Day 15: Scott and Dianna

This was a picture of my son and daughter, shot in a restaurant with a very ugly background. Auto mode; 35mm lens; exp 1/60; f/4.2; ISO 400; flash. Same photo, cropped in, levels adjusted, saturation added, some sharpening. I cloned out some red irritation in the corner of my son's eye. Then I edited in a different restaurant's background. Do you think a less "noisy" , plain background would look better? Scott and Dianna think this is a bad thing to do, like messing with reality since only Scott was at the 2nd restaurant.

Day 14 Scott, before and after

This is a photo of my son just as he's going into a restaurant. I was very excited to get to spend some time with him, not having seen him for 1 1/2 years because he's in the Navy. (There's a cautionary tale in all this to you young moms; spend time with them now!) This does not capture his usual cheerful demeanor; he was just caught by surprise by me.
I shot this with my 18-135 mm lens at 80 mm, in Auto mode; f/5.6; exp 1/250; ISO 400.

This is the After photo. I used PSE5, adjusted the levels, raised the saturation slightly. . . and didn't like what it did to his face! Too bright! I liked the background, but not how it turned out on my son. First I tried using the "burn" tool to darken it a little, but it made him look surly and evil (which he's not!) So instead I added a layer mask, and pulled the unadjusted level in on his face and hand, so that it didn't have a bright light look to it. There's probably better ways to do this, but I didn't know how. . . .

I also used this in a scrapbook page for the Layout of a Day, which I posted on my other blog: My Pixelated Oasis. I used a template, and added some journaling and grunge brushes.

Day 13: Before and After, Dog in Snow

This is a picture of a dog in the park on a beautiful day with the trees covered in hoar frost. I raced outside when I saw it, wanting to photograph it, but looked down my block and saw rows and rows of garbage cans. It was garbage day! So I grabbed a pair of gloves, cut the tips off two fingers so I could still manipulate my camera in the freezing weather, and sped to a nearby park. It was so cold (about 5 below windchill) that I rushed with everything I was doing, not getting close enough for a good shot, and not properly adjusting the exposure for snow. This was shot in auto mode, 62 mm with my 18-135 mm lens; ISO 320; exp 1/500; f/5.6. Oh, and the idea of cutting the tips off my gloves; an all-around rotten idea! I mostly sat on my hand, with the seat warmer turned on, while driving home, hoping that I hadn't stayed out too long . . .This is after some editing. I cropped the photo in PSE5, adjusted the levels, increased the saturation slightly. Then I duplicated the photo, used blending mode "screen" to lighten it over-all just a little further, and then sharpened the photo slightly. Now it looks much more like the day actually looked (because we don't have blue snow, no matter how odd Grand Forks is!)

Day 12: Check Please!

Shot in auto mode, with my 18-135 mm lens at 26 mm, f 3.9; exp 1/125; it's just a funny thing in the middle of the same little park with the fish. By the way, does anybody want to be tagged? I'm finding my usual circle to be pretty exhausted for "tag" possibilities, but I don't want to harass anybody with this. If you're interested, just tell me in your comment. The details about my being tagged are at My Pixelated Oasis blog.

Day 11: More Fish Wintering in ND

Because, afterall, who can resist our balmy temperature! Auto mode; f/6.3; 78 mm on my 18-135 mm lens; exp 1/60. I promise: no fish tomorrow!

Day 10- Fish in Snow

The city I live in is fairly ugly, but it has a few quirky things about it, like this fish art in a little tucked-away park. Good for practicing with my camera! Aperture mode, f/5.6; 1/250; using an 18-135 mm lens at 20 mm; ISO 200; wb cloudy. I probably could have gotten a better angle if it wasn't so friggin' cold!

Day 9 and Melting my Heart!

See how much more cheerful my daughter is around her oldest brother! (He's probably just made a sardonic remark about me; whatever!) Actually, we're all rather blissed out, getting to see Scott, whom we haven't seen in a year and a half. He's 24, stationed in Japan in the Navy. This means that I never once directly saw my son during his entire 23 rd year! So note to all moms: no matter what, take lots of pictures, and even better, take lots of time with your little whippersnappers (is that a real word?) We're also thinking there will be approximately 7 hours when all 5 of us are together! My batteries will be charged and my shutter-finger poised for action! In the top photo ( Auto mode; ISO 400; flash; 18-135 lens at 31 mm; f /4.2) I edited a different restaurant background in, because the actual one was too ugly.

The second photo (which really did have this background!) was also shot in auto mode, ISO 400, exposure 1/60; using a 35mm f2.0 lens at f2.8.

Day 8: Mom? Are you the Paparazzi now?

This "smile" was clearly a warning statement to me, followed by "Mom, are you the paparazzi now?" I know I'm asking a lot of my family right now, but I am asking them to let me get photos of them now. Too much time has gone by where I really did relent to their total reluctance to be photographed; now I'm slowly getting better with my photography skills, and they're actually happy with some of the results. This one was shot in Auto mode (not much skill there!), ISO 400, flash, 18 mm on my 18-135 lens; 1/60 exposure time.

Here's the a black and white conversion, with brown overtones added, to the photo of my son (wearing the headphones.) If you have a preference between the two photos, let me know! And thank you, thank you, thank you! to all those who've given me some feedback!

Day 7: Focus on 2008-Me & Photography

Just a strange little picture, stretching to claim it's on the theme of "Focus on 2008." One goal for 2008 is to learn more about photography and my camera. This picture was taken at a Wildlife preserve in Minneapolis. The indoor exhibit had a waterfall embedded in a shiny surface. As I tried to photograph the fountain, my own reflection was obvious, so this is Me and Photography. No flash, ISO 1600; 46 mm on a 18-135mm lens; manual mode; cloudy white balance; f 4.0.

Day 6: A Hat? (It's always on his head. . . .)

. . . .the headphones, that is. So does that qualify as a hat? My son is still being a good sport about this, although I think I've now pretty thoroughly exhausted his patience. ISO 400; shutter speed 1/60; f2/8. I shot in auto mode, using flash. I just didn't have a lot of options today because of travelling. This is with my 35mm f2.0 lens, which I'm liking more and more, even if I have to focus manually. Any suggestions for the glare/thickening on the edge of his glasses? I think when I have some time, I'll try a black and white conversion on this one. Thanks everyone!

Day 5 Not a Hat, but Headware

My wonderful, beautiful, friend, Sheila is another tolerant person in my life! My family and friends are beginning to RUN when they see me coming with a camera! I'm still using my 35mm lens at ISO 400; f/5.0; no flash; manual mode; exposure 1/25 (I should have used a tripod because it's tough to hold the camera still while laughing!); white balance: shade.

Day 4: Aftermath of a Hat Storm

We get some very challenging weather in North Dakota! 35mm F/2.0 lens at f/5.0; manual mode; cloudy white balance; 1/400 shutter speed; ISO 200.

Day 3 Note the Family Resemblance?

Now which hat model do you think was more cooperative? Day 1 or Day 3? *Hint: 1 involved a milkbone treat! Actually, I thought my son was a pretty good sport, imitating my dog's pose! he says I owe him one! (And he's right!) Shot in auto mode, f 2.8; shutter 1/60;ISO 400; flash; with 35 mm 2.0 lens.

Day 2 Feathery Hat

I shot this at ISO 800, Manual mode, 1/5 shutter speed, f4.2, 32 mm, white balance tungsten. I used my 18-135mm lens. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to coerce my son into wearing a hat!

POTD #1 Hats

This is my first post for the POTD thread at twopeasinabucket.com. My settings were: 400 ISO; 1/60; f 2.8; Manual mode. 35mm f2.0 lens; flash. I didn't have much time to try for a better composition, to leave out the stuff on the right side, because there's only so much you can ask of a poor old dog in a Russian hat!

Wintry December Days