This & That

In a Blink

How did we get from here:

To Here?

I am really stunned and surprised when I look at these photos together.  My baby....my only girl is 14 today and it's just a little scary for me.

Unsuccessful Techniques

These last two techniques from this week's assignment weren't as successful as those I showed you yesterday. 
In this first one, we were supposed to take a picture showing two people in a depth of field contrast...one in focus in the Rule of Thirds and one out of focus. This, of course, meant that I had to get the Littles to engage in cooperative activity, which is a challenge in and of itself these days.  On the up-side, they did not have to stand close to each other, which enabled me to complete this part of the assignment successfully.

 Next, we were assigned to take a photo of a moving target, keeping them in focus by panning across with their motion, but blurring the background.  This did not work for me at all.  I had the camera on a tripod and did pan with Preemie Boy's movement, but I couldn't get my shutter speed slow enough with the exposure I wanted.  So he's in focus, but so is everything else.  DH suggests that perhaps he wasn't moving fast enough on his bike...lol!

Then we were supposed to focus on a subject (in this case my DD) and keep her in focus, while someone else moves across the focal field and is blurred.  It's a cool effect and was partially successful here, but Preemie Boy's arm or something was flung out in front of DD.  This is done with a really slow shutter speed and half the time, he would already be across the frame of the picture before it would click.  We had to do this multiple times to get even this marginal results.  DH thought maybe I should have moved Preemie Boy behind the Princess and he would have had more space to move in the long shutter speed time. Having a very logical, math/physics oriented DH has its advantages.

Anyway, kind of interesting stuff.  The examples given by my teacher were very artsy and cool looking. 

Newest Assignment

This week's assignment was trying for certain effects in our photo taking.  I don't have a huge number of willing subjects to practice on, so I have to take them when I can get them no matter what lighting is around.  Our first task was the Rule of Thirds, which is a pretty common photo concept.  I had heard of it before this class, so I felt pretty comfortable trying it.  College Boy from last weekend when I saw him in Wyoming:

Then we were supposed to try something called Leading Lines.  That is, something linear "points" to your photo subject.  Like the diagonal lines in my houses siding sort of lead your eye down to the hyacinth that has bloomed.  It's the same one that's in my header here on the blog, so it's finally been warm enough to burst forth.  (Although yesterday you wouldn't have thought so, since we didn't get out of the 40's.)  If I had thought about it earlier in the day, I would have taken the photo then, without the harsh afternoon light, but I needed to get these taken and turned in, so it was what it was.

Last concept for today's perusal is Framing.....finding something to shoot the photo through to your subject.  First I tried this blooming aspen tree.

  And while the idea was good, the time of day wasn't and the Princess was all squinty-eyed.  Then I tried some railing at the back of the house and while I don't think the "frame" was as pretty as the aspen branches, I was pretty pleased with how the Princess' face looks.  Tomorrow, the other things I was supposed to try...what worked and what didn't....mostly didn't.  And maybe some SGB photos.

There Can Be Only One

Little trivia fact for you....I was a huge Highlander fan several years ago.  And along with that...my DH's youngest sibling would come watch our kids on occasion when we would go out of town.  Once while we were gone, she altered my computer commands, so whenever I would shut down my computer or download something, random Highlander phrases would be uttered...lol!  We all got a kick out of it.   But back on point.....

It's the Man's b-day today....the beginning of my crowded b-day season.  DD's is next week, Preemie Boy the week after that and then various other children every 3 weeks until mid-June.  I use a LOT of candles between now and then. :)

Just wanted to let him know (not that he reads my blog....) that there really can be only one...and he's mine, for almost 30 years now.  I love these pictures of him because they really catch him as he is most comfortable...in the wilderness with his family.  Love you, hon.

Loaves and Fishes

My family is coming home this weekend.  All of them, except for San Diego boy, will be in attendance for the first time since Christmas. It's Astro-Physics Boy's Spring Break and they are bringing baby from the "back east" for a week.  Eldest Son and his family will be bringing them to us from the Boise airport.  Here's hoping the SPGB travels well!  I'm very excited to see them all.  I spent a good share of today at Costco, stocking up on provisions.  I don't go there very often, mostly because I can't get out of there without spending triple digits, even if I just go for one thing.  But it's good for times like this.....when I go from feeding 4 to feeding 10....from buying 3 gallons of milk for the week to buying 8.....and knowing that if Astro-physics boy is in the house, it probably won't last.  (Love you, hon...invest in a cow).   And when I'm planning the meals and accumulating the groceries, you know what thought runs through my head most often?

How did I used to do this all the time??? 

I mean, I had 6 kids in residence for many years and made them three meals a day.  And now I'm ....out of practice...lol!  In any case, you can expect a lot of SGB-squared photos.  At least I hope I can get them to sit still long enough to take some pictures that aren't blurry!

Little, Ticky Things

Ever notice that it's the little, ticky things that just drive you around the bend?  Little things like why didn't I practice stamp with my new Unity red rubber stamps?   Then I would have discovered that there were three little birds on that darn stamp that are now hanging upside down on my layout.  So now I have to get creative with the little flowers, pretending that it's just a happy accident.  *eyeroll*

 And why didn't I take the wedding party into consideration when I started scrapping wedding photos two years ago with this kit?  Worked so nicely with the photos I scrapped back then that only included the cute bride and groom.  But add in the wedding party and their nice blues and things don't quite go together.  I have a couple more layouts worth of photos to scrap...I think I'm going to go back to the bride and groom.  They were, after all, the focus of the day. There really are no scrapbook police, right?
 

The Nature and Artsy

Just a few photos I took of the scenery using a few different Manual settings....metering on different spots.

Hey, Mom!

Happy Birthday!!  Not that she's figured out yet how to get here,  but here's a shout out to her.  Most of the direction and guidance I received in my early life came from her and she worked hard at it.  She's a good mom....love you! 

Other Things to Pass the Time

On Day 2 sans technology, we started by doing some reading in front of the fire.  DD is working through Pride and Prejudice, Preemie Boy found a collection of Louis L'Amour short stories and then proceeded to ask me why there's a girl in everyone of them...lol.  DH found a collection of bear stories (guess who stocked the book shelves from Costco?) and I was working on The Appeal by John Grisham.
 
After it warmed up a little outside, the rest of the family opted for a snowmobile jaunt up the road in a big meadow while I went for a shower.  I mean really?  Snowmobiling in a big meadow in the cold or a hot shower?  Not much of a choice for me.
 
When they returned, DH and Preemie Boy attempted to take the snow off the solar shed roof, but no luck.  It was too stuck.  The problem was that as it melts, it puddles in front of the door and then freezes at nights and we can't get the door open.  We're working on a solution to that....and we're accepting ideas.  Anyone?

We topped off the daylight hours with a little target shooting off the deck.  Remind me to smack DD for taking the photos.  I had to do some really creative cropping to cut out most of what's below my shoulders.  It's a rare day that I pick up a firearm, though, and the family felt it needed to be documented.  I was shooting at a cardboard box.  Hit it a couple of times, too.

Game Day

The Littles and I spent a lot of time this trip playing board games, only a few of which I photographed here.  I can recommend Rukus, Go Nuts, Mancala, Blokus, Pass the Pigs and Avalam.   (Bonus....all the photos I took on this trip were in Manual.)