Day 15: Favorite Photo (and Day 14: Black and White)

Our final assignment for the free online photography class I've been taking is to post our favorite picture. You know for me that's a very hard assignment because I can't even narrow my daily assignment choices down to one or even two photos.

I love, love, love the Easter shots I took. I also really like this photo of my irises. But this is the one I printed out for my desk at work... I can hardly get anything done because it captures my attention all. day. long.

Messy face and all, that's my happy, beautiful baby. Seeing it makes me want to go wake him from his nap right now and get some snuggles... but I won't!

Day 13: Juxtaposition

According to Beth, "juxtaposition is the placing of elements in a photo for the purpose of comparing or contrasting them."

I had other plans for this photo (see below) but found my kitties like this on their brand new cat tree and it seemed all too perfect for a "juxtaposition" shot; you've got high-low, in-out, black kitty-orange kitty... even the cats themselves could not be more opposite. Rico (orange) is outgoing, friendly but bossy, loud, and acts like a dog. Jibs (black) is a cat in all senses, meanings, and connotations of the word- he's skittish, he's quiet, and he's moody. This is not my most favorite photograph ever (that's for Day 15, apparently) but I think it reflects them very well- Rico just looks bossy and dominating, ears perked, eyes narrowed, perched high on his pedestal, and Jibs, all dark and hidden in his cubby, looks aloof and sullen. Love my fur babies!

My initial thought when given the theme "juxtaposition" was to capture Drew and Daddy side-by-side, highlighting Drew's creamy, soft skin and Jason's rough 5 o'clock shadow. Unfortunately these did not turn out great either as it was getting late in the evening and there was little light to help. The photos ended up quite grainy (noisy) because of the ISO setting, nonetheless, you know I can't resist sharing a few cute ones...

*UPDATE* I used picnik.com to do a little editing to the above photo to see if I could improve it. I was able to sharpen it a tad and add a vignette, which I think is cute... I am more of a SOOC shooter (straight out of the camera), mostly because I don't have time to edit my photos, but also because I feel I don't really have the "eye" for it either. Anyways... updated photo...

P.S. I'm still using manual settings, but I'm being too lazy to look up the details (ISO, f-stop, etc.). If you really wanna know, which I doubt you do, just ask!

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! :)

Day 3: In

Day 3 of my photography class had us take a photo indoors without using flash. I had already taken a few inside (my grandma's barrette), but this time I understood a little more about what I was doing, especially with playing around with my ISO.  Since I chose Drew as my subject today (seeing as he IS the reason I'm learning any of this in the first place) I had to play around with combinations of ISO and shutter speed that gave enough light, but also didn't have my mobile little boy turn out like this:

1/30, f/4.5

Our theme was "In" so I photographed Drew in a basket and in his Sunday best. Although it kinda looks like his Sunday sleezy... I really should have buttoned that top button (that's what happens when Dad dresses Drew and Mommy's too busy to notice!)

I have to admit, when it comes to photos of my little guy it's a lot harder to pick only one or two!  These were just a few of my favorites, and I'm sure I picked them more for my subject matter than the quality of the photos. ISO on all of these is somewhere between 600 and 800 if I remember correctly (even on a different computer the ISO spot is blank!). All of these are also SOOC (straight out of the camera) and with no flash (I'd love to learn how to properly edit photos next... I'm at a point that I'd most likely fix them in the wrong direction!)

A little dark, but look at that smirk!
1/60. f/4

1/60, f/4

Look at those "catchlights"!
1/60, f/4.5

A new perspective!
1/100, f/4.5

Don't you just want to pick him up and hug him?
1/30, f/4.5

I used some tips Beth gave us which included opening the window as much as possible to let in natural light and situating myself between the window and Drew. This helped me to get those little gleaming glints of light in his eyes called "catchlights". They really do highlight those big beautiful peepers of his, don't you think?

Day 2: New

Okay, so I'm a little late with our "Day 2" assignment for my free online photography class. Typical. I'm a procrastinator through and through. Always have been. Probably always will be (if I ever go back to school for real).  I'm pretty sure you'll forgive me though, especially if you already read about what my days have been like.

And it seriously took 3 days to get a picture I liked! Seriously. I kind of suspected that the theme for Day 2 would be "new" (this is a class entitled "Opposites" after all) so I headed outside with my new purple basil plant. I had literally just bought it, so it was obviously new. And it's obviously a young plant, making it new in that aspect as well. On top of that, I had never heard of purple basil until I read about it in the newspaper a few days ago, thus making it "new to me" (and I happened to find this purple basil plant at the entrance to Whole Foods only a day or two after reading about it!). So I headed outside with my new plant to snap a few photos...

Bleck! All around, bleck.
f/4.5, 1/25

I didn't love anything I came out with. Then, when I received the actual assignment in my email, Beth talked about perspective. I had hit the plant straight on. So boring. So I headed out the next day and played around with different angles.

From above, with a "blah" cement background
f/4.5, 1/400

From below, but overexposed (I think... I'm really not good at this)
f/4.5, 1/200

I still wasn't in love, so I tried once more. It sort of feels like waiting to get film developed (though not really that long, my aunt Wynn Anne will tell you about that!) because I really have no idea what I ended up with until I get the photos up on my computer. The camera screen is so tiny, and I think things look good and in focus until I pull them up on my computer and realize things weren't as they seemed. I don't get a chance to do that until the evenings, when Drew is in bed and I'm stuck doing my meds, so if I don't like my photos, I have to wait until the next day to try again. So day 3 of attempting to photograph my purple basil turned out like this:

Oooh, green and purple!
f/4.5, 1/500

Wish I had focused a little better...
f/4.5, 1/500

By the way, I wish you could smell these photos! That purple basil smells awesome! (And tastes pretty awesome, too! I already snipped off a few leaves for a fresh mozzarella, tomato, pesto sandwich... yeah, I'm ready for summer!)

Oh, and while I was cleaning out the fridge as I mentioned yesterday, I looked at all my bottles of expired dressings and marinades I had lined up on the counter and thought, "that would have made a good picture for 'old'" so I snapped a photo (using my newly learned perspective techniques, of course!)...

f/3.5, 1/20

I'm having fun! I can tell I really am learning something and getting better already (and we're only a few days in!). I mean, just look at the progression of photos of my purple basil! I'm still haphazardly changing settings on the camera and don't really know if a photo turns out right (over/underexposed, etc.) but I'm getting there! I'm looking forward to playing around tomorrow so I can do our Day 3 assignment: "In"

P.S. I cannot find my ISO! My computer has no info in that spot! It's literally blank. Where everything else has a number, there's nothing next to ISO. And I of course don't remember what I had it set at for any of these.