Photography Challenge #9: Color Collage

When green is all there is to be,
It could make you wonder why;
But why wonder, why wonder? 
I am green and it'll do fine; it's beautiful.
And I think it's what I want to be.

-Kermit the Frog

Photography Challenge #11: Lighting...and a new blog!

The word photography literally means "writing with light". Lighting is one of the most important elements (if not the most important) to consider when taking a picture. The type of lighting and direction of the light will affect the quality of your photograph. 

If you are taking portraits, natural and indirect light is most flattering to faces. For inside pictures, try to position your subject next to a window to get the best lighting. Check out this diagram to see how to position your subject, and also check out this blog post to get some more great tips on lighting (actually check out the whole blog...some awesome stuff on there!).

If you are taking pictures outside, overcast days or shady areas will produce better pictures. Direct sun will produce bright surfaces and harsh shadows, causing too much contrast. Bright sun will produce harsh shadows on your subjects' faces, which are generally unflattering; and you also have to deal with squinting! 

This is just what I have figured out so far about lighting, by no means an exclusive post!  I know that I have tons more to learn, but I thought I'd post this in hopes that it might be helpful to someone else and  also as a reference for myself.

As I was working on some projects one recent Saturday morning around 10:00, I noticed this soft, beautiful light coming from my north facing windows. Since there were no other humans around, I had to use my crafty supplies as my subjects. =) I tried to position myself and my "subjects" like in the diagram above when I took these pictures. I think it would have been the perfect light for portraits. 

Speaking of crafty supplies...this post is also a good way to introduce my new blog:

free as a weed

Its definitely still a work in progress, but it will be a place to post non-photography related endeavors! =) See ya on the flipside... 

Photography Challenge #9: Color Collage

collage made with picnik

The road to the Emerald City is paved with yellow bricks. - L. Frank Baum

Photography Challenge #10: There's No Day Like a Snow Day!

5:30am - I had been thinking of ways to destroy my alarm clock for the last 30 minutes when I got a text message that said "look outside your window, I don't think you have school today!"  Funny how fast it is actually possible to get out of bed. =) Here's what I saw::

7:30am - Of course I was too excited to go back to sleep so I reveled in the joy of an unexpected snow day for a few hours then ate the obligatory snowy day breakfast::

8:05: Brownie did some investigating; she came back in pretty quick=)::

10:15 - I suited up and headed out with camera in (gloved) hand to snap some pictures::

Actually by then it had already started to melt some. But it was still pretty!

I'd say it was about 3 inches (that's a lot in these parts!)

Before I went out, I looked up some tips about taking snow pictures. Apparently the brightness of snow can throw off the white balance on your camera and cause the pictures to look dark or bluish (kinda like the picture above). So I fiddled with the white balance in my camera to try to correct this. I'm not sure if I ever got it exactly right but at least it gave me some practice I guess!

This cracked me up! Reminded me of this movie =) 

Photography Challenge #9: Color Collage

collage made with photovisi

Genius without education is like silver in the mine. -Benjamin Franklin

Photography Challenge #9: Color Collage

Ok I am SOO stalling right now!! But what better time to start a new challenge than when I should be doing other way more important things! =) I've had this idea in my head of doing a series of pictures related to color, thanks to my new favorite photography book.

Here are the rules:

1. The subject of the picture has more to do with the color than the actual objects photographed

2. 10 photos for each color (this number is not set in stone, but for now it sounds like a good starting point)

3. Pictures will be displayed in collage form (I've been wanting to learn how to make photo collages and I think these pictures would look especially neat in collage form)

So...as I was putting off all the things I should be doing tonight, I started looking for color pictures. Apparently there is a lot of brown in my apartment....what an exciting color to start off this little series!! Oh well!! Here goes...

collage made with picnik

I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns. -Winston Churchill

Here is one more "brown" picture...

Sike! Brownie is not brown! Brownie says "Oh brother!"

Photography Challenge #8: Learn How to Use a New Button on My Camera

Confession: I have no idea what most of the buttons on my camera do. Yet, anyway. Thanks to a random lady in St. Louis I am now figuring out what all those buttons can do. Let me explain. While we were at the Arch we asked this random lady to take our picture. She happened to have the D80, which caused us to start talking cameras, which led her to tell us all about this awesome photography website. Got that? Well, it turns out the website is pretty awesome. It explains your camera manual in plain English! Yay! I have been hooked ever since!! (It also has lots of other cool stuff on it that I haven't gotten around to checking out completely yet!) Thanks random lady!

So after some reading up on the awesome website, I have discovered my current favorite button: the +/- button. Here's how it works: Take a picture. Do some chimping. Need to make it lighter? Press the +/- button and turn the back dial to the left. Need to make it darker? Press the +/- button and turn the back dial to the right. Easy cheesy!

Here is Billy the Bison demonstrating the +/- button:

I also just received the 50mm lens that I ordered this week and have been having fun playing around with it too! Definitely recommend this lens!!!

My pretty birthday flowers

Here is Brownie demostrating some of the awesome abilities of the 50mm lens

I had my photography books out and loved the colors in them...isn't this lens fun??

This was too funny not to include...this was not posed!

Sorry for the Brownie overload but she is the most exciting thing in the apartment. I love how this lens can blur the background so you can't tell how messy the place is right now. =)

Speaking of messy...I better go do some cleaning and packing...this time tomorrow I will be on a plane headed to glorious, sunny, full-of-photo-opps FLA!!! I have several challenges in mind for over the break so see you soon!! =)

Photography Challenge #7: "Octography" Mini-Challenge, Day 31

Day 31: Happy Halloween!!

Bethany put on a great Halloween party for the kids today!

There was bobbing for apples...

Not too sure about it at first...

...but they figured it out pretty quick!

These guys just liked splashing =)

There was the eat-the-donut-off-the-string game...

After the fact...

There were balloons...

There was dancing...

And of course, there were lots of cute kids!!

Like I said, it was a great party! =)

Well, I guess its time to hang up my hat for the Octography Challenge (Novembography doesn't have quite the same ring!) Its been a lot of fun...slightly time consuming, but fun, and I've learned a lot!!

I hope to keep the blog updated a little better with regular Photography Challenge posts! And check back soon for the St. Louis posts! Happy November!

(What is Octography?)