Looking At Life

Who Likes Daisies?

2008-03-14T20:37:00.005-04:00

I do!

First Sign of Spring

2008-02-26T17:55:00.000-05:00

And also the first time I've used texture in PS, and also a vignette!

Finally Doing Something in Photoshop

2008-02-25T11:06:00.005-05:00

I used Stacy's tutorial to add borders to these. I didn't even know PS had square brushes. I also decreased the opacity of the gradient layer in the first (a la Pioneer Woman) and spent some time adjusting the levels in each to get better B&W conversions. You might even think I know what I'm doing!

Afternoon Sun on a Houseplant

2008-01-27T12:21:00.001-05:00

Feeling inspired, yet stuck in the house I pushed my kitchen table over into the bright stream of sun coming in the back door and looked at the houseplant that sits on the table.

It was an experiment in closeness, seeing how close I could get with my 18-55mm kit lens. As well as giving me some photos I didn't really care about to Photoshop. I have this hangup about photos I really like and I'm afraid I'll "ruin" them with Photoshop. I know, I know, I always save the original, but I'm more hesitant to slide the "quick fix" bars around when I already kind of like it. But here, I bumped the saturation quite a bit to make the leaves a brighter green and I did something to try and make the background a little darker (can't remember what though). I couldn't find, however, the "duster" tool that would brush the dust that has collected on the leaves. Oh yeah, that is in the actual closet and would require some cleaning effort.

Door with Wreath

2008-01-26T08:22:00.001-05:00

Hmmm, wonder if I could PS to fix the paint chipping off...

My Winter "Flowers"

2008-01-22T13:26:00.001-05:00

Steamed Clams

2008-01-07T06:24:00.001-05:00

Clams steamed in a broth of olive oil, onions, garlic, white wine, butter...they tasted even better than they look.

More best shots are over at Mother May I.

Color

2008-01-03T11:31:00.001-05:00

I just love the color in this photo. My family and I visited a very small town right on the border between Maryland and West Virginia. This church had this really cool castle-looking steeple. (I guess I would call it a steeple) The church itself was a plain, white building, but with this bright red structure above it. And of course, the sky was a brilliant fall blue.

And working on one of my photo goals for this year, I'm including a photo of myself, in my new favorite color.

I found a great idea in someone's Flickr, to create a set of photos with great color. (I'm sorry I can't remember who, it has been a long time). So here is a link to my own Color set.

Stacy at The Land of K.A. is hosting Theme Thursdays, please click over and see more interpretations of color.

A New Year of Photography

2007-12-30T08:18:00.000-05:00

I have a few photography goals for myself this year. Not resolutions, so much, these are just some things I'd like to keep in mind this new year.

Take photos every day. I set this as a goal last year, but didn't stick with it more than a week. I guess I felt like it needed to be a good photo every day and that pressure with temperamental kids and a p&s just didn't pan out. But to be fair, I did take over 4247 photos just in the first 11 months last year, so certainly more than 365.

Take self portraits. I have tried a few times. And gotten some that I actually like. I would really like to have more pictures of myself and if I am also the photographer, I can control the image (and any photoediting that is done afterwards).

Take portraits of my kids. Actually dress them in something nice, put them in front of something, use a tripod and get them to smile. Hopefully suitable for framing.

Get my photos out of the computer. I blog them, I Flickr them, I Photoshop them, I keep them in nice, neatly organized folders on our hard drive. Now I need them on paper. In frames, on walls, in books.

Cows at the Tree Farm

2007-11-30T17:03:00.001-05:00

Bread

2007-11-29T19:17:00.001-05:00

Nothing like home-baked bread on a cozy day inside.
More cozy photos at Picture This.

Goodnight, Day 28

2007-11-28T20:41:00.000-05:00

It is late, I am tired, there's no camera card in the computer.
Goodnight.

The Sounds of My Living Room

2007-11-27T20:32:00.001-05:00

Christmas Dishes

2007-11-26T13:43:00.001-05:00

See more lovely shots at Picture This.

Beautiful Autumn Sky

2007-11-25T19:59:00.001-05:00

Pianist

2007-11-24T15:31:00.000-05:00

Last of the Leaves

2007-11-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Eve

2007-11-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

Piano

2007-11-21T21:28:00.001-05:00

Box

2007-11-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

Oh the joys an Amazon box can bring. (And can't you just see the sass in her eyes?)

Figuring out the Flash

2007-11-19T19:33:00.001-05:00

I;m still trying to get the hang of my dad's flash, apparently there's a little more to it than just point and shoot!

See more of this week's best shots over at Picture This.

Place Holder

2007-11-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. I took 0 pictures this weekend. Things will pick up tomorrow.

Christmas 2006

2007-11-17T17:16:00.000-05:00

Last year. I can't believe how much they've changed.

Edited: Hopefully the picture works now, oops!

Leafiness

2007-11-16T08:29:00.000-05:00

I'm packing up my camera stuff and tripod and hopefully we'll be able to get out to a leafy park for some family fall pictures. We decided we would do this every year, but missed last year. Here we are two years ago:

I Got Nothing

2007-11-15T19:32:00.000-05:00

The kids are crying, it's bedtime, Goodnight.

I Needed These

2007-11-14T23:15:00.001-05:00

Piggies

2007-11-13T20:11:00.000-05:00

She thinks this is hil-aairrr-rious.

Red Leaves

2007-11-12T21:15:00.001-05:00

More of today's best shots at Picture This.

November 2006

2007-11-11T20:55:00.000-05:00

Passion

2007-11-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

I have never really consider myself to have a "passion." Sure, there are a lot of things I like to do, even some I love. But I've never had that feeling that other people describe. That feeling that you must do something. That you must paint or sing or create or write; that these things must flow out of your fingertips onto a canvas or paper or keyboard. I always thought it sounded kind of silly, when other people described having passion for something.

I am passionate about my children, I guess you could say. But then, who isn't? That is what children are. A passionate, life-filled existence there for you to guide and nurture and kiss and be enveloped by.

I could stare at these faces all day. I found that I needed a way to capture them more completely, more closely, more descriptively.

I needed a way to remember their scent, the softness of their skin, the delicate wisps of hair that brushed their foreheads.

And I bought my camera.

And then I discovered that I can capture the look and feel of other beautiful things in my life. There are flowers and trees and skies that are normally fleeting, but I can pin them down for a moment.

There is infinite beauty hidden in finite, delicate things.

There are colors of emotion, crispness of scents, waves of feeling.

All of which I can see and capture in an image.

This is my passion. This is a calling of sorts. This is what I do.

I take photos.

I capture images.

I hold onto emotions and feelings and scents and moments.

Awesome Flash

2007-11-09T19:44:00.001-05:00

Addition to my Christmas list: Nikon Speedlight SB 800 (borrowed for this shot)

Movie Star

2007-11-08T20:03:00.001-05:00

More memories over at Picture This.

This Morning

2007-11-07T18:40:00.001-05:00

Hanging out my back door. Autumn sunrises are so pretty.

Geese

2007-11-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

Washing Our Hands

2007-11-05T20:29:00.001-05:00

Kind of a sneak peak into the bathroom.

::

Other best shots are over at Picture This.

Morning at the Park

2007-11-04T20:01:00.000-05:00

Roadside Photos

2007-11-03T12:40:00.000-04:00

I've never realized you could be a roadside photographer until recently. In checking out other blogs and photos in Flickr, I see a lot of commentary, "I was driving to work and just had to get a picture of this..." And it only recently occurred to me that I might become one of those people. I guess that as I get more into photography, I start to notice things everywhere with a different eye.

I drive a particular route several times a week down a winding, older road with a lot of very interesting things alongside. There are dilapidated housed with overgrown porches and big heaps of sheet metal piled into lean-to sheds and little buildings. One house has a tent set up in the side yard, grown over. There are farms with cows that huddle in a wooded section of their pasture and a little run down shed really close to the road that I can't figure out what is was used for.

So I've started tossing the camera on the passenger seat next to me. And on a beautiful fall morning, I will just pull over and shoot.

I've started a set here.

Farm

2007-11-02T06:55:00.000-04:00

I just love to look at this farm.

Tuesday morning, very sunny:

And on a foggy day:

And Thursday:

And with a polarizing filter:

I think it really brings out the sky, but kind of darkens the trees and grass.

You can see the set here, there's not a whole lot there yet, but I'd like to keep adding photos as the seasons change.

Spooky

2007-11-01T10:02:00.001-04:00

My husband's Jack Skelington pumpkin:

My son instructed me to do a "sad" pumpkin, but didn't like that the result looks more "surprised." We agreed that he looks "scared."

I whipped out the tripod for these loooong shutter shots, but they came out really spooky!

Trees at the End of October

2007-10-31T07:31:00.000-04:00

Church on an Autumn Morning

2007-10-30T06:59:00.000-04:00

I walk down the same street a couple times a week. This time I walked a little further down than I normally do and found this really neat church right on the sidewalk. I stood as close to the road as I could, trying to back up enough to frame the shot, while holding my son's hand so I could make sure he stayed right next to me.

Morning Sky

2007-10-29T14:36:00.001-04:00

As the sun came up, I jumped out the sliding glass door in our kitchen onto the kids' picnic table (we don't have a deck yet) and snapped these shots in my bare feet and pajamas. No sooner had I started that the sky lightened and the incredible red disappeared.

More Best Shots at Picture This.

Finally Something NOT Orange

2007-10-22T07:06:00.001-04:00

More Best Shots today at Picture This.

Pumpkin Blossom Star

2007-10-18T07:22:00.000-04:00

See the other STARS today at Picture This.

Chianti

2007-10-16T10:05:00.000-04:00

I played with the saturation and temperature in Photoshop.

Pumpkins and Poised

2007-10-15T06:53:00.001-04:00

See more of today's best shots at Picture This.

Yellow to Orange

2007-10-14T07:44:00.001-04:00

I just discovered in Photoshop that in the "Quick Fix" section of buttons, I can play with the hue and temperature and saturation. I took a kind of blah picture of a yellow flower and and brightened it up into orange. I like how the green in the background came out too. I'm trying to change things up a bit from my usual yellow-flower-in-the-middle-of-the-frame shots.

Original:

Bumpy Pumpkin

2007-10-13T22:44:00.000-04:00

Inspiration

2007-10-12T06:50:00.000-04:00

I don't know much about the intricate settings of my camera. I don't actually know how to deal with this whole "white balance" thing. I don't know what I would adjust things to if used the "S," "A," or "M" modes.

But I am inspired.

I love to take pictures and I love the pictures I take. I love to slip the memory card into the computer and see the bright, glowing, colorful image I have captured. I am surprised every time. I am surprised at how accurately I captured something I could see with my eye, and even more impressed when I capture something I could not.

I love this scraggly flower!

Walk

2007-10-11T07:02:00.000-04:00

Most evenings if the weather is nice, my family takes a walk around our town. I often take my camera and find interesting subjects along this familiar route.

The spooky tree photos were pretty dark, but in Photoshop I converted them to black and white and played with the color levels a bit.

The lamppost I left alone. I actually held the camera still pretty well in the low, evening light.

:::

See more photos on today's theme, walk, over at Picture This.

Rose

2007-10-10T15:34:00.000-04:00

I barely scratch the surface when I use Photoshop. It's not intuitive to me. I can do some basic editing, but when I want to do something that is more complicated I have to follow step by step instructions from this book. Most of the time I just try some of the "Quick Fix" buttons and that about does it for me. WIth this photo, I only bumped one of the quick fix buttons, either color, levels, or contrast and I can't remember which one.

Wow, I'm on a roll with the once a month posting! I guess I feel like I share my photos a lot through Flickr. If you are not my friend in Flickr, please add me as a contact, so that I can share a lot more pictures with you. I reserve the best photos for my friends and family. And by best, I mean the pictures of my kids.

Tractor Wheels

2007-09-28T00:35:00.000-04:00

Flowers

2007-08-31T16:48:00.001-04:00

I just really like taking pictures of flowers. Even when they are weeds and in the middle of unattractive places, I really like to get in close.

Lemons

2007-08-15T15:25:00.001-04:00

Umbrella

2007-08-13T07:50:00.001-04:00

A Little Beach Perspective

2007-07-30T15:31:00.000-04:00

Serious

2007-07-19T08:26:00.000-04:00

Holding the Camera Like Mom

2007-07-18T07:49:00.001-04:00

I Just Like It

2007-07-15T21:20:00.001-04:00

He came at me as I was trying to take his picture. I just like the way it looks.

Tunnel

2007-07-13T07:39:00.001-04:00

I've hit my bandwidth for this month on Flickr. I guess it's time for the pro account!

Carnival

2007-07-11T08:28:00.001-04:00

Flower

2007-07-09T21:19:00.000-04:00

I Love DOF and This Boy!

2007-07-09T09:54:00.000-04:00

Hey, Why is Your Wife Taking Pictures of Weeds?

2007-07-06T21:15:00.000-04:00

Flickr Tip

2007-07-05T20:15:00.000-04:00

Look up other pictures tagged with the place (or subject) you are planning to shoot to get some ideas.

It has taken me a long time to get the hang of Flickr and now I can't get enough. I have already decided that I will need a pro account when I hit this month's bandwidth for the free version. As I continue to figure out how it all works, I realized that you can search tags for pictures.

We recently took a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia and visited Monticello. We took some pictures, and some turned out really well. When we got home, I searched photo tags for Monticello and found a lot of pictures taken from different spots and angles I hadn't thought of. Next time, I'll look up other people's pictures for ideas before we go.

This picture was taken by my husband.

Flower with Bee

2007-07-05T08:31:00.001-04:00

Have I mentioned I LOVE my new camera? I think I've told my husband about 12 gazillion times. He is happy I like it, of course, but I think his eyes are glazing over as he tallies the amount of hard disk space we will need to store all of my masterpieces.

I also posted my spectacle at MotherBunny.

Winky Face

2007-07-04T05:33:00.000-04:00

Looking At Life

2007-07-03T19:55:00.001-04:00