 8 week old pittie baby. Squee!

See more squee worthy moments over at Two Moms Made a Photo Challenge::

More Blog Love

2010-09-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

You guys are ever so patient with me! Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I have some fun things to share though!

The Wishful Lamb honoured me with the top 3 spot in her Shadow Play challenge from a few weeks ago. Thankyou! here was my entry, and I get to now display this lovely badge:

The Paper Mama's weekly photo challenge last week was "Flower" and I was honoured by guest judge Mandy from Its a Beautiful Life with top spot! Woohoo!
(you know what this means viewers? another vote off in a few weeks. Sorry in advance for my spamming for votes when it comes :) )

And then today, Faith at Simplicity wanted to showcase one of my photo shares from earlier in the week on her I Heart Fridays series:

thank you everyone! It means so much for you to enjoy what I share with you. My heart is gooe-y today.
Next up I need to catch up on some last minute photo challenges this week. Stay tuned!

12 Weeks to Better Photos: Week 9

2010-08-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

Al 12 lessons can be viewed here . This tutorial was originally offered through the 2 Peas in a Bucket scrapbooking/photography website. Show them some love here.

Week 9 is Portraits
Well isn't that easy peasy? Technically speaking, my eleventy billion photos of K count as portraits :)

Challenge: Take a Portait
1. Take a portrait of an individual.
2. Take a group portrait if you have the opportunity.
3. Take a portrait in front of a backdrop or colorful wall or a fun outdoor setting.
4. Take a portrait with black & white film or convert your photo to b&w. (In fact, we'd love to see both versions - color and black & white, if you care to share.)

I hit #1 and #3 on a weekly basis. here are some of my faves from the week I completed this challenge:

I love the texture and colour of the bench here. plus it gave me a nice chance to have her look straight up for awesome sky catchlights. even with her crinkled face her eyes are super sharp and blue.

both are SS: 1/250, F/2.5, ISO 200
both were edited in GIMP - most likely just a curves adjustment (pull up the middle, pull down the left) and an unsharp mask.
The 2nd is me trying to work a bit with backlighting.
Normally I would probably try to pull out some of the pink in her face, but it was a hot day and she had been working hard, so I left it. it tells the story of how she felt at the time :)

And for #4, here is the 2nd converted to B&W. I really struggle with conversions. I always think mine look gray and lifeless unless I completely blow out their skin. Which looks unnatural.

This one I don't hate too much (except for that white shadow on the edge her face, but I am nowhere ready to try and tackle that)

next up: Landscapes

Hanging Out for Love That Shot

2010-08-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday's is Love That Shot's Link Up day. They ask that you share your photo plus tips on how you took it, edited it, whatever!

Here is one of my faves from the past week. This is K's newest trick - hanging on the swing, She loves to twist it around and kick her heels up. She loves that she doesn't need anyone to push her. I love that part too because I can just sit back and shoot.
SOOC:

SS: 1/400, Ap: F/2.5, ISO 400, 50mm

This is nearing sunset, with the sun probably dipped behind trees/clouds at this point. I am loving that the sun is setting so much earlier right now. It is usually in that golden hour in the hour before K's bedtime. perfect!
What I like about this was the composition - she is in a strong rule of thirds position, there is little to no distraction around or behind her. I feel like bench acts as a nice leading line too, even though its part of the bokeh.
It looks a bit cool to me though.

Here is my edit:

I just brightened and increased contrast overall using curves. Then I went into the blue channel and pulled some of the blue out. I wish her pants wouldn't go so neon, but I again, I am so not good at the masking/layers game to know how to brighten the whole photo without this happening. This happens whenever I have pink in a photo. And with a baby girl, that is pretty much everyday. meh.

What shot do you love from this week? Come share them here:

Punk Rock Mama Challenge: Perspective

2010-08-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

A brand new weekly challenge. How fun! Thanks to the contest queen, Ashley for pointing this one in my direction.
Punk Rock Mama is kicking off her photo challenge with the theme "perspective". Love this, because basically all I have going for me is my unique perspective and basic composition skills. I feel like of all the technicalities of photography, composition comes the most easily. WB, colour, sharpness, light and clarity, well I struggle with those a lot.

Cars are a fun one, because its all about using angles and perspective to your advantage to accentuate the lines of the car

here are some from a recent "show and shine":

SS: 1/160, F/5.6, ISO N/A (must have been below 200)

SS: 1/800, F5.6, ISO: 200

I also really love it for finding unique details, like these:

SS: 1/200, F/5.6, ISO: 200
converted to B&W and edited slightly in GIMP

SS: 1/4000, F/2.2, ISO: 200

I actually went back to one of the first photos I took when I ventured off the auto settings and into A/V mode. I still love it (though I will admit I re-edited it today!)
This is what I would like to enter in PRM's photo challenge:

SS: 1/20, Ap F/5.3, ISO 400
cropped, edited curves slightly and ran an USM in GIMP

for more unique perspectives, check it:

Simplicity Challenge: Birthday

2010-08-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's Faith's birthday this week, over at Simplicity. In honour of that, she is hosting birthday themed photos this week.
I shared another one from this series last week for Trendy Treehouse's Favourite Things challenge. Here is a slightly different perspective for you today:

SS 1/500, Ap f/2.8, ISO 400, 50mm
edited curves slightly in GIMP

Happy Birthday Faith!
For more birthday treats, visit:

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Aaah, the smell of summer

Raw(e): Pink

2010-08-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

When Sami gave the heads up for this week's Raw(e) challenge, I immediately knew I wanted to submit this photo, which was taken two weekends ago at a family picnic. Until I saw her actual entry post, and her photo is basically the same as mine! But in the end, I kept coming back to it. I like how pink is truly the main focus here. I swear I am not brown nosing the teacher :)
So without further ado, some frilly pink ruffle butt!

SOOC
SS: 1/200, Ap: f/2.8, ISO: 800

For more pink in your life, visit:

12 Weeks to Better Photos Week 8: On the Go

2010-08-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

looking through my older posts, I realized I am a bit behind in blogging my 12 Weeks tutorial challenges.

Al 12 lessons can be viewed here . This tutorial was originally offered through the 2 Peas in a Bucket scrapbooking/photography website. Show them some love here.

Week 8 is On the Go
Everything to do with manipulating your shutter speed!

Challenge: Capturing Action
1. Use a fast shutter speed outdoors to photograph your moving subject
2. Experiment with panning
3. Embrace a little blur indoors
3. Take action - practice your skills at a sporting event
4. Take a portrait of your pet-in-motion

This was my photo from that week. I used a slow shutter speed to capture the blur of this moving model train:

SS: 1/5, Ap: f/14, ISO: 400

I love this affect! There is so much you can do when you understand how to freeze or blur motion. I have had some more fun since playing with motion blur/panning:

This was K's first train ride at a local fair. That is her in the middle of the photo with a pink shirt on.
SS: 1/10, Ap: f/22, ISO: N/A (I never understand why sometimes it does this. maybe its when I stop below 200?)

giving panning a try. You stop down your SS and then attempt to "move" with your moving target so the background shows motion and your subject is still in focus. This is SOOC.
SS: 1/20, Ap: f/10 ISO: N/A

Editing Then and Now, Plus Flower Challenge

2010-08-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

I was scouring some photos for the most recent Paper Mama Challenge and decided to try my hand at re-editing a photo I took in March. I liked the results and so thought I would share with you dear friends.
I have always stuck to the analogy that in photo editing, less is more, and the best thing to do is get the greatest shot as possible SOOC (straight out of the camera). Photoshop is a beautiful thing, but its also a lot of responsibility. When we first get our hands on it, we tend to go overboard - heavy vignettes, over saturation, oompa loompa babies. the works! As time passes, we train our eyes, and our editing style will change (we all hope!).
So as an example, here is a photo I took in March, my original edit back then, and my new edit now

Original:

SS: 1/125, Ap: f/2.8, ISO 200, 50mm
Now I blew the highlights in this, big time. The flower is practically 3D, the reds are so clipped. Notice the hotspots on her hands and pants. Its also really cool.

Back in March, this is all I did:

basically I cropped and probably brightened the midtones a bit (which it totally doesn't need)

And this is the edit I just did:

I was able to tone down the highlights, and play more with the individual colour channels (red, green, blue) to get the ground and her skin to a more natural colour, plus tone down the flower some. It is still clipped, and ideally I would like to recover it even more, but my masking/layering skillz are so not ready for that.

Back in March, you can see what two editing gurus were able to do with a few other shots from this same session here. I am not there yet, but I feel like I am getting closer. Baby steps, baby steps.

Hope that was helpful for some. With all that said, I am also entering the last photo in Paper Mama's current challenge, which is Flower. Check it out here for other "sweet" shots:

I Heart Faces: Beach

2010-08-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

What to do with 2 eight month olds who wake up at 5:30am on your last day of vacation? Why, take photos of course!

drink in the last of these summer days and peruse fabulous beach entries by visiting:

In a Yellow House: Arts N Crafts

2010-08-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

In a Yellow House's photo challenge this week - currently hosted by the incomparable Ashley of Ramblings and Photos - is "arts and crafts". Perfect because I caught this last month and love sharing it.

This is what happens when K is let loose with a box of markers, and then left to her own devices. Moms, if they are quiet, its never a good sign!

For more fabulous entries, visit:

Raw(e): Green

2010-08-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well I am just getting right into the swing, aren't I? :)

Sailor and Co's weekly Raw(e) challenge theme this week is: Green

I took this when trying to get more comfortable with silhouettes. Since I totally blew the grass, I thought the affect was kinda neat for this theme.

For more green items, check out:

I am also editing this post to add this photo to the Wishful Lamb photo challenge, which is shadow:

Paper Mama: Orange and Thanks

2010-08-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Paper Mama Challenge this week is Orange. Here is K in her lovely new orange dress:

ironically, pushing a stroller, just like last time. Though this time it is holding Penelope the Panda. Chelsey at Paper Mama is going to think that is all she ever does.

For more orange-liciousness (yes that can be a word), check out:

Secondly, I am super stoked to announce that last month, when I asked you all to vote on my "favourite toy" photo, boy did you deliver. I won the vote-off! Thank you all so much for helping me out. In addition to some fabu note-cards designed by Ms. Chelsey, I get to display this wonderful button:

thanks again Chelsey. I love playing along with you and Ruari :)

Trendy Treehouse: Favourite Things

2010-08-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

I have been a terrible blogger! We went on vacation the first week of August and that meant I actually took photos, which meant I had to actually edit some! plus with limited internet, I fell off the wagon. My sincere apologies, faithful reader (aka Mom).

This week at TT the theme is "favourite things". Looking back through my recent photos, I was pleased to discover this one. It has so many of my favourite things: my husband, my daughter, my niece, cake, and even a bottle of wine! (yeah, technically I should have been cognizant of my foreground and cleared the space around the cake, but it works for this!)

Mostly my favourite thing is gathering with family to laugh and talk and eat. And this photo captures that for me. What a magical night we had. Now I want to break into some song, Sound of Music style.

To see more favourite things, visit:

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Sports

2010-07-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

I will admit I dug in the archives a bit for this one. This is from our wedding trip to Mexico in 2007.

You really have to watch your back when playing a "friendly" game of water volleyball:

Show us the role of sports in your life here:

I Heart Faces: Purple

2010-07-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

Purple is the name of the game over at I Heart Faces this week. I went back a bit in the archives for this photo of my niece, S, in her awesome purple snowsuit. Its kind of fun to remember all that snow from not too long ago while we bask in the hot summer weather.

Check out more regal coloured entries here:

Raw(e) Challenge: 2(6)

2010-07-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

The challenge this week from Sailor and Company? Go into your 2nd folder of photos and select the 6th photo in that folder. I used my online folders on smugmug for this challenge, which is sorted by most recently updated.

Ironically, its another from the series I just shared:

This is SOOC. I had been intending to get a shot of K with some Mums for the grandmother's on Mother's Day. All she did was immediately rip the heads off the bouquet :)

what's your 2(6) shot?

Paper Mama: Absolute Favourite

2010-07-26T13:06:00.000-07:00

How on earth do you pick your absolute favourite photo of your child?

I tried and tried this morning to comb through my photos and find one I hadn't already AW'ed, but I kept coming back to this one. I used it last week in an I Heart Faces challenge, and its the blog banner for my blog about K. So even though you have already been subjected to it numerous times, here it is again, because clearly, its my Absolute Favourite:

For more favourite entries, visit the Paper Mama, here:

And so as not to make your visit completely worthless, here are a few others from that same photo shoot:

Two Moms Photo Challenge: Father and Child

2010-07-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have shared this before, but I can't help but put it out there again for the "Two Moms" photo challenge, which this week is "Father and Child":

check out more great entries here:

Vote for Me Please!

2010-07-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry I fell off the blogging wagon this week. I haven't felt the urge to pick up my camera much. I need to buckle down and make my way through Understanding Exposure I think in order to kickstart some new skillz.

If I could bug you all for a little shameless self promotion today, that would be just great. As mentioned last week, Paper Mama selected my photo of K with her stroller and dolly as the best for the theme "Favourite Toy". Every 4 weeks the top 4 photos are pitted against each other in a vote off for supremecy that month. So I need you, loyal readers, to vote for me please!

Follow this link to Chelsey's blog and cast your vote. We are #2 - Favourite Toy. thank you muchly! I promise to offer up some e-cookie goodness at the end of the week for all your love and support :)

And if you are so inclined and REALLY want me to win, I think you can vote daily. So check back often :)

Paper Mama Challenge: Action

2010-07-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

This week at the Paper Mama, the photo challenge is action. It just so happens this week that K started climbing the chain ladder on the playground by herself - 18 months! She is such a monkey.

Here she is, in action:

Exposure Time:	1/800
Aperture:	f/2.8
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

adjusted curves slightly in GIMP to increase contrast.

To see other kiddos in action, check out:

And I can't believe I forgot to share, but last week, The Paper Mama selected my picture of K with her doll Lulu as top pick for the challenge "favourite toy". Thank you Chelsea - I am extremely flattered! So I am proud to proclaim:

I Heart Faces: Over my Head

2010-07-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Over at I Heart Faces this week, the theme is "over my head". To capture this, I was drizzling flower petals above her so she would look up and smile ( you can see the speck of one just above and to the right).

Exposure Time:	1/400
Aperture:	f/4
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

edited in GIMP - brightened and adjusted curves, ran slight USM

to see what else is above us, check out:

Shutter Love Tuesday: Faces

2010-07-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

Shutter Love Tuesdays over at Trendy Treehouse this week is Faces. Love it!

Here is a recent fun one of my baby girl.

"Oh! I didn't see you there. Hello mommy"

Exposure Time:	1/200
Aperture:	f/2.5
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

taken indoors with a LS. edited in GIMP to increase brightness, reduced reds, upped saturation and slight USM.

For more unforgettable faces, visit:

12 Weeks to Better Photos Week 7: Shooting Outdoors

2010-07-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

All 12 lessons can be viewed here . This tutorial was originally offered through the 2 Peas in a Bucket scrapbooking/photography website. Show them some love here.

Week 7 is Shooting Outdoors
I will admit I was somewhat perplexed by what they were asking for this week. Since few lenses are "macro" lenses, I didn't really get the instruction. Regardless, here is what they asked:

Challenge: The Close-up
This week we're going to experiment with macro mode. The good news is that this is a great challenge to try with your point & shoot camera!

1. With your point & shoot camera -- We want to see the difference between macro mode & another mode, so simply take a picture of an object after selecting macro mode on your camera. Move as close to the object as your camera will allow. Then take the picture again in a different mode.

2. With your SLR/ dSLR camera -- If you have a lens with macro, use it! (Use a tripod for more control and ease of use.) Unfortunately, if you don't have a lens with macro, the macro mode setting will just give you a shallow depth of field for your photos. You can still take a photo using this mode, but it's not the same as having a lens with a macro. To compensate, you could try "imitating" a macro shot by taking a photo and then cropping it very closely in a photo editing program.

Here is the chain link on my complex swing set. I was drawn to the "S" for my alphabet gallery too, but then realized I already have a lovely S in the collection.

settings:

Exposure Time:	1/1600
Aperture:	f/2.8
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

for perspective, here is the whole swing, complete with a toddler:

same settings

next up: motion!

Macro and Aperture: A field test

2010-07-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back on a macro post, an interesting conversation emerged about what's the best aperture to use when shooting "macro" (I use quotations since I can't shoot true macro yet). An e-friend and resident expert recommends a narrower aperture (due to there being such a small space to focus when working with macro - most of the photo ends up being blurred), but if you are like me, you are addicted to shooting wide as possible for all the delicious bokeh.
So over the past week, I thought I would do a little experiment and shoot the same flower at slightly different apertures to see the result. I think its actually quite telling:
These are all SOOC.

Test 1: my normal aperture setting, f/2

I found it really hard to balance my settings and not blow out the colour at such a wide aperture. I lost a ton of definition in the flower because of this.

test 2: f/7.1

much easier to properly expose and get the entire flower head in focus, while still achieving some bokeh. I find it a bit too in focus though, to the point that the background is distracting.

test 3: f/5

getting better I think. still good definition, but still not quite enough separation from background

test 4: f/3.2

I think this is my favourite. good bokeh, the flower still retains its details. the head is still in focus. slightly overexposed, but I could salvage that in post if I wanted.

So there you have it! Even moving up a few stops does give you more leeway to achieve what you want, while still retaining the beauty that pulls us to do macro.
I am sure there are better examples of this on the net, but thought I would share my thought process with y'all. What do you think? How do you shoot macros?

Raw(e) {flower} and Simplicity {colour}

2010-07-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

I try really hard to only have one topic per post, but there are just so many gosh darn fun photo challenges out there to participate in. Sailor and Co. hosts a weekly photo challenge, entitled raw(e). This week the challenge is SOOC flower shots. Over at Simplicity, she is asking - simply (heehee) - for colour. I thought this met both challenges nicely.

check out both blogs for more entries:

Paper Mamma Challenge: Fave Toy

2010-07-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

This week at The Paper Mamma, the photo challenge is favourite toy. This is perfect because I happened to snap this over the weekend! I finally got a shot I am proud of with K and her favourite doll, Lulu. Best $5 I ever spent at a swap meet. She adores that thing and the stroller it rode in on.

Exposure Time:	1/1000
Aperture:	f/2.5
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

Again, I could have lowered my ISO and therefore dropped my SS. I get so paranoid I tend to leave the ISO higher then it needs to be. Still, what's not to love about a post dinner stroll in your pj's, rain boots and pushing a pram?

Check out more favourites at:

12 Weeks to Better Photos Week 6: Shooting Indoors

2010-07-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

All 12 lessons can be viewed here . This tutorial was originally offered through the 2 Peas in a Bucket scrapbooking/photography website. Show them some love here.

Week 6 is Shooting Indoors
::sigh:: I have so not mastered shooting indoors. Our house rarely gets direct light during the day. It is long and boxy, so only one edge of the living room has natural light at any given time. Our bedroom gets decent light, but I am terrified that my monkey of a child will roll right off the edge while I try to take pictures. The photos often have a funny colour cast and/or are grainy. So usually I just don't bother taking my camera out. My lightscoop helps some, but this week's lesson demands natural light. Well, I was at a friend's house and tried. Unfortunately they are not tack sharp.

The guidelines for this week's lesson:

1. Position your subject in direct light and then reposition your subject in
indirect, or filtered, light.
2. Capture catchlights - have your subject face the window while you're sitting or standing with your back to the window.
3. Position your subject so that he/she/it is parallel to the window, while you are perpendicular to the window.
4. For those with SLRs or digiSLRs: If you can adjust the exposure meter on your camera, try metering on the background light vs. metering on your subject and setting the exposure for your subject. Also note that you could use a wall in the room or the floor to set your exposure meter.

trial 1: K
I could not get her to look at me. I did get some light reflected in her eyes, but its an unflattering lower eye reflection.

Exposure Time:	1/500
Aperture:	f/5.6
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	105mm (157mm in 35mm)

This is SOOC. I should have brought down that ISO since the window was right behind me, but I often forget to change it on the fly. That would have allowed me to bring the ISO down a bit too. Since I was using the kit lens, that is as low as my aperture could go. I actually should have opened it up a stop at that length; that probably accounts for a bit of the blurriness.

Trial 2: Baby S
(sidebar - doesn't she have the most amazing big brown eyes? I have been killing myself trying to photograph them properly. brown eyes are so much harder then blue!)

Exposure Time:	1/80
Aperture:	f/5
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	58mm (87mm in 35mm)

Also SOOC. Ignore the terrible composition with a some random (albeit lovely) legs and high chair in the background. This is not directly in front of the window, but I think I got better catchlights with this one. Its actually catching part of a mirrored wall that leads to the open front door. All sorts of random light bouncing. But here my SS is too slow for the subject and focal length, so its still not tack sharp.

Well, at least I came out and tried right?

Next up: shooting outdoors. much better!

12 Weeks to Better Photos Week 5: Composition

2010-07-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

I have some catchup to play with the 12 Weeks to Better Photos course. I am about 4 weeks behind. Bad blogger!
All 12 lessons can be viewed here . This tutorial was originally offered through the 2 Peas in a Bucket scrapbooking/photography website. Show them some love here.

Week Five is Composition.
Probably my favourite thing about photography is composition. I love how a different perspective or angle can really bring life to a photo.
Here are the guidelines for this week's challenge:

1. Keep it simple - eliminate distractions
2. Apply the rule of thirds
3. Keep an eye on the horizon
4. Frame your subject
5. Fill the frame
6. Try a new perspective

Here is mr. Duck. For this photo I attempted to place him in a rule of thirds position (#2), with his eyes falling on a cross section in the top left corner. This (hopefully) adds more depth then if he was simply dead centre in the frame. Also, by shooting him against a neutral background and achieving bokeh, it eliminates distractions (#1)

Exposure Time:	1/800
Aperture:	f/5.6
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	105mm (157mm in 35mm)

and say hello to his friends, the goslings (not to be confused by the uber dysfunctional Gosselins). I think this photo again utilizes rule of thirds (they are all on the bottom 3rd of the picture, with emphasis on the left side of the frame), but because I was able to get way down low at their height (thanks to a rather steep hill) it added a new perspective (#6), a very different way of usually seeing some baby geese from way above looking down on them.

Exposure Time:	1/800
Aperture:	f/5.3
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	62mm (93mm in 35mm)

I think this photo nicely meets "fill the frame" (#5). Much more interesting and engaging then if I stood several feet away and attempted to get their whole bodies in the shot:

Exposure Time:	1/1250
Aperture:	f/5.6
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	105mm (157mm in 35mm)

What are your favourite rules of composition? What drives you when composing a shot?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 1

2010-07-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

My photo board hosts a weekly scavenger hunt on Sundays. 5 themes are submitted each week. 4 of the 5 photos must be new that week. This is the not the first time it has been held, but it is my first entry, hence the "1". So these may be a little lame (since 4 of the 5 photos were taken in a 20 minute period) and/or a stretch, but I wanted to participate this week.

1. Shutter Speed

Exposure Time:	1/5
Aperture:	f/14
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

Cropped and adjusted brightness and colours in curves
This was the POTW challenge for this week as well. It was interesting playing with different shutter speeds to get the effect I wanted. I found that 1/10 was too fast (could see too much of the cars) and anything under 1/5 I couldn't hold the camera still enough (I didn't have my tripod with me). So 1/5 was what I went with! I don't love the composition of this one (the background is distracting to me) but I loved the effect of the blur the best, so I chose it.

2. Patriotism

Exposure Time:	1/1000
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

This is SOOC. I probably should have opened up the aperture a bit more, but I am so addicted to bokeh, I forget to most of the time.

Since Canada is so spread out and large swatches of land are practically untouched, the railway system is often the only thing that connects this country together. An early government mandate was to connect sea to sea via one long unbroken railway line: CPR or Canadian Pacific Railway was born. It has a checkered past, often built on the backs of immigrant labourers from China who were treated little better then serfs, or worse, slaves and blasting fodder. Regardless, its an important monument to the vast expanse of land Canada covers and its attempts to unify such diverse and sparse scatterings of inhabitants.

3. Creative Crop
(from the archives)

Exposure Time:	1/15
Aperture:	f/5.0
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

cropped and contrast bumped in GIMP.
The slow SS was a result of the fact that at the time I didn't have a lightscoop for shooting indoors, and I was shooting a backlit subject. However, I like the effect it has, showing the speed of his fingers as he plays. I chose this crop as the background was distracting and I had a bad chop of his head in the original. I wanted the emphasis on his hands and the length of his guitar.

4. Time

Exposure Time:	1/4000
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

converted to B&W and played with contrast in curves
.
I went with this because our modern conception/reliance of time is largely based on the smooth running of trains and their role in revolutionizing modern industry/capitalism.

5. Flower

Exposure Time:	1/800
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

Yes, I am aware I should have dropped the ISO. I had just come outside from in and forgot to change my settings :). Slight adjustment to deepen contrast and adjust WB in curves.

And there you go! Our assignment for the coming week includes:

National Pride (also the POTW challenge for this week)
Sunset
Fire
Favorite
Sepia or B/W with Selective Colour

Give me Your Best Shot and Award fun

2010-07-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Better in Bulk gives you an opportunity to share a favourite shot from the week:

Exposure Time:	1/640
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

normal processing - slight curves adjustment in GIMP

(note: this is not an active train track, but rather an old decommissioned section of track that houses a train museum. The museum sits in the old station. No train would even be able to head down this track now.)

So what was your best shot? Go over to Better in Bulk and share it with everyone!:

In other news last week Trendy Treehouse highlighted my photo for Father's Love as an editor's pick. Thanks so much ladies! So I get to snag this nifty button:

and lastly, a few weeks back Nat from Sanchez Family Updates nominated me for an "Honest Scrap Award". thanks Nat! Sorry its taken me so long to respond. I do really appreciate the shout-out.
I have to list 10 honest (and/or interesting) facts about myself, then nominate 10 other blogs.

1. I am exactly (to the year) 30 years younger then my mom, and K is exactly (to the year) 30 years younger then me. I like repetition, and I like 3s, so this appeals to me.
2. I totally believe in ghosts.
3. my undergraduate degree is in history. No I am not a history professor.
4. I am deeply terrified of spiders. Like I once knocked a rearview mirror off my car windshield because a tiny miniscule microscopic one was dangling from it and I freaked out and whacked at it.
5. I am an expert secret keeper. Like Harry Potter has spelled me good. For example, my BFF got "secretly" engaged about a year before they told anyone. They assumed DH knew and were talking about it in front of him. He was pretty miffed, and they were shocked I hadn't said anything. I am a vault people!
6. I often fear that I will leave this world without making my lasting contribution. But this fear doesn't cure my procrastination for doing something worthy or extraordinary. Because I also suffer from fear of the unknown.
7. I am a terrible correspondent, which makes it ironic I spend so much time on message boards. This blogging is actually my attempt to put my life out there and feel connected.
8. I fear I will never live up to the things people say about me, or the legacies left by my family. There are some pretty incredible people in my family tree; how do I compete?
9. I only make 3 things really well: quacamole, pancakes and canneloni. Everything else is a crapshoot in whether or not it will turn out well.
10. Sometimes I wish I could be a travel writer, but really, can there possibly be any money in travel writing in the age of expedia and trip advisor? I still don't know what I should be when I grow up.

And now for some nominees (in no particular order):

Blogging from Bolivia: Macro Friday

2010-07-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Its Macro Friday over at Blogging from Bolivia!
I captured this sweet little lily during the Canada Day festivities yesterday:

Exposure Time:	1/2500
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

adjusted white balance and slight unsharp mask in GIMP

get up close and personal with more entries here:

You Capture: Green

2010-07-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

This week at You Capture, we had a choice for this week: Chairs, Hands or Green.
Here is my entry for Green:

Exposure Time:	1/2000
Aperture:	f/2.8
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

adjusted curves, and ran a slightly unsharp mask in GIMP. It may be too sharp still. I also can't figure out how to tone down her pants. Such is life :)

see more great entries here:

The Paper Mama: Yellow

2010-07-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

Have an ADD toddler banging under my feet, so this will be short and sweet.
The Paper Mama's photo challenge this week is Yellow:

see more great entries here:

Black and White Wednesdays

2010-06-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

I really struggle with black and white conversion, so this is a great challenge for me.
Long Road to China (which sidebar, is originally an adoption blog - inspiring!) has a weekly B&W photo challenge.
This is a photo from April I recently tested my conversion skills on. I personally am drawn to how light and airy it is. I tend to go for high key conversions, either lots of white or lots of black. What do you love about black and whites?

for more great black and white photos, check out:

In a Yellow House: Travel

2010-06-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

This week at In a Yellow House, the photo challenge theme is travel. This is something I love to do, but to pick 1 photo? Oy.
I have flogged my favourite photo from Hawaii a lot, so let's give Mexico some love.
This was taken on the beautiful Isla Mujeres (Island of Women) in the Riviera Maya of Mexico in December 2005. It is a few miles off the coast of Cancun, but it might as well be another world. This is our happy place. A margarita, the lapping waves, gorgeous sunsets every night and live bands on the beach.

no settings, as this was with my P&S back in the day.

To dream of your next great destination, visit:

Sweet Shot Tuesday

2010-06-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

Over at My3Boybarians, its time for Sweet Shot Tuesday (yes, I know its Wednesday, sue me ;p)

Here's K looking all contemplative watching some boys play in the street.

settings: 1/2000, f2.8, 400, 50mm
edited in GIMP - curves adjustment and slight sharpen for web

for more beautiful entries, visit:

Alphabet Gallery: L

2010-06-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Managed to snag another letter for my slowly growing alphabet library. This weekend I captured "L". What do you think?

settings: 1/320, f/5.6, 400, 50mm
cropped slightly to cut out other beams, adjusted curves, converted to B&W and sharpened slightly.

The Paper Mama: Talented

2010-06-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Paper Mama is holding a photo challenge and this week the theme is talented.
Here is K getting her brush on, at just over 12 months old. She is obsessed with clean teeth!

See more talented kids at:

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Selfie

2010-06-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Simplicity is another blog with another photo challenge today. This week she has set the challenge of self-portraits. I took this one few weeks back while walking with K. I was attracted to the fish eye detail of the large side view mirror on the bus. I love a bit of distortion!

for more entries follow:

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Father's Love

2010-06-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Its Shutter Love Tuesdays over at Trendy Treehouse! And they are celebrating Father's Day with a little love for all things daddy-centric.

Here is a recent fave of MH and K:

look for more daddy love here:

Skinned Knees: Silly

2010-06-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Found yet another photo challenge :)
This is a new one, being offered over at Skinned Knees
The theme for this week is SILLY! That is easy for me. My husband is a ham, and my daughter is his mini-me. I have to admit, I feel decidedly pedantic when I sit by the two of them. I cannot compete. In honour of that, I present to you this. Which one is the real baby???

For more great entries, click the linky:

In a Yellow House: Nature

2010-06-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

I am going to have to make a list of all these photo challenges!
This week at In a Yellow House, the theme of the week is Nature. I have just the shot I think!

For more great entries, visit:

Macro Fridays

2010-06-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

I can't help it. I see my buddy Ashley entering a photo contest, and I have to do it too!

She pointed me in the direction of Macro Fridays, from Blogging from Bolivia. Thought I would throw this delectable entry out:

For more great entries, go to:

Daddy's Girl

2010-06-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

IHO of the Shutter Sisters' mini photo contest, a picture of a daddy and his Daddy's Girl:

POTW: Green

2010-06-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

POTW this week for my photo board had the theme green. I exhausted most of my green photos earlier, entering the Pioneer Women's "Green" theme. My favourite is actually used as my header for this blog, so I went into the archives and pulled this one from our trip to South Carolina. I just love how lush the swampland is.

for more great entries, check out the POTW blog.

I Heart Faces Challenge: Play

2010-06-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

Play is the name of the game (har har) over at I Heart Faces this week. I feel like the submissions over recent weeks have really kicked it up a notch, and to be honest, I find it hard to feel like I stack up. But, I can't grow if I don't push, right?
For this one I went back a bit in the archives. This was last August, so K was 8ish months? She wasn't walking yet, but was nearly there. We took her out with us for an easy 9 holes, and got her to begin practicing. We figure if she turns pro, she can keep us in the lifestyle we wish to become accustomed to. Michelle Wah (sp?) watch out!

For more great entries, follow the click through:

Trendy Blog Award

2010-06-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

What a delicious treat! Jae over at 525,600 Minutes nominated me for a Trendy Treehouse Blog Award. Jae is always enjoyable to read because she keeps it real - she is capturing the candid, sweet, never to be be repeated moments of her daughter's journey to adulthood. Thanks Jae!

Here is my shiny badge:

Here's how the award works:

To receive this award, promise to share this with 10 other BLOGS that you think are Trendy too.
Post about your award in your blog. List your Top 10 Trendy Blogs. Share with them.
Leave a link to the Trendy Blog Button. Tell them they need to give this award out to 10 as well

Here are my nominees. In no particular order:

1. Jenny over at What the Blog?.
Jenny has one of the freshest voices in the blogosphere. She makes me laugh and cry on a daily basis. Plus she turned me onto Goodreads, my newest obsession. Love her.

2. Nicole over at My Life as a Martha Wannabee and Girl Photography.
Nicole is excellent at reaching out to other bloggers, and I am so happy to return the favour. Early on in this blog's life she featured me on her blog and i have been looking for a way to do the same back. She has sophisticated taste, a culinary curiosity and a great eye.

3. Katie at Confessions of a Real Librarian.
No one can resist Katie's bubbling personality. Nor her "Patron Stories" installments. Plus if you love to read, she has the inside scoop for you.

4. Trina at Look at the Birds.
No holds barred glimpse into life as a wife, mom and mom-to-be living in a cabin in the woods. She has some great giveaways to go along with her salacious storytelling.

5. Amanda over at the Meyer Twins.
What's more fun then raising one baby? Raising two! Follow Amanda as she blogs about life with twins

6. Shelby over at Eat, Drink, Run.
Think athletes can't be foodies and wine connoisseurs? think again! Shelby combines her three great loves into one tasty and inspiring blog.

7. Susan over at Project Balancing Act.
She has an etsy addiction like me. She also convinced her husband to tie die their crib sheets. We could practically be BFF's.

8. Type A Images.
Captures a vintage other time feel to her photo shoots. I want to a) have her shoot my life everyday as my personal biogragher and b) live in her big Victorian house and steal all her awesome Etsy dress finds for K

9. That's Damn Good.
I love food. So does Echo. Therefore I love reading about the food Echo cooks (and its good - I have tried several of them!).

10. Lotus Land Mom.
Another voice from the wilderness, aka the Canadian Pacific Northwest. How does one raise two boys and still maintain a love of manolo blahniks? Read and find out!

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Pets

2010-06-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday appears to be photo challenge day! Over at Trendy Treehouse, Tuesdays are Shutter Love. Today's theme is "Pets".
My first children have been somewhat neglected since the Bean arrived, but I have managed to capture some sweet moments with them. Here is one of my recent faves of my girl, Arwenn. Sunning in the window, as usual:

Check out more lovable furbabies at Trendy Treehouse:

I Heart Faces Challenge: Barefoot

2010-06-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Its Tuesday, and that means I Heart Faces weekly challenge! This one is for funesies, but that doesn't mean its not serious business. They are hoping to raise awareness about a wonderful charity, Souls 4 Soles:

About Soles 4 Souls: Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 7 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 9 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States.

So the theme this week, is Barefoot! This is great, because one of my favourite things is photographing feet. Mom thinks I am obsessed :)
Since its a non-competition week, we can post more then one photo. Here are two of my recent faves.

K showing off her new rainboots:

K and her cousin S frolicking together in the grass. I love how they are stepping in unison:

check out more wonderful entries at:

Bubble Fun

2010-05-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

My single goal for the summer is to capture 2 things: K running through a sprinkler with utter abandon, highlighting each falling drop, and my reflection in a bubble.
So with this photo, I am 1/4 of the way there. Bubble - check. Reflection - still working on it.(I see the house behind me, but not me).

Stats:

SS:	1/1600
Aperture:	f/2.2
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

This was cropped slightly and colours enahnced via curves adjustment in GIMP

Shutter Love Tuesday: Nature

2010-05-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Edited: because I am a dummy, technically this challenge is closed, and so my submission was not captured. But I am going to leave the post up so you can still peruse the other great entries and learn about another online photo challenge

another day, another online photo challenge.
Trendy Treehouse is a fun site a stumbled across when a friend nominated me for a blog award (I promise that post is coming up; just thinking of my 10 nominees to pass on). Every Tuesday they host a photo challenge, called Shutter Love. This week's theme: Nature.

I am still drawn to this sunflare I captured back in April, in honour of a very special boy. Here it is again:

Check out more great entries back at HQ:

12 Weeks to Better Photos, Week 4: Flash

2010-05-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

All 12 lessons can be viewed here
Week Four is Flash.

Most of the time we all think the onboard flash is the devil incarnate. Pinlights, red eye, blown out skin and flat backgrounds. But what is interesting to discover, is with the right knowledge, you can even get the devil to work for you!
This week's lesson was all about how to utilize "fill flash" to help you on super sunny days, cloudy days and indoors.
We just went through a heat wave here, so I chose to demonstrate fill flash on a sunny day.
no flash:

fill flash:

Notice how in the first one, her face is underexposed. Since the sun is coming directly down, it can create harsh shadows in lines and crevasses. But in the second one, her face and body are more clearly exposed.

12 Weeks to Better Photos, Week 3: Colour of Light

2010-05-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

All 12 lessons can be viewed here
Week Three is Colour of Light
This is to help you understand how different colour casts can occur, depending on the type of lighting you have available around you. And also how to utilize the various auto and custom presets available to you to maximize the lighting you are in.
So the challenge this week involved shooting one object using 3-4 different white balance settings.
auto white balance:

tungsten:

cloudy setting:

custom white balance:

I am actually fairly impressed with the auto white balance on the D90. On my D60 the colour was very cool on auto settings. Here it is only slightly cool. I also find it really interesting that the cloudy setting looks most like the custom. I chose cloudy because this was indoors without any direct sunlight. Apparently I chose right.
Have you looked at your auto preset options recently, and thought if maybe they would help you?

12 Weeks to Better Photos: Week 2 - Shutter Speed

2010-05-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

I am a bit behind in blogging about this. my apologies!
All 12 lessons can be viewed here

Week Two is shutter speed. The challenge is take the same photo on 3 different shutter speeds. The goal here is to demonstrate how to either freeze motion (high shutter speed) or blur motion (low shutter speed). Hence action shots (sports, animals, traffic) require a high shutter speed so you don't get that pesky "motion blur" where an arm, or tail or such is all blurry. but sometimes you want that really nifty motion blur, like in a river, or waterfall. That is when you would use a slow shutter speed.

In terms of everyday photos, a neat trick I was taught was to double your focal length, and that is generally what you should aim to keep your shutter speed at. Also, with kids, try to avoid dropping below 1/160, or 1/100 at a minimum.

So here is my photo challenge for shutter speed. A neighbour's fountain:
1/1000. See how the droplets are all nicely frozen in time? High shutter speed

1/100 average shutter speed, but for this, it just makes the water look spitty

1/15. I would need a tripod to really show this one as there is probably hand blur going on, but see how the water near the fish's mouth is almost translucent in a continuous flow?

12 Weeks tp Better Photos, Week One: Aperture

2010-05-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

I decided to revisit the 2 Peas in a Bucket - 12 Weeks to Better Photos tutorial I initially started all the way back in January (only made it to week 2 I think. shame!)
All 12 lessons can be viewed here
Week One is Aperture.The challenge is to take the same photo on 3 different aperture settings. When I did this challenge initially back in January, it was the single most important lesson that busted me out of the auto settings on my camera. You mean I can control how much light goes into my camera? And I can use this knowledge to consistently acheive bokeh (blurred background)? Yes please!
Even after only 2 weeks, I never shot on an auto setting again (aperture or shutter priority not included).
So here is my Week One, redux. (ignore the brightness. I accidentally had exposure compensation jacked up from something the night before, and forgot to reset it. I am too lazy to edit these and tone it down)
f/1.8

f/10

f/22

What we are looking for here is that the lower the fstop, the more light that is allowed into the camera (aka wider aperture), and shallower the depth of field is. Confused yet? I know its backwards - smaller number = wider opening. Hence why at f/1.8 only the flower is in focus, while at f22 almost everything in frame is in focus. So this helps you decide - how much of your photo do you want to be in focus? Adjust the aperture to achieve the look you want.

PSA: Look Behind You

2010-05-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

Before my Lightscoop arrived this week, I was using a budget lightscoop to shoot in the evenings - a white side plate. Actually very useful! I managed to catch some great candids when I would otherwise not be able to, and avoid the dreaded deer in headlights flash look. Including this little ditty.

I was so excited because her eyes looked so crisp. And I managed catchlights! (pleasing light reflection in the eyes which makes them look bigger and luminscent) Bonus. But then I was like, "WTF is that red speck in her eyes. It can't be red-eye." So I zoomed in to 100% and cropped, to discover the culprit:

That would be the red pillow on the couch behind me. Dang flash bounce picked it up and reflected the colour back into her eyes. Doh!

So your PSA for the day: When using a flash bounce, remember not only what is in front of the lens, but what is behind it too.

Lightscoop, round 2

2010-05-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

So I FINALLY re-ordered my Lightscoop to replace the one that was stolen with my old camera. Here is a comparison shot if you are considering buying one. Well worth the $20 price tag, IMO:

no flash:

pop up flash:

flash + lightscoop:

(note: $20 is if you order through Adorama. It is $30ish directly from the LS website)

Sweet Elijah

2010-05-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

8 days ago an incredible woman gave birth to an incredible boy, who was incredibly loved. You can read their story here. As a tribute, my photography board has been compiling photos in his memory. Here is my submission:

Sweet Elijah
As warm as the sun's rays
As strong as a bird in flight
You have touched us all
"I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)"

Day at the Beach

2010-04-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

I went to the beach yesterday on my lunch break (high noon - pretty much the worst time to shoot), and proceeded to nearly burn my eyes out of their sockets attempting to get some sunflare shots. Some of my results:

SS:	1/800
Aperture:	f/36
ISO:	400

increased contrast via curves to add some punch to the blues

this is SOOC. Not sure what I want to do with it yet.

SS:	1/200
Aperture:	f/16
ISO:	400
Focal Length:	18mm

straightened horizon, upped contrast and brightness, ran a colour enhance

SS:	1/3200
Aperture:	f/5.6
ISO:	800
Focal Length:	58mm

In other news my replacement Lightscoop arrived (back from when my d60 was stolen; I hadn't replaced it till now), so I can retire the budget light bouncer (a side plate) I was using. Yay for being able to take pictures on the fly at night again! Photos of its capabilities to come soon.

I Heart Faces Challenge: Smiles

2010-04-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love a good smile? Over at I <3 Faces this week, you can literally see hundreds of them. Sure helps to pass a dreary, rainy Tuesday.
Here is my addition, taken earlier this month of my growing-too-fast-not really-a-baby-anymore baby. Showing off her almost full mouth of teeth!

See tons of beautiful submissions at

POTW: Diversity

2010-04-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Its that time of the week again, for the Bump POTW. Our illustrious leader is a bit late in posting results, and I decided I can't wait to share my options.

This week's theme was Diversity. Since I chickened out of asking my Indo-Canadian coworker and my Caucasian coworker if I could do a mini photo session with them (I had this idea in my head of some sort of strength of unity image centred around their hands clasped/fists together), instead I opted to head down to the Denman and Davie area in Vancouver's West End, which is the centre of Vancouver Pride and the GABLT community. Here were my 2 favourite shots:

randomly painted wall in Pride flag colours

SS:	1/400
Aperture:	f/11
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	105mm (157mm in 35mm)

I did increase colour and contrast through a curves adjustment, then ran an unsharp mask to try and bring out more of the texture of the brick. Not sure if I succeeded or not. I wish I could have gotten this one on an angle with some shallow of DOF acting as a leading line/repetition, but I was actually shooting this over a rooftop, so I couldn't get closer. Instead I opted for dead on and to fill the frame with colour.

SS:	1/320
Aperture:	f/11
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	18mm (27mm in 35mm)

Also ran a curves adjustment to lighten, brighten and increase contrast.

I couldn't decide between them. Are they both interesting, or are neither doing very much? I opted to submit #1.

This shoot did bring up an interesting philosophical question - what is the etiquette around shooting other people? I felt like a bit of an intruder as it was walking the neighbourhood just photographing flags. I definitely didn't have the guts to ask if I could photograph any clearly gay/mixed race couples. I have the same crisis of conscience when I am on vacation in foreign countries and never have the nerve to photograph a local on the side of the road. Could I have though? What do you do when you are trying to capture real life, as it happens?

More Spring Blooms

2010-04-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share some other spring blooms I have tried to capture around the city

The shrub in front of my house. This was actually back in February. it tends to bloom and rebloom throughout the year:

SS:	1/2000
Aperture:	f/2.5
ISO:	n/a (I had some weird setting turned off back then that didn't allow me to adjust the ISO)
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

SOOC, no editing

First blooms in my little front garden. This is from March:

SS:	1/320
Aperture:	f/2.5
ISO:	n/a (still affected by weird setting)
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

auto white balance run in Gimp

And the first blooms in my back garden, from April:

SS:	1/80
Aperture:	f/5.6
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	105mm (157mm in 35mm)

brightened and increased contrast using curves, ran a slight unsharp mask at .50 in GIMP

Some beautiful tulips in a nearby park

SS:	1/125
Aperture:	f/5.6
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	105mm (157mm in 35mm)

brightened colours and increased contrast using curves, ran an unsharp mask at .50

Spring has Sprung!

2010-04-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

So while the cherry blossoms FIRST made their appearance back in January, they really truly came into their own this past month.
Here are some of my favourite shots of them around the city:

SS:	1/320
Aperture:	f/4.5
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	18mm (27mm in 35mm)

SS:	1/640
Aperture:	f/4.5
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	18mm (27mm in 35mm)

SS:	1/100
Aperture:	f/9
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	58mm (87mm in 35mm)

Then and Now, April 2009 - April 2010

2010-04-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

A post on my message board about progression made me realize I picked up my camera 1 year ago this month. Let's see how far (or not) we have come, shall we?

April 2009:

These were some of my favourite "first" photos with my nikon d60. I think these show that I do have a bit of an eye for composition (even before I heard of rule of thirds or fill the frame, I naturally leaned towards composing shots in this way). but the white balance, focus, exposure and shutter speed is all over the map.

April 2010:

Now obviously, I still have a ton to learn. and many times, white balance, focus, exposure and shutter speed can still be off. But I think I am becoming more consistent in my capabilities. What do you think? Where can I continue to improve?

Bounty of Black and White

2010-04-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

I went for a walk yesterday through the park and took my camera with me, determined to get my creative juices flowing again. I was struck by alot of the "architecture" of the outdoors. Plus I was on the lookout for some "letters" to add to my alphabet gallery. For most of them, it seemed to suit a black and white conversion. What do you think? Are these overprocessed/overblown and/or muddy? Are any just not interesting?

A park bench:

Swing set, aka my letter "U":

a funky dome structure - looking straight up

a steel trellis, aka my letter "X"

and the crook of a tree to represent my "V":

Wanna snag a free digital camera?

2010-04-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Or more to the point, does your 1 year old insist on trying to hold your treasured $500+ DSLR, or better yet, grab the lens with her peanut butter fingers, and you are sick of telling her "no, that is not a toy. That is just for mommy". And then handling the temper tantrum that ensues?

Ok, maybe that is just me. But hey, free stuff is good right? My dear friend Trina of Look at the Birds has an awesome giveaway going on right now for the Leapfrog Talking Digital Camera. So click her button below, check it out, leave your comments and you could win! But really I hope you don't. Because I need to deflect Peanut Butter Fingers from my lens like yesterday.

POTW Submission: Heritage

2010-04-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

This week on my photo board, the POTW (picture of the week) theme was Heritage. I was really excited to try this one out! These are 2 of the shots I took:

This was my favourite doll as a child, Suzy. My grandmother made her for me, including the dress and bloomers. I think with this shot, the dramatic angle I went for ended up emphasizing the chair more then the doll itself. I lost alot of detail, especially in the doll's face.
So I chose to submit this instead:

These are several of the baby blankets my mom and MIL saved from when me and my husband were babies, to pass onto K.

Photo Stats:

SS:	1/100
Aperture:	f/3.5
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm

Get your Green On

2010-03-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

In another attempt to put myself and my work "out there", I thought I would enter some photos in Pioneer Woman's current photography assignment. If you are not familiar with Pioneer Woman, she is a jill of all trades that runs her family, and media empire, from a big ol' farm in the boonies. Decorating, cooking and photography are just a few of her passions. And her action sets for photoshop are highly coveted. Her legion of followers are zealous; and her life is currently in the process of being adapted for the silver screen, to be played by Reese Witherspoon, I believe?

Semi-regularly she runs photography challenges, the last of which was Cats. I was in heaven perusing the entries. I very nearly decided to run off to my own big ol' farm and become that Crazy Cat Lady my husband is always threatening I will become if my lust for cute smooch-able felines is not curtailed. Anyhoo, you can submit a photo a day for 5 days, and she picks her top 10 favourite entries daily. then from those a group of finalists are culled. Not entirely sure what happens at that point. Bragging rights I assume.

This week, PW is asking for submissions in the theme of "green" and my god are the entrants dazzling. Seriously, go and drool over them here. So even though I don't stand a chance in a bajillion years of being selected, I decided to enter the following choices (A few you have seen already):

swampland, South Carolina

winery visit, Okanagan (BC interior)

butterfly house, South Carolina

my backyard

I Heart Faces Challenge: Dramatic B&W

2010-03-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Another week, another great I♥Faces challenge. this time, they are looking for black and white shots that are "dramatic, moody or sensational in their presentation". I hope you feel the one below fits the bill.

I am generally terrible at B&W conversion, so you may be asking yourself, why bother? Because I am an attention whore, and I love to show off this picture :) This was taken as part of a board photo challenge entitled "lifelines". I actually got the idea from an even earlier challenge, whereby a poster requested hand photos with inspirational words/phrases on them. She had a wonderful friend/wife/mother named Anissa Mayhew, who was battling back from a debilitating stroke. So she asked us all to "give Anissa a hand". At the time I couldn't get my photo together, and was very excited when I had the opportunity to try the technique again. (Side note: to view Anissa's back story and see the final product, go here. Bring tissues.)

For even more wonderful submissions, check out the I♥Faces website here:

Gerber Daisies

2010-03-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

The Photoboard picture of the week challenge this week was Pink. I got what I thought was a really fun picture of Keira with a gerber daisy to submit. I also decided to shoot the daisy itself and practice my close-up / focus work. I cropped slightly, adjusted levels and ran an unsharp mask for viewing.
Photo Stats:

Exposure Time:	0.0062s (1/160)
Aperture:	f/2.8
ISO:	200
Focal Length:	50mm (75mm in 35mm)

and for fun, when editing in GIMP, I tried an auto white balance to see what happened. I think Andy Warhol called and wants his flower back.

Extreme Makeover, Photo Edition

2010-03-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

There are some uber talented ladies on the photo message board I frequent. We often take a stab at editing each other's stuff, when someone is bored, stumped or in my case, clueless.

I was really excited by a series of shots I got last night with K and a pink gerber. I grapple with editing because I have gotten to the point where I notice when something is SOOC, and I want to give it that extra oomph. But let's face it, I have no leet skillz in that area yet. I am still trying to learn the adage, "less is more". I also don't want to rely on editing to save crappy photos, but merely to make great photos amazing. So I never know how to handle my own stuff. Not to mention I don't have access to all the fun photoshop "actions' available out there (a pre-set group of settings you can instantly apply to photos for a desired affect).

When a few people requested some shots to work on today, I jumped at the chance to see what they would do.

First up was Kari of Kari Merkel Photography. She is the master of B&W conversions, and also has a clean, crisp style in her day to day shooting I really envy. For her blog and full rundown of her steps, go here

I love it! I never know if I can pull off the faded look, but here, I really like the vintage ethos it brings, and how it brings more attention to her little hands because the colour of the flower isn't so overpowering.

Next up we have Ashley of Ramblings and Photos. She is a resident editing expert. Her edits bring clarity and sophistication to the shots. She also tolerates all of us kid-crazy MWACs (moms with a camera) when we post about our kids 90% of the time.
For her blog and full rundown of her steps, go here

::dies:: Look at K's eyes! Again, she used a slightly faded action which helps to tone down the colour of the flower and return some of the focus to my baby. And who doesn't love all the attention to be on their baby?

thank you ladies. I feel like an aging starlet who stumbled across the right makeup artist to help transform me to my former glory just in time for the Oscars :)

I Heart Faces Challenge: Bundled Up

2010-03-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

this week's theme is bundled up. I had a great time selecting my favourite from our ski vacation 3 weeks ago. here it is!

now check out other (much more amazing) submissions over at:

Throwing in the towel, sortof

2010-03-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Having my camera stolen, followed by losing my laptop has pretty much killed my drive. On top of that I suffered a stomach flu with a cold bug thrown in for good measure. 2 weeks later I am still coughing up some heinous things. I am no longer comfortable bringing my camera everywhere I go, for fear of losing it again. And the loss of the laptop means we are down to 1 computer, that utilizes our television as the computer screen. This does not leave a lot of time to edit photos I manage to take. So I think I have to admit defeat in the great 365 project. I know, I know, just another failed 365 project, and barely 2 months into the year. I still plan to use this space to work on and show off my photography, so I hope you decide to stick around :)

Here are a few shots of my niece taken on vacation two weeks ago. These are SOOC. Her eyes really are that blue:

I am pretty proud of the crispness of her eyes and the catchlights I managed to get!

Photo Stats:

SS: 1/100
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: unknown

Day 036: We are back baby

2010-02-19T22:46:00.000-08:00

Aah. it feels good to be home. Yesterday I was able to pick up my shiny new Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5 - 5.6 lens, and the 50mm f/1.8.
I am already so impressed with how much more better the d90 feels. And the sharpness. oh vey!
Now to just wait until my lightscoop comes in and I will be complete.

I snapped a few pictures of one of our office dogs today, Gracie:

Photo Stats:
SS: 1/50
Aperture: f/5.0
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 52mm

Camera Update

2010-02-15T22:06:00.000-08:00

Since I know you are all on the edge of your seats, waiting with baited breath for the return of my photos.

Insurance claim was approved. And even better - the Bank of M&P (mom and pop) approved an upgrade to the Nikon D90 as well as the purchase of my own "nifty fifty" - the 50mm f/1.8. Belated Christmas present.

A huge thanks to mom and dad for supplying my addiction, and thanks Claims Adjustor Chris for the fast turnaround. I do have a bone to pick with Broadway Camera who basically cost me $150 in my claim by undercutting the MSRP on a few items, but that is a story for another day. Today we are happy that I should have my kit back by the end of the week.

This is what p365 got me

2010-02-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

On Monday February 8, 2010 (what would have been day 038 of my challenge) I ~~accidentally~~ ~~naively~~ stupidly left my beloved nikon d60 in my car while I went upstairs to my office. Sitting on the front seat. In plain view. In an open underground parkade with no security cameras
Can you guess what happened next dear reader?
stupid.stupid.stupid.

Alas my window was smashed and the camera bag and all my goodies was stolen off the front seat. Yes, it should be covered by insurance, but I have to wait for the claim to be reviewed before I can replace the camera, lens and all my little accessories.

This is my $300 (the cost of my deductibles for the window replacement and theft) lesson for the day - never leave valuables in your car. ever. And consider taking an additional rider out on cherished equipment that drops the deductible to $0. When I posted of the tragedy on my photo board, many girls mentioned they have been able to just add their camera equipment to their jewelry rider.

Days 36 and 37 were still on the memory card inside the camera when it was stolen, so this blog will be stuck on day 35 until a replacement camera comes.

We have apparently lost the power cord to our old point and shoot, so I can't even go back to taking crappy photos will I hide my disappointment in a supposed attempt to work on my "composition skills".

With the Olympics starting here in 1 day.
And Keira going on her first ski trip in 7 days.

::curls up in fetal position and cries::

RIP my dear friend: April 9, 2009 - February 8, 2010

Day 035: Alphabet Inchworm

2010-02-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

One of K's favourite toys. I was excited to discover our dining table provides a nice reflection when shot at the right angle.

Slight rotation, crop, auto white balance and brightness/contrast

Photo Stats:
SS 1/80
Aperture f/4.8
ISO 800
Focal Length 42mm

Day 034: B is for Book

2010-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

Unwinding before bed with a good book.

Just did a minor rotate to straighten the plane, an auto white balance and a bit of contrast/brightness in GIMP

Photo Stats:
SS 1/60
Aperture f/6.3
ISO 800
Focal Length 18mm

Day 033: rubber ducky you're the one

2010-02-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

more bathtime fun.

cropped slightly, brightened and deepened using curves

Photo Stats:
SS: 1/30
f/5.3
ISO 800
Focal Length 65mm

Day 032: ocean wise

2010-02-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

Took a walk to Kits beach today:

desaturated (I seem to be on that kind of kick don't I?), brightened with curves, upped blacks a bit.

Photo Stats:
SS 1/200
Aperture f/5
ISO 200
Focal Length 55mm

Day 031: fail

2010-02-09T21:17:00.000-08:00

camera was still dead. So I get a big fat fail today

Day 030: bathtime

2010-02-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

this is the ONLY shot I got on this day before my camera died. And its blurry. oh well. here you go!

cropped slightly, desaturated, brightened with curves, and ran an slight unsharp mask to try and cover some of the blurriness

Photo Stats:

SS 1/20

Aperture f/4.8

ISO 800

Focal Length 42mm

taken with flash and lightscoop

Day 029: contemplative Simon

2010-02-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

Nothing very exciting. Just my first baby checking out the world. This colour cast came out very purply red. not sure why. Probably forgot to reset the white balance after yesterday's challenge

desaturated and then brightened with curves. May still be a little grey though, especially in the eyes. But going any brighter seems to blow out his fur. Perhaps I should try to pop just the eyes? Keeping it colour was distracting me because of all the random things behind him (floor, cord, ottoman)

Photo Stats:

SS 1/20

Aperture f/5

ISO 400

Focal Length 55mm

taken with flash and lightscoop

Day 028: 12 Weeks to Better Photos Week 3

2010-02-09T20:48:00.000-08:00

Week 3 of 12 Weeks to Better Photos - the Colour of Light.
The challenge this week? Understand your white balance options. Here are examples of mine:

Auto

Tungsten

Custom

Different lighting conditions can really throw the colour balance in photos off. Because your camera's idea of "white" remains static unless you tell it otherwise. You achieve custom by taking a picture of something white or grey in your current lighting conditions. then the computer scans that picture, and adjusts its colour chart to read that as white.

Day 027

2010-01-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

This is a very belated shout-out and thank you to my secret elfster, Peeper.

She sent me the gift for someone who has everything - all the wishes in the world :)
Thank you Peeper. I have been ripping off each ticket and writing my wish across the back, hoping it will come true. I plan to look back on them once they are all done and see what my wishes brought me this year.

SOOC

Edit
Cropped, played with the curves to pop the colours, cloned out a few dirty spots and then ran an unsharp mask, which is definitely my newest favourite thing.

Photo Stats:

SS 1/15

Aperture f/5

ISO 400

Focal Length 50mm

Day 026

2010-01-26T23:07:00.000-08:00

Just a little practice for Valentine's Day:

SOOC

Ack! super dark. I forgot to bump my ISO up before taking the shot. Then I probably could have bumped my SS too. Not a huge deal since it wasn't a moving target, but I really need to get in the habit of checking all 3 settings.

auto white balance, curves adjustment in GIMP

I would have preferred the background to go more white. it is still too blue. I also have a crease in the cardboard I was using and I couldn't figure out how to blur it out. Any suggestions on either of these?

Ideally, I should have sat the stool further away so the background blurred properly, and then that wouldn't have to be fixed in post. Live and learn.

Photo Stats:

Shutter Speed: 1/8

Aperture: f5.0

ISO: 200

Focal Length: 50mm

Flash & Lightscoop

Note: this was fully manual setting, finally!

I Heart Faces Challenge - Texture

2010-01-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

I am interrupting your regularly scheduled 365 blogging to enter a photo into the weekly I ♥ faces challenge. This week it is texture!
I loved this photo because of the detail in the grain of the wood and her dead on stare at the camera.

Visit the I ♥ faces website to view all the entries