365 | sixty-one

{bokeh}

one of my favorite plants in our backyard

{technicalities}

f/2.0

1/8000th

iso 100

50mm

I was playing with the custom white balance earlier in the day and forgot to change it back to Auto when I went to get this image.  It was late afternoon, but the light wasn't quite as warm as it appears in the photo.  However, when I looked at it, I realized right away what I had done but actually really liked the warmth it brought to the image, so I kept it.  I really like this silhouette, but I wish that I had pulled some of the other branches away from the main focus - I think they are a bit distracting even though they are out of focus and blend into the background.  They kind of divide the image up.  However, that was nearly impossible - I already had one hand on a branch and one on the camera (which is not light), so getting the other branches out would have required a helper or a tripod and remote.  And sometimes you just don't feel like dragging all of that outside :)

365 | sixty

{my passion}

documenting life in images for our family

is one of my passions

making and playing music is one of his

most of his music gear is in that backpack

and why do boys wear shorts year round?

{technicalities}

Somehow I managed to convince him to let me take a picture and he even coordinated!

This was a little bit difficult to mess around with settings outside - it was cold and I wasn't dressed for it.  I had to straighten this quite a bit.  I had been getting better about that, but I think the cold won out this time and I hurried.  I really like how the red pops against the snow.  I even had him move a bit to block a colorful playset, and I'm glad I did.  It would have been distracting, and I like this so much better.

f/2.8

1/1600th

iso 100

44mm (24-70 lens)

365 | fifty-nine

{paper}

This isn't even all of the notebooks crammed into this drawer.

They all have different purposes, but a day does not go by that I do not reach in here for a notebook.

I've tried to used the "Notes" app on the computer, but it just isn't the same.

I need pen and paper!

{technicalities}

It's snowing here this afternoon, so even though I shot this around 3:00, it was already very dark in the house.  So I had to up the ISO in order to get some decent light in and good focus.  It cause a bit of noise in the image, but I really don't mind it.  Take-aways from shooting from above and from yoga would be that I need to work on my balance.  I ended up having Ethan come in and spot me as I leaned over to get this image, because I was pretty sure I was going to end up head first into the desk.  

The notebooks seem just a bit out of focus, and I cannot tell if it's due to camera shake (I was really having a hard time balancing and am sure I was swaying a bit) or depth of field.  I focused on the top of the drawer and the notebooks are only about an inch and a half below that.  But I was not very far from the drawer, so it's possible that there was not much area in focus.  According to the depth of field calculator, if I'm reading it right, I should have had about 2 inches behind my focus point that were still in focus.  So the black notebook and the flowered one should be sharp, but the others would start losing focus.  I need to pay attention to that more often.  They all look a bit out of focus, so I think it must be due to camera shake instead of depth of field.

f/2.8

1/160th

iso 800

35mm

365 | fifty-eight

{dreaded task}

ironing.

It's possible I have very few friends who even own an iron.

I tend to let the ironing pile get pretty large before I get to it.

Probably why I dread it.

But such is the necessity when you are too tall for the regular fit clothes and too short for the tall fit.

Someday they will make pants and shirts that don't shrink in the dryer and my ironing days will be over!

{technicalities}

I set this up with the tripod in the dining room looking into the family room, so the lighting was coming from behind the camera.  I was far enough from the window that it was pretty much diffused lighting, which is my favorite in a hurry.  I really like the composition of this, how it looks like the iron is coming at you.  Looking at it now, the window on the back wall is a bit distracting and a little crooked.  And it's time for a new wall color :)

f/2.8

1/100th

iso 400

50mm

365 | fifty-seven

{selfie}

The dreaded prompt was present again on the February list.  I've looked ahead to March and saw that it is absent from that list - woohoo!  However, I saw that there is a "me" prompt.  Sigh....

{technicalities}

Taking selfies is hard!

Not only in the sense that it seems weird to be taking a picture of myself, but in the sense that it's hard to set it up, too.  Trying to get the right focus and exposure on something that isn't even in the viewfinder when you're setting those things is extremely difficult.  This image is very underexposed for me, but I was just glad that it was somewhat in focus.  I really need to think about the setup in way in advance for next time - which I know will happen!

f/2.8

1/100

iso 125

50mm 

365 | fifty-six

{top}

Love this view of the top of our house against the deep blue sky.

{technicalities}

I like angles in this image and the white against the blue.
For some reason, the whites are appearing very warm on the blog - they don't look like that in Lightroom, so I need to check the settings to see what that's about.  This was a reminder to get the 24-70 lens out more often.

f/2.8

1/2500

iso 100

62mm (24-70 lens)

365 | fifty-five

{early}

a typical expression during our early morning wait in the car rider line.

I can't believe he is 12 and in middle school.

Some days we have awesome talks and laughs during these precious 15 minutes in the car.

Other times (most times) I think he would rather I not be around.

I'm glad we are rewarded with the occasional laughs...makes the other days more bearable.

It will pass.

He's figuring everything out and embracing all of the new challenges that growing up brings.

{technicalities}

I hurried through this shot and didn't put enough thought into the exposure.  I knew I had limited time with him even allowing me to take his photo, plus it was stop and go traffic during car rider and I didn't want to hold up the line.  I had to do a lot of editing of exposure on his face and white balance. Usually auto white balance does a pretty good job of getting that right, but I think the snow, the morning sun, the red cast off the brick and his blue sweatshirt all confused the camera.  Who knows what I was metering off of since I was so hurried.  Good lesson, though, and I'm still glad I captured the moment.

f/2.8

1/100

iso 200

35mm

365 | fifty-four

{soft}

the snowy tip of the grassy plant in our backyard


{technicalities}

I actually took this photo last November during our first snow of the season - I had almost forgotten that we had one that early!  I say it counts for the 365 because I edited it on this day, and one of my goals in this project is improving the editing side of photography also.

This image started out with a really cold feel to it.  I warmed it up, by using a warmer preset provided by the instructor for the class I'm currently taking.  Our job is to dissect the presets she gives us and make our own.  This has been really hard to learn - this week is all about the tone curve - but I'm really enjoying it so much!  So, I added the warm preset and it gave it kind of a rosy tone to it, which I was surprised that I liked.  I also decreased some clarity to give it an even softer feel.  There is conflict in my head about whether I like the added softness.  I really do like it, but now I feel like your eye isn't quite sure where to look or what it's looking at.  On the other hand, I don't think that matters so much here, as I just love how it softly says "it's winter now" - ha!

f/2.0

1/160

iso 500

50mm

365 | fifty-three

{street}

love this view of our street

{technicalities}

I set out to capture a sunburst after reading a few articles about how to best achieve one, and I think it turned out pretty well for my first attempt!  I do not typically shoot at f/22, so I think I need some more practice with that - mainly where to focus so that everything is really sharp.  The lighting was pretty low so that definitely had an effect on getting tack sharp focus.

Also, the leaning lamp post is really bugging me, but I think it is actually leaning in real life.  I haven't tried to straighten it yet, but I'm thinking that it won't work because the tree is straight.  Maybe one of the kids hit it one too many times with those plasma cars - ha!  I added a graduated filter to deepen the blue in the sky.  It wasn't very interesting - kind of hazy and no cloud detail.  But I love the warm light and that paired with the blue of the sky.

f/22

1/100

iso 400

35mm

365 | fifty-two

{what i'm reading}

A stack of books from the library for learning and inspiration
I especially like the two about the presidential photographers.
Such interesting stories, and what a cool job!

{technicalities}

Again, something is going on with the sharpening or compression or something with the photos I'm uploading.  I had several other shots of this from more of a straight-on angle and captured the reflection in the table as well.  I really liked that composition better, but the text in the titles of the books was almost glowing.  I adjusted highlights, clarity, sharpness, exposure, etc.  Probably every slider in Lightroom :)  But they were still glowing.  I want to figure that out, because it has happened before.  I do like the deep rich colors in this photo against the dark table - it looks classic to me.

f/2.2

1/160

iso 200

50mm

365 | fifty-one

{modern}

I don't know how modern they are.  I hate looking for sunglasses, because they never fit my face right.  Definitely necessary with the bright snow right now though!

{technicalities}

I set this up outside to try to get a reflection of the deck in the sunglasses, and I'm pretty happy with my first try at this.  I've seen this done at the beach with sunglasses with a more mirrored look to them, and I really want to try that.

f/2.8

1/160

iso 100

50mm