A quick hello...

I certainly do love peonies!  They are so beautiful!  (and I'm loving my new vase that I picked up the other day!)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  I’m off to the other side of the state to go to a flea market tomorrow.  I’m so excited!

Take care.

My 52 Week Project : Week 16 {water}

Week 16!  I’m getting closer to being caught up!  Almost there...

My 52 Week Project : Week 15 {two}

I went a little outside the box on the theme this week.  My subject this week was tulips...get it “two lips”?!  ;)  I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s my project and I can interpret it the way I want, right?!

My 52 Week Project : Week 14 {weather}

Frost on the grass on a cool spring morning...

My 52 Week Project : Week 13 {catch lights}

This week’s theme was catch lights.  Catch lights are basically “lights” in the subject’s eyes that kind of make the eyes “twinkle”.  I’m no expert on the subject, but I learned a bit about catch lights when I took Lynne Rigby’s Shooting 101 class from Clickin Moms a couple months ago.  A great way to achieve catch lights in your subject when you’re shooting inside is to have them face a window and you stand in between your subject and the window and have your back to the window.  Then the light from the window reflects in their eyes and you get that dreamy look.

These are two photos (I know, can you believe I’m submitting TWO photos ON TIME!!) of my daughter from this past week.  She is so hard to photograph because she’s always on the move...and she immediately runs when I get the camera out!  Fun stuff, I tell ya!  ;)  The first photo was achieved in the morning when the light is amazing coming in my dining room - there is a sliding glass door behind her and a large window behind me.  And, hey, she’s strapped into her highchair eating her breakfast...so she can’t run away from me!  ;)  The second photo is of her standing rightnexttome, which was a little difficult because she was so close and I was shooting with my 50mm lens.  I was sitting in a chair and she was playing with the lamp on the table next to the chair.  The catch lights in the second photo are from a combination of the huge picture window in our living room and from the lamp she was turning on.  I was surprised that the lighting worked out as well as it did in the second picture with having the two light sources.  A happy surprise!  ;)

Hoping everyone has a wonderful next week!

My 52 Week Project : Week 12 {white}

This Spring is going to be interesting for us as we get to know our new yard.  We moved into this house in October of last year, so we don’t really know what kind of plants and flowers we have in the yard yet.  Since Spring arrived early this year, we’ve seen some flowers starting to sprout up here and there already and are excited at what we’re seeing.  I think we might have tulips coming up, but I’m not that great with flowers.  Yes, I know what a tulip looks like, but so far the plants just have leaves, no budding of flowers yet!  I’m sure we’ll find out within the next week or so just what they are!  

This morning, when I was pondering what to capture for my theme this week - being the last day of the week and all, I looked out to our back yard and saw WHITE!!  At first glance I thought it was either daffodils or hyacinths.  I couldn’t really see the shape from inside.  So, after I put my daughter down for a nap, I grabbed my camera and headed outside to see if I was right on one of my guesses.  When I got out there,  I found that they were, in fact, daffodils.  Ha!  I was right!  ;)  The thing that threw my eyes off while I was inside, thinking they could be hyacinths, was this patch of ground cover just behind the daffodils - that I hadn’t seen until today either.  I have no idea what they’re called, but they sure are cute!  Since the daffodils weren’t really in good shape, I’m glad these guys were there, too, so I could snap a couple pictures of them - ya know, just in time to complete this week’s theme!  ‘Cause I’m a procrastinator...but you already knew that!  ;)

My 52 Week Project : Week 11 {motion}

Week eleven’s theme was motion...and it was really hard!  Hence the reason I’m REALLY late with my submission!  I tried just slowing my shutter speed down while shooting different subjects, but I wasn’t getting the effect I was looking for and I was getting really frustrated.  I thought about trying panning, but I couldn’t think of a good subject to try it on - I don’t think my daughter would be able to follow directions well enough at this age.

It was well past the submission “deadline” when I remembered reading about implying motion while zooming in Bryan Peterson’s book Understanding Exposure.  I thought it sounded like fun and I didn’t even have to have a moving subject.  All you have to do to imply motion while zooming with your camera is slow your shutter speed down long enough so that you can zoom your lens before it takes the picture.  Once you have your shutter speed slow enough (you may need to do a little trial and error with your settings) and you’ve got your exposure set correctly, then hit the shutter and quickly zoom your lens - either in or out, whichever is the opposite of how you started.  It’s not that difficult once you do it a couple times.  

The subject matter in my photo isn’t amazing, but I like the effect.  Now that I’ve tried this new technique, I think I will look for more interesting subjects to try it on and see what I can come up with!

My 52 Week Project : Week 10 {round}

Here is my submission for “round”.  Rylan and I have been eating blueberries by the handful lately!  We both LOVE them!  :)

Short and sweet again this week.  Sorry, but I have lots of other things on my mind.  I think this warmer weather gives me spring fever and makes me want to get a hundred projects done all at once!  :)  Hopefully I’ll be sharing a few more with you this week and/or next!

Have a wonderful week!  :)

My 52 Week Project : Week 9 {leading lines}

So, I’m late with week’s submission.  Surprise, surprise.  I didn’t have the best week and I’m just not feeling up to this right now, so I’ll keep it short and sweet.  

Here is my submission for leading lines.

Hope you all have a great rest of this week.  I have an idea for week 10’s theme and really hope I can deliver!  ;)

My 52 Week Project : Week 8 {self-portrait}

Okay, so this week is self-portrait week.  Ugh!  I hated this “assignment”.  This is the first time I’ve ever done a self-portrait and it ain’t easy.  Just sayin’!  

For one thing, it’s really difficult to get the camera to focus when taking a self-portrait - at least it is for me!  For some reason, I could get it to focus on other things, but not my face.  I tried over and over again and finally just used manual focus.  Which brought on a whole new set of problems.  I went back and forth, back and forth.  Tweaking the focus, checking the display...on and on and on until I got the focus in the right spot.  

I actually started out in a different location with the perfect idea all thought up in my head, but the lighting was NOT working out for me, so I moved to the bathroom of all places!  I knew I wanted to do a black and white photo this week, so I wasn’t too concerned with the crappy white balance that I would get (I’m pretty sure our bathroom has one incandescent lightbulb and one fluorescent one in the same fixture!).  It actually worked out pretty well shooting in the bathroom because I could look in the mirror to see how I looked before I shot. I know that sounds conceited or whatever, but it’s harder than you’d think to make yourself look in a picture the same way you think you look in real life.  Does that make any sense?  Anyway, I set my tripod on the bathroom sink/counter, directly in front of the mirror, and used a remote shutter release.  I probably could have just hand-held my camera, but since I have this handy dandy remote, I thought I should probably use it!  I’m sure they make different remotes and self timers and whatnot to make this whole process easier - especially the focusing part - but I don’t see myself investing in any of those anytime soon!  I’m not super thrilled with the technical side of this picture, it was more of a let’s-just-get-a-shot-that-makes-me-look-halfway-decent-and-get-outta-here kinda thing!

Oh, and I can’t believe I’m posting this so early in the week!  I’m so proud of myself!  :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!  Here’s to warmer weather!  :)

My 52 Week Project : Week 7 {red hot}

Week 7’s theme was “red hot”.  We could shoot anything that was red, hot, or both red and hot!  :)  Of course, once I found out what the theme was, all I could see was red!  I saw every little red detail on every toy and book that my daughter owns.  It was crazy!  I wanted to shoot something that meant something, though, not just something red.  This weekend we went to my in-laws’ house to stay over night.  I knew we were going ahead of time, so I kind of put off my “assignment” until then.  I like to shoot outside of my home because I get a little bored shooting the same stuff all the time, so when I have an opportunity to shoot somewhere else, I take it.  I had a couple ideas of what I wanted to shoot for “red/hot” this weekend.  I knew I was going to see a movie at the theater, so I thought it might be fun to shoot the lit up movie theater sign...but I didn’t.  Maybe another time, though, because I think it would be fun.  Another thought I had for “red/hot” was to shoot traffic on the highway.  Standing on an overpass at night, I could blur the motion of the cars’ taillights heading away from me which would result in some cool red lines.  Again, didn’t do that, either, but really want to some time.  It ended up snowing and there was no way I was going out in the cold!  Haha!  Maybe I’ll try it in the summertime.  :)  

One more thing I thought of was the Raggedy Ann doll my mother-in-law owns.  She’s had it for several years and keeps it in a box in a closet.  She likes it a lot, but doesn’t want it to get ruined by sitting out (which I totally understand!).  I knew she had it, I knew the doll is special to her, and I knew it has RED hair!  Perfect!  I gave it a little bit of a vintage feel both in setting up my shot and in post processing.  I staged her on the guest room bed which has a beautiful quilt and soft colored pillows on it...and the room just so happens to have a window with amazing light coming through it!  Then, in post processing I gave the photo just a little bit of a vintage look.  I didn’t want to go overboard because I don’t like my photos to be too processed.  Just a little “improvement” to give the photo the look I was going for.

I know I’m super late on week 7, but I’m hoping to be super EARLY on week 8.  Look for it in the next day or so.

My 52 Week Project : Week 6 {culture}

This week’s theme was culture.  We could do anything that represented our personal culture/background, our country’s culture, etc.  I chose a baseball since it’s such a big part of American culture.  I used to HATE baseball until I met my husband.  He has loved baseball since, like, forever and over the years has gotten me just shy of obsessed with it!!  :)  I can't wait for the season to start (GO Tigers!!), but spring training hasn't even started yet, so I have a while to wait!

I got this ball at a Tigers game a few years ago.  The players were practicing on the field before the game started and one of them threw it up to me in the stands!  (My husband may or may not have caught it for me - but I'm the one that asked the player for it!)

And, guess what?  I'm a day earlier than I usually am in submitting my photo!  Go me!

My 52 Week Project : Week 5 {best friends}

Ugh!  What a hard week for me!  I won’t go into any detail, but I’ll just say this - I’m glad it’s almost over!!  

Anyway, this week’s theme was “best friends” - and, really, who’s closer than PB&J?  Or, in this case, PJ&fruit spread!  ;)

Here it is...

See ya next week!  :)

My 52 Week Project : Week 4 {bokeh}

Week 4!

How is it week 4 already?!  Oh my!  Well, here we go!  

I just got home from a little vacation with my daughter, so please forgive my tardiness!  We had a wonderful time visiting her grandparents (my mom and step-dad) in Marco Island, FL.  It was sunny, warm, and it sure was PRETTY!  My submission this week is an image of my daughter on a boat tour at the Naples Zoo - which we went to on my birthday!  The tour, which was about 15 minutes long, visited several little islands in a man-made lake.  Each island had monkeys living on it and the driver of the boat gave us a little history about each species.  It was fun to see them and how they interact with each other.  Rylan didn’t really catch on to the fact that we were looking at monkeys, but she sure liked the water!  She so takes after me in that respect!  I love water (I just don’t like being in a swimsuit!)!

Anyway, this week’s theme is “bokeh”.  In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image.  So, the “focus” of this week’s image is not really the subject, but rather, the blurred background of the image.

Sorry if this post feels a little “choppy”!  I have a lot going on right now - like trying to keep my 16-month-old from falling down the stairs and trying to get our vacation laundry washed and put away!

I’ll be back later this week with “this week’s” theme and submission!

My 52 Week Project : Week 3 {food}

Ok.  Let me first start off with telling you how much harder this 52 week project is than I thought it would be!  Oh my goodness!  I know we are given themes, but to actually take the time out of my day to get in a place where I feel creative enough to make something look halfway decent is HARD!!  And it’s only week 3!!!  Wow!  This is going to be tough!  And I’ve already thought plenty of times about quitting!  Haha!  Oh well, I’m going to stick with it for as long as I can because I really think it will benefit me in the end.  I think it will help me to be more creative on the spot instead of having everything “staged” ahead of time.  Like this week’s shot.  I had some ideas in my head about what I wanted to shoot for “food”, but as the week went on, I still hadn’t taken an photos.  Yesterday my hubby suggested we go check out the dog show.  Rylan loves dogs (so do we!) and we thought it would be fun for her to see a LOT of “ruff-ruffs” all in one place.  She really enjoyed it and even got to pet some dogs - which she loved!  Afterward, we went out to lunch at Potbelly Sandwich Shop.  I had never heard of Potbelly until we moved over to this side of the state.  It is so YUMMY and I’m so glad my hubby suggested it because I was able to get my project shot while we were there.  We walked in the door and I already had my camera in my bag (good habit to start getting in to!) and I thought “Oooh, I have the perfect idea for this week’s theme!”  I’m not THRILLED with it, but I feel like it is a definite improvement from last week!  ;)  

BTW...I am really enjoying my photography class.  This week was hard, to say the least, but things are starting to come together and that makes me feel good!  It is crazy how much I thought I knew and how much I really didn’t know!  I am so glad I signed up for this class and will never, ever, even for one second regret it!

And with that...here’s this week’s shot!  A yummy smoked ham and swiss sandwich from Potbelly!  :)

My 52 Week Project: Week 2 {up}

Okay, my shot is super lame this week - mostly because I waited till the last day to do it!  :) We live just outside Detroit and I wanted to take pictures of tall buildings for this week's theme. But I felt crappy this whole week and today, when I finally felt better, it was snowing like crazy there (not so much where we live)! Here is a shot of one of the tigers that sits outside of Comerica Park - home of the Detroit Tigers. I'm looking UP at it since it is so tall!  ;)  Hoping for a better week next week!  :)

My 52 Week Project : Week 1 {breakfast}

I’ve had an interest in photography for several years now, but feel like I don’t know near as much as I want to.  I know the very basic “basics”, but I want to know more.  I want to feel confident with my camera and feel like I can go anywhere or be in any situation and know how to capture a beautiful image.  Or at least get close!  ;)  So, about a month ago I signed up for a membership to Clickin Moms.  Clickin Moms is a place for women to share their photos and love of photography.  They have all sorts of info, resources, and workshops to help women learn more about photography and really make the most of their passion.  I haven’t participated as much as I had hoped to yet, but I am going to try to get more involved.  I asked for money for my birthday this year (which is coming up in just a few short weeks!) and I decided I’d spend it on a Clickin Moms workshop (Shooting 101) and start the new year off with more knowledge about my hobby!  The workshop starts on Monday and I cannot wait!  I’m sure it will be challenging, but I am excited to learn!  Also, since we just rang in the new year, the Clickin Moms forum has had many new photography “projects” pop up in hopes of getting people using their cameras more.  One that I decided to participate in this year is a 52 week photo challenge.  Each week we get a topic and have to submit a photo based on that topic.  I am really excited to participate in this challenge as I really think it will help me to keep using my camera and get better and more creative with my shots.  Also, I LOVE that there is a topic every week because there is no way I could think of something different to shoot 52 weeks out of the year!

This week’s topic is “breakfast”.  And here is my submission!  

I knew I wanted Rylan in my shot this week, so I made sure to take some pics of her eating one morning.  This is my favorite one.  This was the first time she’d ever eaten Fruit Loops and she liked them A LOT!!  ;)  Glad that worked out for her so well!  And glad they kept her occupied while I took pictures of her - from ALL different angles!  ;)

I’ll be back next week with my next photo.  I can’t wait for tomorrow when I find out my topic!

Take care!

MERRY CHRISTMAS...a few days early!!

Last year around Christmas time I was seeing all these cool pictures with Christmas lights in them and they looked amazing to me.  I knew I wanted to learn how to create the look so I read lots of tutorials online about it.  But, the season got away from me.  Having a 3-month-old at the time, I just didn't have the energy or patience to put into "playing" with my camera.  So, I vowed that next year I would work on it.  Well, this year came and here we are!  I wanted to share some of my attempt at Christmas photos with you.  I know they aren't amazing, but I'm proud of what I was able to create and am excited to learn more throughout the coming year so that hopefully my pictures get even better next year.  I was just thinking tonight how people say "Practice makes perfect".  I have never really agreed with that saying, even as a child, because the extremely literal side of me says "No one can be perfect, only God is perfect!".  SO...I always say "Practice makes better!".  So, I'm hoping every year, with more practice, I get BETTER at what I do!  :)

Enjoy!  And hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season...and maybe even enjoying some time off of work or school!

             

Our attempt at a family photo!

More like her Momma than I thought!  She'd much rather be behind the camera than in front of it!

My husband gave her a sugar cookie...or maybe two?  Either way, she was messy...and hyper!

Decorating our homemade Christmas sugar cookies

She was clearly getting annoyed with me!

Our sleepy "babies"

Playing around with the settings on my camera!  ;)

And if you didn't receive a Christmas card from us this year, here you are!  (Sorry, we cut back this year and just weren't able to get to everyone, but you are all in our thoughts!)

Bite-Size Apple Pies

Just a quick post from me tonight.  I wanted to share this recipe that I made for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  We are visiting with my dad, brother, and half-sister on Thanksgiving, but we are just having dessert and keeping it casual.  I’m super excited because I don’t get to see that part of my family very often and I love dessert!  Win win!  ;)  

I volunteered to make the desserts since I’m kind of into baking these days (crazy, I know!).  These bite sized apple pies are one of the desserts I made.  I tried these a month or so ago and really liked them, so I thought they’d be fun to make again.  AND...they are super easy to make!  Way easier than a whole apple pie!  (I would assume...never made one before!)  I got the recipe from Taste of Home and followed it exactly.

Bite-Size Apple Pies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 pkg. (14.1 oz.) refrigerated pie pastry
• 3 Tbsp. butter, divided, melted
• 2 medium tart apples, each cut into 8 wedges

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside 1 Tbsp.  On a lightly floured surface, unroll pastry.  Brush with 2 Tbsp. butter; sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.
2. Cut each sheet into eight 1-in. strips, about 8 in. long.  Wrap one strip around each apple wedge, placing sugared side of pastry against the apple.
3. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Brush tops with remaining butter; sprinkle with reserved sugar mixture.  Bake at 425° for 13-15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.  Serve warm.

Here they are all rolled up

...and here they are with the butter and sugar on top!
All ready to pop into the oven!

YUMM!!

A couple tips about this recipe...

Definitely try to serve warm, if possible.  They taste even better when they’re a little warm!

Serve with ice cream!  Yumm!

Like the recipe states, use tart apples.  I don’t even know what kind of apples I used the first time around, I just picked them up at a farmer’s market.  They didn’t have Granny Smith apples at the time and I don’t know my apples, so I just picked ones that were described as tart.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think they were that tart once they were baked.  This time, I used Granny Smith apples.  I tried one out after they were baked because they looked really good and I couldn’t resist! to see if there was a difference, and there was definitely a difference!  I liked them even more with the Granny Smith apples...they just differentiate the apple from the pastry a little more.  So, I guess I would suggest using Granny Smith apples - not just any “tart” apple!  :)

And on a side note...I have really been trying to work on my photography skills and have been enjoying food photography a lot!  I'm having a lot of fun with it!  So, I hope you enjoy the pics, too!  ;)

Hope you enjoy the recipe and especially hoping you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

{up} ... new camera strap cover!

I think I found the perfect way to keep my husband from stealing my camera!!  

This is a pic of my new camera strap cover that I ordered from Eclectic Whatnot.  It should be here any day now!  I can't wait to get it!  And the best part?  It was "free" b/c I bought it with some left over Christmas/Birthday money (my birthday was in January)!  Yeah, I spend MY money very carefully (not so careful with OUR money, though)!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!  :)