The Trouble With Models...

My latest school assignment had to do with different kinds of lighting. I had to choose one model for all of the lighting. I chose Giggles.

I had to do butterfly lighting...

loop lighting...

Rembrandt lighting...

and sidelighting...

He was a good sport for the most part but kids can lose their patience fast (especially when you don't know what you are doing). hahaha!!!

The toughest was trying to get the backlighting just right. I was struggling with the metering and he was struggling with holding the basketball because it was a very windy day and the wind kept blowing the ball out of his hand. The expressions on his face as he tried to hold the ball made me laugh.

But I finally got the picture I wanted.

Thanks Giggles!

Love is Bliss

Engaged couples are so cute.

I am always afraid of taking pictures of people because I tend to rush in the picture-taking process. But my husband's cousin, Lacie and her fiancé Dallas asked me to take their engagement pictures last weekend.

They were very patient and we took our time to be sure to get plenty of pictures for them to choose from.

It was great to spend time with them and to take pictures of such a cute couple.

Boys will be Boys

Life with boys is always interesting. Those moments always come along when I shake my head and think... what would it be like to have girls?

But I have boys.

Usually I leave the hiking up to Brett. I forgot to remember that I don't like hiking. Chalk it up to old age - or early onset Alzheimer's. I'll try and remember for next time. But it was too late once we got there and started out on the path with my giant camera backpack and my bottle of water in hand. A few steps into it I remembered though.

But at least I had my camera in hand to distract me from my huffing and puffing. Still, I almost went back to the car when I saw this...

But Brett and the boys were already across the bridge and someone had to keep them safe.

And although I didn't capture anything worthy of National Geographic the park was beautiful.

When we came across this monster of a tree you know they had to at least TRY to climb it. Sheriff gave his brother a boost...

but it just wasn't enough.

Other trees were a little more accessible though.

Leave it to my boys to climb every tree they could.

We had a great weekend and I hope we can go back again. I am just wondering how I can get some great pictures without doing any hiking. hmmm...

Digital or Film?

As much as I am learning new techniques and skills with regards to digital photography, like the difference between diffused lighting on your subject ...

and spectral lighting...

(obviously this week's class topic is lighting)


But film photography continues to elude me.

I had picked up a roll of black and white film for my Spotomatic and was excited to take it out the other week when I was downtown on an assignment for my class evaluating photos in a gallery. While waiting for the gallery to open I pulled out my Spotomatic and shot a roll of film.

Today I picked up the pictures only there were no pictures. Instead it said this on the package...

And to add insult to injury I had to pay for those words in cash and in time and effort it took to take all those pictures that didn't turn out.

Dagnabbit!

Who says dagnabbit anymore anyways?

I do.

Dagnabbit!

So as much as I long to learn the ins and outs of my beautiful Spotomatic, I have to say that my Rebel is still my photographic best friend right now while my film camera is the naughty child who drew on the wall with magic marker one too many times. You still love him but you're momentarily upset.

Things can always change though. Did I mention I picked up two more rolls of black and white film today? :)

Fun with Filters

I'm still loving my class although I might be singing a different tune come midterms in a week and a half.

I missed class last week when Wannabe was well... losing his breakfast, lunch and dinner. Poor guy. I used half a can of Lysol to be sure that no one else caught the bug and lost their meals too. Me especially.

I was happy to get back to class yesterday and mess around with my camera for our class on lighting. My favorite shot I took was of a classmate where we put a red transparency over the light...

Kind of fun.

One day I want to be a real live photographer. :)

Photography Fun

Today I finally had the opportunity to join with some local photographers who get together once a month and take pictures. Every month something has come up to prevent me from going. You know... inconvenient things like family birthdays, Thanksgiving, baptisms... stuff like that. :)

When my husband told me that he had a meeting today I said, "no way!" I have dibs on this Saturday morning. And then I remembered... I have a 12-year-old. Yay!!!!

So off I went. With my phone turned on of course.

I learned so much about lighting. Including the fact that I don't have a spare $2500.00 to create this shot:

But maybe I could check my couch for spare change to come up with the lights for this shot:

(okay... I KNOW I don't have $130.00 lying around in my couch but it is much more reasonable than $2500.00 don't you think?)

Other fun set-ups resulted in the following shots:

I'll think ahead next time and bring along a friend so I'm not standing by myself in line.

Any takers for next month's St. Patrick's Day Parade?

I Finally Did It!

I finally did it. I finally captured a night shot. This has always eluded me until now and taking this photography class has helped me to figure out how to do the the streaky light shot.

Yeah!

Prognosis - undecided

Well, a month has passed since I began a photography course at our local community college. I am really enjoying the class and have already applied a couple of things in my picture-taking. There are still a couple of lingering questions on my mind however that are yet to be answered...

Can I go back to school and retain my humanity?

I don't know yet as I am only a month into the semester but the prognosis is looking fairly good. I only scored 3/5 on a quiz and didn't have a meltdown. Yep. No going into the depths of depression and questioning my sense of self. I just figured out where I went wrong so I could correct it for next time. Yeah!

Can an old-timer like me work some old-time camera equipment?

Although for the class I use my Canon Rebel which is digital, I purchased a Spotomatic film camera in the summer at an antique sale.

I thought it was an interesting camera and might be fun to try taking a few pictures with it. As for whether I can figure out how to work it...I have my doubts. I have already had to consult a camera specialist and have ruined my first roll of film because I advanced it too far and snapped it out of the canister making it impossible to wind back into the canister.

Bummer! So I had to shoot a whole new roll of film. I don't even know if the camera works because I haven't had a chance to develop the film yet.

So I love my class but I'm looking sideways at the film camera wishing it worked more like a digital camera. What can I say? The digital age has spoiled me.

Is it Wrong?

Remember how I was worried about going back to school? How I thought I would become inhuman? Well come exam time I will probably morf into a wild bear or rabid red-eyed badger (I hear badgers are really mean).

Anyhoo, for now I am REALLY enjoying my class. Is that wrong? Especially when some of the students are staring glassy-eyed at the instructor (in all fairness I think the guy behind me was desperate for a few more hours of sleep).

My first class assignment... motion and focus.

I don't think I have ever smiled so much in a class. Really. I should practice frowning. School isn't supposed to be this enjoyable. It's just wrong. Wrong I tell you.