Shoot the moon - FAIL

January 31st, 2009, stardate log or something like that. I'm not a trekkie but I did watch the show when I was a kid. Pretty cool. I wanted to try taking a pic of the moon with my super cool 85mm lens. I realize a larger zoom would probably be preferrable, but hey, it's what I got. I also have come to the conclusion that an early evening moon may be better? Before it's too bright and the sky too dark. I could not get a decent shot, even with Zach outside 'helping' me. I blame it on Owen, taking too long to get to sleep haha.

I'm also curious about the million little colored pixels scattered about most of the images I took, I'm assuming it's 'noise' from the higher ISO (worse on the 800 speed pics) or perhaps small particles in the air. But seriously, red and blue dust? Geez. I couldn't even tell the stars from the colorful bits. Sigh. These pics look sort of cool, but they aren't what I was trying for. It was a crescent moon, I do like the starburst effect though. The second pic Zach wanted me to 'open it all the way up!' or something like that so I turned up the ISO, opened the aperture and let the lens stay open for 30 seconds. It was pretty bright. I did an auto levels in photoshop to bring out the 'details' a little better.

Bye bye January!

Splish splash

Today I decided to see how well I could get some splashy motion with the camera. Zach, my trusty assistant, helped immensely. We set a small glass full of water on the bathroom counter and tried dropping different items in it to achieve a decent splash effect, while I was snapping away with the camera.

I was somewhat limited by the lighting. I had set the ISO to 800, but I still didn't get quite the settings I would have liked. I could only get a shutter speed of 800, would have loved to try about 1000, but even with 800 I had my aperture open to 2.5. I would also have preferred to stop down a little for better focus/definition of the splash, but c'est la vie--less of an opening would have required an even slower shutter so that was my compromise. It is what it is. I still like them. If you (ie. Kevin #2!!!) have a better solution, I would appreciate any input.

Here ya go.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

This post is very photo heavy LOL. I GOT NEW LENSES TODAY!!! *doing the super happy disjointed lopsided klutzy jig* And I guess that's all I'll post b/c I have too many pics. They are probably boring for the most part, at least to the average viewer, but I can see the personality and remember the moments they were taken. Zach is getting a lot more 'into' posing and letting me take pics, I still have to chase Owen and they both have dirty faces but I love them and I love seeing photos of them. They aren't perfect, I still need to work on lighting and focusing (hard to do sometimes w/a running kid) but I think they are better than what I did at the start of this photo project. Oh yeah, there's also another of Harmony. So here you go :)

January 28

Nothing exciting to rave or rant about today. Just a typical day. We did have some friends come by after school, which was fun and pain for Zach. He was an only child for so long, and most of his outings are with Grammy and Grandaddy, so besides school he hasn't had a lot of interacting with other kids. Take away that school built structure and OMG! He has to figure out how to interact with more freedom and it's harder than it looks. His friends want to play outside but HE wants to watch cartoons, or something. How to handle that? Whine, of course. *sigh* We need more playdates, but I don't know how to fit them in with karate 3x/week, daddy off every other weekend needing boy time and the grandparents always needing boy time. *big sigh* I'm just feeling extra tired tonight.

I did get both boys outside later in the day, while the sun was setting and making photos tricky, of course. Thank the gods for Photoshop! Yeehaw. I don't know if shooting in RAW is helping me b/c I can only view the images in the Canon software, then convert them to a TIFF format for photoshop. And THEN I can't 'fade' any effects that I apply and I have leaned on that fade option like a crackwhore leans on her pipe. So I convert the images to 8bit color (no clue what that even means, but I bet it's half as good as the original 16bit color) and make my adjustments, fade to where I REALLY want it, then save. You know, the 'fade' must have been put there for us females. We say 'CHANGE!' and when you change we say "ooohhh...not THAT much!" so with the photoshop 'fade' we can pull it back a bit. No matter how subtle the initial change may have been. I always fade. Damn that fade. But my old photoshop doesn't support my RAW files, CRW files, and if there's a fix, I didn't find it.

ANWWAY, as I was saying, I got a few pics this afternoon, so here they are. Here is Owen, going down the slide backwards. He climbed up the ladder so fast that I barely had time to focus the camera before he went down.


Owen again...this one I am posting b/c it's the first time I actually moved the camera trying match the speed of the object. Or intentionally moved the camera, period. I read about it in a book, but this was my first attempt. Not bad, for a split second decision. He was coming at me but close enough to be a sideways run that I was able to move along rather than dodge LOL.









And of course, not to be the least, Zach tried a few poses today. This one isn't great b/c I don't know how to compose this shot, set the camera, whatever. But he climbed way up this tree and waited patiently for me to take his picture.


I haven't forgotten Ozzy, I'm just wiped out by the time I'm ready to photograph the day's memory(s) and he needs more light and people than I can provide at day's end. I AM getting a new lens tomorrow, per my tracking efforts, so perhaps that will light a fire under my ass and I'll get his fuzzy little butt on here.

Camille, the Mistress of Torture

*Intro, Jaws music* It was that time of year again. A time I have come to dread with sweaty palms, racing heart, and anxiety that would be much better paired with a Valium or two. THE DENTIST!! Oh, how I have hated the dentist. A bad experience as a kid, with Dr. Grimes (I kid you not) resulting in lots of fixes by the oh-so-sweet Dr. Finch. By the time I got to Dr. Finch, they had to give me some nasty liquid medicine to calm me down before they could attempt to work on me.

Dr. Finch was good, so good in fact, that even though I went through a post-college broke and dental rebellious time of 7 years, my teeth held up great. Then somehow, even though I had insurance, I still went another 7 years. I just really hated going to the dentist. And even after that time span I was fine, but I really really REALLY needed my wisdom teeth pulled. I would go through days of agonizing, jaw/tissue swelling pain where I couldn't even eat a BK fish sandwich, b/c to chew food meant chewing my own gum, literally. So I buckled down and got them yanked. Ready for another hiatus.

But my sweet darling husband put his foot down soon after we got married (fearful I'd take on the appearance of the WV stereotype, I'm sure) and I've been going faithfully ever since.

My current dentist, and his wonderful hygienist (Camille), have almost cured me of my fears. So today, she decided a small trip down memory lane would, for some insane reason, be a good idea. I had to get a full panel of X-rays done, and the newfangled digital contraption was like trying to bite on a metal (ok, plastic) plate that was a few sizes too big for my mouth. Apparently I have this bony protrusion of my lower jaw/front teeth area that was sticking out in the way. So we fidgeted and maneuvered and I bit, rebit, screamed, and almost asked her to just put me out and cut out a permanent wedge of bone so next time we could slide it in like a key card. Ok, that's a tad dramatic. But after all that and I STILL had to sit through the tooth scraping? Give me a break!

So, Camille, this is for you. I will remember this day always ;) (fine print: I love Camille and the dentist, it's a great office and Zach actually looks forward to his appointments. As thrilled as I am that he doesn't have the fear I did as a child, I can't help but think there's something seriously wrong with the child.)

January 26

Happy Birthday Joshua! I don't know if you read here, I'll have to check if you have internet in your new appt. But regardless, I hope this is a great year for you.

As for us, I'm so tired my eyes are burning. Maybe I just rubbed them with salty hands. Who knows. But it was a Monday, busy busy busy. Grocery shopping always wears me out, but I got a lot of BOGO deals today. Owen was in a MUCH better mood, thank heavens. I think today he giggled about as much as he screamed yesterday.

After school was the typical mad dash of Zach's homework and 'chores' which he actually did without complaining (although he still required about 1003 reminders). Clean up the never ending dishes and table, work on dinner while helping Zach with spelling homework, dodge Owen running underfoot, clean a few 'DeeDee!' diapers (it's so cute, he tells me when he's 'stinky' now).

Also, I got a package in the mail today! I love packages. Zach always gets excited when there's a package as well, practically holding his breath hoping it's for him. This time it was something I'd ordered from a fellow blogger, and OMG it's so CUTE! Jenni knitted this adorable puppet named Ozzy and while I took a photo of him, I think I'll wait and do a more dedicated photo shoot tomorrow (it will combine well with my 'photo course' that a group of us are doing). Everyone should bombard Jenni and buy one of these, provided her fingers hold up for the knitting. Zach is in love with the little bird, Owen was a bit apprehensive but was laughing at the bird's bobbing head and gangly walk. Absolutely adorable. We love him. THANK YOU JENNI!!

After dh got home and we ate dinner, I rushed out to take some photos for today. But the light was already waning, it was pretty dim outside. I tried taking some of the bougainvillea but I am not so good with composition, or holding the camera steady for extended shutter speeds, and with the darkness setting in I finally gave up. I did get this one, lightened it just a tad. Voila, a basic bougainvillea getting ready to turn a nice pale pink color.













Then I came back in, was not feeling inspired so I took a photo of the main dinner course. Dh says I am free to cook this any time. It was from Rachel Ray's cookbook of 30 minute meals, crab stuffed portobello mushrooms, and we also had her accompanying greens with lemon-mustard vinaigrette. Very tasty. Zach scarfed his meal w/o complaint, except to be dramatic about the hot sauce that was in it. I was impressed. These two left over will make dh very happy for breakfast tomorrow. Blech. I can't eat seafood in the mornings.





So after the photo memory was digitally rendered, I sat down and finished what was left of my meal. Can you guess what kind? LOL

January 25

Oh my goodness, I can't WAIT for this molar to come through. I am just in awe at the amount of screaming this child can produce, he's so persistent with it. My nerves are fried. But even beyond that is the knowledge that something is making him so unhappy, miserable, angry, I don't know. It may not be his teeth. Not knowing means not really being able to help, which is frustrating and heartbreaking. As well as ear piercing. I do give him Motrin, but beyond that all I can do is try to comfort him, distract him, play with him and try to keep from banging my head against the wall until I pass out. I know I complain a lot about the painful screaming but it is easier to talk about that than my hopelessness when all I do fails to ease whatever is bothering him. It pierces my heart as well as my ears.

Anyway, as you may guess, today was rough in the screaming department. But we had some good moments :) Dh and Zach went out in the kayak, which was good for them both except that Zach didn't exactly enjoy the frigid water. Owen and I did a lot of ball bouncing/chasing, playing with light switches, dancing to music on the tv, etc while they were gone.

And I finally broke out the camera when Dh left to find something easy for dinner, taking Owen with him. Zach is getting a lot more cooperative when it comes to asking for a quick pose, for that I am eternally thankful. If only I were better at setting the camera PRE-photo, instead of waiting to see what needs adjusting, I'd get a lot of better shots. Sadly, most of the best moments are lost to blurriness, too dark, too light, etc. But I shall prevail! I am improving! And gosh darnit, I'm not giving up.

I bought a book about seeing through the 'photographer's eye' and wow, the things you think about for a good photo. I have only skimmed through the first chapter but today I thought I'd play a little with lines/angles. This first picture, which I have named "Gardening = Fail" I was focusing on keeping the vertical fence post parallel to the edge of the frame, which put the shelf and pots at an angle. I never looked at photos that way, I just tried to line them up the way I saw them LOL.













Then I moved on to this swing. For this one, I was aligning the top of the swing with the top of the frame. Not an angle I would have ever shot before. Interesting.













Then I moved on to a live subject LOL. Not working on lines with this one, but I obviously need to learn how to adjust coloring for skin tones. I tried, but it's not quite right. However, I love how his eyes sparkle. The sun was just right, and I guess the redness of his upside down, blood rushed face help to really pull out the blue. I did not touch his eyes, this is just how they looked.













And last but not least, this photo was initially a mistake. I obviously had the shutter set too slow for the other settings I was using and waaayyy much light came through. But when I looked at it on the computer, I loved it. I could see streaks of sunlight coming through and his eyes are so blue. I applied an 'unsharp mask' filter and POP, even better. I like artsy photos, and I guess this one sort of falls into that category.













So that's it. Owen's taking a bath and will soon go to bed, and hopefully peace and quiet will reign once again. Briefly.

Buenas noches.

Hot, hot, hot

We were still feeling a little cold, cold, cold and Zach was BEGGING to light a fire in the chimenea. Dh and I were set to just chill out in front of a movie, and I was not exactly wanting to hop up and be a fire monitor, but I caved. He was so happy. There's nothing like seeing your child happy. And then bonus, I got this photo. I had taken so many pics yesterday, trying out different settings, and they all SUCKED. But then I got this and I like it. So here you go.

January 23

Happy Birthday #2! I don't think you read this blog often, but just in case you stumble across this page, you'll know I remembered. Never mind the banner I taped to your door, or the card, or the tattoo sleeve LOL. I hope you wear it.

Nothing major going on today, but I sure to feel PMSy. Maybe it was dragging the boys with me to a doctor appointment. Holy hell, I am not doing that again. I've done it before and it wasn't too bad, but today there was a longer wait, and a HUGE combined waiting room, Owen was running crazy and screaming any time Zach attempted to play with him ie. take the Bakugan away, and I was doing my best to keep everyone's eardrums intact. Lots of chasing Owen, shooing away Zach, feeding Owen cookies, telling Zach to sit, giving Owen sippy cup, telling Zach to please leave Owen alone, over and over and over. The appt. took about 3 minutes, but we were there for an hour.

But Owen's happily sleeping now, Zach is watching TV and I am finally posting. I had to threaten Zach with major bodily harm to get today's photos done, but he did comply LOL. Poor kid. I've been chasing him with a camera since he was born and he has NEVER enjoyed it. I swear, when I die, I'm going to haunt them both with ghostly cameras. They just don't make it easy to take their photos.

I have been playing with the manual setting and I had to take these pics in the bathroom where it's small and with bright lights. It's evening now, and I get very bad results with just overhead lighting when I'm not using a flash. Except in the bathroom which I learned last night with the tub shots.

As you can see, he was less than thrilled with the process. But I am pretty happy with the results. I did play a little in photoshop to adjust lighting and adjust the contrast of his eyes, removing some redness, etc. I'm still not completely thrilled with the overall coloring, but it's not bad for a newbie.


















I did eventually get a few giggles out of him, after working through the fake smiles. I love this one b/c his loose tooth is hanging out a la Nanny McPhee. He knocked the first one out in karate class, himself. Smacked himself right in the mouth. Crazy kid. He can't wait for this one to come out as well. I keep offering to smack him, but he's not taking me up on it ;)

It ain't easy

Taking nice photos, that is. Which is why I will scrape up a couple hundred bucks for #2 when I get the chance, and take him food now and then, hoping he'll pity me. So far the food hasn't worked :( He really is a good photographer, he has an eye, a vision that I don't think I'll ever have. It must be instinctual. But I can still improve on what I DO have, and that's what I'm working for.

I have taken so many photos with this camera, knowing what a few adjustments may do, but not paying attention to the digital readout that shows in the viewfinder. I always thought I'd have time for that later LMAO. Well, later is HERE, dammit, and I'm trying to figure it out.

I did some shots today in TV mode, I frequently use AV mode (aperture) so I don't even know what TV mode is, but I was trying to pay attention to the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. I need to look up TV mode b/c even though I think I knew what was going on with the above three variables, the images looked different when I switched modes. This boy of mine NEVER stops moving, unless he's asleep, so it's hard as heck to get a good shot of him. This is a little blurry.













I had the ISO set to 800 and it came out a bit grainy, not surprising. Too much contrast with the lighting as well, a window was offset on the right, as you can see. I took a lot of pics from this spot, but this was the least blurry.

Later, during his bath, I though we had a good opportunity for a different set of photos. I lowered the ISO to 400, but they were still grainy. And even though I changed the white balance to tungsten lighting, the images were yellow. These are touched up and resized, but I bet you can still see the noise/distortion/graininess.













During the course of the bath, he was having a great time pouring water out of the Friday's cup (they make great bath toys, don't throw them out!). Until he filled it up and threw it OUT of the tub. Water everywhere, almost on the camera. Bye-bye, Friday's cup.

The second pic is funny b/c he loves to play 'asleep' which we do by lying our heads down, closing our eyes and fake snoring. He has started doing this which cracks us all up, as he's walking around, tilting his head to his shoulder and starts 'snoring'. Well, he decided to try it in the bathtub. He would lay his head down in the water sideways, 'snore' and jump up with water pouring half across his face. He did eventually get a nose full of water and that was the end of the game. But it was fun to watch up to that point LMAO.

And finally, moi. Self portrait. You never know how you look until you see photos of yourself, right? I will confess, I turned around backwards and snapped a mirror shot of myself b/c I always wonder how I look from the back. But I'll save you all the visual ;)