Finding Beauty...

It's been forever since I've posted any photos on here...but I've still been clicking away when I get the chance! Yesterday was beautiful so I stepped outside with camera in hand to find the beauty in the little things others may not find...

Dandelion's are considered a nuisance, but I can see the beauty in these little weeds...the colors, the lightness of the seeds floating through the air! I always try to see beauty in everything...after all God created them for a reason!

I love the vibrant hue of this flower, the pedals look like tiny bells...you can almost hear them ringing!

Now that it is getting warmer and the flowers and trees are starting to bloom...I hope to have more photos posted on here!

Have a beautiful day!



Photography Composition

Sorry it's been so quiet around here, I haven't taken many photos...but I signed up for Kent Weakley's Photography Composition eClass that starts in March 18th, so I promise there will be more posting and photos on here!

Spring has finally started peeking out from behind the gloom of Winter and that means lots of photos are going to be taken! I need to get out of this photo funk that Winter has put me in and get to shooting!

So if you haven't already, you should sign up for this class...trust me, you won't regret it!

Take care and I promise to be back soon!!!!

Meg

Shooting the Moon!

No, I'm not doing what you think I'm doing...you silly goose!

The final "assignment" in Kent Weakley's Night Photography eClass was to photograph to moon, so here are my shots...

ISO 100 Aperture f/11 Shutter Speed 1/25

6:00PM

ISO 100 Aperture f/8.0 Shutter Speed 1/50

6:01PM

ISO 100 Aperture f/11 Shutter Speed 1/100

6:28PM

ISO 100 Aperture f/5.6 Shutter Speed 0"8

6:38PM

I've really enjoyed this eClass and plan on taking more in the future...Kent really explains everything in great detail for even newbie photographers like myself to understand!



Yes, more bird photos...

The snow is falling here in Missouri and it's still hard for me to get out in this cold weather and photograph how I would like to, so I just sit inside my warm house and take photos of birds (yes, more birds) perched on my porch swing and in the trees outside my window...

Now this guy is a hard one to snap a photo of, but I got him!

And this picture cracks me up...it's like the male Cardinal is getting ready to make the moves on this female ("How you doin"?) and she's playing hard to get...just in time for Valentines Day!

I got some great goodies in the mail today...

My custom strap cover for my camera bag that I had ordered from Eclectic Whatnot...the same talented lady that made my camera strap cover...I love it! And the remote I ordered for my camera, I hope to be able to put it to use soon...dang weather!

I hope you all have a great Wednesday!

Stay warm!

Through the window...

I've been stuck in the house for a week now due to Missouri's lovely weather, so I've been taking photos of the birds outside my window in my living room...these aren't the best quality since they were taken through the window, but they will do!

I must be getting old, because I could just sit in my living room and watch these birds all day long (oh wait, I do!) I've counted over 6 different types of birds...Yellow Finches, Cardinals, Nut Hatchers, Chickadees, Blue Jays and what I think was an Eastern Bluebird!

Also, yesterday while I was editing some photos upstairs in the office I kept hearing a tapping sound on the window...I turned to see what was making that sound and this is what I found...

He stayed there for about 10 minutes, every once in awhile looking in at me like he expected me to let him inside!

He looks like he might be upset with me in this photo...you can almost see his tiny little middle finger aimed right at the camera! HA!

I can't wait until Spring when I can go outside and take photos of all the blooming flowers and trees and then maybe the animals won't be so grumpy!



Blue Hour take 2...

Last night I stood outside in the sub zero temp determined to get a Blue Hour shot...I couldn't get much further than the end of my sidewalk because of all the snow, but here is what I got shooting with my Canon Rebel T1i...

Time 6:22 p.m.   ISO 100   Aperture F/14    Shutter Speed 8"

West side of my home.

Time 6:25 p.m.   ISO 100  Aperture F/14   Shutter Speed 8"

North side of my home.

I really hope one of these is a Blue Hour shot...because when I came inside, my hands were bright red and frozen...it took an hour to get warmed back up!! In the "tweets" of my teacher, Kent Weakley "Frozen hands, yes, but warming up photography skills!" So true, so true!

The best of the bunch...

Whew, Blue Hour is a lot harder to capture than I thought it would be...for those of you who have done it successfully...my hats off to you! I stood outside in freezing drizzle and hand numbing temps with my camera on my tripod ready to shoot this elusive hour, here is the best of the bunch (and that's not saying much)...

There is a lot of noise in this one, but there was more "blue" than the others!

This is a photo of the front of our home, I don't know what color you would call the sky in this photo...blue/grey hour???

Now I am determined to get the perfect blue hour shot, even if that means I freeze my butt of trying!

Beauty is pain, right? Or does that just apply to your personal appearance?

Stay warm everyone, we are getting ready for a blizzard here in Missouri!



The perfect day!

Today my husband and I went to Fort Scott, Kansas for a little thirfting and time to ourselves without the kiddos! We had an unexpected treat when we got there...they were having a flag raising ceremony...but not just any flag, it was the flag Patriot Flag honoring the fallen on September 11, 2001...it was a very emotional ceremony...

There were Civil War reenactors walking around the town all day...I captured this ironic site after the ceremony...

Yes, he is on a mobile phone!

Fort Scott is such a pretty town, full of brick sidewalks...

lovely old buildings and churches...

and the weather was absolutely gorgeous...the perfect day!

This tree was in front of one of the churches...I have know idea what kind it is, but I thought the little berries were a beautiful color blue...

When we got to my mother's to pick Izzy up, this is what we found...

This is what it's all about!

On the way home from my mom's house I noticed how amazing the sunset looked, the blues, pinks and golds were so beautiful all mixed together...so I quickly pulled over along a country road, grabbed my camera and began shooting...

At first I thought I was shooting at "Blue Hour", but once I got home and started Part One of the Blue Hour section of the class...I realized that if I wanted to really get a Blue Hour shot, I needed to wait another 30 minutes or so! Well, now that I know that important information...I will put it into use and make sure to share it with all of you!

eClass talk & some new photos...

hello there!!

last night was the first official night of the eClass "Night Photography" by Kent Weakley and let me just tell you...it is awesome so far and i only expect it to get better! Kent explains things so well, with so much detail...it's perfect for someone like me...a beginner! i will defiantly be taking more of his courses in the future! tonight i start to learn about "Blue Hour" and i am pretty excited about it!

yesterday the sun came out and it was nice enough to go outside and test out my new "Dreamy Diana Lens" from Photojojo.com, i also took a few photos just for fun using my Canon 55-250mm lens...

these were taken using the Diana F lens...i love it because you never know what you are going to get!

now i didn't take this yesterday...i sat in my very cold entryway and waited for this little guy to sit still long enough to capture a photo of him...it was 10 degrees that morning...and no, that's not my finger in front of the lens, it's out porch swing!

i took these photos just for fun with my zoom lens...

i love the cast of the shadow from the toy dino...i had to give it back to my son afterwards!

i hope all of you have a lovely Saturday...we are headed to my mother's house for the day!

hopefully i will have some "Blue Hour" photos to share soon!



i was reading...

this article in American Photo about the artist Norman Rockwell...did you know that he staged his illustrations by photographing them as part of his creative process?

that's right, this illustration of "Tattoo Artist"...

was adapted from this photo...

you can see more of his photos and vignettes in the book "Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera" , yet another book i am putting on my list!

speaking of books...i've been reading the book "Expressive Photography" by the Shutter Sisters and if you haven't read this book, it's a must...not only does it have some useful information about creating your own compelling photographic images, but it's full of inspirational stories from the "sisters" themselves, this is one sentence that stood out to me..."A view itself is not emotional on its own-it's our minds eye that translates a landscape into something that can stir our soul." i find that so true, i can look at something and find the beauty in it...like a fallen leaf, a tiny insect holding on to a flower for dear life, the way to sun looks streaming through the trees...it's all in MY minds eye and that's the beauty of photography!



this is me...

you will learn that i do not like my photo to be taken...i've always viewed  myself differently than others do, that's why i am always the one behind the lens. i've been trying to get a better attitude about photos of myself...i know i won't always look the way i do, i will get more wrinkles, grey hair, gain weight, lose weight and change as i grow older...so i want my children to see some photos of me, not just of my favorite tree, birds or flowers...

so this is me!

awards, new gear & new photo...

the computer i usually use died on me a couple days ago, so my husband fixed my old one for me to use until we buy a new computer next month...any suggestions from my photography blog friends on the best computer for multi-media stuff, besides the obvious Mac?

this is the weekend before my birthday, which according to my husband is "my birthday weekend" i've been spoiled beyond belief with gifts...i got the canon speedlite flash i had on my wish list along with a new compact printer with paper...then last night we went to dinner and stopped in to barnes & noble and i bought a couple new books, "expressive photography" by the shutter sisters & "exposure" by jeff revell...i hope to learn more about my passion reading these books!

this weekend i was also awarded my first blog award for my new blog from  http://www.abrilliantmelody.com/, she awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award!
the "rules" for winning this award means, I have to do the following things:

• Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
• Share 7 things about yourself.
• Give the award to 15 recently discovered bloggers.
• Contact these bloggers to tell them about the award.

i am not good at this, but i will share some random facts about myself:

i am terrified of spiders, but i think spider webs are beautiful!

i have a little girl crush on emma stone

i have a boy crush on stephen colbert

i would rather take photos of nature than of people

my mom is my hero!

i secretly think i am not good enough for my husband....shhhh don't tell him that!

i worked as an orthodontic assistant for 13 years before i was a SAHM!

Now...15 recently discovered bloggers...geez, everyone I've discovered lately deserves this award...i guess i didn't play by the rules, but it's true!

thank you Breanna, i truly appreciate this award...it helped make my "birthday weekend" even more special!

i also wanted to share the latest photo i took...

he was about to get a waffle my husband threw out!

Meg

 

isn't it dreamy?

My birthday is in a week and i just treated myself to something that I've had on my wish list for awhile...

The Dreamy Diana Lens from Photojojo.com

i can't wait to try this out, i love the look of photos taken using Diana Camera's and this lens should give me the same effect as the real thing...that soft, dreamy, unpredictable look full of color!

Meg



first snow of 2011...

and it's just the beginning!

Meg

photos of the past...

Here are a few random photos I've taken over the past couple years...

Nature is definitely my muse!

Meg