Photo Hunt (What IS That?)

This week's Photo Hunters theme is "What IS That?"

So, what is this photo! I bet you could "sort of" guess it. I look forward to hearing what your guess is. What's that black part?


Spoiler Space

Spoiler Space



Here is some spoiler space before I reveal the answer!
I found this on my camera and meant to share it last week. One day last week while I was SO sick, my friend showed up at my door with this banana bread. Isn't that SO sweet. She is ALWAYS so thoughtful. I wish I could be more like her. If I could only give back to her one small iota of the thoughtfulness she has given me since we've become friends, it would only be a drop in the bucket. Good friends like her are hard to find.


Spoiler Space!

Spoiler Space!







Here is the answer!

This is what I see when I lay in my bed on the opposite wall. It is special to me.

My Grandma hand sewed the artwork.

My Grandpa hand made the frame.

It used to hang over their bed.

Both scarves were both hand sewn by my Mom for me as gifts. I could not tuck them in a drawer, so I hung them here so I could quickly grab them when needed.

The little butterfly has been preserved from my bedroom when I was a little girl.

Doesn't this just show you how sentimental sappy I am! That's what makes me an avid digital scrapbooker.

PhotoHunt

Join me in the Photo Hunt blog meme!

I am going to focus on getting back involved with this Photo Hunt blog meme. I really enjoyed it when I was a regular of it and want to get back into it.

tnchick runs it and she's awesome. She hangs out at Gotta Pixel a lot I have noticed.

Each week she picks a theme. The themes are posted a year at a time so that you can prepare in advance. Here is 2008's themes. Often I choose photos from my stash.

Read more about the Photo Hunt here.

Just post the photo on your blog each week.

The photos are supposed to be posted each Saturday, but because of world time differences, the hunt tends to start happening on Friday evening.

After you post your photo, go to others' blogs to see how they interpreted the theme. She used to maintain a blogroll, but it was too much work.

To find others' blogs, there is a post each week that goes up at 2:00 a.m. central time zone. Add your comment so that others' know you are participating. Go read the comments to find others' blogs.

You can also tag your post for Technorati and go to this page to find others' posts. You can then go to Technorati and search for PhotoHunt to find those who have posted.

Have fun!

Camera Bag

I thought for quiet a while on what type of camera bag I would want. I like the bags that are like backpacks (Lowepro) and can be swung over the front of the shoulder in a hurry to grab the camera. That seems so practical, especially if on a long hike on vacation.

However, those bags are not "girlie."

I thought about other bags available online (Tracy Joy - Joey or Kristine) that are more feminie, but everything seems so expensive.

While shopping for VBS at the local hobby store last weekend, I spotted this $20 bag for crafts. I studied and analyzed it for a while and decided it was perfect for my cameras, inexpensive, and yet feminine.

I bought some foam and cut it for the bottom of the bag. My big new camera fits perfectly in the middle section. My small older camera fits perfectly in one of the side pockets.

There are so many pockets for so many uses. I have one side filled with cleaning supplies for lenses. There are pockets for plenty of cords, disks, and manuels.

There is even a pocket on the side perfect for my cell phone, a place for pens, and room for my keys so I do not have to carry my purse.

The only drawback is that it is only handheld with no shoulder strap. However, I thought that since I was in a great need for a bag immediately, this would work well until something better came along--if anything.

In addition, I worried about thiefs being able to grab it and go since it does not close. However, I thought maybe it was a plus that it did not look like a camera bag so that the bad guys wouldn't recognize it for what it is in the first place.

I put together this montage of VBS music for the church's website and thought I would share it with you too. There are some cute moments of children dancing that I caught. My oldest son is playing the Jimbay (drum) at the end of the montage. Now I've managed to get all of my men at VBS one night or the other! Yeah!

Covered in Ice

We are covered in ice here. School let out early and most business closed early. I am sitting here in my bedroom and can hear an odd rhymetic pounding as the rain is coming down and hitting the frozen gutters and dropping down to the ground.

Trying to come home from work was difficult. The ice was SO thick on my windshield it would not even crack with the ice scrapper. I had to warm up the car for a long time before I was able to crack it and then it came off in big chunks. I rolled down my window and a sheet of ice stood in its place. I had to hit it fairly hard to get it to break and was afraid I would cut myself with the sharp blades of ice. It fell all inside my vehicle and I was timid in trying to get it out without cutting myself.

I decided to brave the cold and take my tripod outside to play with the TV modes on my camera for shutter speeds. I had trouble staying undercover enough to keep the lens from getting drops of rain on it.

These photos are from outside my back door and looking into the neighbor's yard. The icicles are on our outdoor canapy (we put the cover inside during the winter).

UPDATE: I just had a HUGE branch fall from our tree and hit my bedroom window. The poor tree looks horrible with a big empty spot now. That was scary.

Photo Hunters (Red)

This week's Photo Hunters theme is "red."

It has been so long since I have had time to participate in the Photo Hunters. I really like this meme! Maybe when my site upgrades are done I can be regular again. I remembered this photo of the red berry I took last summer.

Photo Hunters (Paper)

This week's Photo Hunters theme is "paper."

This is the paper that was attached to the prize that I won a few weeks ago. Yep, they called my ticket number and I won an expensive snare drum! I cannnot say I never win anything any more!

My PhotoWalking Slideshow

I am hopeful that photowalking will get me to get out and get some exercise! Cheer me on as I try to raise my matabolism to loose weight.
Click on "view all images" to see the large version and to be able to scroll past older photos quicker. I hope you enjoy my photos!

See more of these photos here.

Photo Hunters (Music)

This week's Photo Hunters theme is "music." With the boys in marching band, I have thousands of photos to choose from. It almost made it harder to do this one. I choose a simple photo of a band hat carefully laid on a bass drum harness. To me, this photo represents relief.

Rule of Thirds in Photography Challenge

The photography challenge today is to go out and take sample photos of the same object, first centering the object, and second using the rule of thirds rule.

Share your samples in any manner available to you and add the link.




The rule of thirds can be applied in so many ways in digital scrapbooking! Photography techniques is just one way. It can be utilized in layouts in the placement of photos on the page, in the placement of elements of type on a page, and in the placement of colors on a page. It is always best to have the same color in a triangle on a page. Can you share with me some more ways?

In photography, the rule of thirds uses a nine block grid. My camera actually has the nine block grid on it if I want to display and use it. Does yours?

Did you know PSE also has a nine block grid you can utilize? It can be found under the custom shape tool. Draw the shape on a layer with the mouse and resize it to either help in cropping a single photo or resize it as large as the entire layout to help in the placements of photos and elements.




Subjects placed at any of the four intersections of the lines in the nine block grid make for an artistic image. The concept is to place what you want to be the focal point on an intersection on the grid.

We so often get stuck in the rut of always centering things---get out of your rut!



Here are the sample photos I took last weekend for this challenge.



I used the Photoshop Elements custom shape tool to place a nine square grid on each photo so that you can see how the rule of thirds was applied. In the first, third, second, and fifth samples, I placed the focal point on an intersection. In the fourth sample, the focal point is within the left block entirely.


Pay attention to the placement of eyes for artistic effects. For instance, place the eyes at one of the intersections or off to one side or the other of the grid. When taking photos of people, the eyes are generally the focal point.

A fun technique in layouts is to utilize the open space on a photo that was taken using the rule of thirds by placing journaling, titles, or elements in the space next to the subject. (ie. the child is to the right with a great amount of the photo background of trees; place text in the tree area.) Another method is to use the heavy weighted side of the photo on the edge of the layout and counterweight it with elements on the other side.

As I described in my first photography challenge, remember to trick your camera to focus on the focal point in the photo. Hold down the shutter button part way while putting the brackets on the subject until the camera indicates it is in focus. Move the camera to compose the shot so that the subject is on an intersection, then press down the shutter button the rest of the way.

Of course, sometimes rules are meant to be broken. For instance, close-ups often are not applicable to the rule.

Weekend Photowalking

Hubby, Abbie, and I went photowalking over the weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed the trail that we traversed.

You can see the ones I choose to upload here at Fotki or even a select fewer at the slide show here. On the slide show is a bar of icon below the slide and you can use the scroll bar to skip to the more current photos.

I now have some photos for my next photography challenge and hope to have time to post that soon.

Goodness, there were quite a few cobwebs that we ran into on the trial and I was able to play with photographing them. It appears to me that the correct lighting upon the web needs to be in place to capture the webs.


When we first started for the trail, I spotted this baby walking stick. However, it was hanging by a thin web-like string and swinging, so I was unable to get a good focus on it close up.

It took me a long time to get a focus on the water strider too as my camera wanted to focus in on the reflection of the sky.

We also had a butterfly following us and dodging at me as if to dare me to take its photo. It won. It would not land anywhere on the trail and I was not risking getting poison ivy.




One of my favorite photos turned out to be this one of Abbie. This photo follows the rule of thirds (she is on the intersection of the nine block grid).









My other favorite which also follows the rule of thirds is this berry. I love the lighting on the leaves also.

Have you guessed that the next photography challenge will be on rule of thirds in photography? I have to put together my samples to ready for the post.

Photo Hunters "Dirty"

This week's Photo Hunters theme is "dirty."

Last Sunday we went to our nephew's dirt bike race. After a while, the dirt in the air can get fairly thick and you feel as if your skin is covered in it and your nostrils breath it. I found this photo that showed some dust in the air. Our nephew is wearing red on a red bike. Unfortunately, I do not believe any of these red riders are him! It is still a cool photo, huh?

Texture in Photography Challenge (& a Freebie Template)

Today's photography challenge is to pay attention to texture. Texture behind individuals can add depth to a layout. Of course, this is mostly applicable to when you are posing subjects, but it does not hurt to be aware of it in other circumstances just in case a choice arises.

Texture also includes color. Having a complementary or contrasting color in the background can also make or break a photo. Someone in a black shirt is naturally going to pop out of the photo better on a white wall and vice versa.

Please share your photos or layouts utilizing texture and add the link to Mr. Linky.






Here is my layout that I did some time ago. I posed the guys in front of a brick wall for texture. It was a perfect contrast behind their black and wite shirts.



Credits for elements I am sure are for Jeri Ingalls (have you figured out I love her kits yet?), but I'd have to look up which one and I'm lazy right now.


FREEBIE
I made a template of this layout.

Template moved to this post.

Photography and Lines Challenge

This is an old post from last October 2006 that I am bringing forward and editing for this challenge.

Please share your photos or layouts with examples of lines in photography and add the link to Mr. Linky.




Last fall I played with photograph and lines in a photo shoot of my son and his friend and learned a lot. It is important to pay attention to the lines in the scenery to create better photos.

For this photo, I was standing looking on them from the side on the bench and it was just an ordinary photo. So I began looking around me for lines and found the chain fence running between posts. I bent down and positioned the chain line, along with the guys, in my camera lens. Wow, what a difference it made! The chain leads the eye to the guys.

This layout was my own design (no scraplift) and I used Jeri Ingals Rainbow Trout kit for the background paper; also, the tag from the kit was placed about the page with a lower opacity to it. The tag from the kit had an edging line already on it which gave a great effect to the layout. I know, I always seem to find strange ways to use ordinary items.

Also, speaking of lines, I tried to carry the chain line upward in the layout. The placement of the words and the opaque tags was purposful to carry that line upward. Try it. Move your eye from the bottom of the chain, to the top of the pole, to the word "but," to the line on the opaque tag. Was I successful in my playing? It's wild to me how such little things as this make a big difference in a layout.

I was searching for an appropriate quote for the layout when I remembered these lyrics that the guys wrote. Being as the photo is of them looking down a road, the lyrics seemed to fit the photo just right and seemed so "them" at this time in their life.





Here is my next example of lines in photography.


The photo on the left was the guy's idea of walking down the tracks. Seemed rather a cool idea. However, I noted that my eye did not follow the line of the tracks because it was interrupted with their bodies. So I asked them to both get on the same side of the tracks. Wow, what a difference that made!

The photo on the right is the one in my layout below, only I cropped out my son's friend from the layout. The photo was perfect for my sappy mother babbling.



I used Jerri Ingals kit (Old Growth kit I believe). Great for guy layouts!

Photo Walking at the River

Last night I motivated myself to get out and do some more photo walking. The slideshow at the bottom of my page is updated and you can see the new photos there and more at the Fotki link.

As I thought about all the locations I could go to, I realized that my area has so many spots for me to travel to very close that it will be a long time before I have to repeat a location.

I choose to go to the river as I was thinking of my son who is 12 hours up river. Just as people look up to the moon and know their loved one across the world is looking at the same moon, I was able to look up the river and know that this water once passed where he is.



It was a hot afternoon, but a very heartwarming walk. I was delighted to see two trains. Most often my timing at the river does not bring any trains. I saw a barge go by, as well as a small boat. But the most impressive few was the overwhelming sky of birds at the less visited area of the river. They were swooping in and out everywhere. My camera battery was going dead and I was not able to capture a photo that signified the magnificance of the moment. I met a nice couple from Texas and chatted with them about our town.

MR Ducks

I went photowalking again on Sunday, so you can view the photos at the bottom of the page. I got some nice shots of ducks, but I had to get them from a distance because Abbie Rae (my dog) would have scared them farther away had I got closer. You can see they are already headed away from us.

This just made me think of my Dad who loved this riddle. Little things like this make me miss him. Isn't it strange what little things will bring back memories?

Read this by saying some the letters outloud, not the sounds of the letters. (ie. say, 'em 'ar)

MR DUCKS
MR NOT DUCKS
OSAR
CDEDBD WANGS
LIB
MR DUCKS!


MR FARMERS!
MR NOT!
OSAR
CMMT POCKETS?
LIB
MR FARMERS


MR SNAKES!
MR NOT!
OSAR
CM BDIS
LIB
MR SNAKES


MR MICE!
MR NOT!
OSAR
CMEDBD FEET?
LIB
MR MICE

Photography Challenge - Frames

I invite everyone to join me! You may share a link to your photos or to a layout with photos.

The challenge is to take photos utilizing frames in the setting. The most often seen use of this is at playgrounds and, since I walked by one yesterday during my PhotoWalking, I snapped some shots.

Be creative and share! There are many more frames in settings than just at the playground! I look forward to seeing your entries.

Photo Wallking

Ever since Sharon pointed me to PhotoWalking, the idea has been on my mind.

I am not one to enjoy walking, especially with my bad feet. Music does not even keep the dullness away.

So, when I read this idea, I thought, "what better way to motivate me to walk and exercise!" I love photography and if I make the goal more to take photos than to exercise, I am more likely to walk.

Someone said to me that it would decrease her exercise as she paused to take photos. The way I see it, the choice is to be encouraged to walk by taking photos or not walk at all with no motivation.

I went on my first walk this morning. I awoke a little after 5 a.m. and tried to go back to sleep. PhotoWalking during sunrise was on my mind and, therefore, just before 6 a.m. I grabbed Abbie Rae and we set out to drive to the park. I like the idea of driving to different locations to get different photos as that would also keep the walking interesting.

I found it somewhat difficult to take clear photos with Abbie pulling on the leash. At first she did not understand my need to photograph. And she kept wanting to walk on my right side which would not work either with my camera in my right hand.

I am placing some of my photos in a slideshow at the bottom of my blog. You can scroll all the way down to see them. I will update the slideshow each time I walk. I choose the gallery setting so you can scoot past the ones you have already seen next time you view. If you click on "view all images" it will take you to a page where you can read the titles I put in.

Photo Hunters (Two)

This week's Photo Hunters theme is "two."

I have missed a few weeks of the Photo Hunters, but it is good to be back.

I took these photos this morning.

The first was taken in normal mode and the light is reflected on the water only once.

The second is taken in shutter priority mode with a longer shutter speed, resulting in two reflections.

I found it interesting that just camera settings would make something from nothing appear like magic!

Photography Challenge - Focus on Light

In this challenge we will focus on light.

The challenge is simple and that is to share photos with examples of light. Feel free to share a layout with the photos or just the photos.

Feel free to share photo already taken or head out to take some new ones!

Get out and blog and then add your link to Mr. Linky. Come back later to see others have completed the task.



Please tell us what type of light is in the photo. Show us before and after photos to teach us. Here are suggestions:

TIME OF DAY
1. Photos in the light of day. Light from the middle of the day is harsh, unless the sky is overcast. This kind of light produces harsh shadows on the face which sometimes can be creative, but most often we like to avoid.

2. Photos in the Early Morning or Late Afternoon light. Light about an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset can be dramatic.

3. Dawn/Dusk photos. Light right before sunrise or right after sunset results in yet another range of possibilities. This is great for silhouettes. Our knew knowledge for shutter speed may be useful for these photos.

4. Night photos. Photos taken about 30 minutes after the sun goes down require knowledge of shutters speed. They can be photos with light in them (as in my previous challenge) or photos as we often see around Halloween with a silhouette of dark tree branches.

POSITION OF LIGHT
5. Front light. The best light for getting all the surface details on a face without shadows is front light, but the subject can look flat. In this case, the light would be behind the photography, but shining directly on the subject. This reminds me of those poses with squinting eyes! Front light is not always best. There are so many factors to consider.

6. Backlight light. Light behind the person is not good for seeing the face, but can be used creatively, especially for silhouettes. This is similar to #3 above, (which is why a dusk silhouette works with the light in the horizon behind the subject. If your lighting is in the back, a flash may be necessary if you want to see the face well.

7. Side light. Light that is only to one side of a face gives depth, but causes shadows. Often it gives a warm feeling to a photo.

OTHER
8. Shadows. Remember that an effect of light is shadows. Keep your eye aware of them and utilize them well.

Here is my layout and my example, although I am trying to find time to experiment and share more.

In this photo, there is side lighting, which cast harsh shadows on one side of the face. In addition, the light from the middle of the day also increases the harshness.


I used Photoshop Elements to correct the shadow for my layout. It is still there, but not so harsh. The shadow on the face, in addition to the light to the side of the face, gives an artistic feel to this layout. In addition, having taken the photo with the camera looking up increases the artistic nature of the photo (that will be a future challenge!)

I used Sarah's template and the background and tab are from my recent freebie here on my blog.

Photography Challenge -ISO

Our next photography challenge is to play with ISO on your camera.

For the longest time, after reading a recommended book called Understanding Exposures by Bryan Peterson, I thought my camera did not have film speeds as I could not find the setting. About a month ago I realized I do have settings for it, but they are called “sensitivity.” So now I have to drag out that book again and read more as I have learned so much the last month I bet it will all make much more sense to me.

Film speed is referred to as ISO and runs in increments of 100’s. My camera only goes up to 400.

An ISO of 100 is slower than an ISO of 800. Slow film speeds are sharper and faster film speeds have a grain to them. However, faster film speeds can be utilized in conjunction with a faster shutter speed for action shots or low lighting conditions, but a choice of compromising sharpness must be made. Finding the acceptable middle of the settings is the goal.

I have an auto setting on my camera which usually chooses ISO 100 for sharp photos. I did find a need while doing quick shutter speed at dusk to change my ISO to 400. That makes sense to have a faster film speed with a faster shutter speed to help the lighting.

Our challenge? Get out there and take the same shot in different ISO to learn about your camera!



I took this photo in my flower garden three times, one in each ISO.










I brought each of the photos into Photoshop Elements and enlarged a small area.

I could see a slight difference between the ISO 100 and ISO 400, but not enough to really make me want to utilize these settings often.

I believe (as shown in my shutter play post) that the ISO settings on my camera are not wide enough to make a difference during normal lighting and still photos, but would be utilized in low light or moving objects. It does appear that ISO settings as high as 800 (or higher) on a camera may be worthy to look into when shopping for a new camera.




So, since my challenge was not super successful, here's a video of my flower garden I took instead for you to enjoy. My son has some blocks out which he promises to fix before he leaves for college. I sure hope he does not leave them for me to finish what he started. Also, this is only an area of my backyard, I have more in other places and the front yard. Can you tell I love flowers?

I reap four bags of weeds out of my gardens on Sunday, but I have so much more to do. Oh, and yes, I am still pulling new Maple trees up from all those helicopters last Spring.