One butterfly

My other babies

My kitties were soaking up the sun yesterday so I snapped a few pics. Aren't they sweet? At one point they were laying together in the patch of sun that spilled through the window, but alas I was too slow.

Week 4 Lesson

Wow, this is a little late. Like a week. Amazing what one can accomplish on a snow day though!

So this lesson is all about using flash outdoors. And since it is a snow day and Jenna is miraculously not sick, outside we went. I have to admit, I struggle with snow pictures. I've tried custom white balance, I've tried different settings, and no luck. What I get are underexposed, grey skin tones, and muddy images. ACK! So imagine my joy when after this lesson I realized that shooting with the flash on, which is counterintuitive, actually WORKS! Dang, I have so much to learn. Notice how much grey there is in the no-flash photos? HATE THAT.

Also practiced working on some templates. These are more freebies from "I Love Photograhy." TFL!

Photo Gals Unite!

So my photo group got together this afternoon and we shot flowers. We used different colors as backdrops, and captured some pretty sweet shots, especially given that none of us has a macro lens. We all used our 70-300 lenses, and they worked fine. Out goal was to capture some reflections in the water droplets, that when you zoomed in you could really see. I see a lot of digital noise, which means I underexposed. But it was a fun lesson, and something new that made me think of spring. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate February with a passion, and this gave me a dose of hope. Hope for warmer, longer days when you can get outside and enjoy nature. It's a good thing.

The thing is, it's not hard for me to shoot THINGS. Like flowers, or barns, or stationary objects. It's people. But this was a fun diversion.

A Valentine's Wish

and a card template. (And no, I did not make the card, it was a free download from I Love Photography. Not taking credit for this!!!) Ran a black and white action and added photo, and voila!

Week 3 Lesson

OK, this week's lesson was all about white balance, which is the color of light. Somehow it is all tied together with proper exposure, but I'm not quite getting the connection. In my head they (exposure and white balance) are different. Did I tell you I was going to figure this all out?

So I used a white foam board to set the camera's custom white balance. I've done it before, but this time I really concentrated on getting the steps right. I think it turned out well, but I am a fan of the warm hues in the "cloudy" setting.

One thing I need to know more about is using the GREY card for exposure. Can you set it the same way? Joanna says it has to do with properly exposing the pictures in POST PROCESSING. I have used a grey card differently. So much to learn . . .

Week 2 Lesson

Week 2 was all about shutter speed, and freezing the action. The assignment was to photograph water hitting an object in the sink, and seeing how faster shutter speeds capture the moment while slower shutter speeds have more of a blurred effect. Nothing new for me, but I'm trying to keep up with the homework.