Day 25

It was so beautiful outside today! I was able to get a lot of yard work finished. Fun times! Getting ready for another rainy week!

Jovita is 2 months and 11 days old today. She and I were laying on the trampoline hanging out and soaking up the rays. I decided to try to take some pictures of her while she was awake and smiling!

These are the best two. I'm still only shooting in AV and I've started playing around with the white balance fuction. I figure I will stick with AV for a couple more weeks.

This next week will be a busy one for me. I will try to keep up with my daily photos, even if it's just pictures of me pulling my hair out..lol. I'm getting ready for Art Hop and I need to have my list of what works will be displayed turned in by Wednesday and I'm still trying to figure all that out. I will be doing the set up on Feb 9th. I'm really excited!!!

Me & My Guy Dance ~Day 24

Jaylene and Chris went to the Me & My Guy Dance at school this evening. I am so happy with these pictures. I have a beautiful family!!! Jaylene looks so gorgeous! I couldn't be prouder!

If I could change anything it would be to make the background a solid white. I did make them retake some pictures without the stuff on the mantel.

All shot in RAW and edited in PS Elements. Wooo hoo I'm getting the hang of this! Portraits are not my strong suit but I like these!

Sorry I missed yesterday's picture of the day....I needed a break from the computer and editing! I definately don't like feeling burnt out on something I'm so passionate about..a break was needed!!!







They were both getting tired of me saying "Just ONE more".....lol

Day 23

This one is my favorite......



I drove up to Mt. Shasta today. I was able to get a few shots. Some I'm not too happy with. I've yet to figure out the correct settings for landscape shots with snow. To me, the mountains look too blue and the sky is washed out. I also really super cheated and added some clouds. Just thought I'd try it out. Anyhow...here are today's pictures.

Day 22....

Actually, I never made it to day 27 take one of the 365 Project!! So, this should be just Day 27.

I was taking a picture of my vintage Japanese black lacquer music box and I noticed how the light was hitting this lady statue. So I became obsessed with the reflection (50 shots later). I did one in black and white and one in color. Not sure I honestly like either. I'm tired so these will have to do!

Great Day....beautiful day!!! ~Day 21

Not only is it my sister's 26th birthday.....

The sun is finally out from behind the clouds!!! I'm so excited to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, it really has lifted my spirits! On another good note....I will be presenting my photos on Feb 13th 6pm-9pm at the Discovery Shop in Redding CA for the 2nd Saturday Art Hop!! They will be on display for a month! I have my work cut out for me in the next week. If anyone has any suggestions on which photos should be displayed please do let me know. I have thousands of photos to go through and any help would be appreciated!! I am so happy and super nervous! Thank you to my husband, my friend Theresa, my family & my friends for encouraging me, supporting me and keeping me going!! I truly appreciate everyone!! (Really..it's not the sun shine talking lol)

Happy Birthday Sister!! I love you!

Soap Suds~Day 20

Today's vintage photo!!! Soap! LOL

The weather is really getting to me. I've sent my husband out to find some full spectrum bulbs. I truly believe I have SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. I can't stand much more of this rain. I need sunshine! I'm tired, just plain blah! They say we should see sun on Wednesday & Thursday and then back to the rain.

Thankfully my daughter reminds me to take my photo of the day, honestly I really don't feel up to it.

Stereoscope with Cards~Day 19

This is dated June 11, 1901. Most of the photo cards have copyright dates of 1900-1905. I did take this to the Antiques Roadshow when they came to Reno, NV. I don't remember what they said it was worth but looking around today on the web, the stereoscope could be worth $50-$60 and the sets of cards, I found one set going for $75. I have a total of 51 cards, I haven't counted the sets.

I was having an issue with the lighting. The last couple pictures I was using what ever natural light I could get through the window. No luck today with that!

My Daughter's 10th b-day!

Today is my daughter's 10th birthday!!! Right now I have five girls working on scrapbooking and baking brownies, cookies and cupcakes. I'm lucky to have my bestfriends daughter to help me out!!


I'd love to post some more pictures of all of them having fun...but without asking their parents first I think I should not.

I'm glad they are having fun!! As for me...I'm ready for bed!!! LOL

Bug Off!!!

Another blast from the past!!! Two bug sprayers. They both have a glass jars with wooden handles. As far as how old they are, I'm not too sure. One has a sticker that reads J.B. Marsh Pest Control Service with a phone number 352...so I think that means it's old...lol

Just for T~I added a color shot. I just messed with all the sliders until it looked okay to me.

Vintage

Theresa and I were talking last night about antiques. I remembered that I have a lot of old things from Aunt Helen. So, while there was a break in the rain I went rummaging through my totes in the garage and found a lot of neat stuff. I will be taking pictures of all this stuff in the next couple days. It works out great since the weather is so bad.

I found my Grandpa's 1935ish Ansco Goodwin Box camera. So amazing that they actually used these cameras!! I don't even know where to start as far as loading the film let alone finding the shutter release! LOL Thank goodness the manual is still in the orginal box!! I looked on E-bay and found a few of these cameras. It's cool to see that mine is in better condition than the ones going for $35.00!

I took this in RAW, processed and converted it into black and white, changing the White Balance to Tungsten. Used the Vignetting effect in the editing. I'm pretty happy with this picture!!

New Family members

Jaylene wanted to use her Christmas money to get some fish. On Monday, she bought a three gallon tank, with two Mollies and one Tetras. The lady at Walmart did say that two of them were pregnant. I didn't believe her. :) So I was setting up the tank, and went to go put them into their new home and yep....there were babies in the bag!!! So, I took the adults out of the three gallon and put them in a goldfish bowl.

Yesterday, I couldn't handle the three big fish in such a small bowl. Jaylene and I headed to Walmart. Since Jaylene's birthday is on Saturday we bought her a 10 gallon tank. We got home, I set it up and put them into another new home. After a while I decided we needed more fish!! Back to Walmart yet again!! So, we now have 13 babies in the three gallon tank and 6 in the 10 gallon.

I'm pretty sure I'm enjoying our new family members more than Jaylene!!

Screw missing....

TV 1/20
f/5.6
ISO 320
53mm


I took this one today. Shot in RAW and edited in Elements. I'm trying to figure out how to save in both DNG and JPEG. Although I know I would be using up a lot of my hard drive.

I'm reading The Better Photo Guide to Exposure by Sean Arbabi

So far it's a great read and I would really recommend it.

Make up day...Day 12 and 13

Playing around with everything!!! The first one was taken in monochrome, the second one I changed in Elements. I think the first one looks softer and a lot better looking all around. I took these last Thursday, so I am behind. Jovita is growing fast!! Every single time I get to watch her I take as many photos as I can!!

CHEAT DAY

I didn't take any pictures today. I pruned my plum trees, well one of them. My body gave up after the first one. We are expecting a lot of rain (6 inches) starting tonight through next weekend. So, don't be surprised if I take a lot of random photos while I figure out RAW and how to process it.

Today's picture is of me, and not taken by me but with my camera. Yes, I was being a goofball with help from Coors light!! We had another fun filled night of Wii bowling last night. I hope everyone is enjoying the 3 day weekend!! Can't wait for the COWBOYS game tomorrow!! Wooohoo!

Ding..Ding..Ding..Winner..Winner...Chicken dinner!

AV~1/60
f/3.5
ISO 400


Sorry...WHITE poster board not used. WOW! Isn't it crazy how you can be so overwhelmed and then the next minute the bell goes off, the light comes on and it just clicks (no pun intended). I have changed my camera to RAW. Set the camera to AV and took only 12 shots. Opened Camera Raw in Elements 7. I finally figured out why my photos have had a yellow tint to them!!! My white balance is off!!! DING DING..winner..winner! I think that all AUTO settings should be banned! Although I know I have a great eye, those settings have stopped me from learning what I really need to know.

So folks, here is my first ever raw picture, edited entirely by yours truly!!! I adjusted the white balance, the exposure, slightly moved the Blacks slider, and brightness. I also cropped it. I did not use any of the AUTO fix buttons. It's neat to have full control over your picture. It is not perfect, but you have to start some where!! The Coors Light can seems a little blurry to me, (I've only had two sips!) and the cover of the book the can is on is all messed up. I'm not sure how to fix that yet. Definately not my best. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

I hope to go back to this picture in a year and say, "What the hell was I thinking?"....and improve it. I'm sure I will!

Pulling my hair out......

I'm laughing now that I actually read the page that I took a picture of...I should have read it first before taking 72 shots playing around with the shutter speed, ISO, and Aperture. Anyhow, I have a headache, heartburn and I'm really confused. Other than that I'm great!

I didn't get the job but I'm okay with that. Besty is a really nice person, and very encouraging. I am eager to learn more from her. She gave me quite a few suggestions and I'm looking into all of them!! Thank you Besty!

I picked Jaylene up from the bus today and the first thing she asked was how the interview went. I told her that I didn't get it, she said "That's okay Mom, you don't need it, you are a better photographer." That comment made my day! I'm so lucky to have such a supporting family. I'm sure everyone was wondering why I wasn't more disappointed about not getting the job; because I know I have so much more to learn. This is my passion, and on the days that I want to pull my hair out I will remember I love doing this. I will keep on going, stop doubting myself and persevere.

So, these pictures, which I know suck (Oops, not very positive) were shot in Manual. I'll figure it out soon. I bought a book on exposure and I plan on reading it over and over until I understand everything. I know I can do this and it will only make me a better photographer.

Wow, sorry for rambling. Off to Walmart for trashbags and Hannah Montana invitations! :)

Another Sunrise.......

1/80s
f/8
ISO 400

I tried this in HDR but it didn't turn out without my tripod. It was nice to see the sun again!!

Another One Bites the Dust

Another one of my favorite coffee cups has gone to Starbucks heaven. I've had this cup for three years. I know that this cup can finish a pot of coffee in four and half cups. This cup will be missed! Since it's raining here, this is today's picture.

On a good note I have a meeting on Thursday for a job. I'm excited and nervous! The opportunity to work with a professional photographer thrills me to death! There is so much to learn and learning from others is awesome! Wooohooo! Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Backyard Fungi

Since Yolanda asked me what types of mushrooms I photographed while visiting the Trinity River I spent an hour looking through pictures of mushrooms. I still don't know what type they are and I'm waiting for an email from someone who hopefully does know! Today I decided to go mushroom hunting in my backyard. I found some!! Again, I don't know what type these are but they make a good picture of the day!

I used my lens cap to show the size of these guys! Pretty big compared to the other mushrooms!

Day Six....take two

Well I've just spent the last 10 hours editing pictures, organizing, and burning photos onto cd's for my family and friends. I'm attempting to clean up my hard drive and get things organized before it gets too far into the new year. As most of you know I am still learning Photoshop so today was a little stressful! I've deleted over a thousand pictures. Made 10 new albums with all my 'keepers'. So today we have a picture of my messy desk, and the organizer in PS.

Day Five

Well actually this is from Thursday. I didn't take a picture yesterday. I promise I will today but don't be surprised if it's a picture of a pile of laundry I'm working on!! LOL I will post that later today.

Since I wasn't too happy about Tuesday's pictures of the mushrooms I took some more on Thursday. I like this one!

Day Four take two.....

Here is a picture of my friend Tina with her niece Jovita! This is my first attempt on converting a color photo into black and white with Photoshop. I usually just use my monochrome setting in my camera. Jovita is getting so big! She's up to 9 pounds now and already has a cute personality!

I will work on today's photo later! Have a great day!!

Trinity River ~ Day Three...take two

Pops and I went fishing again today on the Trinity River. After about two hours without a single bite I decided to try out some HDR images. Here is the one I liked the best!!

Sunset

Here is today's picture! I've enjoyed going through everyone's blogs and catching up! I also spent about two hours looking through Flickr. I have my inspiration flowing through my veins!!!

"There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer." ~Ansel Adams

Pops told me not to crop this so I listened. So this picture is huge!!!

Ready....Set....Go....TAKE TWO....

Well...I'm back! I'm not sure if it's been the weather, the holidays or just me being in a slump but I'm ready to try this again!! I apologize to everyone for not post anything lately. I do appreciate you looking and your comments.

Here are a few pictures from today. I had a great day with my Pops fishing for steelhead on the Trinity River. I handed off my flyrod to him and within 3 minutes he had landed a beauty, I'm not too happy that he stole my fish! I wasn't able to catch anything but it was a beautiful day! I'm not thrilled about how the last mushroom picture turned out, the glare from the sun ruined it!!!