candisnaps

The DIET

2011-04-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

A post or two I referenced the migraine diet and promised more detail. Here it is. If you don't get migraines or don't know anyone who does, you may want to skip this one.

Last August my dear friend Susan introduced me to Dr. Sanchez. After a 4 hour wait I was finally done with my initial appointment. His approach was rather straight forward. I got a daily preventive drug and I was to keep a food log. Ok. Easy enough, especially after he said he thought he could get me to a headache or 2 a year.

I dutifully took my medicine that night. The next morning I could not wake up. Everything was in slow motion. I finally rolled into work around 10 am. When I got there, I just sat there and looked at my screen. By 11 I realized this was not going to work. He suggested I cut them in two going forward. Evidently, I am quite sensitive to this stuff. Later a nurse friend laughed when I told her about it. "You were stoned!" I seriously don't get wh someone chooses that state if mind.

After about a month of logging every morsel, I headed back. I thought Janice was bad with her red ink. Yogurt, gone. Nuts, gone. That was two-thirds of my normal breakfast. He did let me keep the blueberries. My typical lunch was next. Cheese, deli meat, balsamic vinegar. All theoretically remover from the diet. Later it was beans, all pork, bananas, grapes, raisins. The list became ling but the final blows were the worst. Aspartame, sucralose and chocolate. I quickly informed him that I was willing to humor him, but I had to draw the line at chocolate.

He kind of chuckled and said he'd see me in two months. Some days I did well, others not so much. I just couldn't believe so many foods I love could be so painful. After about six months I decided I really needed to buckle. After enough pain even a Reese's cup isn't worth it any more. I did a good job sticking to it for about when I realized I was basically eating potatoes.

Enter the nutritionist Carol Ann. I can really tell a difference. I am almost brave enough to try to add some things back. I'll let you know how it goes but I did want to share that with you all. After about 35 years, it's kind of cool knowing that we're finally figuring out the cause.

Tour de Tuscaloosa-Crit

2011-04-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

I think the Tour de Tuscaloosa is my favorite race. One reason is that it is such a lovely setting. It starts at the edge of downtown Tuscaloosa and then hits a dramatic turn into a long downhill with a sharp 90 degree lefthand turn. The very definition of "sketchy." As we made the drive over (ok - that's an entire other post...what should have been about three and a half hours turned into five), we talked about the race. James was very nervous about the Cat 4 race. It was the sketchy course and the prospect of rain that had him in knots.

We got there with time to leisurely get everything together and get him on his trainer set up. Rain was forecasted, but we sure hoped it would hold out until after he raced.

Part of the race is on Jack Warner Parkway, which runs along the Black Warrior River, a river known to attract tornadoes. The air had that heaviness before the race started so I went back and forth about whether to get my camera out. (Of course, I did.)

The juniors had a big field. James is racing against kids who turn 13 or 14 this year. I think this is the age group where you see the greatest spread in ability due to physical development. It's so tough when you just don't have the muscle mass the other guys do. (Zoom in on the thighs of the guy in yellow shoes. Wow. Brody used to be a teammate and has really turned into a great racer - he wins any 13-14 race he enters.) Here James puts on a great attack only to be caught pretty quickly.

The group of race age 13 stayed together for a sprint at the end. The kid on the right is a great sprinter and edged James out just at the finish line.

I don't know how in the world I didn't get a picture of Jim and Sue or Dave and Paula while we were there. Visiting with them is honestly what makes this my favorite race of the year. Jim and Sue "adopted" me when I was in school. Jim took all the calls that would have been to Daddy if he lived in the same city...things like my car won't crank. (No one ever told me I had to add water to the battery.) There were many late viewing of MASH and breakfast at the Waysider. To this day I do miss them both.

Then, there's Dave and Paula. Dave was in admissions at Alabama when I was in high school. He was actually at Charles Henderson our Honors Day. That was when I first met Dave. I've been through births and very sick babies and watching their girls grow up. We've been touch all those years and I so enjoy catching up with them. (He also always has all the scoop on any sport you want to know about.) Any way...they escaped getting their pictures made, but they was a big part of the weekend.

Did I mention the lovely setting? Since we were there last year, they have built amphitheater. I love how you can watch them go down that big hill and come across way down there below.

I started to say something nostalgic about The Tuscaloosa News, but then I saw the flag which said it was a subsidiary of The New York Times. I won't say anything at all.

While we were at lunch (the "we" being Dave, Paula and me) there was a tornado watch issued. Bad weather was all around. It started raining and James had to rush to the van. Poor thing. There was good news, though. The rain stopped and the road dried off before the Cat 4.

James was so nervous. I don't know why. He is only about a third the size of the other guys. He didn't want to start, but he did. He was having a decent race when the tire of a guy in front of him just exploded. Sounded like a .22. His recovery got the back of the pack separated and James was quickly off by himself. Coach Kelli told him to pull out, but he felt good that he started and was hanging onto the pack.

Tough course, but great for spectators. You 13-14s and Cat 4s better lookout next year!

Oregon

2010-07-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

Ponderings

2010-02-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is one of my stream of consciousness, random ponderings. I'm not sure when it started (the ponderings I mean) - I think a few Sundays ago when Randy was talking about the sin behind the sin and the motive behind the motive. I guess that a really super deep level of spirituality. I didn't totally know what he was talking about, but it did strike me.

When I was very sick at the airport on the return from Germany, a few people stopped to see if I needed anything...not many, but a few. One woman in particular was a saint. She had two little boys with her and they were waiting for their former au pair who was coming for a visit. She saw me puking my guts up in a trash can at the busiest part of the airport and came to check on me. She bought me a bottle of water and stood with me for a while. (Her little one was precious - even in my haze - he keep asking me why I was sick.)

Any way, I kept thinking about what made her stop and look after me. Strong maternal draw, feeling sorry for me, setting a good example for her kids, maybe she was a Christian? I have no idea.

As I passed my germs on to the rest of my family and I was up almost all night a couple of nights later, I started thinking about why I was staying up. What really was my motive? Was that what Randy was talking about? Was I up because I was the mom or because I felt guilty that I gave them the bug? Maybe I just wanted to be seen as being the martyr? I moved on to what should be my motive - yes, I had time to think about it even though I was really, really tired.

We're to do all things for the glory of our Father. I'm not really sure why I was up serving them. Maybe it was because I really didn't have a choice, but maybe at least I started realizing there was a higher calling and motivation. Isn't the first step realizing you a have problem or in this case, a motivation you didn't recognize?

Snow Day!!!

2010-02-13T17:06:00.001-08:00

We got snow...big snow. It was so pretty - I haven't been so good about practicing my pictures lately, but I did try to get out and get a few. Short session, though, because it was sooo cold.

It is clear that my older son is more like me. He thinks it's cool, but enough is enough and it's time for spring to be here. We have had so much cold weather already. (He is getting mature enough to realize that before summer is over he's going to hate riding in the hot weather. Some people are just never happy.)

I am also confident that at some point my younger son will leave me to move far away to a very cold place. As much as I can do without really cold weather, he absolutely lives for it. He asks all summer if I think it will snow the coming winter. As soon as snow starts melting, he gets sad and immediately wonders if we will get more before summer. He comes with in wet and frozen, but happy as a little frozen lark. I'm going to miss him.

Maybe I'll muster a visit - it is pretty.

If you want to check out a few more pics, visit www. candisnaps.com

Surprise - New Post

2010-02-13T17:03:00.001-08:00

Sights from the Beach

2009-09-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

No particular order. Different cameras, different lenses and different photographers, but they are all in my favorites from our trip to the beach.

Sweet hubby took this one of the sea oats.

I think this one was by my mom or dad with their little Kodak. I just love those rich colors.

The "nice" camera with the "nice" lens. I can just feel the humidity again when I look at this.

Maybe a big kid's feet aren't as sweet as a newborns, but to a mom they're still precious.

Just love storm shots.

My fav of all. Snapped this really quick as we were unloading and Tropical Storm Claudette was headed our way for landfall. Just look at that water. Gorgeous.

If you've visited www.candisnaps.com, apologies for the duplication.

Not So Weekly Post

2009-08-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

The beach just before a storm. Does it really matter which camera or settings you use?

Photowalk 2009

2009-07-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

Check out www.candisnaps.com for a look at the shots that CBT and I took at Photowalk 2009 in Blue Ridge, GA. We were part of a group of roughly 30,000 all over the world who took a walk and took pictures.

We had a blast.

What I've Been Up To

2009-06-29T19:26:00.001-07:00

Yep. I am pretty behind. You can check out what I've been up to at www.norcrossamericanallstars.shutterfly.com and www.candisnaps.com.

Not sure I'll keep practicing here - there's enough practicing there.

Happy Picture Taking :)

2009-06-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Maybe when I said I would post something every week, I meant I would average weekly posts.

I used to hate hydrangeas, but I have grown to love them. There are so many different colors and variations.

This one came from our other house and it has bloomed for the first time this year (as have several others that we brought over). It's truly summer time.

Took this with my 24-70 late in the afternoon...I think between 4 and 5.

Finally....something in Ps

2009-06-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have been quite busy with CBT's baseball team. Somehow I became the team photographer and have taken well over 1,000 photos with almost that many posted on a "team photo website."

Today I finally figured out how to do ~~anything~~ something in Photoshop. It took me a long time, but I was determined to figure it out because I had seen it as part of an ad for the software. I took the team photo today right before the tournament started. Me Ra would cringe because it was about 11:30am and horribly bright. You guessed it. Out of the three shots I took (why did I just take three??), none had everyone with their eyes open.

After a very long time, I figured out how to layer two of the pictures of get everyone with their eyes open. Unfortunately, not everyone had a least one "good" in one of the three, but I did get eyes (even if squinty.)

First shot - the two coaches on the right...closed eyes.

Next shot, virtually everyone else with their eyes closed. But, those two coaches with their eyes open.

Go to Scott Kelby's Photoshop book, turn to page 295. Tada...everyone's eyes are open.

Of course, if I had remembered his Digital Photography tip before I got back home I might not have to had to go through the 3 easy steps. Oh, well. Good learning experience.

It's Baseball

2009-06-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

I have been so remiss. Travel, crazy sports schedules and just being tired.

Here's my favorite from the past couple of week of almost a thousand posted baseball pictures. If you're really bored, you could check out the All Stars and All Stars Part II at www.norcrossamericanallstars.shutterfly.com. Part III was more of a bust - I was tired of carrying around the 70-200 so I stuck with the 24-70. Those distance shots just aren't as good.

Fast Fingers

2009-05-31T03:53:00.000-07:00

I was taking a picture of the big group at the reunion and heard something like a very large bumble bee. I looked around and saw two hummingbirds dive-bombing each other trying to protect the feeder. Had camera in hand (only the 24-70, wished I had the 70-200).

Most were blurry - no suprise given how fast they move - but I did get one where one was still. Wish it were more crisp, but I was happy to just to get it.

Tunnel Vision

2009-05-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yes...it's been roughly a month since I've been here. Travel, sickness, a wacky wireless home network, and more have all contributed to my absence.

Admittedly, today's post is a little weak. Another photographer told me about moving your lens, ie, zoom in or out, while you're taking a picture. It is supposed to give you a sense of motion.

I tried it with my 24-70mm and got an interesting effect - I obviously need more practice, but it is kind of neat in its own way.

Unrelated note, Traci....can you send me what you told Molly about the focus not holding when you hold the shutter button halfway? I have noticed that I am having the same issue.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, Y'ALL!!

CBT Pre-race

2009-04-26T10:38:00.001-07:00

So....I've gotten a little behind on my once per week commitment. I'll try to make up for it some with a bunch of pictures today. Going to number then - curious in any comments. These were pre-race yesterday between 10:30 and 11 am. Used the 24-70mm L. All the adjustment are in Lightroom. I finally bought a book so I can figure out Photoshop.

#1 I applied Matt's Auto Adjustment (from Killer Lightroom tips) for portraits. This is such a typical face for CBT.

#2 Used same preset. It put a little more richness in the green of the grass and softened his face just a bit.

#3 Used Matt's Soft Focus Level I along with a slight exposure adjustment and some vignetting.

#4 Same soft focus preset as before. He had definitely gone into "posing" mode.

#5 Christopher liked this one a lot. "I've seen pictures like this before where the person isn't in the middle." I think that was his way of saying it is slightly more artistic than mom usually is. Used the Matt's Auto Adjustment again.

Maybe I can get back on track now - there are so many beautiful things around!

Easter Flowers

2009-04-12T18:11:00.001-07:00

While we were out doing our Easter egg hunt, I tried to take a few other pictures. I was contrasting taking flowers in sunlight versus shade.

These pink azaleas were awfully pretty. I did find that I kept forgetting to adjust for the different light as I moved back and forth between shade and light.

I definitely prefer the shade. The color here is a little more washed out than the actual picture. On this one, I kept going back forth on the aperture - between 2.8 and 3.5. This one was with 2.8, ISO 200.

Tuscaloosa Flowers

2009-04-05T05:50:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to take advantage of any opportunities I see. I got these shots right after JST's race at Lake Lurleen outside Tuscaloosa. This wisteria smelled wonderful. I used one of Matt's presets (from Killer Lightroom Tips).

Love dogwoods. The blooms are on trees so it was hard to get as close I wanted. Using a 2.8 really blurred out the background so it didn't matter as much.

I find the underside just as compelling a flower as the topside. When I have a more time, I'll crop them to see if they get any more interesting.

CBT#4 Revised

2009-03-31T18:33:00.000-07:00

I liked Traci's idea so....

This is the original picture a.k.a. CBT #4.

Traci thought it would look good b&w. She was right. I just used the standard low contrast b&w preset in Lr.

While I was at it, I always tried the antique light. I just love that you can totally change these pictures with just a click. Thanks for the idea, my friend.

CBT#5

2009-03-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Last one. Which one was your favorite? Curious what you liked and didn't like.

CBT#4

2009-03-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay. Only two more, then I want to hear which one you like the most.

CBT#3

2009-03-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

Next in the series. Love this one because he said this one was to remind me of how as an infant and toddler he would hold his ears when he was falling asleep.

Light source was the window. Not sure I like the light from the side. I know I see it done, but I'm not so sure.

CBT#2

2009-03-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here's my next choice.

Looked pretty good on the small screen, but on the computer screen you can tell his eyes are perfectly in focus. Still have lots of work to do.

As an aside, loaded Photoshop tonight. Boy, is that overwhelming. I also just noticed the colors aren't quite the same here as they were in Ps. Never noticed that before with Lightroom....hmm. Maybe Gretchen will weigh in and let us know if she's ever heard of that before.

CBT#1

2009-03-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

This next series won't be nearly as interesting to you all as it is practice for me. I am trying to winnow down to a few shots out of a whole bunch I took of CBT. He has a lot of different facial expressions and I was trying to capture a handful of his more common ones. I used natural light and y 24-70mm lens.

I really like his eyes in this one. I think I should set a limit - let's say 6 out of the roughly 100 I shot. This will be a really good test.

2009-03-14T14:15:00.001-07:00

More Flowers

2009-03-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

More rain. More flowers. The first one of these snowdrops came out kind of funky. It's almost as if they are superimposed on a backdrop. Shot them with the 24-70mm. No editing - right out of the camera. Cool story about these - CBT and I counted 6 different yards these have migrated from, but that's for a different blog.

Trying to force myself to shoot asymmetrically so this is tougher than it should be. I am black and white, in the box. I shot these graph hyacinths all the way around - the full 360 degrees (and kneeling on the ground). All kind of things kept getting in the way - our house in the background, a tree, a leaf, etc, etc. This was so much easier when I didn't know much.

Still have daffodils blooms - know I've mentioned it before, but I love them, especially on cloudy days. I am so glad Kelby talked about shooting on cloudy days.

Snow in Atlanta

2009-03-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

This was a new challenge - shooting in snow. I tried to stay sheltered, but I couldn't resist getting a few shots.

These two shots are a comparison of the same picture with slight editing of the bottom one. I cropped the original just a bit because I ended up with a bit more driveway than I intended. In Lightroom, I took down the exposure (ie, made it a bit darker) and increased the contrast. I also adjusted the tint just a teeny tiny bit. (A very technical term.) The adjustments give him just a little more color.

I like this one because we just never see this much snow here. Not sure it's really that great from a photography perspective, but it accomplished what I was looking for. Thick snowfall.

Flowing Stream

2009-03-05T19:51:00.000-08:00

This is the lovely flowing stream in my backyard. Well, not really. It's the easement that only has water when it rains.

Shot it the same cloudy day as the past few posts. I did find with the water it mattered a lot where I was because the reflection matter a lot.

What Is It?

2009-03-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it was really soft and very cool looking. I took it with my 24-70mm late in the afternoon on a cloudy day. I thin it helped the slightly off white color stand out more. No editing.

Berries in the Rain

2009-03-01T11:50:00.000-08:00

Remember these from a few weeks ago? This time they are rain-soaked. Focal point is the few berries that are darker. If I were doing it over, I would probably up the f/ stop a bit. I do like the contrast of the red against the green.

Spring Finally

2009-02-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

Kelby talked about cloudy days being a good time to take pictures (just not in the rain). Yesterday in the late afternoon as he had advised I had a quick window with just a tiny bit of drizzle. I snapped a few quick ones (avoiding getting down on the ground, sorry Scott) using my 24-70mm for these. It is really turning into my default lens.

Happy Batman

2009-02-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Maybe the 50mm is better inside - maybe it doesn't like being cold, like me.

C'mon Spring

2009-02-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

I am determined to love my 50mm as much as everyone else seems to. Today I went out just knowing that my daffodils would be in bloom because everyone else's are.

Almost. Both with the lens and the daffodils. The autofocus just isn't what I dream of, but the depth of field is cool. I'm going to keep making myself use it.

Just Plants

2009-02-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Nandina berries

Firepower Nandina. Hopefully, next pics are blooming flowers.

Pansies

2009-02-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

More playing with the nifty 50. I find it difficult to get it to cooperate sometimes. It just doesn't want to focus sometimes. It doesn't matter whether the subject is close or far...

Nevertheless, I am happy these little pansy bloom their little hearts out through the winter.

Unfortunately, we do lose a few to the deer, who are getting awfully bold.

Still think a macro lens would be awfully neat.

Weird

2009-02-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

This plant has always been weird to me - you can even see the dust on this leaf, which makes even less alive looking to me. Hard to tell here, but I love the detail that I got with the 24-70mm

Spring's Coming

2009-02-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

Went out this afternoon to play with my nifty 50. I feel the urge to get a macro 50. I saw some daffodils in the adjacent neighborhood.

Kelby would have been proud - I came in with dead leaves and dirt all over me. Buds mean blooms soon.

Last of Indoor, Low Light Sports

2009-01-31T18:53:00.000-08:00

For a while any way. Today I played with my new monopod. Not nearly as easy as it looks when those guys on the sidelines are using them. I also decided they are probably much are effective when you know where the action is headed.

I also resorted to using a flash for the older guy's basketball game. I have been getting better photos with what I've learned and with the new lens, but everyone else is using a flash in there so I wanted to try it.

I would say mixed results. Definitely sharper pictures because I could up the shutter speed, but I didn't like the shadows and the red eyes are awful. I have spent a little time trying to fix them, but JST has huge blue eyes and practically his entire eyeball is red. Sometimes when it is corrected he has two entire blobs between his nose. I am hoping for my copy of Photoshop to arrive soon and hoping that its red eye correction feature is much better than Lightroom - has to be, right?

Ok, now to the pics.

I've been playing with the Lightroom standard presets again. I think I've said it before, but I really love the warmth that Direct Positive addes to the gym pictures. (I have found that I like it best when I clean up the original, ie, get the White Balance corrected and get the Exposure where I like it.)

The flash definitely helped with the crispness. The photo has more of that "flash" look than the first. It also really picks up any reflective clothing, shoes, etc, which can be very distracting.

I found another preset that helped with a couple of pics from the other game. They weren't quite a crisp, but weren't too bad. I adjusted the White Balance using Auto White Balance in Lightroom, adjusted the Exposure slightly and used the Aged Photo preset. I really liked the effect, especially for the second picture. CBT was being announced at the beginning of the last game (lights were lowered, smoke, loud music and he ran out with little spin moves - hopeless with no flash). His face is in focus, but everything else is a blur. Using this preset seems to draw more of the attention to his face. I think I'm going to do an entire scrapbook layout using this effect.

I am ready for the sunshine, I think.

More Gym Practice

2009-01-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a week so it is time for that intentional picture. That which does not kill you makes you stronger and I was already going to the gym today to watch CBT play basketball. I hate taking pictures in the gym. Maybe it would be better with a more specific goal. Today it would be to catch the emotion of the game since getting those very crisp shots is still impossible for me in that low light, especially since I haven't settled on a monopod. (That's on the list for this week.)

Here's what I came up with.

Even Kelby allowed for blur in exchange for action in his Digital Photography book. (Highly recommended. I just finished it and I understand what all the raving is about.) This game got really rough.

The coach in the orange t-shirt is awesome. He knows how to keep it fun and to really know these kids, ie, what makes them tick. I was hoping to capture that relationship (and the slight smile CBT has).

I love his focus on the basket and his teammate's watching his every move. On this particular team his teammates expect a lot of him.

He just has such great facial expressions.

Maybe one day practice will make perfect, but those lenses sure do help. That 2.8 aperture sure blurs that background every time.

More Nighttime

2009-01-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

As promised, here's a shot Keith took of a Chinese elm with have in our frontyard that is uplit. Same night as the almost full moon from the post a couple of nights ago.

10.0 sec at f/5.6 ISO 100

Full Moon

2009-01-15T01:02:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to experiment with a picture of the moon and/or stars since our class. Finally, we had an almost full moon, no clouds and it wasn't freezing outside. I'm learning our tripod could be put in the same class as my kit lens so that was a bit of a challenge, but I loved this exercise. (To show how much of a challenge - my house really isn't slanted.) My sweet hubby came out and played some, too. I'll share a shot by him later.

10.0 sec at f/7.1, 70mm focal length, ISO 100

Playing with Plants Pt. II

2009-01-13T01:58:00.000-08:00

My mom has the most beautiful flowers in her yard. I went out to take some pictures (this is the wonderful thing about Alabama in January - there are flowers and it's warm enough to walk around and take pictures). Her daffodils and camillas were beautiful.

But, there was an extra treat. Something unanticipated. Honey bees were everywhere. This one was just totally covered in pollen and was now cleaning himself off. Very meticulously.

It was very cool

Playing with Plants Pt. I

2009-01-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

Took some time in Alabama to walk around outside and shoot whatever I saw. Found some interesting things. I took these daffodils with the EF24-70mm at 1/4000 at f/2.8. Focal length was 70mm, ISO 400.

Chicago Workshop

2009-01-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

Check out the workshop that led to this blog.

Christmas Tree

2009-01-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

You can't imagine how hard it was for me to shoot something not in focus, but that's the point, right? To stretch oneself? Any way, here's a Christmas tree from my mom's. The EF 24-70mm, 1/20 at f/2.8. Would have been neat with no lights on, but they had a room full of company. Note to self for next year.

Nutcrackers

2008-12-31T11:38:00.001-08:00

Ok. Not my proudest moment, but I committed to about once a week or so you're getting the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't think I've hit ugly, yet, but...

My baby loves nutcrackers and wanted a picture with all his nutcrackers. He painstakingly set them all up. I thought I would get the benefit of some afternoon sun on the stairs, but I still needed the flash. I tried it in every imaginable direction except directly at him. This shot is at 1/200, ISO 800, f/4.5 - I had all kind of variations for shutter speed and aperture. I just happen to like his focus (and his bedhead).

He loves to pose - this totally captures his "I'm a serious model look." I'm am still playing with all the Lightroom presets in addition to the basic adjustments I make. Top is using Aged Photo and the bottom is right out of the camera. I really like the focus on his face without losing all the color.

I'm learning here - would love any comments from any of you experienced shutterbugs out there.

Playing with Lightroom

2008-12-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

I just got my copy of Lightroom (Lr) this week and I have been spending entirely too much time playing with it. Until 3:20 am the first morning to be exact.

The photo below is a combination of playing with the my new 24-70 lens and with Lr. It's one of the few pix I took with it - most of the action shots I have taken have been with the 70-200mm. I have struggled with the action shots in the gym, but the new lenses have definitely made a difference. While this still isn't super crisp, I do get CBT stealing the ball. I also like the effect of making it more monochrome. Seems to focus you more on the point I'm making - he's stealing the ball. It's a standard Sepia preset in Lr with a small Vignette on the corners.

Here's the same picture using the Lr preset Direct Positive. For some reason, I love it for the shots in the gym. Curious what you think.

Settings were 1/200 sec at f/2.8, focal length 70mm, ISO 1600 with the EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Fast Action in a Gym?

2008-12-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

I spent a bit of time conferring with Brian at our class about pictures of children playing basketball in a gym, which, by the way, is not well-lit. The answer was to get something other than the "crappiest lens" in the world. I am very excited to say I just got the 70-200mm f/2.8L lens from Canon, which explains why I am late on my weakly post. I've been playing and trying to learn how to use it.

I tried it tonight at CBT's basketball practice. Here are a couple of my favorites. Much better than the crappy lens. Still need more practice, though.

Shot in the Dark

2008-12-08T20:55:00.001-08:00

I have been drawn to pictures in the dark for some reason. None have really made it here because they haven't been very good. My hubby gave me an assignment, which I agreed to take. But since this is a team sport for us, I wanted him to participate, also. The assignment? The Christmas tree.

TV1/5, AV1.8, ISO400 50mm lens

Hubby's Photo - I love it

TV1/8, AV1.8, ISO200, 50mm lens

First Official Photo Shoot

2008-12-03T15:39:00.001-08:00

I've finally worked up the nerve to post a couple of photos from the official photo shoot of my brother's family at Thanksgiving. Didn't really have a clue what I was doing, but it was fun.

This one is only slight processed with the software that came with the camera. (I have been analyzing whether I need Photoshop Lightroom or Elements or both. More on that later maybe.) I used my 50mm lens with a shutter speed 1/80, f/2.8 and a 100 ISO.

This one we did a little more post processing. Shutter speed was 1/160. Av was 3.5. ISO again was 100. I took over 300 pictures and some were not so good and some were ok. Still learning a lot.

Views of a Steeple

2008-11-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

Week 3 more or less brings me to perspective. I've been thinking about what we learned about moving your body instead of your lens or your subject, especially important when your lens won't move. Molly, for you I am going beyond my one or two sentences and including all the settings.

Here's a lovely steeple against a very blue sky with scatter clouds. I'm a little far away. I was taking care to the sun behind me - hadn't I always heard to keep the sun behind me? I had just changed to matrix/evaluative metering to get the sky. F2, 1/3200, ISO 100. Focal point for all pictures is the cross at the top of the steeple.

The next one I got closer, but with the exact same settings.

For the next one, I got really radical. I shot into the sun. I just wanted to see what would happen. The settings were all the same. The blue sky was totally washed out - has a totally different effect.

It was a fun exercise but as we were leaving (and I'm in the back of the van looking at them all in the shade), I decide I have to get out and try one more with a higher aperture. This one is at F6.3, 1/2000, still ISO 100. Very different look and probably my favorite. One rule tossed aside.

This last one is just for fun. Wished I had gotten a little less hat, and a little more second eye but I'm learning, right?

Close Ups and Blurring

2008-11-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

Today my new lens came. My self-assigned assignment was to fill the frame....

and to blur the background.

It's a good thing I have a model who likes to pose. Shooting totally on manual isn't as easy as it looks. Composition comes later.

Practice, Practice, Practice

2008-11-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

Molly drug me to another fun adventure. I am determined that this photography class will be the gift that keeps on giving. This blog is my accountability to take a photo each week and to be very intentional about it. No more than a sentence or two.

This photo is from class in a room with horrible lighting and the "crappiest lens" in the world.