Studio lighting

or my cheap play on it! I set up my background stand and umbrella lights this morning so I could play. Unfortunately, I did not really have any willing subjects to play with. The picture above is about as cooperative as my twosome were! Can you feel the enthusiasm? Winnie the Pooh was cooperative, so I did get a couple pictures that were actually in focus!



A little smirk here...



And then I changed to a white background.



(which does not look so white here (pink) - guess I need to look at it some more).



(looks yellow here)



(and looks gray here)

Looks like I have ALOT more practicing to do. ((sigh)) I think I needed a background light on the white ones, but the bulb blew, but I was just practicing.

Long day

Took the easy way out today. Not much time to play or edit so this is the top of a little box I have on my dresser.

Let it snow...

It is snowing here today, which is a HUGE deal! We are now supposed to get anywhere from 6 to 10 inches! We got out for a little bit this afternoon to play, but to be quite honest it's very cold! It's in the 20's which is just too cold to play out in. Camryn has a blast though, until the cold hit her. Her little mittens did not do much to keep her warm, but she could not help herself from sticking her hands in the snow - it's just so good to eat!

Two more...

This was a household vote and again there was a difference of opinion on which picture was more interesting. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so they say. I would not characterize either one of these as "beautiful" however they each have an appeal.

Two today...

Because I could not decide which one I wanted to post. The bananas were my first choice, but then Camryn saw the picture of Tyler (aka Fat Cat) on the screen and began talking to him. (Tyler is Camryn's best bud)! Anyhow, Tyler is pretty monochromatic on his own, being grey and white, but the green in his eyes and green of the blankets in the background were distracting so I went with the black and white version. The bananas are just bananas! Camryn likes them, too!

More monochromatic

I like this. This is easier than trying to get a toddler to sit still, smile and/or look at the camera!

Black and White

Had fun playing with a background fabric and a wooden cat today!

Monochromatic

Monochrome is a term generally used to describe painting, drawing, design, or photograph in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image is one whose range of colors consists of shades of a single color or hue; monochrome images in neutral colors are also known as grayscale or black-and-white. Here is my play on red. An apple along with a red backdrop.

In the Backyard

again. We got to play outside this afternoon and Camryn enjoyed throwing the ball to the dogs. Of course, the dogs loved it too. We will have seasonally mild temperatures for the next day or two and then we drop back down to the 30's and 40's. We are trying to get out and enjoy it while it lasts!

Duck pond

We went to our favorite place this morning - the duck pond! It was a little on the chilly side and it was also drizzling so we did not stay long. It was nice to get out of the house though - we are not ones who enjoy being cooped up for the winter, but we don't like the cold either. After the duck pond, we went over to Pump it Up to burn off some energy! She is napping and Mommy is enjoying quiet time!

Beautiful...

We went outside this afternoon in between rain storms.

In the Backyard

this is not the time of the year to be looking in the garden. We really don't have much of a garden anyhow, but what we do have is certainly not flourishing through the winter months. I did go out into the backyard looking for anything of interest. The tree above is rather interesting in shape and I enjoyed how it looked in black and white as opposed to color. The only thing of greenery I could find was some moss growing at the bottom of a tree, so that is pictured below.

An Indoor Garden

Okay, not really. Just and indoor plant which happens to be in my kitchen! We ran out this morning to run some errands, which included picking up a sheer curtain for my kitchen window. So, I was testing out the light the window now provides being open with just the sheer curtain, as opposed to the wooden slat blinds. It would be great if I didn't have to turn on so many lights during the day and I just love natural light.

Had more fun with Camryn in the bathtub last night so I have a few to share, too! I just love this girl!

In the Garden

This is not from my garden, and actually was not even my idea. I owe this picture to my son, Prestin, who thought this tree looked really cool with all the droplets of water hanging from the branches this morning. I liked it too, so I got as close as I could. It was quite foggy this morning but we ventured out to feed the ducks - always full of fun. It was too chilly to take pictures of the kids, though. they were in no mood to pose and look cute!

This week's theme...

is "in the garden." Great. More outside pictures. It's raining right now, so outside is not really an option. Maybe when it settles down and it's not pouring I can try. I don't think it's supposed to be as cold this week, so I should be able to work on getting out.

Toddler pulling on my leg, so I will have to post quickly. I played around with the camera last night, working on some lighting issues, flash, color casts, etc. Here is Thomas the Train.

Sun

I took my camera out with me yesterday and found a couple interesting things to photograph. The picture above was simple, but the sky was so blue so I hoped to capture it. The picture below, is actually two pictures, I was able to merge together (thank you Photoshop). This house burnt to the ground just over a week ago after some sort of explosion in the garage. Anyhow, got to photograph somthing I normally don't and then got to use something in Photoshop that I have never done.

Newborn

I got to practice on a newborn today. It was more difficult than I had anticipated. I have been editing the photos ALL afternoon and they still don't look the way I want them to, or the way I think they should. But there come a point where I just have to step back and then look at them later. There were horrible color casts from yellow walls and we had terrible lighting. I really need to invest in an off camera flash. Anyhow, here is what I came up with. Mom is holding her in the picture above. She's adorable!


We were able to get her to sleep most of the time, and I really didn't do too much with her, just got her comfy and then shot from a couple different angles.


It was fun and challenging!

Not happening...

I took Camryn out into the sun today to work on some photography stuff and this is what I get. Tomorrow's another day.

Actions

I don't use actions very often. I follow my own set steps in photoshop to edit my pictures, but actions are fun to play with. Sometimes they even do things to photos that I enjoy. I thought this looked pretty neat! It's sort of a moody pop, with my own variation.

Still looking for the sun...

I think the title is self-explanatory. The sun is hiding from me. It's been too cold (and I am too sick) to hang out outside waiting. Seems as though it is taunting me and only appearing at inopportune times. I am going out for a little bit this morning, so I am hoping to get a shot of something sunny at some time. We'll see what happens.

Fun stuff

We didn't get to get outside yesterday, so no sun pictures. We have been sick for well over a week now, but Camryn is finally better. I am still suffering from congestion and sinus pain, but I am better than I was, so hopefully we will both be 100% soon.

We had some fun in the bath tub last night and I thought I would share those pictures today!




And a black and white conversion. this is something else I would like to get better at this year.

Shadow

Well, since it was too cold to actually get outside and find something of "sun" to photograph, I went with a shadow I saw on the porch. This is Darren's wind chime and the reflection that was cast onto the side of the house. Nothing fancy, nothing special - hopefully I can come up with something a little more creative today! This is a view looking out my back window. As you can see the sun is off to the right. Not really the look I was going for.



And of course another photo of fun times with Camryn. Here she has gotten herself stuck in between the bed frame and the mattress! (Not to mention she is wearing all of her juice on her sleeves)! I think I could do a separate blog of just all the things this girl gets herself into!

Sun

So this week's theme is sun. The sun is out, however it is only 23 degrees at the moment. I don't think it's supposed to warm up much more than this today or even much more the rest of the week. Hopefully I can get creative, being outside for very long is just not going to happen. Today's picture is a sun catcher that sits in the window surrounding my front door.

For laughs, and she provides lots, I have some pictures of Camryn! She decided to use a marker to color her face! The first picture is obviously me, checking her out. She's lucky she's cute, and the marker was washable! The second picture is her checking herself out in the mirror! The third picture reflects her obvious pride in her work!