Wednesday, June 24, 2015

365 | eighty-six through ninety-four {Florida Vacation}

I did something crazy on our vacation this year.

I left my big camera at home.

(You were expecting something a little more exciting, huh?)

I love traveling with my DSLR, because I love capturing things that I can't capture at home, so I really never mind bringing it along like some people do.

This time, though, I had just gotten a new camera and had traded some lenses in to help pay for it. I wasn't really thinking about the vacation the next day, just that I wanted to make this new camera purchase more affordable. However, when I got home I realized I had put myself in a position of not really having a good travel lens to take with me. I didn't even want to take the new camera, because I was afraid I would drop it or something before I even got to really enjoy it.

So I decided to take the older camera.....until I realized I only had the 24-70 lens to use with it.

I love that lens. I mean really LOVE it!

But on my D7000, the 24-70 becomes a 36-105.

Which really is fine, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want the added weight of that lens and the stress of having to baby it.

I had sold the 35mm and the 50mm, which were my go-to lightweight lenses, so those were no longer options.

So it was the 24-70 or the 70-300, which really wasn't going to work for any indoor shots at all.

I knew I had my iPhone, but I'm not awesome at using my phone for pictures.

It's great for snapshots and I love that it's always with me, but I just never can get it to do what I want it to do to satisfy me when I want a good shot of something. Yes, I could take some time to really learn it, because I've seen some awesome pictures with it. But I haven't done that yet, and honestly I still just love my DSLR and don't know that I care about learning the phone camera.

BUT, because I put myself in such a predicament and I was starting to stress about this whole camera thing, I just decided to take the phone and be happy.

So I left the big camera at home.

And I survived.

And I actually kind of liked not being tethered to it.

When I have it with me I feel the pressure to get a great shot and create good art.

To make everyone and everything look good.

To capture good light and have great focus.

This week, without it, I just captured memories.

I won't lie, I was missing all the control at first, but then I went into vacation mode and had fun.

So these are all shot with the iPhone 6 camera during our Spring Break vacation in Florida

{eighty-six | salty}

The much anticipated stop at Zaxby's on our drive to Florida.

Those crinkle fries!

{eighty-seven | something I'm proud of}

We stayed the night with friends in Atlanta.

The next morning the kids took turns on their zipline - so much fun!

{eighty-eight | feet}

He could not wait to get into the pool this week. It must have been too cold for the Floridians, because he had the whole place to himself!

{eighty-nine | still}

For just a moment they were still for a quick picture.

Fun morning ride along the West Orange Trail.

{ninety | square}

Found this colorful door in France at Epcot.

This was one of the times that I was wishing I had my big camera but was still loving the ease of the phone overall.

{ninety-one | season}

So grateful to spend a few days with our family this season!

This was the first time in a long while that everyone felt well enough to get out and enjoy a day of pretending to be a tourist. Downtown Disney is one of the boys' favorite places.

{ninety-two | next to me}

A day at the beach is always awesome, but it's even better when I get to have these people next to me.

So glad that Beth and Rick could spend the day with us!

{ninety-three | my morning}

This was my morning.

And my afternoon and my evening and my morning, afternoon and evening the next day.

Nothing like two days straight of being in a car with your family.

Thank goodness for phones, xbox, iPads and movies!

{ninety-four | pastel}

This has nothing to do with the prompt for the day.

But my excitement of seeing this as we drove back into St. Louis nearly caused Brian to run off the road. Oops.

I knew it was coming, but I didn't know how far along it was.

I'm so excited about this being so close to us. I can't wait to gather my friends and spend the day there. That will happen, right? Right.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

365 | eighty-five

{my addiction}

After many months of winter keeping me confined mostly to indoor shots (which hasn't been such a bad thing, actually), I've been addicted, lately, to getting outside and capturing all the beautiful colors springing up. I love the morning light on this one and intentionally caused some sun flare just because I like it!

{technicalities}

f/2.2

1/125th

iso 100

50mm

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

refresh

I knew it had been a while since I had updated anything on the layout of the blog, but 5 years? That's when I last changed the blog header, and most likely, anything else that could be changed - font, color, etc.

Remember this?

Probably so, since it was still on there just a few hours ago.

This new style is much better I think.

Fresh. Updated. Clean. Fun.

Hope you enjoy it!

365 | eighty-two through eighty-four

{me}

My friend brought this scarf back for me from her trip to China.

Love it and her friendship.

{technicalities}

f/1.8

1/200th

iso 400

35mm

{on the floor}

Packing for our Florida trip.

{technicalities}

f/1.8

1/160th

iso 2000

35mm

{what I'm looking at}

Waiting for Elliott on a rainy day.

{technicalities}

f/2.2

1/200th

iso 250

35mm

365 | eighty-one

{sunday morning}

Our typical Sunday morning routine.
The boys grab a donut and indulge while I get things ready for the 4s and 5s class.
Love those little guys.

{technicalities}

f/2.2

1/160th

iso 250

50mm

365 | eighty

{a bottle}

One of our favorite local treats.

{technicalities}

f/2.0

1/1250th

iso 100

50mm

365 | seventy-nine

{something old}

This dish belonged to my grandma, and I'm sure it held many round of mashed potatoes at lively dinners throughout the years.

{technicalities}

f/1.8

1/125th

iso 250

50mm

365 | seventy-eight

{in my kitchen}

A peek into my fridge.
It's really bugging me that everything is not faced out.
I'm a little particular like that, I guess.

{technicalities}

f/1.8

1/100th

iso 320

35mm

I was taking a class at this time, learning different black and white methods. Still intrigued by all the possibilities and really love this in black and white.

365 | seventy-seven

{an errand}

My everyday wait in the car rider line.
I am very glad I am able to do this everyday.
I see it as forced down time.
I read a book, listen to a podcast, or catch up on blog reading I had saved for later.
But I do not dare sit there in the warm car and do nothing - that's a recipe for disaster.
Falling asleep in the car rider line is not smiled upon.

{technicalities}

f/4.0

1/400th

iso 250

35mm

365 | seventy-six

{green}

Hyacinth emerging through the dirt and mulch.

{technicalities}

f/1.8

1/200th

iso 200

50mm

365 | seventy-five

{what i did today}

So Brian actually took this photo, but it is what I did today.

He got up early and made pancakes to celebrate my birthday.

That was followed by Zumba with a friend,

a surprise balloon and gift from another friend on my porch when I got home,

lunch with another sweet friend,

a surprise trip to get Elliott's cleats out of Brian's car,

taking Elliott to practice - first at the wrong school and then at the right one,

a free cone at DQ with Ethan,

more birthday greetings and texts than I deserve

and now some relaxing on the porch in this beautiful weather.

So far 40 is awesome.

{technicalities}

f/4.0

1/60th

iso 500

35mm

I need to hand the camera over more often.

365 | seventy-four

{a window}
The view from my car window on the way home.
I love Missouri skies.

{technicalities}
f/2.4
1/1900th
iso 50
4.12mm (iPhone 5)

365 | seventy-three

{collection}

A collection of beautiful flowers in an awesome handmade wooden pallet box from my even more awesome friend and her husband and girls for my birthday. Love them!

{technicalities}

f/2.2
1/160th
iso 100
50mm

365 | seventy-two

{starts with w}

A rainy day left this wet weave pattern on our patio table today.

{technicalities}

f/2.8

1/250th

iso 100

50mm

This image had so much green and purple fringe in it - it is what finally prompted me to stop trying to fix it without understanding why it was happening. A few YouTube videos and photography tutorials later, I understood. Unfortunately, from what I understand, it's not entirely avoidable, but not shooting wide open helps and sometimes it depends on your lens. I will say that I recently got a new lens, and this really hasn't been an issue since then.

365 | seventy-one

{negative space}

Loving this warmer weather and seeing this used more - although Ethan uses it no matter what the weather is like.

{technicalities}

f/5.6

1/800th

iso 100

24mm (24-70mm lens)

Next time I would not warm up the white balance so much. I've lost the clear blue sky that I loved in the image to begin with. This was tricky to get good white balance - maybe because there is no true white in the image?

365 | seventy

{an animal}

The only animal allowed in our house

{technicalities}

f/2.8

1/200th

iso 400

38mm (24-70mm lens)

This guy was such a cooperative subject - ha! I wish that I had closed the curtains behind the stairs though. That sliver of light is distracting to me.

365 | sixty-nine

{metal}

Love the texture of this.
It's our fire pit that has been left out in the elements.
Probably not the best choice, but it makes a great image.

{technicalities}

f/2.8

1/400th

iso 320

70mm (24-70mm lens)

365 | sixty-eight

{on my plate}

Not technically ON my plate, but what I'm snacking on today.

{technicalities}

f/2.8

1/160th

iso 320

24mm (24-70mm lens)

I like this perspective. Wishing those vertical red lines were all around the bag - that would be awesome.

365 | sixty-seven

{time}

Love my time with this guy.
Celebrated his 41st birthday this week.
He wanted the whole-grain oat and nut pancakes like the ones at IHOP.
I think he was the only one that liked them.
They were really dry, and the boys didn't complain, but I could tell they were not too excited to see that the buttermilk pancakes were nowhere to be found.

{technicalities}

f/2.2

1/125th

iso 400

50mm

There is a bad color cast in our breakfast room.
Hmmm....possibly due to the green walls? Ummm, yes.
I've found that sometimes the only fix is changing the image to black and white, but I'm still not liking the overhead light casting those shadows on his face. We should have birthdays in the summer, when there is nice, bright natural sunlight early in the mornings. I may need to look into a flash for these dark early mornings.

365 | sixty-six

{i love this}

There is something special about still receiving cards and notes in the mail.
I still get excited to open that box each afternoon and see what surprises are in there.
And even in this technology-driven era, my kids still enjoy this simple little task also.

{technicalities}

f/2.8

1/125th

iso 100

48 mm (24-70mm lens)

I'm still not liking the contrast in this image. I'm finding that overcast days are the most difficult for me to get exposure and white balance correct.