Color-pop Florals

Browsing through my archive of photos to find something to post, I came across this cute photo. This was taken during my friend's baby shower a few weeks ago.

PP: I saturated the colors a tad, defogged, adjusted the curves & contrast, and also added a vignette using the lomo tutorial on the DPS site. Voila!

Assignment: 10 Minutes From Home

Submission: "Mailboxes with Character"

This week's DPS assignment is "10 minutes from home" ~ walk, bike, drive or fly exactly 10 minutes from where you live and shoot what's there. No 9 minute or 11 minute trips. On my way to a friend's house today, I came across these rural mailboxes exactly 10 minutes from my home. I pulled over and took several fun shots.

Yesterday, I had also taken some pictures for this assignment. Here are a couple photos from that shoot. I was actually debating between the fire hydrant and the mailboxes for my submission. I drove 10 minutes the opposite direction from today's shoot. It took me to the new Fry's Marketplace center that just opened last week. I really enjoyed this assignment. :)

Creative Exposures

I learned the phrase "creative exposures" by Bryan Peterson, author of Understanding Exposure. Here are a couple of shots that showcase the different creative exposures one can get by varying, in particular, the f-stop (aperture) and focal length. Basically, the higher the aperature (lower f-stop #) the more shallow the depth of field and vice versa.

These shots actually do not differ greatly in aperature value, but the big difference is in focal length. Compare the bokeh of both shots as a result. I took these shots today while I was out shooting for the current DPS assignment -- "10 minutes from home". Details on this assignment tomorrow, along with my submission.

Assignment: Music

The current assignment in the Christian Photographers forum is "music". We're allowed up to 4 submissions. I entered 3. The bottom photo I have previously submitted for another assignment with DPS, but it was appropriate for this assignment as well. The top two are current, specific for this assignment. :)

PP work varies with each photo which includes my basic pp, toning b&w conversion, vignetting, and adding a gaussian blur layer using overlay mode.

A Lazy Day of Summer

Well, it wasn't all that lazy of a summer day for us. This shot just reminds me of one. :D We were quite busy, as a matter of fact. I decided to take our son to Tempe Town Lake for lunch to do more photography practice. :) After several minutes of chasing after birds, our son needed to rest. So, here he is....resting and enjoying the shade. Aaahh! More photos from today to come.

PP: My basic pp work has now become defogging and adjusting the levels layer as needed. I also increased color saturation slightly and added a vignette.

Glory in the Heavens

"...O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name

in all the earth! who hast set thy glory

above the heavens."

(Psalm 8:1)

Taken in our backyard last week, this is our neighbor's home situated directly behind us with the sun setting behind it. What a glorious sunset!

PP: Ken Rockwell's "toning b&w images" tutorial is what I used to convert this photo during post processing. I also defogged and added a little more contrast.

Making Cookies

So my son and I were in the mood to make chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. :) Thought I'd take some shots to keep practicing with indoor lighting and to see if I could get a shot for the current DPS assignment - "food". I still had some slightly underexposed shots, but I was able to more quickly know what I needed to adjust and understand why my shots resulted the way they did. So I'm slowly starting to get this! As far as the assignment goes, nothing really caught my attention to submit, so I will either miss this assignment or see if I can get a better shot by Wed. morning.

For the second shot, I also wanted to practice getting some macro shots and focus on a more shallow depth-of-field. I used the Aperperture priority mode for this shot. I actually like the way this turned out. :D I love the bokeh! (term used for out-of-focus background, or the blurry part of the photo)

Homeschool Convention

Friday, we attended our state's annual Homeschool Convention & Curriculum Fair at the Phoenix Convention Center. AFHE celebrated its 25th anniversary! As always, we had an amazing time and came away greatly encouraged and ready for the upcoming school year.

All of these photos, with the exception of the b&w have been minimally post processed. My focus right now is pushing myself on consistently getting proper exposure in camera -- without a lot of manipulating with a photo editor. So you may notice that some of these shots do not have the best composition. My focus was on exposure. :)

These shots were actually a challenge to take because of the various indoor light sources that would affect exposure. If you read my last post on light metering, I was (still am) having a hard time trying to fully grasp this concept. Indoor lighting is one of the toughest environments to shoot if you're not familiar with how artificial light affects light metering. Many of my shots were actually underexposed and I had to constantly adjust the shutter speed and aperture values. This was a great learning experience for me!

Light Metering - help!

I posted a question on the DPS forum regarding light metering. I'm not fully understanding how it works yet. I've read my manual and also some articles from Ken Rockwell's sight and I'm still not totally grasping it when I try to apply it to taking shots. I will be checking out an exposure & lighting book from the library tomorrow so I'm hoping that will help. But in the meantime, this gave me something to post about on my blog. :D

The shots above were taken around 5pm today. The lighting was exactly the same for both shots. What's interesting is when I took the shot from directly above one of the lit candles, the background was completely black. But yet, the top photo shows more lighting! I know it has to do with the light metering, so I just need to understand better how it works and how it affects my shots. :)

Btw, these shots are mostly SOOC (straight out of camera) -- except for doing a quick defog to reduce the digital haze (that is in most photos).

DPS Assignment: Sunny Days

Here is my submission for DPS' current assignment - 'sunny days'. We were to submit photos showing things that can be done on a nice sunny day out. In AZ, going to the pool is THE thing to do on a hot, sunny day. :) This was taken at our church's 4th of July get together at our Pastor's home.

This cutie pie is our pastor's youngest daughter. Isn't she just so adorable?? Wish I had used the flash to avoid the shadow on her face though. Nonetheless, this shot is so cute! I couldn't resist submitting it.

PP work: typical processing (defog, adjusting layers). I tried to use the shadow/highlight feature to lighten up the shadow on her face, but too much of the green from the pool showed up. So I opted to keep it as is. :)

Baby Blue Eyes

I LOVE this shot - especially since it's my first baby photo with my D40. Isn't she just absolutely adorable?? And how about those amazing blue eyes?? This shot was taken at yesterday's baby shower. I had taken several cute shots of this beauty, but this one is my favorite.

Post processing: I did my typical basic pp work (defog, adjust various layers). I also learned how to make eyes "pop" through a tutorial by Amy-Rose King Photography.

Baby Shower

I attended a baby shower today for one of my good friends from our homeschool group. She is expecting her third child/daughter in August. It was a great shower!

Post processing: All shots were "defogged" and I adjusted the hue/saturation. I also added a vignette (top photo) and used the burn tool to add a soft dark frame around the photo (rest of photos). Top photo, I converted the image to b&w using Stacy's b&w conversion tutorial. Third photo, I also added a "memory lane vintage" action.

Photographer In The Making?

Since I got my D40, our son has been having fun with my old ultra zoom camera. He's so excited to learn photography and videography (since it can also take short videos). Of course, once the novelty wears off, we'll see just how interested he really is. :D But it is fun having him alongside me taking pictures. He's my cutie-pie!

Here's a shot I took of him taking a picture of me. :) As soon as we get his computer setup with the necessary Panasonic software for the camera, I'll feature him as a "guest photographer" to showcase some of his work.

Post processing: defog and "virtual photographer" filter (halo effect)

Watermarked Photo

Thought I'd test out "watermarking" my photos. This was a lot of fun to do in CS2 (creating a "brush" with my watermark logo). I realize watermarking doesn't guarantee anyone will not copy my photos, but I think it helps. I will start watermarking more. This photo is of our handsome soon-to-be 10yo son. I took it yesterday while he was resting on his bed. This is one of my favorite photos I've taken of our son.

Post processing: converted image to b&w using Stacy's "b&w conversion" tip and added a vignette. I also cropped it, just a tad, for better composition. I also used Stacy's tip on watermarking.

You can visit Stacy's photography tips page here. Her photos are amazing, especially with a Nikon D50 (which has been replaced with the D40). So you CAN get pro-like photos with an entry level DSLR! I'm so inspired!

More Tea Party Photos

Here are a couple of more photos from the Tea Party....

Top photo: My first official "portrait" shot with my D40 and I love the way it came out! This beautiful young maiden is the eldest daughter of one of our church families (and also dear friends). She is such the sweetheart, isn't she? I did my typical post processing with (my new favorite technique!) "defog" with unsharp mask, adjusting contrast/curves, and adding a vignette. Lastly, I cropped the image for better composition.

Bottom photo: Same post processing as above but without any cropping. I really like the angle and perspective of this shot.

Btw, have I mentioned yet how much I'm enjoying my dslr camera? LOL. DSLR's are a totally different breed of cameras. They're just amazing -- the richer colors, levels of sharpness and depth of field!

Taking Dominion Tea Party

Photos from a "Taking Dominion Tea Party" I attended yesterday with several friends and their daughters from church and our homeschool group. More details about the tea party can be found on my main blog. [ click here ]

Post processing: defog via unsharp mask (learned "defog" from Stacy's blog at The Land of K.A.) and also adjusted the curves and contrast a bit.

Happy Independence Day!

Taken last week with my Lumix DMC FZ-18 camera
A Phoenix church does its fireworks the Sunday before the 4th

We enjoyed a wonderful Independence Day celebration with several families from our church ~ a BBQ potluck at our Pastor's family's home. Below are some pictures from our fellowship time together:

Our pastor grilling hot dogs, kabobs, and burgers

2 layer (red/blue) Jell-O Stars! Mmmm....
Couldn't resist taking a shot of this!

Terry Productions: An Independence Day Puppet Show

Having Fun With New Camera!

I can't believe the difference in the quality of shots with a DSLR from a P&S camera! I've been playing around with the various settings and took these two shots today. Ken Rockwell's site has been a great help to me, especially in setting the exposure compensation and optimized image settings. I love the color saturation from Nikon images!

I did not do any post processing, with the exception of a tiny bit of sharpening -- only because I wanted it as clear as possible. Even if I didn't sharpen it more, the shots were still quite sharp. Amazing!

New Camera & Assignment: Feet

I am so excited! I purchased my first, new DSLR camera yesterday -- the Nikon D40. Woo-hoo! The D40 was the most affordable, and with enough features that I wanted for a beginner photographer like me. Also because I was too impatient to wait to purchase the D80 or D300 (and because my dh didn't want me to buy a used or discontinued model). :D

I've already taken some pictures and it is so awesome. Of course, I have a lot to learn with this camera. It's a lot different from the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 I was using (an ultra zoom p&S). Our son now has the FZ-18 and is excited to learn as well. I'll post some of his shots in the future.

The purchase came in time for me to take shots for the current DPS assignment: "feet". I had a difficult time finding a creative shot for it -- maybe because I was too enthralled at all the new features to learn on the D40. :) (Gabe, I even tried your suggestion but it wasn't working for me. LOL). So I opted for the traditional shot.

The above photo is a shot of our son's feet dangling from his loft bed. I had to do some post processing to get it a little sharper (remember, I just got my camera? ;) ) and also to add a vignette. But not bad for a first DSLR shot, I think. :)

Off to have more fun with my new camera.... :D