Belly Button

  Played around with exposures this morning in Manual mode (whoo-hoo, I’m actually shooting in manual mode!!!).    Also learned how to change the border and keyline colors in Photoshop.

Beyond the Green Box

Just watched Me Ra Koh’s DVD, Beyond the Green Box.    I am becoming such a fan of hers.    In this DVD, she explains aperture, shutter speed and ISO in a way that makes sense to me.    I just want to hug this woman!    I also logged onto her on-line discussion this evening at the Backstage101 site (a Sony photography site) and sent her a post about not being able to get a focused shot at 1.4 aperture.    She replied that I probably need to take a few steps back to increase my depth of field.    Didn’t know that the distance to the subject affected the depth of field, too.  Another viewer asked what’s the one lens to have for portraits…I thought sure she’d come back with the 70-200mm 2.8,  but she actually came back with mine!   So…guess I’m learning that some of this is just opinion.     

In her DVD, she explained and gave an exercise on how to get the bright white, blown-out backgrounds in portraits.    I just about cried when she mentioned this because I always wondered how to achieve this, and my pregnant friend has asked me to take belly shots of her and Me Ra used a pregnant woman for an example.    This is such a good DVD for beginners who want to take baby steps out of automatic mode.    She gives just enough information so that’s is challenging, but not overwhelming.

One more thing..she had me change my AF points to center only, and my exposure metering from evaluative to partial.  I’m excited to see what type of difference this makes tomorrow.

What we’re having for dinner

My son Jack is in kindergarten, and he’s learning to read and write.  Sometimes when I am out for an evening I will write the dinner menu on our message board so my husband knows what to cook.       On occasion, Jack helps me out with this task.

Party Girl

Arden at the party last night.    Took a bunch of pictures at the party..lots of them out of focus or grainy- again!    Tried all kinds of apertures and ISO settings.    Was using my 35 mm 1.4 lens (equivalent to a 50 mm on my Rebel XT), without a flash.   I think I will email Me Ra Koh and ask her advice.    

Margaritaville

On our way to a 40th birthday party for our friend, Jeff. Andy is in charge of making the margaritas…no mix used here.
 

If you are a margarita fan, check out this recipe in the Test Kitchen cookbook.    The recipe is pretty labor intensive, but it makes the best margaritas ever, and Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner…

My good friend Gunner

Gunner is my 12 year old Viszla.   He ranks high in personality, and low in doggy manners, which makes him a love him or hate him kind of guy. He is also a firm believer in mind over matter, and will for hours attempt to levitate a bone off the kitchen counter, as the picture below depicts.  I had a tough time with this shot…monochromatic and low, very warm light.  Did my best with Lightroom, but not so happy with the way it turned out.     Suggestions?

Me Ra Koh’s Lens Advice

My friend, Janine, sent me the link to Me Ra Koh’s photography blog, and she had a great page on lens choices. Janine is attending Me Ra Koh’s workshop this weekend, and I have it on my wish list of workshops to attend. There is one coming up in Seattle in June, but I think I used up all my hall passes when I attended the Kubota Bootcamp last week, so it’s going to have to wait! In the meantime, I am going to check out her DVD’s she has to offer. The link to the page is on the sidebar to the right, under the blogroll links.

10 Sessions @ $100 = the fancy new lens

So, I was hoping the universe would deliver the 70mm-200mm via UPS (see “The Secret” under my posting, “Top Ten Things I learned at Bootcamp”). Instead, I think an idea on how to finance the sucker was delivered to me today. If I rent the lens for three weeks, go on a photo shooting blitz and build my portfolio, I can work on booking some sessions through the summer. If I can book 10 sessions at $100 each, I am going to go ahead and buy it. So, a lot of work ahead…I was hoping it would play out like the boy in The Secret who wanted a bike. In the end of the movie he received it from a kindly older gentleman. I really don’t know any kindly older gentleman who can afford the lens, but if one happens to be reading this blog and is part of the universe’s mysterious doings, the exact model that I’m hoping for is the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM. I’d appreciate the lens hood along with that, too.

New Shoes

Took some time out this week from all this crazy new stuff to take the kids shoe shopping. There’s something about buying my kids new shoes that makes me feel lucky and secure…guess it’s all those pictures burned into my brain of the kids in other parts of the world who have tattered, or no shoes at all.

Cheating?

I mentioned to Andy (my husband), that Jasmine Star mentioned in her blog that she uses Kubota actions on her final images. We got into a little discussion as to whether using purchased Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions that another artist developed are a form of cheating or fraud when it comes to creating a great image. Are we taking a look that someone else developed and applying it to our own images? Well, yes. But, I argued, there is still the composition, lighting, lens choice, etc. that is the choice of the photographer. All day, I’ve been trying to think of a good analogy to strengthen my argument with. My best shot…maybe it’s like a box cake vs. a cake made from scratch. If you enjoy the cake, does it really matter how it was made? Sure I’m more impressed if it’s made from scratch, but in the end the only thing that matters is whether it tastes good.

I’d love to hear what other people think (is anyone listening???), so please post a comment if you have an opinion!