DSLR Community

Tara's flower

Tammi — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Hummingbirds again...

Tammi — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:41:00 GMT

This is with a nice slow shutter speed of 1/250. Composition stinks--but this was as close as I could get with the feeder in the pic.

Apparently the same shutter speed of 1/250

And then my favorite! :) He posed for me. ;)

Almost a Twin

betherly — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:08:00 GMT

This afternoon I was practicing taking pictures on my son's level. He was laying on the floor playing with his Hot Wheels by the sliding glass door. I started out taking pictures of his cars and then of him. I realized that Q's reflection was showing up on the floor. This was interesting, because, to be honest, my floors aren't very clean . It was also interesting because it made me think of his vanished twin. When I was pregnant, it started out as a twin pregnancy. Early on we lost one of the twins in what is called Vanishing Twin Syndrome. I don't think of his twin very often, but this picture reminded me that we almost had two. Just thought I'd share. You can click on the picture to see a larger version

Here I go again...

Tammi — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:05:00 GMT

I played with actions and got a sort of 70s look going here. At least that is how it looks to me. So if it looks yellow, its not. Its Golden. ;) Does it look ok? Oh, and isn't she so cute!? She's quite a character, as you can tell.

Living in the mountains - Eye Level with the fireworks

Angela — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:29:00 GMT

Here in the mountains, we live next to a huge gambling area, a mini Las Vegas if you will - Black Hawk. They try to hold the biggest fireworks in Colorado.

This year we drove up to eye level to the fireworks! What a view!

The very first year I knew what I was doing with photography, but I forgot to research the best "settings" to take fireworks! At least I remembered my tripod. So the 30 minutes was mostly trial and error. :)

Small Town 4th July

tamplum — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:45:00 GMT

Small town feel, only 10 miles out of Sacramento.

This lady was so funny. So comfortable in who she is and proud of her outfit. I tried to capture several times, but she was right in the sun.

3.5 to 4 years separates these 3 boys and my baby boy is just 11 months behind the youngest. I am seriously afraid when they are old enough to do some real damage.

Pony rides:

My Fourth of July Weekend

betherly — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:44:00 GMT

I spent the holiday weekend with my extended In-Laws. They have several houses on a private lake in the middle of nowhere Indiana. My husband's uncle has his birthday on July 4, so the family gets together to celebrate his birthday and the 4th at the lake. It's like their own crazy version of Hyannisport, the Kennedy compound. Lots of aunts and uncles and cousins and their kids. We had a decent time, despite some drama (gotta love good old fashioned family dysfunction) and my son had a lot of fun visiting with family that he hasn't before met. He also got to see fireworks for the first time in his life. He kept saying, "Boom Boom! More Boom Booms!" I learned that fireworks are really difficult to photograph, especially without a tripod. I read a little more of my camera manual on our long drive out to nowhere and tried shooting in different modes. Unfortunately, the preprogrammed modes are the ones that resulted in the best pictures. Here are my favorites from the weekend, all are clickable for larger pictures:

This is the view of the cove from the deck where my MIL and FIL live:

Here's my son giving a cheesy grin:

My son hugging his cousin whom me met for the first time (they're about 2 months apart):

My husband and son watching fireworks for the first time:

And the hard to photograph fireworks (I wish I had been at a better vantage point to get the fireworks reflecting in the water, maybe next year):

Oddly Attractive Symbol of Summer

betherly — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:25:00 GMT

I don't know if these insects are prevalent all over the US or not, but we have an abundance of them this summer. I find cicadas strangely beautiful. Something about the bright red eyes and intricate wings that I like. I saw this one on my son's new swingset and decided I had to immortalize in digital film. They should be clickable to be made larger:

Much ado about nothing......well, maybe photography.

Tammi — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:18:00 GMT

I am about to finish my first portrait class. Finally. I was feeling down, like I have learned nothing and I still stink at portraits. Then an instructor ( possibly my favorite instructor) said," just remember that you're only in Port ONE. No one's pics are good in port one." Then I looked through my portraits from this quarter and I suppose I can actually see improvement. I just feel like it comes so slowly for me. It bums me out. Then I showed my portrait instructor one of my images that I intend to hand in for my final "portfolio" for her class, and she said it was beautiful! YAY! she said, "I mean, this could win an award, beautiful." Not that it will. Because it surely won't. (not that I'm negative). But anyhow, here is my best portrait from this quarter IMO.

and just in case you want to see it in color, only with a border. (which everyone hates.):

Part II

I signed up for my next quarter of classes. I thought that I'd be more excited than I am. I think its because I realize that I stink at portraiture, and yet here I am, signed up for more portraiture classes. But see, I could major in commercial photography, which I feel I am significantly better at. So what am I doing? The thing IS, I want to be better at portraits. So, I am taking Portrait II Environmental Portrait. I am really looking forward to it, but (don't tell Rebecca this part ;),) we HAVE to use reflectors in this class!! LOL It is a requirement, so its not really up to me. Anyhow, its portraiture on location. I think that it will be more fun that studio portraiture. I'll let you know if I still feel the same after a few weeks of it. I am also taking Portrait IV, Wedding Photography. YAY! I look forward to that as well, because I really have little experience at wedding photography and I really admire the instructors work. Its amazing. He moved here from Colorado where he had a growing business just to teach.( EEEW. Who would leave Colorado to move to Ohio, anyhow?) My final class is Web Design for Photographers. I can't wait! What on earth is there to know? I guess I'll find out soon enough. Class starts July 14.

You want to take a picture of my corn?

Tammi — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:27:00 GMT

Today I went scouting for an area pretty enough to take pictures for a panorama. Dh and I drove past this farm and it was so pretty; All of the green corn and blue sky and huge fluffy clouds. So we were about to pull over and we saw someone elderly mowing the yard with a riding mower. I stopped to ask her--turns out it was a she!-- if I could take pictures. I didn't want to hop out and walk onto her property to take pics without asking first! :) So she looked at me like I was nuts. She said, "you wanna take a picture of my corn?" LOL I said, "well, yeah." I didn't feel the need to explain that I would be taking a few dozen pictures and that its about more than the corn. For some reason it struck me as funny...anyhow, it was a gorgeous day and I feel this pic really demonstrates it! I think the difficult part about taking so many pictures, especially during MID day sun is the dramatic exposure differences...therefore, the trees are underexposed. OH WELL. What can you do?

This puppy looks small, but printed its nearly 5 feet wide printed on 3 13x19" sheets, taped together, width wise! It is made up of 9 images. I need to print it out on a roll so its not made of three sheets taped together though....LOL That will be my next project. ;)

Vacation

Tammi — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:00:00 GMT

I am not really sure if you can call vacation a vacation when you have children. It was grief driving for 8+ hours the first day then 4 the next with 4 kids. Then we got to the beach only to find that Tara has flip flopped her thoughts about the water from the previous year. Now she hates it. If we were walking and then hit sand she'd immediately begin her list of things she needs to go do --potty, eat, sleep, drink, get her sunglasses, go see grandma--it never ended. So my beach partner, Tara, and I stayed in the condo while dh and his beach buddy, Travis--the fish, spend their days on the beach. Or in the pool. It wasn't all bad. I got a few decent pics IMO. So here they are:

Of course the lightening--I really love this shot.

the next morning the sun's rays were coming thru the clouds and looked so pretty.

Oh, and my horizon wasn't perfectly straight. So I learned how to use the measure tool to straighten my horizons. YAY! A very handy tool!

Ok, so far all of these are repeats. I'm so boring. But I really do like this pic. I like how VAST the sky seems. Travis loved flying the kite, when he was able to get it from the other "boys" LOL. The beach has to be the best place to fly kites. It took like half of a second to get it going. LOL

Ok. So on our way home I saw all of those HUGE hay bales. And huge gorgeous, puffy clouds and took this:

Then the compulsive tinkerer in me had to add texture. I don't know which i like best.

Lastly, we stopped to get gas and right next door to the gas station was a "grill". with an old police car sitting out front. It had a very rustic look, don't you think? (so of course it had to be sepia toned....with noise.)

Ok, so none of the pics are of the family. I'll add those later. :)

My new 50mm 1.4

Chelsea — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:16:00 GMT

I took my new 50mm 1.4 to a friends' wedding to try out some no flash, low light photography. It ended up very low light and I forgot to change my ISO until half way through so things are a bit grainy. At one point I just used shutter priority and set it at 1/60th to avoid camera shake and then just accepted that they would be underexposed... then I remembered ISO. Anyway here are some of the pictures and here is a link to the set. They also want me to get some more formal pictures of them sometime at the park. It took a bit to get used to the greatly reduced depth of field and it was very tricky focusing in the low light.

The couple

The cake and the mother of the bride

My son the photographer and dancer (strange because DH and I definitely don't dance.)

SOOC- getting it right the first time

tamplum — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:05:00 GMT

I have given myself a new challenge this week. To take the shot the way I want it to look, before downloading and editting. I am trying to get it right initially. Limited cropping, the right light and more... before the download. It is really forcing me to slow down and look before I click. The challenge is FAR from perfect, and I am honestly still learning a lot about how to get the results I want. But, having a lot of fun trying.

Big City Garden

betherly — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:53:00 GMT

Just got back from a long weekend trip to Chicago. Took lots of photos. Yesterday I had the afternoon free because my husband took my son and our nephew to a Cubs game. These pics were taken along Michigan Ave. There were flowers in bloom all over the place. It was so beautiful. Here are some that I took. The pictures are sooc :

Studio Portrait fun...finally!

Tammi — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:11:00 GMT

I finally enjoyed my time in the studio yesterday. I have been overwhelmed with all that we have been taught and expected to know that I haven't even enjoyed my time in the studio. Well, yesterday that changed! A photographer friend told me to go in and forget everything that I know and just play. so that is what I did! I still came out with a few keepers in my book.

However, I think the background light might be a little too bright in this one, but I LOVE the hair light and the moodiness of the image. so far this one is everyone's favorite (but not mine. LOL) *(I included the link to a larger image because in this small one you can't see the catchlight in her right eye.)

I am happy with the hair light in this image, but i wish both of her hands were in sight, and maybe if the kicker lit up her hair on the side opposite the hair light.

This one, I wish she had better light on her hair and stronger catchlights. But I'm content with the pose.

This one I just wish the kicker lit up the other side of her hair a little better and I need to do a little more dodging on the right side of the image.

All and all, I feel a little better; I can tell that I am learning, and I am comfortable analyzing what I have done wrong--hopefully I will be able to correct these things the next time!

Lightroom Before and Afters

Chelsea — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:38:00 GMT

Today I played around a bit with some photos in Lightroom. Here are the results. I had possibly too much fun with infrared filters. It was a challenge bringing out the detail on the yellow daisy type flowers.

No more pictures mommy

tamplum — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:46:00 GMT

Today was my daughter's 3rd birthday. Beautiful dress on, her hair done just so, with a pretty bow. Just smiling from ear to ear. I do what any mother would do. Grabbed the camera. I am met with her back, top of her head or a scowl.

No pictures mommy. no, all done. Later, not right now.

The photographer in my wanted that picture, the mommy in me needed the picture. But... the princess in palace refused. What is a mommy to do?

Photoshop 2 assignment

Tammi — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:44:00 GMT

One of my easiest assignments in photoshop 2 has been this text assignment. All we had to do was 6 different text patterns/designs/what have you. The two most challenging ones that I did took a few hours each!!!!!! But I feel they turned out pretty well!

I can't help it, i'm proud of the treasure text. the matrix one looks dumb though...now that I look at it. LOL

my latest storyboard

Tammi — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:40:00 GMT

you can click for larger version. or look here: http://tammifeehan.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p189244053-5.jpg for the very large image.

what do you think? did I do ok? I am concerned that the conversion is too dramatic.....i can't decide.

Photo shoots with kids, not easy

tamplum — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:28:00 GMT

My son turned 6 a few weeks ago and my daughter will be 3 in 3 days. So rather than "pay" for birthday/ age shots, I decided to do it myself. LOL

Decided to start with the princess and then move my oldest into the mix. So I asked my daughter to make her pretty face for me. And this is what I got:

Ohh no no no. That that face:

LOL. Things finally settled down a bit and I was able to get a few decent shots of her.

Till her brother came into the area. And the Princess was NOT happy with that: (Miss sassy)

But to a 6 year old the sight of his sister in turmoil over sharing the moment:

Had him in stitches:

So, the photo session ended.

Satori's Faces!

Angela — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Check out my photo gallery to download this photo to see Satori's faces in all their glory. She had a dozen other expressions too! I decided to put them all together very quickly. :)

Children's Portrait photography is hard!

Angela — Sun, 11 May 2008 02:11:00 GMT

So I'm taking 2 online classes right now. My first week's critiques of my children's photography class were a bit discouraging. Although she said I should be encouraged, and have lots of potential, there is SO MUCH to learn and keep in mind! I know I just need months and months of practice. I got exposure down pretty good, but dealing with the unexpectedness of children and getting them to cooperate is the challenge.

Here's what messed me up this week:

Forgetting my ISO was set at 400 when it didn't need to be. Result - noisy photos.
Forgetting to bring a brush and hairspray so my first real photo shoot last week had Satori's hair flying everywhere! Of course the instructor noticed this, but that was a lesson I learned before she had to say anything. :)
Bad weather cooperation - alot of my shots were supposed to use natural lighting, and it snowed and was cloudy so much this past few weeks. Summer, get here already!
A toddler that is NOT cooperative makes you think you are not cut out for all this. On the plus side, I love watching Satori's various expressions and body language after the shoot, she sure is a riot!
Trying to remember numerous things at once. I'm usually great at multi-tasking, but all of this photography stuff is so new to me, it's hard to get *everything* just perfect. Hair in place? Bandaids not showing? Shutter speed perfect for studio lighting? ISO set to 100? Lighting angles right? Need tripod?
David is my photography assistant, I love to yell at him to put the fairy wings on Satori - Hold that reflector the right away - Give her some candy - Turn down the lights - Get me a light meter reading... Lol! He needs to jump to it faster! I think I might need a few assistants?
FORGET trying to learn studio lighting, right now I'm just trying to get some photos that are turn out sharp and perfectly exposed. Butterfly, Loop, Rembrandt? Tammi, I think I'll need a few more months to start practicing that, lol. I get the idea, but I think I'll need MUCH more practice with Judy my trusty mannequin.

Anyway, here's the results of my photo shoot tonight. I need practice getting that background pure white. My exposure class assignment this past week was to do a shot with everything white and expose it so things are truly white. (Don't tell Bryan I used my light meter, and not "brother blue sky" for this one!)

I also had to get a shot with backlit lighting and a reflector. I used a cheapo light for this and gave Satori one of those flowers you see above. She was totally not cooperating, and then she touched the bulb with her flower, resulting in one of the biggest explosions! That Bulb shattered and shot halfway across our 2400 sf warehouse! It is a MIRACLE Satori wasn't hurt. The bulb glass got into her tutu, went right through it, and melted in the middle of the tulle. I will not be using cheap lights like that again, and will be much careful next time. Thank goodness no one was hurt and it was only my family.

Look ma no training wheels!!!

monika — Sun, 11 May 2008 01:40:00 GMT

I'm so proud of my 4yo, we took the training wheels off his bike today and he was riding it around the driveway within 20 minutes!!! It's not the greatest pic but I'm so excited for him I just have to post it!!!

Mood reflecting in ability to photograph

tamplum — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:28:00 GMT

The last few weeks I have been in a really strange place. With the loss of my dog last friday and then being sick and having no idea what is wrong, I have not been "inspired" to take my camera out and shoot just for the joy of it. I downloaded a bunch of shots last night and was excited with what was just sitting on my disk, but still... lacking desire right now.

I see natures beauty all around me right now. The weather is amazing and the kids are out playing daily. I need to re-find the joy of the capture again. I need to snap out of it. I need to get off my bum and just take pictures again.

I am just not inspired.

B&W or Color?

Chelsea — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:20:00 GMT

I can't decide if I like this better in BW or color. I like the texture in BW but the color is pretty too.