It’s the day after Halloween… and bleck… do I ever regret having Snickers for dinner last night.
Here’s a shot of my little witch with her black cat :-)
I’m so glad I’ve been playing with my camera and following along with Darcy’s 31 Days to a better Photo posts. My pics are already getting to be loads better!
9 is getting really testy about pictures lately. She’ll give you about a 1/3 of a second and that’s about it. Lucky for me, I’ve been learning how to shoot manual on the D90… cause I REALLY needed to figure out how to increase the shutter speed. THIS shot was a bloomin miracle because the Hipstomatic app doesn’t allow for bored 9 year olds. See there?… It’s a smile… for the camera… can you believe it?!
THIS is what she usually looks… She’ll kill me for sharing shots like this one day :-) *snicker*
Coulda been cute had she not tried to squirm out of the shot…
And THIS is the look she gives 6… I call it her “do I really have to suffer the presence of my sister” look. Awe. SO mature.
Hey, at least I can find humor in her attitude, right?
Seriously. I *may* be having a little too much fun with Hipstamatic. But it’s my blog and I’ll put as many of these shots as I want too ;-)
Baby loves her new hat.
Y’all. I’m telling you. Hipstamatic is a SUPER fun app! If you haven’t tried it, give it a go. Lots of coolness.
Another submission to Hipstamom from the pumpkin patch… because it was just too funny not to share… 9 acting like a country girl… priceless LOL
Silly Pumpkin :-)
Sometimes calling somebody a Drama Queen is really just commentary on how silly they are :-)
Have you used the Hipstamatic camera app yet? So. Much. Fun. Old school lenses, films, and filters.
Here’s my submission shot to Hipstamom, a really cool site showing off what people are doing with the Hipstamatic app.
My Pumpkins in the pumpkins
Grainy vintage-y loveliness.
SOOC shot
f 5.6 Tv1/100 ISO 640 98mm
Slightly edited shot… PW action Slight Lighten and eye’s adjusted just a bit :-)
Updated because of iHeartFaces… I’m ALWAYS finding new things to try…
THIS slight edit is using the Imagenomic Portraiture plug-in for Elements… Her skin softened, lots of noise was removed… then I popped her eyes a bit and used PWs Slight lighten. Very pretty. I think I may buy that plug-in… I was able to see immediate improvement and it was not very complicated to use. You can download the free trial here.
I’m learning so much from Darcy it’s slightly ridiculous. Who knew all those numbers in the view finder actually MEAN something! Go check out what we’ve all been learning.
The iHeartFaces constructive editing post really made me wonder… How can I be this dense? Surely I can figure out a freakin program… Surely? Photoshop Elements isn’t even the full blown Photoshop. Surely I can play around and figure out how to do ONE picture.
This was my test
Here’s what I did:
Using this tutorial and video found on iHeartFaces, I was able to make her eyes look much more vibrant. It was a bit tricky to use the magnetic lasso tool the first go around. That’s what the undo button is for, folks.
I have CoffeeShop’s Powder Room 2 action, and tried to use it. Honest. I did. But I need to read the instructions or something because I can’t figure out how to change the layers to show what the adjustments do. Huh. Moving right along.
After backtracking through what I had done (or NOT done) with the action, I started poking around in the area just above the layer information. The circle that’s shaded 1/2 gray and 1/2 white lets me change things like brightness and contrast.
Hallelujah!
I’ve been trying out how to do that on this program for AGES now! After adjusting those few things, I poked around a bit more and found out how to warm up the image using the photo filter adjustment.
So WHEW! Let’s take a look. Shall we?
By no means perfect… but I’m a happy happy girl.
I’ll keep working thru some of these actions as I am determined to figure it out. If I get any farther, I’ll let you know.
IHeartFaces is one of the many places I’ve been going to learn. It’s chock FULL of information. And, as I have learned, it’s best taken in small doses while using your own photo to walk through the learning process. I’m a hands-on kind of gal. IHeartFaces rocks.
Also?
Darcy over at My3Boybarians has been doing her 31 Days to a Better Photo series. It is worth your time to go start at the beginning of the month and work your way through them. I’ve printed every day so far. Darcy has a knack for putting things in a way that even I can understand them… Darcy is also a rock star.
Happy shooting!
Trying to be as wordless as possible…
Sometimes you’ve got to get on your knees and just go for the shot.
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UPDATE: I am so happy to have just stumbled into the iheartfaces post today. I edited this shot and I am TERRIBLE at editing. I used the Canon Digital Professional software that came with my point and shoot to work on this one. I have PSE6, but I know squat about how to use it. I KNOW it can be a better picture, but I just don’t understand Photoshop Elements.
iheartfaces has a linky set up for constructive criticism. I would SO appreciate some help. I’m still a newbie on my first DSLR and only on occasion am getting the kind of shots I want. Heck. Most of the time they look AWFUL.
The original photo information:
ISO: 400
Tv: 1/160
Av: F13.0
Flicker Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25332409@N08/5062637576/
I SO wanted this to be a more vibrant shot. The sky color was BEAUTIFUL that day… it just doesn’t show in the picture. I will say that I was LITERALLY on my knees shooting behind me so that the girls didn’t know I was shooting them.
Any help offered is greatly appreciated! Thanks iheartfaces for this opportunity!
More shots from our quiet time in the Butterfly museum that’s part of the Houston Museum of Natural History…
What a super fun place to have a camera, no?
And because I’m loving this shot of the T-rex, I’m posting it again. Because I can. RAWR!
I’m linking up to Darcy’s Sweet Shot Tuesday this week…
stop by and check out some REALLY great shots!
Every time I get the craving to have some ice cream I start pestering Hubs by yelling like a Southern drawling idiot…
“Lieutenant DAAAN! … Ice Crame… Lt. Dan!”
I’m sure he does not appreciate my need to quote Forest Gump every time I get the hankering, but he married me… Quirks and all.
Could someone please tell me how I happen to end up posting deserts every single time for Sweet Shot Tuesday? I obviously have a problem… and cellulite.
I’m playing around in Photoshop Elements. I’ve had this computer for a while (about 2 1/2 years actually), and PSE came loaded on. As soon as I opened the program I was immediately intimidated so I never really figured out how to use it.
After crawling through several photography blogs, I realized that I really wanted to up my post-shot editing game. Actions are presets that you load into your program and they take a lot of guess work out of the editing process. You find one that you think you may like, load it in, and click. Simple. I like simple.
I still have no CLUE what I’m doing, but I finally was able to load in this action by CoffeeShop. It’s a really neat action called Perfect Portrait so I thought I’d start learning with it.
Before:
Meh. Not SO bad… but the color is sort of washed out and it doesn’t really pop.
After:
And all of that adjustment was just one double-click away. Who knew!
Here’s another, just for playing around…
Before:
After:
Boy… this could be a huge time suck… Because now? I want to run every single picture I have through this action.
Best part? CoffeeShop’s actions are FREE. Makes it a pretty strong incentive for me to figure out Elements, don’t you think?
And now, if you’ll excuse me while I curl up into a ball and cry
over my baby turning 9…
Moments like these are few and far between, so here’s proof that sometimes my kids get along :-)
I’ve been playing around with settings getting to know my camera. Like a good girl should. So, you know, when I have something of actual importance to shoot, I’ll be ready.
This is what 6 does to me. Every. Time.
“Hey! Jillian! Look at Momma!….”
To which she replies…. “BAAAAHHHHHH!”
I thought if I put it out on the internet, in 20 years she’ll be sufficiently embarrassed and apologize for being so damn crazy when she was 6.
And then I actually look at the pics and giggle.
So maybe she knows what she’s doing after all…
Pioneer Woman’s Photo assignment – Water
Remember this shot?
This is one of the reasons I am keeping my Canon G11 point and shoot.
Before vacation 6 asked me to get some pictures of the ocean. We were planning our snorkeling trip and were looking at buying a cheap underwater camera. Well, cheap is a relative term. When we saw them for $400 I started trying to figure out a better way to get a good pic underwater. That’s when I discovered this little gadget…
Photo and link via Amazon.com
It’s a waterproof housing made specifically for my G11. The blue dials allow me to adjust my settings… genius. There are compression buttons that allow me to change modes, view, etc. etc.
I was scared to death to put a $500 camera into the water even with the above mentioned gadget.
The first go around, I put the casing into the water WITHOUT the camera inside. I checked for leaks and then put it to the ultimate test… My swimming pool.
That’s where I got that silly fun shot of 6 underwater.
This is also how I got the reef shots on our excursion.
Pretty cool, No?
I will admit, the pool was much easier to shoot in. And that’s knowing that I had to hold myself under by gripping the fountain rocks and pushing myself down. The waves at the reef were brutal. Also, it was much harder to adjust the settings while those waves were pushing me away from what I wanted to shoot. With practice, this casing will be SUPER cool.
And 6 loved her ocean pictures :-)
Did you think my shopping would be done once I found the camera I wanted? NEVER!
I know I can’t carry this fancy camera in my purse… It would be covered in grit, gum, or sticky retainer mess before you could say “Cheese”. I’ve been asking around and settled on this little beauty. The color is tame, I’ll admit. But it will also go with most anything I wear, so I like that. Not to mention, it’s lined in purple. LOVE! But the main reason I love it is because it looks nothing like a camera bag. NOTHING.
You can’t beat a camera bag that can pull double duty as a purse.
If you’d like to see more of these very cute, non-camera bag looking bags click the pic! You can also find the button link anytime over there to the left on my side bar.
There are several non-camera bag looking styles and some really great colors… It was SO HARD not picking the red one… or the teal one…
Unedited shot, straight from camera.
While I am playing with my new camera, I thought I’d share a shot of an easy summer desert. It’s a white cake box mix baked in a Bundt pan. I used my super simple powdered sugar icing spiked with some lemon extract. Delish. My girls like it with fresh sliced strawberries too. :-) It’s light and refreshing and perfect for these hot summer evenings. Enjoy!
Easy Bundt cake icing:
Combine 1TBS lemon extract with 1/3 c milk.
Stir in powder sugar until icing is thick and smooth. (Approx 2.5 Cups)
Slowly pour over cooled cake.
I thought about not posting so much about the camera and just putting up some pictures… But I thought I should let you know…
I LOVE this camera.
Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera with
18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
The D90 is very intuitive as far as adjustments to settings go. I also found out that it had more awesomeness than I thought.
Take your white balance adjustments for example. Usually you scroll through and find settings for daylight, shade, indoor lights, low lights, etc. and that’s all you see. In the D90, you can choose shade… and then use your wheel to adjust within the shade range. I’m sure all of you DSLR owners are nodding your heads like you knew that 5 years ago, but I just discovered it, so leave me alone. You can also widely adjust the power of the flash… More awesomeness.
In that 30 minutes, I had most of the basics figured out and had a custom button set up. Such fun!
I’m off to find something to put up for Sweet Shot Tuesday. While you have some time, dig out your camera and link up with me!
Inky Pinky Ponkey,
Daddy had a donkey.
Donkey died,
Daddy cried.
Inky Pinky Ponkey.
That’s the clever little rhyme that helped me choose my camera!
Just kidding.
I’ve been researching for hours at a time to come to this conclusion. Pick the best you can afford, and then step away from the computer.
I found sites that were bashing Canon, bashing Nikon, crying about why Sony or Pentax was not high on some persons list, comparisons between system brands, comparisons within brands, professional vs. hobbyist.
There’s so much information on cameras it’ll make your head spin.
Personally, here’s how I went about deciding.
I focused on the types of photography I do. Mostly, that’s everyday shots of my kids. I do a lot of indoor shooting with no flash. I also like to do some macro and travel shots.
I pulled up the specs of my top 3 choices which were the Canon T2i, Nikon D5000, and then the D90.
Thru using the manual settings on my G11, I have found that I need a large ISO range. I located a review site that compares actual pictures of what each camera can do at higher ISOs. Both Nikon’s were better than the Canon at controlling the noise at higher levels.
I also have that Nikon film camera. The D90 has an on board auto-focus system that allows you to use many of the older AF lenses. Given the cost of lenses, I considered being able to use my old lens a bonus.
I studied the types of lenses I thought I would like to have as well. And get this… I LIKE the kit lens that came with the D90. The D5000 kit lens seemed fairly restrictive in range.
After narrowing the choice down to the two Nikons, I drove my butt to Best Buy and played with the cameras.
DO NOT BUY A CAMERA THIS EXPENSIVE WITHOUT HOLDING IT IN YOUR HOT LITTLE HANDS FIRST!
I will say, the D5000 was a great camera. It also was on sale… for MUCH less than the D90. BUT…
After adding the cost of the lenses that I wanted, the D90 was actually LESS expensive as a kit compared to upgrading the lens on the D5000. Yep, you read that right. The D90 was LESS.
When all was said and done, I got the D90, an additional 50mm f1.8 prime lens, a high quality SD card and a 4 year service plan for $1800.
About that service plan… We usually don’t ever buy those. Except I have an uncanny ability to drop my brand new cameras within a week of purchase. I decided that with the cost of this guy, I needed the insurance. It also comes with free cleaning for those 4 years. I thought it was worth the $250 for the plan.
So there you have it. I’m now the proud Momma of a Nikon D90. It scares me just looking at the thing. No lie. It’s light-years ahead of my G11 point and shoot. I can’t wait to dig in and figure the thing out. I like that I will grow into this camera and wont have to replace it in 6 months because I’m bored with it or it’s not doing what I want.
Yep. Momma likes.
