Another week finished.

Coming up with new ideas for the same topic gets a little hard by week's end. I almost didn't even try this today because I was hoping to avoid the second picture, or at least the process of taking it. Timing is the key here as well as deaing with bad lighting. So for shoot from the hip, Kody is our subject. I had to bribe him with treats to get him to stay in the same place, hence the tongue. He was still licking his chops.











I was trying to get the drops in focus but trying to get the drop at the same place the camera was focusing was a test of patience, which I have little of today.

Rain and Meghan

Rain, that was the idea behind the first picture. Since we have a zillion feet of snow on the ground, using the hose to make rain was out of the question. The lighting in the bathrooms is not good, so I tried to make rain at the kitchen sink. It was suggested to use a dark colored towel for the backdrop. I was so excited to see the water bouncing off the tomatoes towards the right.








Meghan, my only cooperative subject. This is for Shoot from the hip. I composed a few shots for exposure and then started shooting. I had what I thought I was going to use and then tried just one more, cropped in a little tighter. This is the result.

More blizzard shots!

Here are my two official posts for today! The first one is for Shoot from the hip. I took this while on a walk with Kody this morning. It was so peaceful and serene that I could hardly believe I was walking in the same neighborhood.

I like that this followed the rule of thirds and that the bushes were in focus.
















This is my favorite shot of the morning. I took more than 100 all totaled. I love the sun flare I captured between the bushes!

Blizzard photos...

I'm going to try for two posts today to make up for the fact that I didn't post yesterday. The first one I actually took this morning before the sun came up. I opened the slider, stood on a chair and aimed the camera toward the backyard. I did crop a bit and did a color cast correction 'cause I didn't like blue snow. I need to figure out how to correct that in camera! The next two are for Water Week. I was trying to show the view out the dining room window in between storms while we got a brief period of rain. I like the moodiness of the first one and the DOF because the tree is a bit more distinguishable. I like the light in the second one but with that I had to forego the DOF.

More of water week and shoot from the hip!

Michael get top billing for shoot from the hip today. He's working on a gift for Meghan. I'm not really sure exactly where the focus fell here. I was trying for his face, but since I couldn't look through the viewfinder, I think I missed!


















Technically this is not water. It's a well. Okay, it's pretend well but it's near the real one that we use for water. Oh, and it's surrounded by that frozen water that we refer to as snow!

Busy day today!

The first two shots were taken at Newlin Grist Mill. I couldn't decide which orientation I like better so I'm posting both for Water Week. I had to trek through two feet of snow to get these because I wasn't totally happy with the composition of the falls when I took the pictures looking straight on.


























This shot is for my Shoot from the Hip challenge. I metered off the sky for the light and then without looking through the viewfinder pressed the shutter button! It took a lot of pressing to get a picture that had a decent composition and cabin that was level!




This last shot is for My Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson group. It's about showing motion while your subject looks stationary. It's also called panning! I need a lot more practice at panning and it'll probably be easier to do it went I get another tripod and after the snow melts. But I think I have the general gist of the assignment.

New week, new themes!

For this week I'm working on water and shooting from the hip! The first is pretty self explanatory and the second one means I can't look through the viewfinder. I've got to do my best to set my ap and ss, and then shoot and hope the camera focuses on something worthwhile!

Not sure how I feel about this one. I started out trying for boiling water, but the steam made it look to unfocused. Then I tried for the water droplets on the inside of the lid but didn't like my compositions. Next it was this with the light from the range hood lit. It was too yellow 'cause I forgot to change my WB. After I fixed the white balance I just needed to adjust the composition. This has a bit of blue hue around the outside and little bit of yellow cast to the water, but I kinda like it!



this guy did not want to sit where I put him! I wasn't thrilled about the cars in the background but they're there, and I'm happy the focus fell more or less on his face and eyes!