I Heart Faces Photo Challenge~ One for the Girls

Its time for the monthly I Heart Faces Photo Challenge! Here is picture I took of my daughter while she was relaxing in the chair. She looks deep in thought. The lighting was lovely, so I highlighted that by making it black and white! What do you think?

 



Snapping Along

Well I don't know about you, but I am getting a little board posting all about the February Photo a Day challenge! lol. So I am still sharing photos on their Facebook page, but I am going to keep my thoughts going here! I have been reading and reading and reading! There are so many amazing things to learn about taking pictures and I am pretty excited about trying new things. However, there are a few things that I am really having a hard time with. One is that my camera is not a DSRL which limits my ability to do certain things. I will need to upgrade if I hope to really get some of those cool features. I am also in need of some serious help with post camera editing! I have a very old version of Photoshop that I was trying to use, but it is really hard. Not quite as easy I as I would like it to be. So there is another thing that I really need to research and figure out.
As for something that I can do, I can practice! I have been given chances to do a lot of nature photography in this cold deep winter. It is hard, but it has had me changing how I look at what is around me. It is hard to take pictures when there is little to see. It makes me think about what I am shooting, how I am shooting it, and what I want it to say. I have also been realizing that I don't like to photograph things as much as I like to photograph people. I also realize that I love the close up micro shots of both! I love to see peoples face and the details of an individual flower. This is interesting since it allows me to start to see my own style! Another thing I love to shoot, is kids in their home environments. I love to see what they are doing and grab pictures of the things that mean the world to them! Well, enough talking.....here are some pictures from the last few days!

 

 

 

So what do you think? Which do like? Which do you hate? Let me know! Feed back is helpful! I would love some thoughts! Happy Shooting!

 



Selfies....Big Girl Style

Today I was laying on my living room floor soaking up the sunshine, when I was struck the way the sun was coming through the window and my dog was standing up on the sill. It was just beautiful! So I grabbed my camera. Of course by then, she had moved. So I set my manual settings and waited for the mail man to drive down the road (so the dog would pop back up). But while I waited, I thought I would play around. The girls were busy, so I tried taking pictures of myself. I tried different angles, different sides of my face, and different amounts of sun. What turned out was pretty good.....for selfies! What I got to play with is getting some light into my eyes, getting the explores right even in the harsh sunlight. It was such a fun, simple, and educational shoot! And they don't look like I shot them myself. Who knew selfies could work out? Here are a couple of my favorite pictures:

 

Oh and in case you are wondering, I did end up getting a picture of the dog in the window! She finally had to see what drove by and I was able to shoot! I am not sure what the lines are, but I am pretty sure that it has something to do with the sun on the screen! Weird huh? But still a good picture of my dog. At least the lighting turned out the way I thought it would!

 

 

 



Light in Life



Today I looked over and saw my girls and the dog looking at the snow falling outside the window. What amazed me was the way the light was falling on their faces It was beautiful, and sharp. So I grabbed my camera and took a quick shot. It was simple, fast, and painless! It reminded me a quote I saw by Ansel Adams: "Sometimes I arrive just when God is ready to have someone to click the shutter". How true that was today. It made me think of all the complexities of light. Light is a photographers best friend, and worst enemy. Sometimes its perfect, sometimes its hard to find, and sometime it just seems harsh, but always always it is needed. I started to think about how God is the light of the world. What an amazing image of God. Sometimes he is perfectly there, sometime he is hard to find, and sometimes he even seems harsh, but always always we need him. Life is all about finding light in every moment, every place, and every situation. Light, like God, makes our lives better, brighter, and happier. So today I played with light. Light that is the very essence of a picture. After, a camera is only able to record the way the light plays off of the things in its focus. Light is probably one of the hardest part of the whole photography thing. It is really hard to find just the right light. Sometimes it is too harsh, sometimes too dark, and sometimes it is just perfectly beautiful! So, here is to hunting, seeing, and capturing the right light! This is going to take some experimenting and playing around to figure out, but I think it may be fun!