A small mix of photos this week...

This was a very busy week! Between work, yardwork, preparing for a trip, and preparing for our bathroom getting redone, I used my camera very little. I brought it to my great-aunt's surprise 75th birthday. It was in a hall and the lighting was very low. So I increased my ISO, decreased my shutterspeed, and decreased my aperture. I may have lowered my shutterspeed too much, because the pictures are not as crisp as I would have thought or would have liked, and it might be due to my movement picked up during the longer shutterspeed. I also am not immediate family, so I didn't feel confident getting right up there to snap shots. I wish I did as I really only got one decent picture.

Cropped  a little:

I took some before and after photos of the yardwork we did this week. The befores have too much sunlight and shadow, but we were about to start digging, so I had no choice. I tried to wait until all shade for the afters.

Before:

After:

Hopefully the bushes will grow to fit into the space soon!

As I said, I'm getting ready for a trip, so there may be a delay in posts. But I'm hoping to have MANY pictures from the trip to work with when I do post!

Scavenger hunt

I did not have much time with my camera this week. But I think I did manage to get enough to post for the scavenger hunt. 

1. Happiness

Happiness to me is being at the beach, watching and listening to the waves. 

2. Spring in black and white 

It was kind of funny to think of spring in black and white, as it is so full of color. But I tried. 

3. Family or faith 

I did not have a picture for this one, but wanted to share that www.onefundboston.org has been set up to help those injured in the Boston Marathon bombings. I have faith that, with support, there will be recovery. 

4. Fuzzy 

My local garden/landscaping business had these little guys for sale! I saw them the other day but didn't have my camera with me. So I went back in today and snapped a couple quickly. I felt so awkward but it helped me get out of my comfort zone. And I thought they were perfect for fuzzy! 

5. Gathering or provide

I like providing food for the birds. They're so fun to watch! I have been trying to capture the cardinals that come by, but they only visit briefly. 

Thanks for reading! 

More little people!

I had some little visitors this week and they let me photograph them! I am still at the point of not wanting to intrude on their activities or direct them, so I just took pictures of what they were doing, seeing if I could capture some great shots "au natural." The first spot was in my living room, and they were close to my front window. I tried snapping with the blind open and closed because I was not sure how it should be. I'm not sure if some of the photos came out light/cool or if it's the gray wall background. They are pretty adorable nonetheless!

A little fun with aperture:

Then we went outside because it was so nice, out and mom is brilliant and brought bubbles. I found it was really hard to get the focus exactly on the eye with moving targets and mostly resorted to making sure their face or body was in focus.

'

I wish I didn't chop off his other hand!!

:)

Gotta throw in some bloopers of ones with completely wrong focus. It's always a learning process right?

Then they eyed the sandbox and I got another couple of cute shots! 

I had a hard time getting them both in focus. I was using a 2.8 aperture though, which I thought would be sufficient. It all happens so fast, I didn't have time to think to increase it and take it again. 

Chicky caught on that this was a photo shoot and decided to give us some poses! Too cute! I wasn't sure how long she'd stay like that, so I was quickly trying to play with the settings. I think one is a little too light and the other two are a little too dark. 

I'm really happy with the photos we took, and we had a lot of fun! I'd like to play around with some cropping and editing colors/tones. Along with a couple more lens', Photoshop or Lightroom is on my wishlist. Thanks to my models and their mommy, and thanks for reading! 

Scavenger Hunt

This week I continued using my new camera and practicing photography through these scavenger hunts. It really pushes me to take pictures of things I wouldn't normally, which makes me more creative and confident.  I am quickly realizing how annoying bright sun can be in photography, causing so many shadows!

1. Outside

We were outside a lot this weekend, raking old leaves, picking up fallen branches, and building a compost bin, which we used this shovel for. 

2. Chatterbox

Clearly, these angsty taggers have a lot to say!

3. Comfort

Mac 'n Cheese, need I say more?

4. In the kitchen

I really like this one, and it just goes to show you can't always be sure what shots are going to come out better or worse than you thought. 

5. Trees

We had a lot of fallen trees from the blizzard and started cutting them up for summertime campfires. Can't wait! 

I got a few other great shots just by doing this scavenger hunt. I've decided to add an honorable mention section. Haha. Like I said I'm learning a lot about lighting and hope to get better at navigating it in my photos. 

Thanks for reading!!

My First Scavenger Hunt

Well with no kids and no pets, I don't have a lot of material with which to frequently work. So I thought I would try one of these scavenger hunts to switch things up. There is a button from the website that didn't seem to work when I put it on here. If anyone has any tips on how to get that on here, I'd appreciate it! I enjoyed having to be creative to come up with interesting photos for each category. It also proved to be a great way to ensure I continue regular practice with my camera.

1. Water 

2. Empty

3. Fresh

4. Weathered

5.Ordinary

I plan on trying to do this weekly, especially the weeks I don't seem to have any inspiration or any plans that would lend to using my camera. Thanks for reading!