Day 12: Slow

I had a lot of fun playing with slow shutter speeds and sparklers (I happened to have several boxes sitting around):

Those shadows are not becoming!
ISO 400, f/22, 5" (as in 5 whole seconds)

ISO 400, f/22, 5"

And pretending like I was a ghost

ISO 400, f/18, 10"

(Also figured out how to set the self-timer on the camera)

But my favorites were these:

Motorcycle leaving the neighborhood
ISO 400, f/16, 10"

Car entering the neighborhood
ISO 400, f/16, 10"

Funny how "slow" actually gives these last two a feeling of "fast"!

Day 11: Fast, part 2

I had posted a picture for "fast" a few days ago, but said I wanted to try again and see what I came up with. Well, here it is!

Almost missed her!
Could have used a quicker shutter speed since it's still a little blurry
ISO ?, f/5.3, 1/800

ISO ?, f/5.3, 1/800

ISO ?, f/5.3, 1/800

And after she flew off again I was able to see this...

ISO?, f/5.6, 1/500

A cropped close-up

Would you believe I took these photos with a wiggly ten month old baby in my lap? Actually, would you believe this bird came into my yard with a wiggly, LOUD, ten month old baby out there? Yeah, I couldn't either. But my patience paid off!

Overall, I think the pics came out okay... It was early evening and though it was still quite bright (or so I thought) I had to dial up the ISO in order to be able to also dial up the shutter speed and not get a dark picture. Because of that the pics were a tad bit "noisy" when enlarged on the computer. And I still had to do some touch-ups to lighten the photos. Even with all that I think the shutter speed could have stood to be a little quicker (there is a little blur to the wings still, the point of a quick shutter speed is to "stop" motion so there is no blur).  But still, I'm pleased to know I can do this with my camera; "continuous servo" made all the difference- one push of the button and I took several shots at once, allowing me to capture the bird in mid-flight (though I still almost missed her since she's right at the edge of the one shot!).

Day 11: Fast

I am cheating a bit because I already took these pictures last week, but I definitely had the shutter speed up, and I think this photo captured "fast" pretty well...

ISO ?, f/4.5, 1/1000

I still want to get out and practice a bit more with "fast", because, while Drew is getting much faster each and every day, he's not as fast as the cats, even... I think I would have some fun trying to capture some of Rico or Lucy's outdoor antics (they've been going crazy over all the Robbins and bluebirds out back).

I also wanted to include this picture from our park visit because I thought it was funny... I was caught up in trying to get a photo of Drew's shadow that I neglected to realize he had an entire mouthful of wood chips! Bad mom! (Click to enlarge and look at his mouth!)

ISO ?, f/8, 1/160

Day 9 and 10: Near and Far

Happy Easter to all! I hope everyone had a wonderful day with family and friends and remembered to celebrate God's wonderful gift!

Here are a few shots of our little gift this Easter!!

Near:

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/2000

ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/2000

And far:

ISO 200, f/5, 1/1600

ISO 200, f/5, 1/1600

Day 8: Light

I think this actually kind of made a good "light" photo as well as a shadow photo, but if I had known more about spot metering perhaps Drew and my mom would have come out a little better...

In any case, to practice with our new tips on using spot metering (to get a good photo with bright light behind the subject), I practiced a little with Drew. There's nothing particularly exciting going on in the pics- I was just trying to practice- but he is pretty darn cute, as usual.

ISO 200, 1/3200, f/4

I love the one above, but even with the spot metering, Drew's face is a little underexposed. You can tell it was a bright sunshiney day though!

ISO 200, 1/1250, f/4.5

Mom, are you done yet?
ISO 200, 1/1600, f/4

ISO 200, 1/2500, f/4

The last one is just because it was cute. He fell over from trying to look up at me. Haha!

He was too low to the ground to really get any good photos with the light in the background, but the spot metering helped to expose his face even when my camera was telling me parts of the blanket were overexposed. I definitely learned some cool new tricks about the camera, too- especially since I had to turn to the "instruction manual that is a novel" in order to figure out how to do spot metering. In doing so I learned a few other things, too! Cool!

Day 7: Shadows

I think my husband was more uncooperative than any child when I tried to get these shadow photos... that would explain the car in the corner of the one photo... there was no getting him to "move here" or "do this". In fact, because of that, the two photos of him and Drew were totally his doing!

Did you know trying to focus on a shadow is incredibly difficult?
(Don't click to make the picture bigger, it will make your eyes water :P)
ISO 200, 1/1000, f/4.2

Love the shadow of his hair!
ISO 200, 1/1000, f/4.2 

ISO 200, 1/1000, f/4

Because of the uncooperative husband, and the fact that I apparently didn't know how to focus on cement, I tried one more time with my mom when she arrived this weekend. Unfortunately we waited until late in the day (you can tell by the position of the sun) and the shadows were very long; that made it very hard to get a good photo that didn't include something funky in it. I snapped this one just for fun but it ended up being a favorite!

ISO 200, 1/640, f/11

I'm already flouting one of the rules I learned in my "official" photography class I took this weekend: the difference between an amateur photographer and a professional is that a professional will only show the the photos they want you to see. I can't help it when it comes to my baby... I can never seem to pick just one!

Overall I was left rather unimpressed with my class. Perhaps that could be because my camera battery died. But I think it was mostly because I was bored. Beth was indeed correct in saying that I had probably already learned what I would be learning in the class. And to be honest, Beth explains it SO much better! I could tell the rest of the people in the class were going to go home and put their cameras right back on "Auto". I did appreciate being able to ask some questions about "what does this button do?" or "how can I change this setting?" without having to consult the novel that is the instruction manual, and I did enjoy shooting some scenic photos, but all this just to say I'm really glad I signed up for Beth's Opposites class!

One of the last few before my camera died
ISO 200, 1/640, f/4.5

Day 6: Loud

It was not hard for me to thinking of something loud.

ISO 800?, 1/800, f/4.5

I mentioned the other day that our house is generally quiet, so it takes getting outside the house to find loud. And Gymboree is just that!

The classes I take Drew to now are a far cry from the first "preview" class we went to. That was when he was only a few months old and we went to a "Level 1" class (meant for babies from newborn to 6 months). We had tummy time and sang cute songs, did little dances, played little hand and body games... and had a grand time with 5 or 6 other babies and their moms.

Now he's a "Level 2" and the Saturday class we go to is actually a 2/3 split.  With a total of 10+ babies (plus their moms, and about half of their dads as well) aged 6 to 16 months it's not the same cute and sweet little number that it was. My mom actually took Drew to the first class at this level; I was expecting her to love it the way I had loved my first class, so I was surprised that her response to "how was the class?" was "noisy!"

That is, until the following week when I took him myself. I returned home and told my mom, "okay, so you were right, noisy is about the only way to describe that!"

I've gotten a little more used to it now, but Gymboree is definitely the perfect place to photograph "loud", and the assignment arrived at a perfect time since we had class today! I don't really feel like the photos capture the essence of "loud" but you can just trust me...

ISO 800?, 1/800, f/4.5

I like the "leading lines" in this one
ISO 800?, 1/500, f/4.5

ISO 800?, 1/500, f/3.8

ISO 800?, 1/500, f/3.8

I wish the last two photos had turned out better (I'm sure taking photos towards a window is generally not recommended), but when you're trying to make sure your baby doesn't trample another (or get trampled himself) while also trying not to look like some creepy paparazzi, it's hard to adjust settings and focus. But I just love how Drew seems to be interacting with the other babies so I had to share them too! :D

Day 5: Quiet

Though Drew does love to ramble off syllables like "dadadada" or "yayayaya" (and sometimes even "mamammmm"), and will sometimes pierce the air with a high-pitched squeal or two, our house is actually generally fairly quiet. Many evenings it's just us, Drew, and the pets, no TV and no music (I'm probably going to disappoint/anger some people by saying this, but I don't really like music). That actually made it hard for me to come up with something that represents quiet to me.

But it just so happens that today I had one tired little baby on my hands; for some reason Drew did not take his afternoon nap for nanny Erin. Tired Drew= fussy and cranky Drew so I decided that a late afternoon nap might be in order. After putting him down I sat listening to him whine on the monitor, knowing just a little snooze would make the rest of the evening a lot more bearable. It was a relief when finally all the little "red dots" on the monitor disappeared and I was left with only the sound of his lullabies....

ISO 640 (I think), 1/50, f/4.2

And while we're looking at toes and talking about quiet moments, is there anyone else out there that finds pedicures more stressful than relaxing? I am so gosh darn ticklish that I have to grit my teeth 90% of the time or risk kicking the pedicurist in the chin. Actually, when I was pregnant, I practiced my natural birth breathing techniques and "meditation" while getting pedicures! That's how bad it is for me... and yet I still continue to get them because goodness knows I could never get my own toes to look that pretty!

P.S. For comparison's sake, this is what "loud" (in these terms) might look like:

ISO 640, 1/50, f/5.6
Not in focus

Day 4: Out

While I was trying to get my "in" photo, Drew tipped over the laundry basket... I snapped this quick shot (without any time to adjust focus or settings) and laughed that it would make a good "out" photo, knowing that was probably our next theme. Not great quality though... I had to adjust the brightness because it was way dark, but then it ended up grainy...

I also thought this was a fun "out" shot...

1/100, f/3.8

But, to practice with our new tips and tricks I headed out to the backyard with the hubby, the baby, and the pets... It was quite sunny, so I tried our tricks using "open shade". Unfortunately I only managed to snap one or two that I was in any way proud of though. I'm having issues with focusing apparently...

1/100, f/4.5

Our poor Lucy girl needs to be groomed... bad! Don't worry, though, she has an appointment to get her hair done on Friday! :)

The faces of Drew, part 2

Today's post is not a photography class post (so no judging the quality of my photos), but it does include numerous pics, as usual (because, let's be honest, I don't think you come here to read my blog).

I have done a post like this before. Often, in the process of trying to get a "good" photo, I capture these fun faces. And sometimes I just have to share!

Lol! Do you think he's imitating Mommy in that last one?