Early Morning Sunrise

For some reason this morning I was up early and noticed that due to low cloud coverage the sunrise was creating a beautiful scene. Thought I would try to capture it with my 50MM lens. I for some reason could not capture what I was seeing using the A setting but I was fine on the P setting. Going to need to figure out what I was doing incorrectly. I used my 50MM and was suprised to get a fairly good shot even through my very dirty windows. I have a nice vantage point being in a high rise and living fairly near the top. Enjoy my rare morning shots since I am normally not a morning person!

I have also grown to love Lightroom 3. I have very much like the quick editing I can do to my raws and then export them into jPegs. Not fancy editing but great for posting and sending to friends. I will need to eventually take a course on Lightroom so I can maximize its benefits. Another task for my growing to due list.

For now good night!

Musings of a busy mind (and at times confused!)

I have begun to realize how difficult it is to keep a blog up and running. Especially for me I find I get all my thoughts jumbled up and then I am unable to put anything on paper. My blog is more about my life in general, musings on my growing love of photography and occasionally a random blog post about anything that catches my fancy.  Just hope I don’t put anyone to sleep while reading my posts!

It has been a very busy time since I wrote last. Christmas in my family is a lot of crazy running around and lots of visitors. The holiday was also a great time to get some photography fun in. I was unable to blog earlier about a fun studio session I had with two girls of a family friend. We had done it to surprise their parents with some photos as a Christmas present. It was a tough session with a steep learning curve. Photographing a two year old and five year old is quite a challenge. Especially since the five year old was in an interesting mood the day we decided to do the photos. I used a white sheet as a backdrop and my 50mm lens. Literally my dad corralled them and I just took as many pictures as possible. Thankfully I got a few that captured their personality. The best photos to illustrate the day are the outtakes:

(Dad was trying to get them to sit with not a whole lot of luck)

(oldest girl had squishing down pat on this shoot!)

I also had a great time visiting Henry’s for a special sale. To make a long story short, I won my dad a $500 gift certificate which he put towards a new Canon Rebel T1i. A pretty sweet camera and one he is already having lots of fun with. He is insisting at the moment on keeping his five year old rebel but I am pretty sure it will be gathering a lot of dust soon. His new camera is far better for his creative and artistic drive when it comes to photography. Me I just bought a camera bag appropriate for travelling and a light weight tripod with a gift certificate my cousin gave me for Christmas through our family exchange. I got thoroughly spoiled, I also now have a small portable flash. It appears I am pretty outfitted with camera gear for awhile.

The next adventure was the debate on bringing my camera for a short business trip to Dallas. With the new security rules I was nervous on whether or not I could carry on my equipment. Thankfully the new LowePro bag I bought was the right size and made the hand check by security pretty easy. I just made sure I only had my camera bag. I am pretty shy and find it difficult to photograph in unfamiliar situations. I had decided to bring my camera to my division’s award night, mostly to just practice indoor shooting with my 50 mm lens and the new flash. I quickly got recruited to be the official photographer for the night and ended up taking well over 50 group shots. This was a huge challenge since I was using a stage which had large speakers in front, and roaming spotlights above. In hindsight I should have tried to get the spotlights turned off.  Unfortunately could not move the speakers so when I edited the photos tried to mostly crop them out. At this point I have the 100 plus photos edited but still awaiting instructions on how everyone wishes for them to be presented. I do know eventually I will have to create a photo presentation that will play on a very large screen at the next meeting in the spring. A new challenge since it is not something I have done before.

Sorry for the long post but I’ve had a busy couple of months. Next up is creating a cheet sheat for the functions of my camera, a cool idea from my camera club! I also need to spend some time learning the telephoto lens I bought in November before buying another lens. I also need to find a  good course on lighting and using a flash, a big problem for me technically.

Till I write again!

Speeding towards 2010, blink and you will miss it!

I haven’t had a whole lot of time lately to post. It is an insanely busy time of year both personally and at work. In honor of my new French friend though, thought I would try to come up at least one last post before we speed into 2010. I can not believe it is only seven days till Christmas Eve.

I haven’t had a lot of time for photography although I have managed to buy two used lenses, a bigger memory card and an extra battery. I got spoiled for my birthday in November and got some gift certificates to Henry’s. Still have one gift certificate to use but haven’t decided what I want to spend it on. It might eventually go towards a flash.

I did recently get a chance to try out my new 50 MM F1.4 Minolta lens at a casual portrait shoot. Neighbors of Mom asked whether Dad or I could possible take a few photos of herself, her husband and her infant daughter. Due to timing issues I have only managed to have a shoot with Mom and daughter. It was a lot of fun and I learned quite a bit. I was going to try and use a beanie bag chair but was unable to locate one in time. Instead we used a small side chair which turned out to be okay for positioning but I kept getting a chair arm in the pictures and cutting off extremities. Need a little more practice with the lens and remember my position in relation to my subject. I am hoping when we schedule the family portrait I can do a try two with the daughter. I am going to try and find a bean bag chair for the next time. I have been following a photographer named Amanda Kern and I love her stunning infant photos. I have trying to pick up a few tricks and tips from her blog postings, hope Amanda doesn’t mind. At the moment I am holding back on posting photos, haven’t had a moment to ask permission or been able to process any of them from the first shoot.

The other lens I bought is going to be a test of all my skills. It is a Sigma 50 MM – 200 MM F4 – F5.7. I tried to use it on an outing and managed to get every shot out of focus. I have quickly realized I need to use a tripod, not my favorite piece of equipment. I also need to know how to change the speed on my camera, so I can minimize the blur when using the lens fully extended. Practice with this lens will need to wait till next year when it is a lot quieter and I get some time to focus on honing some more advanced photography techniques. Just hope I don’t regret buying it, thankfully it was also from the used store so I didn’t pay a fortune for it.

Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Funny Reflections to my 16 year old self

Thought it would be a fun post to makes some reflections to my 16 year old self since I just turned 36. Yes I just aged myself, hard to believe its been 20 years since I turned sweet 16. Well okay so I maybe wasn’t the sweetest 16 year old but what teenager is.

I have to say to my 16 year old self that although you may think you are really fashionable you will get quite the shock when you are older and look back. Yes you usually look like you are dressing for a funeral wearing far too much makeup. I still have no clue why we though mustard yellow was a good colour for us. Leopard print was about the only thing you got right and it will become a big obsession when you turn 35 or so. You will also find the amount of clothes you own will vary, at your peak in your early 20’s you will have a massive walk-in closet full, then it will go through a phase where you can fit everything in the smallest closet you will ever see, not to worry we are back to having a very large closet. New rule is very every one thing you buy one thing has to go to Goodwill. Plus we still have a taste for the finer things but due to places like outlets and a good sense about sales we can give the illusion we can afford it.

On another note better get really good at packing. As you turn 16 you will make your first move and then you will be moving far more times than you can count. In actual fact you will discover at 36 you will still have stuff packed from your first move. I have to say you may want to attempt to collect less things but it will be tough. Dad won’t help by accidently making a hope chest the size of a small coffin. It will unfortunately not fit in any place you live in for the next 20 years!

Dating will be one of those things we just never get quite right. You will quickly find you have an attraction to boys that albeit charming could be classed as well serious bad boys. You will meet your soul mate but it won’t be like the Hollywood fairytales. Your soul mate will be one twisted, dark, charming bad boy that is so not good for you. Sorry you are just going to have to hope that there is a second one out there somewhere. On the topic of boys you might want to avoid the really charming one that you will eventually marry and divorce. He won’t bring you that house with the white picket fence or the pitter patter of little feet. He will be nice enough though to give you the gift of a psycho kitty. Cleo will arrive with a bad case of fleas and with a face only a mother can love. Be warned you will need a lot of patience because Cleo will be a handful.

I will say that life will give you a lot of challenges but you will come out the other end better for all of it. I might be giving you a bit of advice but I really wouldn’t change a thing. It is life challenges and successes that will make who you are. Yes we will realize at certain points in life we should have gone left instead of right but not to worry it all works out in the end.

Although I do have some photos from the 80’s thought I would post one of my rare baby photos (there might be more but I haven’t found them yet).

Speeding through the Fall

It seems I am down to blogging once a month, not sure if that is as much to do with not enough to say or just being too busy! I am leaning towards too busy, at this time of year everything seems to speed up, time flies and if you blink you miss something.

This month I took the brave step of entering my photographs in my first competition with the camera club I joined. I entered four digital photographers and three prints. The prints were the most work, didn’t realize matting took so long. It took my Dad and I about four hours to matt about nine photos. Think we need to figure out how to speed up the process or stick just submitting digital photos. This Thursday and next Thursday I will find out how my photos are received. Not so sure about being judged but I will be interested to see what comments I get.

This month also marked the first time I took entire weekend of photos in the Raw format. It got a little tricky afterwards due to a bit of a mix up on available software. For now I am using a demo of Photoshop CS4 and I hope to be able to afford Lightroom in December for a more permanent solution. As I twittered I promise to never go back to jPegs. Yes I know everyone told me about RAWs but I had to find out for myself. I love the fact I can adjust every nuance of my photos including white balance. Good thing because I haven’t quite figured out how to white balance in camera yet. One step at a time!

Some of the photos from the weekend were from when Dad invited me on a car ride through the backroads of Campbellford. Found some interesting roads including one that was a apparently a dead end but as a blast to check out. This wild road, had some of the worst hills and blind corners. Sometimes it fun just going for a relaxed drive with lots of photography stops.

If any of the photos in the competition get a mention or a good score I will post them for all to see. Till next time!

A Whirl of a September

It has been a very long time since I posted but it has been super busy!

This month joined a local camera club. Already met a few really interesting photographers. One who is named Pavel and does these incredible landscapes. Pavel is one photographer I really want to learn a few things from. The other gentleman is an incredible HDR artist. His website is at www.garyjcarr.com. At times I find it hard to distinguish his regular photography from his HDR work. I will die a happy woman if I can have just 1/16 of their talent! This Sunday will be a workshop to Dundas, ON if the weather holds out. Will post photos if any work out.

The other event of September is we took the two girls we look after occasionally to my cousin’s cottage. We try to take them at least once a year. It is one big adventure for them and very tiring for those trying to keep up with them. The youngest is two and the oldest is 5. Both girls are aware that I normally have a camera and at one point requested I take some photos. Unfortunately I struggled with lighting and taking photographs of two girls who don’t stop moving. The photos below reflect the mood of the shoot but I clearly needed a bounce flash or figured out how to get the lighting just a tad better:

The next day was a bit better since we were outside but again it was tough getting good shots of two very active girls. I got a few though that were super cute and reflected their personality:

I also had a bit of fun and followed the river for awhile. Took a few creative photos just for fun and to play with aperture and shutter speeds:

Hopefully my next post with lots of photos with be sometime next week!

Experiment with photos instead of words.

In honor of the photographers of having been absorbing ever tip and trick I can from, I am going to try to do a blog with less words and more pictures. I am hoping they make people stop and pause. I took these all on my last trip to the cottage and was trying to just experiment with shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Any feedback you wish to pass on is greatly appreciated.

I look forward to the next experiment and learning as much as I can about my new hobby. Till the next post!

Screaming Good Time!

I had always thought of myself as a pretty tough girl. I go camping at least once a year and spend quite a bit of time at my cousin’s cottage. Apparently this last trip I discovered I am still at heart a soft city girl. Never helps when three women are left to fend for themselves well stocked with wine!

First fun of the trip was Wednesday night. We decided to watch a few episodes (actually 4 of them!) of the first season of Mad Men. Did not know we were to be accompanied by the loudest cricket we have ever heard. We thought at first it was one of the fans so we turned them off. Then we though one might be near a window so we closed the window. Nope that did zilch to turn down the volume. Who knew crickets could be that loud. As we were getting ready for bed my sister quickly figured out that the offending cricket had to be in the cottage somewhere and she was right. Only one problem who would be the brave soul to capture it and take it outside apparently that volunteer was me. First few attempts failed and as soon as the thing jumped everyone screamed. After a huge fit of giggles successfully got the cricket out of the house unfortunately we quickly realized there were two. It was the invasion of the ugly black bugs that can jump! Second removal went a lot smoother.

Thursday was interesting because I found out ants can bite. I was wondering around the back yard and was pretty nonchalant about the little bugs crawling on my foot. Then much to my surprise they suddenly started biting. I have never been more shocked. My sister was laughing at my frantic attempts to get them off. Stupid ants!

Thursday was also the night of the big storm. In Campbell ford we got a sheet lighting , heavy rain and wind. We were enjoying a quiet dinner in the sunroom with just candles so we could enjoy the storm. I quickly discovered I have not just a flight response but a flight and fright response. After one particularly spectacular lighting flash, the biggest crack I have ever heard occurred (a maple tree nearby was split in half). My first instinct was too scream then dash to the livingroom. My sister thought I saw something (watches way too many horror films) and quickly followed my lead. Mom was right behind her. Poor Harry (my Mom’s cat) ended up in the livingroom flattened to the floor, poor guy!  Tempete slept through the entire storm and screams, lucky cat is pretty deaf. After much laughter and more wine we settled in to watch more Mad Men. Slightly more difficult than it sounds since we had a couple of power outages while watching and the PS2 does not have scene selection.

It was a really fun five days at the cottage with lots of adventures. On Saturday evening we lost power for several hours, which meant dinner and socializing by candlelight. Only twist is that with no electricity the water pump doesn’t work. No water means no working toilet!  I also had a great time experimenting and learning my camera. I had three of Scott Kelby’s digital photography books with me and learned some great tips from them. I will post photos in my next blog post. I haven’t had a moment to process them although I do not touch my photos up that much. I am still learning how to use various programs like Photoshop and Lightroom.

Post again soon!

Moments In Time

After a very busy few months shooting everything that I can and being volunteered for a few events like a charity boat cruise and my cousins wedding have begun to realize my best photography occurs when I do candid type shots.

My personality is best described by a friend, as an introverted, geeky but cool girl. Still not sure if that is a compliment. I am just not comfortable with attempting to get people to pose and corral people for group shots. I prefer to blend in and make myself as unobtrusive as possible. I am still a long way from mastering the technical aspects of a camera but I am getting comfortable in capturing that one moment in time that are fleeting and sometimes hard to capture unless you have some patience. A strange concept for me, I never normally have a lot of patience but put a camera in my hand and suddenly I can sit still for an eternity trying to get just that right shot. Only problem with my style of photography I take a lot of photos.  Poor Dad, who assembles the photos with his video for the events we have attended, has to sort through hundreds of photos. For the wedding I even was using his camera since it had a flash and added a few more on his camera!

These are some of my favourite photos taken this summer from the various places and events I have been to:

This was a great moment with the entertainer on the charity cruise (a female impersonator who is wicked good). Little boy was in a lot of my shots he had quite the personality. Also loved the blue in this dress.

My first attempt at a classic wedding shot. I was parked at the end of the aisle and was just trying to catch the couple walking through the bubbles. Capturing bubbles on camera in bright light is a challenge. This is where I needed knee pads.

This is my favorite photograph of the wedding weekend and the favorite of my family. This happened after several attempts since Craig never sits still. At this moment he was trying to get over a door mantle and he happen to look up just as I said his name. This spot also had that perfect amount of natural light.

The next big decisions I need to make it what I want to buy next. I have not been able to decide if a lens or flash is more important to my needs. I have an event coming in October that will be indoors but I can use my Dads camera if necessary since he has some pretty nice flashes and lenses. His camera is not my favourite in the world it can pretty heavy fully loaded. Decisions, decisions!

I am also looking forward to the fact Dad and I join a local camera club in September. This will be very interesting since the club appears to have a lot more advanced photographers then novices (ok advanced novice) like me. I suspect I will be listening to a lot of people speak Greek when it comes to the technical terms.  I love to learn so this will be a great new adventure for me, I love a challenge.

Thank god it’s Friday! Everyone enjoy the weekend.

Three Furry Friends

In honor of all the cat lovers out there thought I would post a few photos of my favorite furry friends. We have three cats on our house who all have very distinct personalities. It can be a very crazy house some days, like having three 2 year olds running around. But they are still super lovable well okay maybe two of them.

Cleo is my cat and I have had her since she was a kitten. I did not know at the time she was from a group of feral barn cats. Cleo has some behavioral issues and I am the only one allowed to hold her or touch her. Everyone else has to steer clear! She can be super loving with me and a times can be an over the top crazy nut. Cleo is now nine and is officially a senior, you wouldn’t know it though she still has the energy and agility of a kitten.

Rajah is one my sisters cats and was introduced second to the house. Introductions did not go well with Cleo and to this day they tolerate each other but that is about it. Rajah was nine months old when we adopted him and was trouble from day one. Rajah is super intelligent for a cat and never misses a thing. Rajah had socialization issues in the beginning but is now a big marshmellow. Loves his belly rubs and will chatter for hours. Being part Siamese he has an incredible vocal range. Rajah can also chew a toilet roll in under 20 seconds, paper towel takes a little longer but not by much. Rajah can chew like a dog and can chew wood if it is available.

Mickey is my sisters second cat and is the diva of the household. Unlike Rajah, Mickey had been around Mom to long and instantly bonded to my sister. Mickey we think was nine months old when we got her but there was confusion on her age since she was a really tiny cat. Mickey loves to cuddle and is none too pleased when my sister is ignoring her. Mickey has learned from Rajah to torment poor Cleo. Cleo just doesn’t get a break. Mickey also loves anything soft, at the moment she has melted into her fleece pillow on the chair. Yes Mickey is also super spoiled.

The story of Mickey and Rajah is pretty incredible. We got Mickey so that Rajah could have some company, since Cleo was just not warming up to having another cat in the house. Mickey hissed at Rajah once then the next thing we knew they were sound asleep together on the couch. So much for doing the slow introduction, it was love at first sight. Mickey and Rajah are best buddies although Mickey is boss. Rajah on the occasion gets a little aggressive on his cleaning of her and Mickey will just whack him in the head to stop. Rajah and Mickey also can be trouble times two, one day Rajah had shredded several toilet rolls, Mickey then proceeded to spread the shreddings down the hallway to our bedrooms and into the livingroom. That was a really big mess to clean up, they were very proud of themselves though.