Skip to content

Project 64 and Sweet Shot Tuesday

  • by

Project 64

It’s time to post photos for last week’s Project 64 color and Sweet Shot Tuesday. Brooke made a comment about the purpose of Project 64 this week that sums up why I enjoy these challenges. “After all,” she said, ” . . . this project is all about having fun, learning and improving though practice!” I took 106 photos one day this week. I probably looked closely at about 30 of them, and edited many fifteen for a variety of projects, but I’m learning more and more about my macro lens and having a good time thinking about composition and struggling (as always) with lighting in my very dark house. In winter, especially, photographic projects are essential or I would only have my camera out to take photos of papercrafting projects.

Wk5 Jan31_feb6_Gray

Papersw

Gray Papers

SpoolsofGray2w

Spools of Gray

GrayRibbonw

Gray Ribbon

GrayButtonw

Gray Sweater (the photo I chose to submit)

And Sweet Shot Tuesday (as well as Project 52):

    Sweetshotbutton
P52-125

I think this is turning out to be the Year of the Flowers. They’re my favorite thing to shoot this time of year. I bought my first paperwhite kit from Target just after Christmas, and they’ve started to bloom this week. Here’s my favorite shot of the week:

Paperwhitew

And a different view:

Paperwhites2w

 

 

Project 64

  • by

I really need motivation to take photos on a daily basis. I’ve started Project 365 twice and made it to about June before I gave it up. It’s much easier for me if I have a prompt of some kind, some kind of muse to keep me focused. Recently I came upon Project 64: Out of the Box which began just five weeks ago, so catching up wasn’t much of a problem, although you can join the group anytime and just start where they are. Here’s the explanation for the project, taken from the website.

Project 64

We are calling this photographic journey Project64: Out of the Box. We are a group of 6 ladies and one official color selector (my hubby) planning on taking a 64 week journey through a box of crayons. We are hoping to take the crayons out of the box for a little inspiration in our photographic work! Each week we will be assigned a color, chosen at random from a box of 64 count crayola crayons. We will then take our color inspiration and search for it in the world around us! You’d be surprised by the colors you miss when you’re not looking! The goal of the project is to challenge us creatively, making us think outside the box, and to hopefully slow down a little bit and notice the world around us! Of course accomplishing a 64 week goal is fun too!

I just happened to have a brand new box of 64 crayons in my craft closet.

64Crayonsw

Here are the first five colors for the project.

5weeksw

Week 1 was Yellow Green. There’s not much in my house that’s yellow green, but while I was holding the crayon I looked up on my bookshelf and found Bill Bryson’s “Dictionary for Writers and Editors.” It’s almost a perfect match.

YellowGreenBookw

Week 2 was Carnation Pink. I’ve had these tulips on my table for nearly a week. Another perfect match–even though they’re not carnations.

CarnationPinkTulipsw

Week 3 was Chesnut. This basket holds my 8X8 pads of paper.

ChesnutBasketw

Last week’s search was for Robin’s Egg Blue. I didn’t think there’d be much of that around here either, but was delighted to find some twine I just received from The Twinery that was Robin’s Egg Blue.

RobinsEggTwinew

As it turns out, I didn’t need to leave my studio to find any of these colors!

This week’s color is gray, and I’ll post it next week when the link goes up at Project 64. One of the things I think I’ll enjoy about these challenges is another chance to put the 60mm macro lens to use.

 

Sweet Shot Tuesday

  • by

Sweetshotbutton

I know it’s really Wednesday, but yesterday was the Papertrey Blog Hop so I waited until today to post my Sweet Shot Tuesday photo. It’s the same one I used last week for the Team-up Thurday diptych, but in color which I prefer.

TreeFencew

Highland Park Reservoir

Moxie Fab Bold and Sweet Shot Tuesday

  • by

I have two challenges to share today. The first is the Moxie Fab Bright and Bold Color challenge. I’d like to get all of the color challenges completed by the end of the month if I can.Here are the colors:

ColorComboBB3

And here’s my card:

MoxieFabBold

I had these white flowers left over from another project and decided they’d be perfect for the card. Everything is from Papertrey Ink except for the two orange buttons.

One of my goals this year is to develop a daily practice of taking photos. I’m not trying to do a Project 365 since I’ve failed twice at that already. I’ve joined Darcy’s Flickr group for Project 52, and I’m planning on playing along at Darcy’s Sweet Shot Tuesday when I can. Here’s my favorite shot from last week. Tracy’s growing some Christmas cactus under lights in the basement. When they bloom, he brings them upstairs for us to enjoy. I’m trying to learn to use my new macro lens, so this was a good subject.

ChristmasCactus1w

 

 

Some Photography Fun and a Winner

  • by

It’s rare that I post twice in one day! Tracy decided the whole downstairs of our house needs to be painted. I don’t disagree, but I know it will take way longer than I want it to. He started with the china closet that is built into our dining room. He pulled all the dishes out of it, boxed up what he could and put the rest on the dining room table. I thought I should document his project. The first photo looked like this.

Tablew

Then I decided to stand on his new stepladder.

Crystalw

And finally I thought it would be cool to take a photo of the inside of one glass. Let me just say I took many photos before I came up with this one.

WineGlassw

I’ve owned these wine glasses for over 20 years and never realized that the cut glass forms hearts on the inside. I wonder how many other surprises lurk in my china closet?

The winner of the Pass the Book is:

Kirsty

I’ve sent you an email. As soon as I have your address, the book will be in the mail. Enjoy!!

Class Reviews

  • by

I took two online classes this month focused on photography for the holidays. The first, “Picture the Holidays” by Tracey Clark, was at BPC. Every day in December an email prompt and inspiration arrives in your inbox. When I signed up for the class, I knew exactly what I’d be getting since I had taken “Picture Spring” in April. I also knew from the outset that this time, I probably would not respond to every prompt, but I thought I might get some ideas for some different photos during the holiday. As expected there are several prompts I didn’t connect to at all, and there are several still on my list to take. I was inspired to look with new eyes at the usual holiday decorations and events, and I’m very pleased with some of the shots. Taking the pressure off myself not to participate daily made this class much more enjoyable. Tracey’s classes are a great way to jump start your photography if you’re in a slump or looking to try something new. Here are three of my favorite shots with their prompts.

SnowflakeCandlew

“Warm Glow”

SincerelyYours2w

“Sincerely Yours”

WineGlasses2w

“The Day After”

I signed up for the second class on the spur of the moment, and I am so glad I did. Katrina Kennedy’s “Capture the Holidays” through Get It Scrapped included seven lessons and two videos. This is the second class I’ve taken with Katrina, and I’ve learned a lot from both of them. Each lesson focused on one aspect of taking holiday photos:  Lights, the Tree, Ornaments, Presents, Food, Outside (decorations and lights), and Morning (preparing for Christmas morning shots.) The pdf lessons (about 7 pages in length) provide technical settings for your dSLR, settings to try if you’re shooting with a point and shoot camera, and ideas to improve your composition. I found the technical information extremely helpful. Katrina provided the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for a variety of shots. Starting with her settings, it was easy to adjust them for my particular situation. Her suggestions about using flash on Christmas were invaluable. (See the previous post.) Katrina sells some very helpful e-books at Designer Digitals. The one I like the best is “Get Me Off Auto.” I can also highly recommend her course “Through the Lens.” Earlier I posted a series of food shots I did after reading the lesson on food. Here’s one more food shot from this course.

Cheesecake2w

Cranberry Cheesecake

Picture the Holidays

  • by

I guess it’s not surprising, but I’m finding it hard to keep up with daily projects right now. I’m working away at the To Do list and realize that Christmas is just ten days away! I’m remarkably calm about it all, which is a bit of a surprise to me. I’ve been keeping a list of the prompts for Picture the Holidays and as I can, taking photos for them. Here are a few:

CandyHeart3w

December 3:  All You Need is Love

SummitDriveB&Ww

December 5:  The View From Here (We’ve had record snow for December.)

SantaSilhouettew

December 6:  Every Little Thing (This prompt was about capturing little details that you might miss. This little wooden Santa sits on the window sill in our bedroom. I was struck by the silhouette he made.)

FriendsSignw

December 9: It’s a Sign

LightsFloorw

December 10:  Twinkle, Twinkle

Nativityw

December 13:  Simply Divine (And a reminder about the true meaning of Christmas.)

 

Picture the Holidays and Journal Your Christmas

  • by

Today’s prompt for Picture the Holidays was to think about the things for which you are grateful. I have a long list of things for which I am truly grateful, and what I captured certainly does not come at the top of the list, but it is something that stood out today. Before we left for California I decorated the house for Christmas. After arriving home at 2 am this morning, seeing the doctor and getting X-rays for an ankle I turned in California, sorting through 11 days of mail and catalogs, purchasing a Christmas tree, and buying groceries for an empty refrigerator, I am so grateful I had the foresight to decorate the house. Our house is perfect for Christmas decorations and walking around the house today I didn’t feel tired or grumpy, but was filled with anticipation for one of my favorite holidays.

GratitudeCandle12.1w

I finished the first page for the Christmas Journal tonight, but will wait to post it tomorrow when there is better light to take photographs. I had most of the transparency pages completed but wasn’t sure how I wanted to use the Ali Edward overlays, so it took several tries before I came up with something I like. I’m still not totally sure how this will all come together, but I am determined that I will get it done day by day!

Here’s another shot from today that didn’t make it into the Christmas Journal. It was raining cats and dogs this morning, but by noon it had changed to snow. We got several inches of wet, heavy snow. What a contrast from two days ago when we were in sunny San Francisco admiring the flowers!

HollySnoww

 

A Card and Macro Fun

  • by

I have been getting some papercrafting done, but most of it is for the Scrap-Mart blog. I did finish a birthday card for a friend today that I can share here. I had a lot of fun with this one. I found an old piece of leaf-printed vellum that I knew would make a good background for a fall birthday card. First I covered it with Amber Clay chalk ink and rubbed it in with a tissue. Then I misted it with some Sunshine Glimmer Mist and a couple of shots of Studio Calico’s Mr. Huey Sunshine mist. Despite the same name, the two mists are quite different colors. I like the final effect.

NikkiBD

The wreath (Wreath for All Seasons by Papertrey) is overstamped with red and orange Brilliance inks which has a pearlescent glow to them that doesn’t show up in the photography. The sentiment is from Impress Rubber Stamps, and the ribbon is from my stash.

Today was lovely and the forecast for the next couple of days is for rain so I decided to take my camera to Highland Park and try out my new macro lens. I know I am going to like this lens a lot. For the first time out, I got a couple of decent shots. (And a lot more that went directly into iPhoto’s trash.) I’m going to have to work on sharper focus. I usually rely on automatic focus, but I think I’m going to have to make friends with manual. Here are three:

PurpleFlowersw

We  haven’t had a frost here yet, so there are still some pretty flowers in the park.

LeafRedPodsw

I love the light shining through the leaves’ veins in this one.

RedPodsw

The same tree, different focus. The bokeh is great with this lens.

 

 

 

 

 

10.10.10

  • by

 

101010

It’s not often that I post twice in one day, but the Shutter Sisters blog had a link today to a special web site set up especially for photos taken on 10.10.10. If you have a Flickr account (free and easy to set up if you don’t) you can add your photo to the pool of photos taken on this “most auspicious day.”  The photos can be added for the next ten days. The only requirement is that you took the photo today. You don’t have to have a Flickr account to look at them. Here’s the one I added. There will be more from our trip to Watkins Glen in a couple of days.

Poolw

Photo Field Trip

  • by

Friday, Tracy and I headed to Letchworth State Park to hike and take some photos. I had three objectives:  try out my tripod in the field, play with the color polarizer (which I’ve had for years, but have had little success with), and try out the neutral density filter (never used it before). Two of the three goals were met. I love the new tripod, and it’s getting easier to use. I use the 2 second self-timer with it, and that works like a charm. I had great success with the color polarizer. It was a perfect day for it. Sun coming from a good angle (that’s the key it turns out), and a beautiful blue sky with autumn colors. We ended up hiking part of the Fingerlakes Trail which is above the gorge so there really wasn’t much opportunity to try the neutral density filter. I might get a chance to day at Watkins Glen. So here are some shots from the trip. I ran the Pioneer Woman’s “Define and Sharp” on all of them. I didn’t need “Boost” since the color polorizer took care of all the saturation I would have needed. A couple of them needed a bit of adjusting with Levels.

TrailFavew

The trail walking south.

Trail1w

The trail coming back.

Reflectionw

I loved the reflections here.

Trestle2w

The railroad trestle (still in use) built in 1873.

Trestlew

Another view

TrestleShadoww

And another; like the shadows here, too.

Waterfall1w

The falls

LeavesRockw

Pretty leaves on the trestle bridge

The photography posts on Darcy’s blog continue to be excellent. If you’re confused by the exposure triangle or unfamiliar with it, today’s post is wonderful. I’ve read a lot about this, and taken a couple of online courses, but almost every day I get another “aha” moment over there.

Kent Weakley had a fabulous post on why you should stop (or turn around and go back) for that shot. Being a girl from Kodak city, his analogy really hit home.

And my friend, Kat, has a wonderful post on photographic essays.

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! The weather here continues to be just perfect: sunny and just the right temperature. Great for walks and photos!

The Sunday Creative: Nostalgia

  • by

I’ve only played along with Sunday Creative once before, although I enjoy going through all the wonderful entries each week. This week’s prompt was “nostalgia,” and I had the perfect object to photograph. Just a week or so ago, I found a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera at an antique shop in Corning. This is the fourth vintage camera I’ve picked up, but this one is the first that has any meaning to me. My very first camera was a Kodak Brownie. How I wish I still had it! The first roll of film I ever remember taking was of Niagara Falls on a family trip. It was black & white film (of course) and even as a kid, I was dismayed when the film was developed to discover that nearly all the photographs looked exactly the same. It was many years before I learned to vary the composition of a subject. So here’s a look at my cute “new” Brownie, although regular blog readers will recognize it from yesterday’s post on ISO.

KodakBrownie 

Once again I played around with some textures in PSE. I used Kim Klassen’s Light Paper 4 at Soft Light, then Cinnamon at Soft Light, and finally decreased the saturation to -32.

Playing with ISO

  • by

Although I’ve read a good deal about ISO, shutter speed, and aperture (even whole books on one of the subjects), I’ve never read a better explanation of ISO than Darcy has on today’s 31 Days to a Better Photo series. She asked us to take the same photo starting at our lowest ISO and then doubling it while we watched the shutter speed. It’s a very rainy, cold day here, so I opted to take an indoor shot of the vintage Kodak Brownie I picked up a week ago. All the shots were taken at 2.0 aperture with my 50 mm lens. As expected with every increase in ISO there’s a corresponding increase in shutter speed.

ISO100
ISO 100, Shutter speed 1/10

ISO200
ISO 200, Shutter speed 120

ISO400
ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/40

ISO800
ISO 800, Shutter speed 1/60 (Inside on a gray day, this is the ISO I typically have to use if I want to hand hold my camera, which I did today.)

ISO1600
ISO 1600, Shutter speed 1/100  (With this ISO you typically see a lot of noise, although I don’t seem to be able to distinguish much on the computer. If I were to print this series, it might be much more noticeable.)

I’m enjoying these exercises even though I’ve done similar ones in the past for online courses. Every time I do a series of these, I understand the concepts better.

Playing with Shutter Speed & Studio Pics

  • by

Today’s post for 31 Days to a Better Photo dealt with shutter speed. It seems to me from my reading that most people understand shutter speed before they understand aperture. I had the opposite experience. Before I started shooting in manual this year, I almost always shot in aperture priority. Occasionally I would play with shutter speed, usually while shooting water in a fountain or a waterfall, but I rarely got what I hoped for. After today’s exercises I feel more comfortable with shutter speed, and know that one of the problems I’ve always had in the past is not using a tripod.

I’ve been planning a post about my new studio for a while, but have had trouble getting the shots I wanted, primarily because of the lights in the studio. Although this room has more light than my last one, our house is generally dark, and we need artificial light most of the time. Today I put the camera on the tripod, and practiced two techniques (in addition to changing shutter speed) that I picked up on Kent Weakley’s blog:  depressing the shutter button with almost no movement with your index finger, and using the self-timer set at 2 seconds. Although I got good results with both, I much prefer the self-timer. So here are the photos from the shutter speed experiment.

1:125_2.8w
Shutter speed 1/125

1:30_2.8w
Shutter speed 1/30

1:8_4.0w
Shutter speed 1/8

0.6_4.0w
Shutter speed 0.4

The best of the lot is #3, and I would never be able to get a sharp picuture hand holding the camera at that speed. Although the last photo is very washed out, it has an artsy feel to it that I don’t mind. These photos show the main work space in my new studio. The corner desk actually divides the room into two area. The TV in the corner in on a wooden stand Tracy made years ago to hold my wooden stamps. The shelves hold paper, supplies, notebooks, embellishments, alphas, and paper pads. Using lots of baskets maximizes the space there.

This room also has a built-in desk. I gathered all my books from around the house and brought them all into the studio so I have a shelf of books about scrapbooking/cardmaking, a shelf for photography, writing, computer manuals, and a few favorites. I also have room to display some photos and special treasures I’ve picked up in our travels. My sewing machine has been set up in this room for over a year. The drawers now house all of my sewing supplies as well as some office supplies.

SewingDeskw 

DeskBookshelvesw
At the same end of the room is a reading and die cutting station. I’ve had my Cuttlebug and dies in this room for nearly a year as well, but I purchased a lateral file that matches my desk to create a die cutting table. My Slice sits on top, and the Cuttlebug, dies, impression plates, and embossing folders are on the open shelves. In the file drawers are all my paper scraps filed by color, alpha stickers, and some patterned papers. In the corner is my wonderful red chair from LL Bean that folds out to create a single bed if needed.

ReadingCorner
Behind my desk and between the door to the room and the closed door is my fold-up table from IKEA. It was one of the best $19 I ever spent. It’s mounted to be counter height so if I want to stand to put together a layout I can, but it doesn’t take up much room when collapsed against the wall. Above it is a printer’s drawer I refinished a year or so ago where I house most of my wooden sentiment stamps. The table isn’t centered under it because I wanted to be able to open the closet door when it’s up. I now have an Ott clamp light for the table, and keep it up most of the time.

Printer'sDrawerw
Really, I can’t believe I fought this move for so long. I absolutely love everything about it. It’s so easy to find everything, and very quick to put away the terrible mess I always make when creating. The best part is that both Tracy and Matt come in here to visit much more frequently now. It really is a very inviting place.

World Card Making Day & Caardvarks C&S Challenge

  • by

It’s been the second day where everything I do seems to take twice as long as I allotted. I needed a wedding card, so I did get one card made during World Card Making Day. This fits the Caardvarks Clean & Simple Challenge as well.

WeddingCard2

 

Supplies: Cardstock: from stash; Dies: Diamond Impression Plate
(PTI); Scrap-Mart Exclusive Square/Oval Nestability; Pearls: Zva
Creative; ribbon: Midori; Stamp: Delightful Dahlias (PTI)

Today for my photography project, I set up my new tripod and ball head. I think I’ll enjoy using it. I ended up getting the lighter of two tripods I considered, giving up some stability. I know myself well enough to know I’m not going to want to haul a heavy tripod out in the field. I also got out the neutral density filter and figured out how to get it on the camera. Friday we’re planning a little photography road trip so I can put some of this into practice.

I also spent too much time this morning reading photography tips and watching videos on Kent Weakley’s Blog. It is definitely worth checking out. His explanations are clear and his photography is wonderful. I particularly liked a series of five videos on getting sharper focus. I’ll be trying all of them soon, and the tips are good for any camera. Another great post was the Top 5 Reasons for Getting the Shot Now. Great practical advice here.