ren fotos

It's been a while...

2010-02-10T09:52:00.001-08:00

People have not been part of my usual picture taking...but she was fun to shoot. After settling down some after getting married - I decided to get back into taking pictures.

My first out door graduation...

2009-05-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

...I was very disapointed that there was no throwing of the caps! It happens in all the movies! Well here are a few of my favorite people at the graduation.

How good to have a camera in hand again...

2009-05-18T10:38:00.001-07:00

Back with my favorite family to photograph - here are my favorites from my return to taking pictures! :)

somewhere in alabama

2008-11-18T07:57:00.001-08:00

A few scenic shots from a break at The 40, Intervarsity's student conference for Georgia schools. It really was a beautiful place.

not in control

2008-11-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

I decided to have some fun with the camera on my computer. Since I did not have any say regarding the camera settings, I arranged lighting, composition and expressions.

It was fun! I highly recommend a computer with a camera - just taking more pictures is one easy way to learn more!

orchard visit...that turned into a date!

2008-10-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

So...I've been distracted lately. I'll get back into the swing of things!

wedding fun

2008-09-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

This August Todd Adamson gave me the great opportunity to help out with a wedding. Photography for weddings is the most interesting to me. It was great fun! Todd ended up passing along a few of my shots to the couple! That is even more fun! Here are a few of my favorites from the ones that he touched up and passed along. Thanks Todd!

isolated body parts

2008-08-19T14:32:00.001-07:00

Back in May I visited a rural Iowa community festival. I'm still learning about the legalities surrounding posting pictures of people / children from public events. Anyone know the facts here? In light of those questions, below are a few isolated body parts!

photoshop practice

2008-08-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

Before and after shots from downtown St. Paul. This picture that has potential as a future puzzle, gave me some good practice in photoshop. Do you notice the differences? And even better...do you know what I did?

more roses

2008-08-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

a little piece of living room worship

2008-06-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

A good friend was visiting last week and his creativity with the guitar inspired me to get my camera.

A picture is worth a thousand...more pictures?

2008-05-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here is one picture and more that were made from it.

A desperate walk

2008-05-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

It had been so long since I had been able to get out with my camera I just took a walk and shot everything I saw...and a few things I didn't.

Is the red in the background identifiable?

The lovely historic district was home to dead things...

And very much alive things!

things about photography I enjoy...

2008-04-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

natural light...

learning from a professional...

people willing to let you practice...
(you know who you are - if you duck every time you see a camera, twist your head around and throw your hands up - I'm talking about the smiling person next to you)

being really cool with little kids...
("of course she's a professional! You don't pay $700 for a camera unless you're really serious!") Since most professionals own multiple lenses that cost more than $700, I got a kick out of that one!

quality equipment...
This picture of me was taken with a Nikon D3 - which is just a little more expensive than $700...

sticking with photography...

2008-04-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Spring means lots of activity around the house!

Good friends over for brunch...

yard work...

and sewing projects!

After ruining a pair of work pants I was trying to hem, hemming a pair of capris the wrong direction and ruining my favorite work skirt - all while watching my roommate finish a set of pajamas...I have decided to stick with photography!

focal length : shutter speed

2008-03-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was a regular model photographer with my friend's children. I was crawling around on my knees - taking hundreds of shots - and they were perfectly posed, exposed and framed...or at least it looked like it in the view finder.

However, photo...

After photo...

After photo...

After photo...

...was fuzzy or out of focus or something was just wrong. When I brought it up to Todd (see top right) he mentioned a ratio that I had not heard of before. Shutter speed should always be at least the same as the focal length. That should help reduce any lens shake. I'm excited to see the difference.

This last picture is here because it was one of my favorites from the weekend.

As promised

2008-03-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of several new pictures that were taken that weekend in St. Louis. Enjoy.

Some things I didn't know

2008-03-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my photo mentor (who will have his very own link on my blog as soon as I figure out how to do that...) I have new information. My 50 mm lens has little numbers around the ring in the front - specifically '1:1.8'

That number impacts my dof but it actually represents the largest possible aperture opening!

Another fun mistake follows:

I took this picture because the lighting was fun and I needed to take a picture of something!

The image looked "noisy" to me so I wanted to check the ISO - maybe it had been too high?

On my computer I just click on the image and then press the apple key + i and magically...all my image information appears.

However...

I was looking at this image in photoshop and so when I pressed my trusty information combo, this happened:

My history pallet said that I had "inverted" it. I still don't know what that means but I thought it was fun. Maybe I'll shoot a few things planing to "invert" them and see what happens.

They say failure is the best teacher...

Depth of field

2008-03-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I traveled south from a snow filled Iowa to a 77 degree Sunday in St. Louis! More pictures from that trip will post soon but here is one in original form and after some minimal work.

This is the orig. picture - my friend's daughter was playing outside.

The following is the revised photo after "smart sharpen" in Photoshop and cropping:

I know this lovely little girl and I know her mother will like the picture - however I don't know if it has "market value." Would a stranger who didn't know her find the picture interesting?

If I could do it over I would use my 50 mm with a depth of field (dof) that can reach 1.something to blur the background. Better yet I'd get a zoom lens that has a better dof... The background is distracting in this picture. This photo was taken with an 80-200 mm zoom.

Seeing everything

2008-03-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

You never know what you are going to get. I was really pleased with the rose pictures and had lots of fun taking them. I was thrilled to finally put some pictures up that I had taken recently! I was proud of the work I did and I also pride myself on my attention to detail...

Below there are two pictures that have a very distracting line down the middle from the background. How did I not see that till after they were posted? Pride wants to take them off immediately - but since this blog is devoted to learning - stay they will.

on roses...

2008-02-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

Never before have I enjoyed roses so. They scream boring to me - or I should say they used to! When I finally got all the pieces of my camera (yippee!) I was desperate to take pictures of something and my roommates flowers from her boyfriend were the most notable inspiration - I went crazy!

I started with playing with the depth of field and ended with messing with exposure. It was a blast and an unexpected side benefit is a deepened appreciation for roses - who knew?

Poor Planning and Delayed Gratification

2008-02-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

Waiting, waiting and waiting - and now some more waiting!

Camera was coming...waiting
Learning about lenses....waiting

Camera came!
Lenses lent!

Forgot about battery...still waiting...

Waiting for my camera

2008-02-12T05:48:00.000-08:00

My lenses arrived yesterday. I've got a memory card. All I need now is my camera! I put off making the decision so long - "Nikon" or "Canon", new or used, cheap or good lenses - now I just want the thing in my hand so I can start shooting!

There is a soft dusting of snow this morning and the silent flakes stick to my hair and cheeks. My mind fires away all the pictures I'm missing - that little kid's hand that's clinging to his mother - the dogs prancing around in the snow - macro shots of snow flakes...

I wonder if I'll be this inspired when I actually am able to do something about it?

Hopefully more!

The art of buying a camera

2008-01-22T10:49:00.000-08:00

My decision has been made - I will buy a camera on-line from a reputable company. This weekend I tried to buy a camera without knowing exactly what I wanted. I was looking forward to perusing the selection, checking out what felt good in my hands and asking a few questions.

A nightmare ensued!

The knowledgeable yet high-pressure salesperson at this respected camera chain was abrupt and clashed immediately with the peaceful scene I had hoped for.

"That camera is being replaced by (insert name of more expensive model -more megapixels-of any brand of beginner digital SLR) so you should really get the (insert same name as above)."

(But I don't want the most expensive camera the first time - I'm more concerned with lenses anyway...)

"Actually you should get the pro series model - these are just upgraded point-and-shoot cameras for beginners."

(But I am a beginner...)

"Have you made your decision yet?"

(Yep! But it's not the decision you think...)

On-line is the plan for me. Heeding a warning that many on-line camera companies are suspect, especially the ones with the low (attractive) prices, I'll be buying from one of the following that I hear are pretty good.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
http://www.keh.com/onlinestore/home.aspx
http://secure.cameta.com/index.cfm
http://www.calumetphoto.com/
http://www.adorama.com/

Happy camera hunting to all.

A Journey in Photography

2008-01-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

From play to pain while learning photography...ren fotos shares the experience of one photographer in training.