#1 Color Accents

I'm not sure if I quite know what "Color Accent" means, but I am going to give it a try.

1/40, f4.0, ISO 200, 30.0mm, Cropped, Altered in Photoshop

#7 Catchlight

OK this is not my best, but my DH and I went to Charleston for the weekend and I had to make do. We went to a Plantation that had a petting zoo and I got this picture of one of the deer. It's large eyes gave me great catchlights.

1/100, f4.5, ISO 100, 24.0mm, Cropped. It was a cloudy day and all my pictures looked washed out, so I had to add some contrast and saturation to this image.

#6 Catchlights

No one was willing to pose for me today so I resorted to a self portrait. I took this in B&W mode and made no adjustments accept cropping. I like that I didn't have to "Fix" it in Photoshop ( I could have airbrushed out the crows feet LOL). What do you think?

1/6, f5.0, ISO 200, 24.0mm, Tri-pod, Umbrella light, Cropped, B&W mode

#5 Catchlights

My only willing participant today was of the "stuffed" variety. I did get some good catchlights!

1/10, f5.6, ISO 400, 21.0mm, Cropped
If I had used a tri-pod I might have been able to lower my ISO, hindsight is 20/20.

#4 Catchlights

My guinea pigs were much more cooperative today. My daughter Victoria and her boyfriend Noble. I think I'm getting better at my B&W conversion, what do you think?

1/15, f4.0, ISO 400, 30.0mm, Tri-pod, 1 Umbrella light, B&W conversion

#3 Catchlights

Why is it that teenagers will take tons of pictures of themselves, but when I want a picture it is like pulling teeth? This is my 13 years old daughter Elizabeth. It took several shots before she would smile and then when she did smile she couldn't sit still, so half of the pictures were blurred. So here is the best of the worst.

1/6, f8.0, ISO 200, 27.0mm, Tri-pod, Umbrella light, cropped and lightened.

Here is the picture after I used the Gradient Map & reduce noise in Photoshop. Much Better!

#2 Catchlights

Not my best today. I tried to use cat treats to get Tinkerbell to cooperate. I love that I got her licking her lips (after she ate all the treats) but didn't get the catchlights I wanted.

1/100, f4.5, ISO 200, 33.0mm, Flash, Cropped

#1 Catchlights

This week should be interesting. I have a feeling my family and pets will be sick of me taking pictures of them by Saturday if not earlier.

I caught my cat Pepper "stalking" some birds. When she spied me with the camera she turned her head towards me, not what I was looking for. So I waited patiently till the birds caught her attention again and finally got a perfect shot.

1/30, f4.5, ISO 200, 33.0mm, Cropped, Highlights slightly lightened

#7 Words

Last evening I was trying to figure one last picture of "words" when I spotted my husbands autographed baseball. When I started shooting this morning I knew that I wanted some of the autographs to be in focus, but I also knew from yesterday's photo if I got too close my lens couldn't focus properly, so I backed off a bit and cropped the image later in photoshop. I am very happy with the results.

0.3, f4.5, ISO 200, 31.0mm, Tri-pod, Cropped

#6 Words

My daughter's guitar, I wish she would play it more.

1.6, f11, ISO 400, 43.0mm, Tri-pod, SOOC

#5 Words

My daughter's chalk board wall.

0.3, f4.0, ISO 400, 28.0mm, Tri-pod, Cropped

#4 Words

Here is a text from my daughter.

1/20, f4.0, ISO 200, 34.0mm, Cropped

#3 Words

My husband and I collect wine bottles from wineries we have visited in North Carolina.The owner of Childress racing (Nascar) opened this winery.

1/13, f4.5, ISO 400, 34.0mm, Tri-pod, SOOC

#2 Words

This is an old theater sign in the town I work in. I was afraid that the sun would be an issue, but I used it to my advantage and turned it into a sun flare.

1/125, f11.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 35.0mm, Cropped

#1 Words

Happy Valentines Day!
Here is my attempt at shooting on a white background. I think next time I won't chose a pastel subject, it seems to blend into the background too much.

PS: I am back to full manual mode!! The Understanding Exposure lessons have really helped out.

1/4, f6.3, ISO 100, Focal Length 31.0mm, Flash, Tripod, Cropped

#7 From the Hip

It snowed about 4" last night. This shot was hard to get with out looking through the viewfinder. This also was my 1st time using the Dioptric knob, I think it helped.

1/1000, f4.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 27.0mm, SOOC

#6 From the Hip

A quick shot of the snow, it just started about an hour ago.

1/50, f4.0, ISO 800, Focal Length 25.0mm, Flash, Cropped

#5 From the Hip

Today my daughter was very cooperative with the "photo shoot". Luckily I still had some sun to work with. The 1st picture was my favorite and the second was my hers. I wish I could have blurred the background more. Can anyone tell me why my camera would not let me go below f4.0?

1/125, f4.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 25.0mm, Cropped and slightly lightened.

1/160, f4.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 25.0mm, SOOC

#4 From the Hip

I chose this shot because I love the expression on my step-daughter's face. She is actually laughing at me trying to hold the camera over my head and take her picture. Too bad she is a bit out of focus and the lighting could be better.

1/100, f4.5, ISO 400, Focal Length 34.0mm, SOOC

#3 From the Hip

I think I'm getting better at this, it only took me 11 shots to get this one. :)

Rainy day at the Playground

Av mode, 1/50, f4.5, ISO 400, 35.0mm, SOOC

#2 From the Hip

This picture is actually the 1st I took out of 46. It's a little dark, but I liked the angles. This is a War memorial that I pass by on my way to and from work everyday.

1/500, f8.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 43.0mm, SOOC

Lighting Issues

I have been having some color issues with my pictures as a result of poor lighting and improper shutter speed. At this time I am not quite sure what shutter speed to set my camera at, so I am going to start shooting in Av mode. In this mode I control the all setting except for the shutter speed. The camera selects the proper shutter speed according to the available light. This will allow we to shoot a picture with proper color and lighting. I can then read this information to see what my shutter settings should be (The #6 Self Portrait and others up until today have been shot this way). When I feel comfortable I will switch back to full manual mode.

#1 from the Hip

 1/640, f4.5, ISO 400, Focal Length 34.0mm SOOC

Not much going on today, so I decide to take some shots of my pets. This is the best one.

#8 Self Portrait

OK so I am about done with this theme, but I think I got the best pictures today.

Morning Coffee

 

1/4, f4.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 25.0mm, SOOC

I am so tired of this theme!

 

1/13, f3.5, ISO 400, Focal Length 18.0mm, Cropped

#7 Self Portrait

 

1/20, f5.6, ISO 800, 34.0mm Focal Length, Flash pointed up to the ceiling

 

So far this is the only picture I like of myself this week. I may try for 1 more tomorrow, but I am about done with this theme.

#6 Self Portrait

OK this may seam boring, but I tried several ideas that didn't pan out, so I decided to get a shot of my favorite winter boots.

1/20, f5.6, ISO 800, Focal Length 46.0mm, Flash on it's side pointed towards me.

#5 Self Portrait

Paparazzi

 

1/60, f5.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 31.0mm

1/60, f5.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 31.0m

I had fun taking these pictures. I had to include both a "annoyed" picture along with a "camera shy" picture.

#4 Self Portrait

 

1/20, f5, ISO 800, Focal Length 35.0mm, No Flash, 2 Umbrella Lights.

Here is my 1st True Self Portrait. It has taking me several hours of moving my umbrella lights to get to this point and I am frustrated. I have done some reading about lighting, but just can't quite get it. I know that I need a main light that should be positioned about 45 degrees up and to one side and the other light should be used as a fill, but I still can't get a soft shadow to one side of my face. Also, the color is still off. I have changed my metering, but it doesn't seem to help. At this point I am open to any suggestions.

#3 Self Portrait

Birthday Suit

1/20, f6.3, ISO 800, No Flash, 2 Umbrella Lights

#2 Self Portrait

 

1/15, f6.3, ISO 800, Focal Length 31.0mm, No Flash, Tri-pod

I got this idea from my teenage daughters. They are always taking pictures of themselves in the mirror to put on Facebook. I think the double image adds to it.