Another Practice Shoot!!

Well, this was actually my third practice shoot. I couldn't obtain permission by the parents to post my 2nd practice shoot which took place that same year. I so appreciated the practice anyhow.

It was an outdoor shoot at a local park with a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I am so excited! I had so much fun! What an adrenaline rush!! They are such a sweet couple and were such a pleasure to work with.

The lighting was not that great that morning though in some of the pictures, but I think they will like them nonetheless. I met them at 9am and the shoot lasted about an hour and a half. I think in the future I will probably try at 8am and see if that might avoid strong sun spots and shadows.

As my thank you for them letting me practice on them, I had an 8x10 and a wallet size of the best shot, made for them, as well as a collage of my favorites, also an 8x10.

I dream of someday owning a Nikon D80, but for now, please excuse the point and shoot(Nikon L11 Coolpix). In the meantime, I am focusing on my composition. CC welcome!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Edited to add correction suggested by helpful comment...

Before (with green sign post)























After (removed sign)

I Think I Inadvertently Got My Christmas Shot!

I was playing around with a spontaneous shot that I had taken of our daughter in her bathroom, and think I may have found my Christmas shot! I had so much fun getting rid of the background and experimenting with different editing tools. I'd love to know what you think.

Original(unedited)


Edit number 1 (filtered, burned to blend, overall clean up, and cloned ribbon tail)

Edit number 2 ~ In Sepia

Very Informative Videos by Rick Sammon

Just some tutorials for my learning toolbox that I want to keep for reference later on when I am able to get a DSLR as there are some great tips I can use even now.

Rick Sammon's Top 10 Photography Tips


Rick Sammon's Digital Start to Finish

Just because I love this one...

Our daughter in a pensive moment of dress-up...

More Itty Bittie Critters...

I'm not one for bugs normally, but when looking at them from a photographer's point of view, look what one can discover!

A Dragonfly on the wall in our garage...

At first glance, "okay, there's a dragonfly. Pretty neat!"

At second glance, "wow, look at the detail in the wings and body."

But even closer, at third glance...look at it's head! It looks like glass! You can see through his head. Gross in a way, yet facinating too!

Here's Another Frugal Friday Tip From Me...

I just love Frugal Fridays...


...and now I just love Hotgrafix!! You just have to check out their website. They make beautiful signatures and blinkies for no charge (donation optional). There are all sorts of designers, so if you want to check it out and see whose style you like, you can. Then you just put in your request for one and what you would like to have written on it and what pictures you'd like to have included, and before you know it, it's done. They can even be animated!

Here's the one that was made for me. I loved it so much. It was like getting a gift to open!

Don't forget to visit Biblical Womanhood for more Frugal Friday tips!

Thanks for looking!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

At The Beach...

While visiting my family in Canada, we got to go to the beach a couple of times. The first time, we nearly froze to death and only stayed about 15 minutes and just took a walk up and down the beach. I did manage to get a few nice shots in while I was there (of course). Here are my favorites from that day. Again, constructive criticism welcome!



My sister graciously allowed me to post her shot. I really like how it turned out. (You'd never know that I actually removed our daughter from this particular picture while playing around with editing program)



When we went a few days later, the weather was much nicer. I actually went in the water up to my knees...too cold beyond that! Brrr!! But as usual, in the way our daughter grabs at life, we just couldn't keep her away.

Back from our Trip...

While visiting my family in Canada, we went to visit Kings Landing Historical Settlement . It was so much fun to see it through new eyes. Everywhere I looked, I saw potential for a great composition. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and actually get out there in person someday. As a photographer, it truly can be a real feast for your eyes.

I took so many that I couldn't just choose a few, so I put them together on this slideshow.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Some shots I especially loved...

More Macro Practice(I'm crazy about this setting!!)

Cobwebs with and without spiders...
















































And some more itty bittie creatures...



































Notice the little spiral-like antennae! Neat!!

More Macro!!! I love this setting!!

I enjoyed shooting in macro so much, that I "focused" (no pun intended)on getting better at that this week. Some of the pictures I shot with my mum's Finepix F20 because I ran out of batteries. CC welcome!!

Fuzzy Bumblebees...

A Look Into The Macro Setting...

Here are some shots I took while out for a walk. On these, I was experimenting with the Macro setting on my camera. This setting focuses in on the smallest detail. They turned out pretty well. The first one is my favorite. You can see the little hairs amongst the thistle.

This is a picture of a dragonfly. Notice how the wings go back instead of out when they are still. Hmmm. I think this one is the type that only has one pair of wings instead of two. Interesting! The picture is not as sharp as I would like it to be. I'll have to work on that.

The last one of the tree stump was not taken in Macro, but I took it during my walk, so I thought I would include it just because I liked the textures of it.

Just Experimenting...

Well, I'm visiting my family in Canada for a couple of weeks, so I will be taking advantage of the beautiful scenery and countryside while I'm here, and focusing on my "Focus". So, hopefully I will be posting more often, as now, everything I look at lately, I seem to think in the way of how that such and such would look in a frame, or has great textures, or great composition, etc,. I will try and categorize so that there will be some kind of order to it.

The first pictures I will post are taken from thousands of feet in the sky from the airplane window. I turned off my flash so that it would not reflect in the window. Here's what I got. It actually got me thinking of clouds in a whole new way. They are really beautiful to look at but especially when you notice things about them like texture, density, shape, and especially the many shades of colour they can be other than white.

Precious In His Sight...

Sigh!!!! Our baby's not a baby anymore! Happy 3rd birthday to our little sweetie pie! We love you so much!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My First "Frugal Fridays" Participation!

I enjoy visiting Biblical Womanhood every day. It is often that I leave there feeling encouraged, edified, and even sometimes get my toes stepped on in areas where I could improve.

Well, every week they have "Frugal Fridays" where you can post a money saving tip that you think would be of interest to others. Well the "tip" I am posting today, has saved me lots of money and is enjoyable to boot! So without further adieu...


Here is my first "Frugal Fridays" submission. I just had to share the website I found not too long ago that has free instructions to make beautiful boutique-quality custom-made hair bows. Bows that elsewhere go from $10-$15 online, you can make yourself to coordinate with outfits for a buck or two.

I'd also encourage you to use the opportunity to get to know other mothers better. I have met with other mothers several times now to make the bows and exchange ribbons and barrettes, and really enjoy the time with them(and my daughter enjoys playing with their children too). Be careful though, bow making can be addictive!

Please visit Girly Things for the free instructions on multiple bow styles, bow holders, beaded bobby pins, and even a free tutu pattern(Yay! Guess what I'm making our daughter for her upcoming birthday) that you can construct yourself for under $5.00!

Here are some examples of bows I've made so far...

Here's some more...I told you it was addictive!!! Tee Hee!!

Don't forget to visit Biblical Womanhood for more Frugal Friday tips!

Thanks for looking!

Leaning On His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

Butterflies ~ Part 2

Thanks for the CC Cindy. Here's how I tried to correct it. I ran a noiseware to try and remove debris and cleaned up the rest by cloning and also got rid of the dead butterfly.
Before...
...and After














I don't know...I find it took away a lot of the detail and made it a little too soft. Any other suggestions of what I could have done to avoid losing the detail in the butterflies and the oranges?

Here's the edit with nothing but the dead butterfly removed.










Ugh! That doesn't look so great either. Sigh! Wish my computer was compatible for the Photoshop Elements 5.0 I bought off of ebay. Oh well, until then, at least I can know what to work on in the meantime, eh?