Monday, May 9, 2011

Photography, This Week

I think I'll change it up a bit.  First, I'll show you the photos I'm submitting for a few photo challenges this week.


The Paper Mama


I Heart Faces - Photography Challenges and Photo Tutorials

The challenge this week was "motherhood," and I will fully admit that I did not take this photograph.  I am submitting on behalf of my photog-in-training husband, JDubbs, who took this photo of me and Em when she was one day old.  Those days in the hospital with her were some of the best of my life.


The Trendy Treehouse

This is a family portrait, taken with a timer on a picnic table, from our Mother's Day lunch at The White Cottage in Woodstock, VT.  We had a wonderful day, from beginning to end.  I am so unbelievably lucky to be surrounded by these perfect people and to have been so loved and spoiled on my special day.  Thank you, family!

Show:

Tell: when a little boy gets a new umbrella that matches his rainboots, and the little boy happens to live in Freezingtown, Vermont, we go play in the "rain" anyway.

Photography love...


"Laughter"




  Sweet Shot Day
* * * * * * * * *
Okay, now, if you're still interested, read on to hear how my foray into photography classes is going:

Phew!  Survived week 1 of my photography class, even though I didn't get a chance to do the supplimentary assignments.  I just stuck with the required work and will see if I have a chance to squeeze a creative moment in this week.  I won't go too far into the details of this class, because it's all very technical and may not be as interesting to read about as my last class, but I will still show you my photos and give a quick synopsis of what I learned.

This week was all about aperture, which regulates the amount of light allowed to come in through the eye of the camera.  After this week, I realized that aperture does way more than I thought it did and has a big impact on every aspect of my manual settings.  I usually just play with it as a way to blur my background. 

I had to submit two photos, SOOC (not edited), with a very low and very high aperture.  I won't go into why that is important, but maybe you'll be able to see the differences in these two photos:

 

They both were well-received, which makes me happy.  Faith even said she was "impressed!"  I tried to stay in about the same spot for each photo.  What I learned, and what surprised me, was how much changing the aperture (from f/2.8 to f/9) affected my ISO.  Usually, when I work in manual settings, I change my ISO first.  Now I'm starting to think I should change my aperture first, and then work from there.  I learned a lot from that little pink doll!

Then I had to do the same thing, outside.  I had the perfect subject, or so I thought.  The rain had just stopped spitting long enough for me to run outside in the indirect light to get a shot of my brand new magnolia blossom, with delicate raindrops clinging to its petals.  Well, midday + white flower = not a lot of definition, and I had a hard time using the lower f-stop because I just couldn't compensate for the glare.  But here's what I got anyway. 

f/2

f/14


Faith called the second, more detailed magnolia "dramatic."  I like that.  And a lot of people were happy with the blurrier shot, since it did eventually focus on the underside of the petals, which is a neat capture, I suppose.  I spoke with my photography mentor, Jaime, and she helped ease my frustration by explaining to me that if it had been a colored flower, there would have been more contrast and the camera would have had an easier time focusing.  Sadly, we only have a white magnolia tree.  Next time I do something like this, I'll go for the daffodils.

Lastly, we had to contemplate a shot beforehand and try to visualize what we would like it to be before just jumping in and shooting like crazy.  I wanted to capture my two kids in a "passive" shot, enjoying each other's company, and I didn't want either of them to be out of focus.  That is still a bit more difficult for me--trying to figure out what f-stop to use in order to keep both kids sharply in the photo but not have the background be completely stark.  I would have liked a lower perspective, which I tried, but the overcast sky was just too bright above them and it was distracting.



No feedback yet on this one, but I like it either way.  I like how they're becoming buddies, and I think this photo shows this.  Get used to this shot; I think we'll be eating most of our meals out here this summer!

So, that's my progress.  This class is proving to be as informative and helpful as the last!  I have my new tutorial sitting in my inbox--hopefully this week will be challenging, yet fun!  Thank you, Mom, for signing me up for this class as my early birthday present!!  Love you!

21 comments:

Rachel @ Simple Girl said...

I loved those hospital days, too! Sometimes I would even cry when it was time to come home!

Dwija {House Unseen} said...

Wow! I love looking at your beautiful photos. My blog is not as nice to look at as yours, that's for sure :)

Your little guys are about the same age as my younger two- also a boy and a girl. They are BEST friends already. So amazing to watch them learn to interact with each other, isn't it?

Monika said...

Just browsing some of the blog hop blogs and I wanted to say hi! I will follow you as well. We also have a Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/aiasdotca that you should check out! We always like and follow back, just leave us a note <3

Monika @ Aias Dot Ca (http://www.aias.ca)

Callie said...

I love looking at your photographs, but also reading about the process of what you're working on when you take the picture. I'm taking a writing class and I can appreciate this idea of taking an object and trying to create something from it. It's hard work, but the photos you're taking are lovely.

Alicia said...

They are so cute, I just want to bite them! Em is getting so big...

I'm no photographer, but I like the way that the balcony seems to be framing them in the last photo. It's inspiring to me (from one busy momma to another) that you're putting so much time and effort into your interest. Keep it up!

Dawniebee12 said...

I love that picture of them at the picnic table...so sweet!

Patricia said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving such a sweet commit. I can't get over how cute you kiddos are. But being a grandma you want to love em all to pieces.
Love the pics if I even get my camera that was suppose to be here on Mothers Day I can get some photos taken.

http://itsabouttimemamaw.blogspot.com/

Kara said...

adorable little ones!! so sweet :)

Susan said...

Great pictures. Sounds like you are really learning a lot.

Lexie Lane said...

Wow, these are beautiful pics. My husband's a photographer as well and he thinks they're great too. Good lighting, great shots.


Following you here from the Tiggerific Tuesday Blog Hop.

Please come visit us at voiceBoks - The Voice of Motherhood and find out what everyone's saying, doing, etc. There, you'll also meet a really great group of wonderful women who love to connect and meet new people.

Have a lovely week!

Take Care,

Lexie Lane
www.voiceboks.com

P.S. Please come and join our year long Hop with Hopper Strategized when you have a chance!

Moments and Impressions said...

How exciting to have your first weeks lessons! I love the lat photo of them together. So sweet.

tinajo said...

Love all of these pics! :-)

Shana said...

Your pictures are adorable! Following you from the Tiggerific Tuesday Blog Hop...or Bounce! Would love it if you LIKE my page: www.facebook.com/flightlessgoose

4 Lettre Words said...

Such a beautiful post. And, that laugh is too much!

likeschocolate said...

Precious moments captured!

pegasus_aprilof84 said...

Hi, I am visiting from the bloghop and I am following you.I would love for you to check out my blog and any advice for a new blogger is welcome.
http://shandassweepsandfreebies.blogspot.com/

Divvy Up Diva said...

These are great pics...I love them! Hello I am stopping by from the Mid Week Mingle Blog Hop! I am your newest follower! I cannot wait to read more! I hope to have you stop by and follow me back :)
http://divvyupdiva.blogspot.com/

Yasher said...

The photos are all lovely! I have had the same frustrations trying to shoot white flowers, lately. Glad to hear that the class is going well! And as for the picture of your kids, it is fantastic!

rachel said...

of the flower shots, I like the "dramatic" one better. fun captures!

Ruthie Hart said...

I am dying at how gorgeous your kiddos are! you guys look so happy and in love! happy belated mothers day!

Marcy said...

Love these, especially the "Laughter" one. I like how his little hands make it look like a formal pose.