Water?

Water? Here? This time of year? Inside? Sure. Outside? Only snow. With these temps it would be hard to find a mere droplet.
I got excited when I decided on this shot. Little did I realize that my cat might not be thirsty.
Maybe creativity will hit tomorrow.

ss 1/20, fs 4.5, 32.0
sooc w/crop in PSE5

[outfitted for cold]

Fur hoods are all the rage this year with the kids. My DD couldn't resist trying out her friend's new coat. This was taken by a patio door on a snowy day.

sooc, f/5.6, ss 1/80, 55.00 lens kit

A Winter Snowmen~!

This is a favorite pic of the season because there are so few days that one can actually make a snowman as the temperatures have to be just right for the snow to stick. Today wasn't one of those days - way too cold.
These snowmen were taken after a snowfall a few days before Christmas which gave us a white Christmas. Very warm Dec. and the snowmen didn't make it until Christmas.
Very sooc.
ss 1/125, F-stop 5.6 and lens 38.0

17 degrees photo shoot...brrr!!

The girls were up for an impromptu, quick photo shoot in very chilly temps. We drove just a bit out of our way to find some rustic buildings. The buildings we found were so cool but the sun was in our way as well as the late afternoon hustle bustle of the city. The girls and I look forward to going out again when the weather is a bit warmer and we have more time.
I know the shadows are bad, but kind of like it, too.
Length of photo shoot; under 5 minutes
Girls; f-stop 7.1, ss 1/200 and lens 55.0
Window; f-stop 5.6, SS 1/125 and lens 55.0
Both converted t0 B&W in PSE5.0

Welcome Home!

The girls did a service project for with their youth group this morning despite the fresh snow and chilly temps. The bottom photo is not my hometown but rather down the road at our church entrance. I like this sign because it is so welcoming. I know its not the prettiest landscape but it really does represent our landscape this time of year. We tend to have a lot of wetlands. In the far distance you can see the fish houses on the lake.
Both of these taken w/kit lens. Top one cropped and tweaked a bit in PSE5. The lower one was tweaked a lot in same program.

A Pretty Friend on a Fall Day

Just a lazy day today and didn't get any shots.
Late in the day [night] I decided to see what photos were on this laptop [not very many] and see if there were any I liked.
I just love this candid photo in our backyard on a fall afternoon. Maybe its the way the sun is on her back side.

sooc

cc welcome

My kids' biggest fan!

Another day of basketball games.
Nothing fancy here. Still experimenting with the camera. Looks like I need to go back to the camera store. I see we are going to become good friends over the next few weeks.
Note the bench expressions - they were taking a real beating during this game.
These pictures represent a big part of my life. Being an active spectator at my kids' sporting activities.
I am looking forward to next week's challenge; your hometown. Should be interesting seeing my hometown is almost nonexistent as far as an actual town.


[These shots were taken in P mode which overrides the manuel mode w/70-300 lens. Not a lot of time today, very sooc] I need to start documenting what my settings are. Is there a way to do that in PSE5? Or do you make note while shooting. Thanks for the CC. Not sure what soft is and how to fix that. Any ideas?

Another Favorite

Keeping it easy this week. This picture represents one of my passions, scrapbooking, but also a weakness, keeping it all pretty enough to photograph. I was in my room organizing/cleaning and decided I better get a picture because I am going to be scrapping tonight.
I shook a few of the bottles and then went for my camera...looked for the shot, got it, and forgot to shake the rest of the bottles. Oops!

Favorite Things

I love red. I love snowmen. I love these 2 sets I got for Christmas this year. Seeing we typically live in a snowy environment, I leave my snowmen out for awhile, even though this one is a bit
Christmasy, just too pretty to put away right now.
***I brought 13 pictures to the wrestling banquet the other night [see below] and the coaches loved them. They want to me be their photographer next year. One of the coaches also asked me to shoot his track meets this spring with a concentration on girls' pole vaulting. That made my day.
These snowmen were shot in auto close-up with flash. Cropped and quick edited in PSE5.0 Nothing fancy.
TFL and HHCC always welcome.
I believe again that I was too close to the subject which made big shadows.

Self Portrait

A self portrait or as they say on myspace, a mirror picture. My first. Until yesterday i wouldn't have been able to do this because when I tried all I got was flash. What changed? For those of you that have been here before you might recall that I swore my camera was broken. Not so. Seems the photographer was a bit clueless on how to operate her camera. Can you imagine that? Yes! Stopped in yesterday to the camera store and learned about my camera, a Nikon D50. Seems there is a setting called P that overrides the auto setting and allows one to turn off the flash, change the ISO and take multiple shots. I also found out that my AV and SV modes are different than other cameras.
Now my lens, 70-300, was more of a bit of a mystery. The techie couldn't see where the error was at first so I left it with him. Seems it had gotten some muck on it and got a hair lodged between the lens and the lens filter. The lens filter wasn't budging at first.
So, looks like I am advancing baby step by baby step. I am already grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this challenge because without it I would stay in auto.
My self portrait seems right today for the introduce yourself as well as it being my birthday, which is now almost over. Didn't have a lot of time to play but thrilled to be able to turn off my flash. If it wasn't so late, I might have tried to crop it as the composition needs help, but today, that is OK.
Other good news is after a week, I got my 2Peas account fixed. My password had to defaulted to my DD's - strange. Anyways I look forward to getting back on.
HHCC always welcome...sooc, program mode, 55 ft.?

A Moment at the Playground

Day 8 and we had our 1st photo shoot away from home with my other favorite subject. He actually liked being here because he has many favorite memories of playing at our old church's playground. The temps aren't too bad at 30 something and the snow is slowly melting away.
Both are sooc, except in the lower one, my DD fixed what looked like a unibrow in PSE5 [it was actually his hair].

An easier basketball shot...

Day 7 - A busy, busy day. Church, waffles at a teammate's home before championship games. That's when I discovered that I had forgotten my memory card - a first. It was OK, having trouble setting my ISO, so, want to bring it in early next week. There are many more basketball games coming up
This challenge is already a good thing w/making me learn my camera, learn PSE 5.0 and also organize my photos...I have 4 computers up and going right now. Photos are kind of here and there.
Tried another B&W conversion, but the photo got locked in edit mode and didn't find as easy out. So, will save that photo for another day.
So, no new photo today except for 2 on my cell phone =[.
This photo here was taken during Indian summer in early October. The kids were breaking after an intense game of 21. They were gearing up for upcoming tryouts. I like the colors and the expressions.
Nikon D50 w/the big lens - sooc
HHCC always welcome...keep it coming, I am making notes.
TFL

The City

Here is a picture of the metro skyline as we traveled by at about 65 mph. Color is bland, but not a lot of blur. So, why is it when I am at my daughter's basketball game and the game is almost at a standstill most of the shots are blurry.
I got my manual out and had some notes from what I have learned here but doesn't seem my camera is cooperating. Played a lot in different modes. My next step is to stop in at the camera shop where I bought it and make sure the camera is working correctly.
I am thinking also that these digital SLR's are like a computer. Same with the lens. So much to learn.
CC is always welcome.
Until tomorrow when we go back to the basketball games.
Nikon D50, forget which setting, 70-300 lens. sooc

Are You For Real?

Wasn't feeling real adventerous today so something easy. A bit on information overload with learning new computer, camera, PSE 5.0, etc.
Used my 70-300 lens 1.2 in auto mode. Learned a few things in PSE 5.0 to convert to black and white and find the crop dimensions. I need to play and keep playing if I ever get anywhere.
So much to learn yet....

Add'l photos for Day 4

These are the shots I liked from yesterday. All shot in auto mode with 70-300 1.2 lens.
The boys in blue are all from my son's team but I don't think I know any of them.
Later today I will get a fresh shot.

Last Wrestling Match of the Season

Oh man! One of those days that nothing is really working all that well. Took a lot of pics at the wrestling match today, 39 in all. This is my son and its ok...nothing grand as far as composition. Used my 1.2 70-300 lens. I took pics of other wrestlers, too, and ended up with quite a bit of blur on some of them which was a huge disappointment. I did capture a couple awesome ones but didn't feel right using other kids just yet on my blog. (I wasn't using action mode because that mode does not work at all...)
I see I really need to spend some time with my manual and some of the articles linked at 2Peas. What else is not working? Camera seemed very sluggish today, took forever to upload this pic, 2Peas won't let me sign in on my screen name....[[[oh, sigh]]]
thanks for looking =]

Pretty Girl

One of my most favorite photo subjects! This was taken after sunset on our deck overlooking the golf course. As far as settings I am still in auto mode...tho, this was done in portrait mode.
Flash used...need to learn more about flash fill.
I can see where cropping might enhance the photo...TFL

Day 2 Revisited

This was the photo I wanted to use but wasn't real happy with it, but the more I thought about it the more I thought it was a good shot of where I am at with breaking out the 2007 Franklin Covey calendar pages [he would shudder at the way I use his pages or should I say lack of using his calendar]. Christmas is put away with all of its many pieces for the most part.

A Fat Orange Cat Named Punkin

Mmmm!
Day 2 and I am already
finding the challenge harder
than I thought it would be.
Tried a
few different things and nothing seemed to work so I went with our favorite cat, Punkin.




Nikon D50. Auto.

Cheers!

*To 2007!
*To 2Peas 2007 Photo a Day Challenge
*To all of us People of the Year according to Time.



Nikon D50, auto mode, taken shortly after midnight 1/1/07

Happy New Years!

New blog for the photo a day challenge. Lots of things to learn; camera settings, uploading photos, etc. Very excited about this!