Day 5

First of all, thanks for the crazy number of responses yesterday. You guys really made me feel better. I was feeling a bit at witt's end. So, thank you.

I'm down with the flu again... I had a whole five days of relative health. Ugh. So, again, a simple snapshot. I just snapped it twenty minutes ago, while they were waiting for pizza.

This pic of K makes me laugh. It's just so her. Yes, that is the trampoline she is sitting on. As she colors, LOL.

And the sweet girl is drawing a picture of me and her together- "to cheer you up Mom. I thought if we dressed up in pretty dresses it would make you feel better."

No wonder I think this kid is amazing, huh?

Also, it explains my more-than-usual grumpiness last night.

Technical: 1/200, 2.8, ISO 640. No FEC, (or set to 0, not sure how to write that, actually). It's a little underexposed- her dress and pants all became a big ol' shadow. But when I had the flash dialed up, I blew her face. I tried a slower shutter speed, but I didn't notice a discernable difference. Of course, I feel awful, so really my attention to detail tonight is lacking.

Thanks again for all the feedback!

Day 4

When K gets home from school- after I've picked up S, and picked K up from the after school program, it's homework time.

Now, I'm an incredibly patient person.

I work with children- difficult children are my area of specialty- all day long.

But homework time? It's my albatross.

K is a wonderful, intelligent child who is naturally curious and imaginative.

But school is a struggle for her. And I totally get that it is difficult for her.

It doesn't stop homework from being a frustrating experience. I feel badly for her, and wish that it could be easier. Not easy, but easier.

I also wish I could sip some wine while she works (just kidding, really).

Egazooks, bless her teachers!

So, hats off to teachers, hats off to my kid who struggles to learn, and hats off to Moms who spend 30-45 minutes at night pulling their kids through homework (Ishudder to think- it's only first grade!)

Day 3

Just a silly little picture. S was jumping on our mini trampoline last night and I decided to try to capture her using my flash. It's okay, but the light was absorbed by her dark pants. I want to try this again.

I shot this in "P" mode, not sure of my settings- I think 1/200, 2.8; FEC +1/3. I decreased the saturation a little, this outfit is very colorful :) and saved a copy as JPEG (working with Picassa here!). Otherwise, uneditted.

Thanks for looking.

Day 2

I caught an angel praying next to our Christmas tree... or at least that's what it looked like to me.


Except for the cinnamon roll crumbs all over her face, that is... :)
Taken with my new 5D, 100mm lens (which is quickly becoming my favorite, I think) and flash bounced off the ceiling. I think I was using Theresa's magic 1/125, 5.6 combo, but I'm not sure and can't access my EXIF at the moment. PS is down in my house at the moment. All editting done in Picassa- crop and "glow"- I couldn't resist, it looked too perfect here. I can't really color correct, so yellow it is. Hey, it's "warm" ;)
TFL.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!
No great art, just fun at home with the kids. Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2008!

Top ten favorites of 2007

These are my top ten favorite pictures that I have taken of the kids this year. Each one pulls at me for a different reason. On the cusp of 2008, I am feeling sentimental about the good times of this last year.

The picture above is one of my faves of K because of the missing teeth, the natural smile, the lighting and her hair flowing all over the place.

I love this picture of S because she has her "imp" personality shining through. She was playing with her dad, and I happened to snap this at the right moment. I also played with warm tones in my black and white conversion, which I like in this one.

This is the best picture I have of my girls together this year. I took a few of them at our local nursery when we were picking out our pumpkins. I love the colors and the smiles, even if S looks a little silly here.

I think I like this one because K is such a romantic- and the waterfall behind her is just about perfect for her personality. The kids and I were driving through a local state park when S fell asleep. K and I made several stops, including this spot.

This picture is one of my faves because it is so symbolic. She is walking down the path to her first day of nursery school. It just tugs at my heartstrings.

This is one of the first snow falls from 2007. I love the color and perspective of this shot.

Ha! This portrait is one of the few "shoots" I was able to pull off this last year. K was willing, as long as I let her wear that wacky hair piece! Ugh! But I love her smile, and was pleased with the lighting and crispness of this picture.



This is just sweet. What's better than a little girl all dressed up caught holding a flower?



Love this stopped action!
Love the hair flying, puddle waiting, and wrong-foot boots!

K with her kindergarten class bear, Lavender!

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me!

Getting the tree

We braved the first good snow to go get our tree. We really all had a ball. The snow made it so much more fun for the girls, and made pictures so fun for me to take. Poor Daddy- he's a good sport.
TFL!

There's a new Rudolph

K had so much fun being the "lead" reindeer at a family party last night. She took her job very seriously, and was thrilled by the honor of it all.
TFL!

FEC in practice

Conversion- can't get the color right!




Tweaked my exposure and contrast in ACR; defog, green (!) photo filter layer. Crop.

Not too much to say- SOOC. I had my flash pointing almost straight out to my left, pointing lightly up. I was trying to avoid bouncing off the red wall, and aiming more for the white post- but really hoping to avoid bouncing it at all. This was taken in a children's experiential museum, warehouse type setting. We had a fantastic time, and I spent a lot of time practcing with my flash. I don't quite have it yet, but I'm having a of fun working on it!

TFL!

EC and FEC...

I am trying a flash challenge. The assignment was to experiment with the camera's exposure compensation, comparing the effects of flash compensation. I can't say I know exactly what I'm doing, but this was a really good way to see the impact of different settings. When I'm back home, I'll be printing these out as a reference to better see.

Anyway, here is what I came up with.

Undecided

I would love to hear input. I'm not going to write my usual novel to avoid influencing opinion. Please let me know- interesting, flat, boring, riveting, amazing... ;)

Thanks in advance!

two recent pics

I was feeling the need to post again. The pic of "K" was taken the day before her 7th (gulp!) birthday, and the pic of "S" was from tonight.
TFL!

Favorite uncle

This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding. Sadly, it was too blurry to use. So I played with it in PS. I used the rough pastel filter, on )I think) canvas paper. I love how it turned out. My little one simply adores her new uncle...and this says it all.

My girlies

A snapshot of the girls while we were picking out our pumpkins. No patch for us this year; we're all taking turns getting sick :(
Thought this came out well, even if S. is looking a little silly!
I think this one is fun, even with the attacking hair strands!

My little one is just too funny. I couldn't buy cooperation this day. But, it's a pretty accurate depiction of her- into everything, always looking at the world around her, on the go... in other words, my toddler girl! :)

thanks for looking.

Just for fun

I've been off on the long dusty trail awhile. I saw some lovely light and made myself grab a few pictures with my ol' trusty 50 mm- I wanted my 100, but I was in too small a space. Anyway, I just editted them today, and am pretty happy with the results.

TFL!

Flower Girls

Our 12 year old cousin was handed off my camera with the wide angle for he ceremony. We were all in it, so we figured, hey, why not? E V E R Y picture she took came out great! We have a budding photographer here, I think!!! Great job, N!

I know non family is wondering if there is an end in sight- the answer is, happily- NOPE! We have so many pictures from our wonderful weekend. Thank you again, N, for being our wedding shooter. You did a fabulous job!

Definately night photography...

Here are two of my faves of the father-daughter dance. Thanks for looking! Oh- and I left the red as it was the lighting from the band- if you were there, you'd get it was totally part of the mood of the night.

My faves so far...

I was so very honored to be part of this sacred celebration. How lucky we are to have such loving, genuine friends as family! We all love you just so much. The road is never easy that is worth traveling...
I hope you enjoy these few. I'm sure I'll be sharing bits and pieces until I get the GJ blog up. Until then, enjoy the glimpses!

A few for fun

Just for fun, here are a few of the girls enjoying the big day!