Snow day!

My four. Pure happiness. Seeing them full of joy makes my heart explode. And I was so happy to pull out my camera & capture what I could before I froze. :)

Oh Christmas tree...

My kids' Christmas tree is up & the other day, I happened to catch a glimpse of what I thought could be a really cool shot. So the other night, I pulled out my camera to see if I could capture it. And I did! Winning!



Isn't that awesome? Was taken at night, in the complete dark, all manual settings, 50mm lens, no flash.

Love it!

I am so excited for Christmas this year! I'm simplifying & I feel so less stressed this season! :)

I am finally starting my own photography business!

Lets do this! It's never too late, right? Or, better late than never!



For too long, my photography has been ignored. I adore photography. I always have. Many of you, who have traveled with me over the years, know that. Photography makes my heart go pitter pat. For too long (several years), I have contemplated opening my own photography business. I've been supported & encouraged, but always said no. A month or so ago, I began to revisit the opportunity. There have been many discussions with my husband & family. I am thrilled to announce - finally, I made the decision to ignore my fear vs. my photography. I'm currently wrapping up details. And I am oh so excited to begin this new journey with my own photography business!

Yip!

I will incorporate my photography into my current Facebook page. Click here to follow along! I also will be posting sessions here on my blog. So darn tootin' exciting!

Getting reacquainted.

If you've known me long, you know one of my greatest passions is photography. Natural light photography, specifically. I think I've done a post close to this one, stating that I just don't take photos like I used to. Although I am taking more photos, it's still not to my satisfaction. I also mentioned that I had shifted all of my extra time & energy to my other passion - Shaklee. I love & adore Shaklee! Nothing has changed about that & nothing will ever change about that. I still devote time to Shaklee, but now that my business is getting more established, I really want to focus on & increase my photography. I will be posting more photos here, like I used to do in the past. I am ready & I am excited!

Christmas, for the most part, is over. We do have my family Christmas on the 30th, & then Audi's birthday on the 31st & Jaguar's birthday on January 1st. Five days later, is Mercedes' birthday. Whew! To say this time of the year is exhausting for me is an understatement. Especially with a few illnesses thrown in there, to boot. But as proven years past, all will be fine, all will be celebrated & all will be happy. I still have my review to do, too. I wanted it completed a few weeks ago, but sometimes my intentions get the best of me & what I want to accomplish just isn't realitic to what actually gets accomplished. Most of the time, I bite off more than I can chew. My review will get done, but it will probably happen the 2nd week or so in January, once things slow down. And if it happens sooner - that'll be great, too.

So amidst wrapping up Christmas & three birthday celebrations, I will squeeze in more research time to find another great Canon lens for my camera. Due to poor in-house lighting on Christmas day, I had to use my flash on all photos I took. I am still just sick over it. I am completely anti-flash, so when I'm forced to use it, I'm just not a happy camper. New lens with a large aperture it will be, just as soon as I can get to a reputable camera store.

Now. Time to organize images, back up all images, clear my CF cards & yet again, charge my camera battery. Time to ignite that passion!

Cancelled interview.

He had an interview today, to see if we could get him an audition with Disney. Unfortunately, late last night, I discovered the interview was somewhat of a scam, so we declined last minute.

Before I knew we were going to cancel, yesterday we ran out quickly late afternoon & I took a few shots to take to his interview. He did not need professional headshots, just typical photos. I am somewhat disappointed in how these turned out, but it was SO incredibly cold, this is the best I could do. I was shivering so much, I barely checked my settings (all photos on manual, which is pretty much all I shoot) - I mostly concentrated on holding my camera still.

That said - he is precious! I think his eyes are so mysterious. Love him so much! ♥

Quality test.

Ah. So not happy with these. Will try one more time after charging my battery.

Manual - not a snapshot.

Squirt.

Took this of Bentley this evening. I'm shooting back in Jpeg - love RAW - however, I don't really care to spend the extra time editing in RAW. (This photo was actually taken in daylight - I edited it to look this dramatic. I ♥ it! :)

More photos tomorrow - such a sad, sad day today.

Chillin'.

Breaking in between bike riding to play his Nintendo. Sweet. Sweet boy. ♥

(Photo RAW, edited in CS3. All photos will be this format unless otherwise stated. :)

Take time to smell the roses.

Or in his case, Indian Paintbrushes. :)

Happy weekend!



(Photo RAW & barely edited in CS3)

Her eye met the couch.

Hang in there while I figure this out. This will take some time because I can't devote undivided attention. But hey -

Look at this photo! I know part of it is cut off, & I don't particularly care to have them this large, but how beautiful is she??? I say that often about her, don't I? Look at all those gorgeous, natural, spiral curls! ☺

For now, I will leave as is while I do more research. What I'm trying to accomplish is larger photos with as minimal steps as possible. Several ways I can do this, but it takes time to read all the information.

Photo taken & edited in RAW. I think me & RAW might just get along after all. The possibilities in RAW are endless. The only reason I appreciate RAW, at this time, is for all the funky options. In this particular photo, I changed/updated no camera settings. Just the fun stuff. :)

You know I love photography.

And this is why. :)

So can I toot my own horn? Oh come on.

TOOT! TOOT!

Thank you.

Happy weekend! ☺

RAW vs. JPG.

Phew. I uploaded both photos this time so I wouldn't upload the wrong one like I did last time.

Below is the original photo (JPG - SOOC *straight out of camera*). Very blue on purpose - I intentionally chose a white balance that I knew was inaccurate.



The below photo is the very same photo shot in RAW. (I shot this particular photo in both JPG & RAW so I could post process the RAW & visually see the difference). I didn't do a whole lot with this photo - just obviously correctly the white balance & a few other functions. And then I sent it to Photoshop & did some very minor tweaking there. I didn't spend much time on it because I don't have much time today. But, I played for a little while (longer than the last time).



I don't really have the best software for post processing RAW images - I have considered Lightroom which is popular, but hubby wants to get me PS CS3. Unfortunately, I'm not that 'blown away' shooting in RAW so I don't think that will be necessary.

Nonetheless, I'll play around further but obviously I'll shoot in whichever program I'm most comfortable with & takes the least amount of time editing. ☺

(I know you have no interest in this info. but hey, I wanted it for me! :)

Snapshots.

I have been reading for a few weeks about professional (not wanna be's) photographers recognizing the fact they don't snap as many photos of their children because they more or less always want the photos to be 'professional'. I do believe I blogged about noticing that I do this very thing myself - even though I am certainly no professional (not even close!). I found it interesting that obviously I'm not the only who picked up on what I consider - a loss. Every now & then I do snap what I previously called a 'quickie shot' (or QS). Meaning, my camera settings were on auto, w/ flash. Quick. Why I didn't refer to those particular photos as snapshots is beyond me. I dunno.

But for me, I'm going to make a distinct effort to take more snapshots. I do not want to miss any moment(s) with my children. None. And honestly, it is so much faster to take a snapshot in 'the moment' than to take the time to adjust all your manual settings. By the time you do that, good possibility the moment is gone. I want to remember that particular moment - I'm not concerned about quality. I want the memory.

(I also found it interesting that I noticed the snapshot discussion mainly on women photographer's sites, but not as much the mens. Maybe because moms take more photos of their children? :)

For example - the below photo. Snapshot.




It's quite evident here that whatever I happened to be doing at the time, I was taking too long. My Mercedes decided to open the server, rip off part of the phonebook, & patiently keep herself happily occupied reading while I tended to my business. Too frickin' stinkin' cute.

This snapshot I will look back on & smile. And that is what my photography, & life, is all about. ☺



*Aren't you impressed that she doesn't even have the pages upside down? :)

Park fun.

Sheesh. My photography skills (or lack thereof :) were really put to the test today. Clouds. No clouds. Sun. No sun. Shadows. Shade. Movement. Ack! I was constantly changing my camera settings. I think I pulled it off pretty good though, heh? All photos were taken on manual. No flash, of course. Different f-stops. Talk about complicated. None of these photos were edited. I think I'm bored with editing.

Love the park. We will definitely be spending much more time there. And where we live, we have so many to choose from! One reason we decided not to move. ☺

The sliders:





The stroller:



The climber:





The swingers:





Below is one of many locations I think may be good for a photo shoot. And this is the least pretty of them all. ☺



Fun time. :)

Randoms.

Just playin' with my camera. You know, when I look back over Bentley's birthday photos - well, they aren't that bad. I need to to learn to just have fun with this photography hobbie & quit stressing. These randoms are pretty cute too. ☺



Was playing with Custom White Balance here.



The Nintendo DS, Bentley & myself are fixing to go 'round & 'round about this video game. Suddenly I am reminded as to why we didn't allow any video games until he was 7. And now Mercedes is getting in on the action! Suffice to say I do believe I am anti-video games!

I captured a cute kid.

My cute kid turns 8 tomorrow. ☺

I was playing w/ my new camera & lens. And aperature. :)

Exposure Level meter.

I discovered this a.m. that I have never used this great feature! Sometimes I really am an airhead. ;o)

Basically the function of this feature is to let you know if you have proper exposure in your photo (according to what the camera thinks). It lets you know if your photo is underexposed (not enough light) or overexposed (too much light). You can adjust your camera settings accordingly until the meter reads -0-, which basically means your photo then has proper lighting. Sigh.

For almost a year now, even though my old camera has this feature as well as my new one, I have been winging it. Teehee. (Which honestly, probaby is/was a good thing & helped me learn more regarding lighting.) I've been going off my eye which is fine, but it would have been nice to have used that meter to help me out a bit! The great thing is you don't have to use the 'proper lighting' that the camera suggests, but it's there if you need/want it, as a guide. And of course since everyone is looking for something different in photos, especially exposure-wise (so many now-a-days overexpose & they love their photos that way), I assume many choose to ignore the meter suggestions. Obviously for the past year, I've been included in the 'many'. :)

Nonetheless, as a beginner, it would have come in sooooo handy in choosing SS & Aperature. Good Lord have mercy. I really should read manuals. ☺

I'll begin to play around with it now! Especially since I learned & understand all the camera settings. I know exactly what they are for & how they work. I'm curious as to how many pros actually use (or, use it as a guide) the Exposure Level. Maybe none, maybe many! I found it quite humorous that the feature has been there all along & because I'm, well, me, I never paid a bit of attention. Better late than never!

Happy Friday!

New lens Take II.

I'm thinking we're going to get along just fine. ☺

As a matter of fact, I ♥ my new lens!

Happy Sunday!

New lens.

My new lens. Not fond of it but, I haven't had much time to play. We'll be sort of housebound this weekend ('cause it's freezing here again!!) so I'll try again tomorrow.

I also shot this one in RAW. Inside, manual, no flash, adjusted WB (what a difference! Can't believe I typically don't adjust the WB).

Mercedes has some junk in her hair & on her forehead because she now touches her hair & says "pwitty". Teehee. Daddy taught her that one. She's sleepy here 'cause she's sucking her fingers. ☺



*This photo is SOOC. I uploaded the unedited version by mistake. "Adjusted white balance" was done on the camera itself, not in post processing.

Then & now.

My post-processing has improved too. :) That said, I hope to never be one who takes advantage of Photoshop. I want a minimal tweak, not a completely-different-look tweak.

This photo was taken in June 2008. I was so proud of this manual photo! And it is a good photo, but a tad dark.

Below is where I tweaked just a little & you can see it's now an even better photo. :)

She's just as cute now as she was then! ☺