January 31, 2006

Mass Chaos (Kinda like my life at times :) )

The month is over, and I did it!!! One down, 11 more to go. Definitely a learning experience. Maybe my pictures will be a bit more "organized" in February, instead of so happenstance.

Maybe I should choose a theme, or technique and practice it all month.

Maybe not.

Anyway, thanks for looking.

And now, for February.

(My favorites for the month are 1/13 and 1/21. Nards656's choices are 1/5, 1/19 and 1/21)

January 30

Toddler Toy

Hey, F-P is a big name at my house!!!!

January 29, 2006

Ribbon

January 28, 2006

Jello

Blue jello. Actually, it's red jello with the colors hue shifted. I like blue better than red. ;)

January 27, 2006

Chewing Gum

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday mom!! I guess in "honor" of the event, I couldn't stretched myself and taken a shot to honor her. She likes chewing gum. Or at least she always has some to give my son at church on Sundays.

Probably should have tried a couple of more shots, but after about 5, I gave up and chewed my subject. ;)

January 26, 2006

Plays with Scissors

January 25, 2006

toothpicks

January 24, 2006

Die

I thought I would try to "break" the rules a bit -- putting the die in the left side of the frame rather than the right, etc. Had one today I liked better, but it may end up in the "off-center" challenge at dpc. ;)

January 23, 2006

Everybody needs a picture of a stack of CDs. ;) It was late, I was tired, but I am determined to take a picture a day. I couldn't tell if it was focused or not, because i was so sleepy.

hehe. it's not. Tomorrow, I will do better, I promise.
NeatImage Abuse

January 22, 2006

Light

Another painting with light experiment. This was no where close to what I was trying to do :), but it was a picture that I took today. It was originally intended for the dpc "Fantasy" challenge, but I just couldn't get it to look right, sooooooo, I may keep working on it for the January Freestudy (cuz it is a cool idea!)
Light

January 21, 2006

Been wanting to try this for a while.

If anyone wants to comment, will you please tell me if you can see where I've cloned the lower left and upper right corners? It looks okay on my monitor, but not sure about others.

Also, uploaded this one differently than I normally do, so not sure if it "works" the same or not.

January 20, 2006

A Ring

That needs to be cleaned, badly. ;)

I won this last summer in a Mary Kay unit contest.

Taken with a +4, +2, +1 close up lens. handheld, lit by on-camera flash. "Erased" the background using a action similar to dodge/burn, but easier in PaintShopPro (where d/b stinks). Then, I softened and saturated. Quick run through Neat Image to remove some of the evidence that the ring needs to be cleaned. ;)

January 19, 2006

Hitch your dreams to a star

This is a star shaped candle holder with a tealight lit inside. It was about 5 (maybe 8) second exposure with me adjusting focus several times. The background originally a yucky yellow (I think it is time I learn to adjust white balance) so I did a hue shift to this blue. I like it. Adjusted contrast a bit, ran through NeatImage, and resized. The more I look at it, the more I think I like it. ;)

It was, however, a good lesson in using some kind of background because in all the others, you can see my needs-to-be-cleaned living room.

January 18, 2006

Sucked In

We're back online, and being sucked back into cyber space. See, I have proof. . . .

(I am now caught up on my uploads. :) 18 days so far. That's more than I figured I would do. hehe)

January 17, 2006

Get to the point

January 16, 2006

Before and After a Mary Kay make over

The phone is experiencing technical difficulties at my house (thus no Internet) so it may be a day or two before I get more pics posted. They are being taken, I just can't upload them, yet. Please, check back by. . .

January 15, 2006

A light at the Virginian Golf Club

Was experimenting with different depths of field. I also have some with the tree and light focused, and some of just the tree focused.

January 14, 2006

My shoes.

You know it is a slow PAD when you resort to your tennis shoes. ;)

January 13, 2006

I think I'm fixated

Yep, more suckers. The lighting is a bit harsh on this one, again. I was diffusing it, but it wasn't enough, I don't think. I like the different colors. Maybe at some point, I'll find something else to photograph, but these little guys are fun. ;)

January 12, 2006

I have macro back!!!!!

Actually, I've had it all along, but wasn't utilizing what I had until nards656 read the forums at dpc. (Imagine that, getting a photography question answered there. I gotta start paying closer attention). So, now I can shoot macro with my rebel, and I didn't have to buy any new lenses (and that, my friend, is a good thing).

I think I have a phobia about tripods, because I just refuse to use them. I have one, but I won't put the mount on the camera. It would take what, maybe 30 seconds? Anyway, this was handheld (the camera was resting on a kleenex box) at around 1/30 f5.6 with +4, +2, and +1 close up/macro rings on my kit lens. If only I would take a few minutes and actually set a shot up properly . . . .

January 11, 2006

Dreaming of Spring


In memory of David, 7/16/82 - 1/9/06

Life is short, too short for some. We make choices, some good, some bad. But when it is all said and done, we go on and leave those behind dreaming of spring -- a day when there is no death, no bad mistakes, no suffering.

Honestly, the shot was not made with David in mind, but as I was processing, I was reading his obituary online. It seemed to fit.

Barry, Sheila, and Nicole -- our thoughts and prayers are with you. *hug*

January 10,

Redid the sucker picture.

Still not completely happy. Maybe next time. ;)

Sucker Candy!

It's a sucker.

I selected the sucker and used the histogram to make the background white. I miss the macro capability of the sony 707, but I am learning to work around with my rebel.

I think a cherry or other red sucker would be better. Maybe I can find one tomorrow.

(Side note. I rushed tonight to get a "recipe" entry for dpc. I got one. Submitted and was so proud of myself because it was like 3 minutes to midnight and I made it! My husband then gently reminded me that it was Monday, NOT tuesday, so maybe I can reshoot with something a bit more, um, interesting. ;) )

Sunday, January 8, 2006


Travis turns 4 on Wednesday!!

We celebrated at my mom's yesterday. One of our family birthday traditions is that the birthday girl/boy gets their own small cake. You can see that he is eating the icing, only. ;)

Trophy on Wheels (and no, I don't have mine YET!)

January 06, 06
Taken at a retreat for Mary Kay consultants. The instructor (a top director with the company) was teaching about emotional immaturity and was demonstrating that emotionally immature people are always wanting to be fed. Emotionally mature people are ready to serve others.

Taken with a 70-200 with a shutter speed of 60 and an aperture (I think) of 5.6. Slight adjustment to the color balance.


Emotional Immaturity says, "Feed me, feed me." Emotional Maturity says, "May I serve you?"

January 5, Kristiana

(blue eyes)

Two shots today. One, I just wanted to try the "high key" stuff I had seen around. It was fun, and definitely made it interesting, but it is loads more post-processing than I normally do. ;)

The second shot (blue eyes) is one from the same set. She was sleepy, and had just finished eating supper (thus the orange food on the side of her face), but look at those eyes!!! At least I like them. ;)

To see her older brother, take a look a nards656's PAD project.

High Key Kristiana and color Kristiana

Flyin' 24-7 on 1/4

Flyin' 24-7

Okay, not an "artistic" shot, but caught my eye, and I thought it was hilarious. There was a woman in the upper left window watching me -- I was expecting the police to pull up at any time! I had taken a shot of this this morning after teaching my first class, only to go about the day to realize I didn't have the CF card in. Duh. Remember, I'm fresh off a sony that won't let you shoot without a card.

Taken with a 70-200.

Yesterday's pic -- That is actually water and bubbles in my daughter's sippy cup (which is pink). The same light I used in "Blue Moon" shot was used. Simple, actually, but I like it too. ;)

Dreams

Blue Moon Rising

A mother holds the future in her hands.