all party'd out + five questions

We had a wonderful celebration for Tate's 2nd birthday last night, complete with swimming, balloons, going down the slide, unwrapping presents, blowing out candles, and, of course, unwrapping gifts. Most of the people that matter most in Tate's life were there to celebrate with us. I took lots of pics to document the occasion, but my favorite was taken at the end of the night when things were winding down. Tate sat down with a couple of his balloons and just stared off for a moment. I think it's a priceless shot. My precious little grandson... growing up. I think he was all party'd out.


In other news....

Our assignment in Behind the Scenes this week was to answer these five questions on our blog.


1. What makes you happy?
That's easy....Faith, Family, Friends, Food and Photography. (kind of wish photography started with an F :)


2. Which talent would you most like to have?
This is not so easy because there are so many answers, but I would have to say a talent for singing. I recently took up the guitar and would love to have a beautiful voice to go along with it.


3. Which words or phrases do you overuse most? Hmmmm....hmmmm.....hmmmm. I'm not sure. I would probably say hmmm... :)


4. What is your favorite movie, book or both? For movie, I would probably say First Night (an oldie but goody). I love anything set back in medieval times. Plus, I'm a sucker for forbidden love :) Books are a little harder. I'm not sure I have discovered my favorite yet. I'm still making my way through all of the millions of good reads out there. I'll keep you posted...


5. If you could go anywhere in the world for a creative retreat, where might it be? Africa. Definitely Africa. Can you imagine the images you could capture? Between the culture, the people, the land and the animals....be still my heart.


Okay, that's it for today. I sure am enjoying this class and hate to see it come to an end on Friday. I have so much more to learn!

creamy dreamy

In Kim Klassen's Beyond Layers class today I was assigned to process a dreamy-like image. So, I went out to the garden and snapped this photo of bright pink flowers, did a little post processing (following Kim's instructions and presto, creamy and dreamy. This has been such a fun class and I've learned so much about post-processing. Well worth it!!! If you are interested in learning more about processing photos, check out what Kim has to offer here. 

how i got here

One of our assignments at Behind the Scenes this past week was to create a timeline showing our journey to get to where we are today.


I had always wanted to learn more about photography, but didn't really act on it until 5 or six years ago. Bob had bought me a nice DSLR camera for Christmas one year, but I had no idea how to use it. I was starting to travel a little, so I really wanted to learn all I could in order to document my trips.


After Brooke graduated and went away to college, I started to dabble in a few classes here and there. Taking online classes, and interacting with the vast community of photographers there, has been the best thing I have ever done. It has all become a bit of an obsession now, but I love every minute of it. 

learning in layers

I'm taking a new online class called Behind the Scenes. It has been an inspiration to me. I have learned so much already about blogging and about myself. It has encouraged me to look inward and really discover what I want, not only out of my blog, but out of my life. This past week, we were given an assignment to discover "why I blog". To answer that question, I have to go back about six or seven months.


My good friend Shelley passed away last December. During the last few weeks of her life, I was consumed with all kinds of feelings. I thought a lot about the what-ifs. What-if this was happening to me? What-if I only had a few weeks to live? Have I lived my life to the fullest? Would I be missed? And, what would others remember about me? 


It dawned on me at that time that I hadn't documented much about my life. I had never been a journal writer, and I had very few pictures of daily life. I also had very few pictures that included me (I was usually on the other side of the camera). Most of my photos were the big vacation shots, sports photos of my children, graduation pictures and other major life events. Even though those photos were very important to me, that was all I had. All of the day-to-day memories were locked up safely in my head. And, those memories would die someday along with me. This got me thinking. I knew I needed to change things. 


Enter...my blog.


With a little encouragement and a lot of patience from my daughter Brooke, I took a little leap into the unknown and started a blog. At first I think it was just a place to put all of the photos I take on a daily basis while I am trying to become a better photographer. But, six months later, it has become so much more to me...part journal, part visual memories, part therapy, part love letter, part hobby, part education, part relaxation. I'm still an absolute amateur, but I love doing it. That comes as a surprise to me, considering the fact that I am known as a "digital immigrant" to my children. But, I have learned how to do a lot of things I couldn't do before. And now, this new class with Xanthe Berkeley and Kim Klassen is taking me to new heights. 


I'm feeling more than ever the importance of continuing to stretch, learn and grow in my life, no matter my age. And, while I originally set out to learn just a few things, I have found out that there are layers upon layers of different things to learn along the way. I can't wait to share more of what I learn as the weeks go by.  It does take up a little of my time each day, but I think it is time well spent. I like to think that Shelley would approve:)

Moving Pictures

In my photography class this week

we have been learning 

how to make gif files.

They are basically a series of pictures

put together

to create a sort of moving picture effect.

This is my test gif.

Not that exciting,

but just a little series of photos

I took at a swimming pool in Herriman.

I hope to have some funner photos

in the future.

In the meantime,

enjoy a little splash zone!

A Sweet Personality

This week in my photography class

my teacher told us that there is beauty in everything,

you just have to find it.

She challenged us to find beauty in the unexpected.

I agree with her. . . .

mostly.

Today I opened a container in my refrigerator

only to find this:

My first thought was,

I wonder how long that has been there?

My second thought was,

Hey, that looks like a daisy with a blue center.

(Clearly, my photography class is starting to get to me.)

And so,

I took the challenge to find beauty in it.

First I tried shooting from a different angle,

then a close-up,

that tilted contemporary look,

the out of focus look,

a nice tight crop,

and finally, I followed the rule-of-thirds,

which I ended up liking the best.

Next, I tried a few different things in post-processing.

A nice vignette,

a little cross-processing,

a vintage look,

a crackle texture,

a fake sun flare,

desaturation,

and even a black and white conversion,

which, ironically,

looks hauntingly similar 

to a picture I took earlier in the week.

I know, right?

My conclusion?

My teacher is wrong.

My spoiled spaghetti sauce is NOT beautiful,

no matter how you look at it.

But, it has a sweet personality  :)

Feel free to comment on your favorite version.

Mine's the one with the sun flare.

Beyond Layers Week 1

This week I started my new online class Beyond Layers.

It's a combination of photography, photoshop and composition

all rolled up in one.  

It lasts for the entire year and I have class twice a week

plus homework assignments.

I just completed my first assignment 

in which we were to take a simple photo of a simple object.

It was supposed to be light and airy in composition,

and we were to add a very light texture to it

and optional text if we chose to.

"Just Enough" was the topic of the actual assignment.

I just wanted to share my image.

I'm excited to learn more as the year goes on.

I think all of this picture taking each day 

is helping me to discover what my style actually is.

This sort of simple composition really suits me.

"Planned" Pics.

As I mentioned in a earlier post, 

I have been taking a composition class for the last two months.  

It has been incredible and I have learned a ton.  

This week our homework assignment 

was to "stage" a vignette and photograph it. 

 That meant picking a few objects

 and trying to compose them in a pleasing way 

and then capturing them in a photo.  

Sounds easy, right?

  

NOT FOR ME!!

This is definitely my weakness.  

I take pictures as they come.

I don't pose people or objects. 

I prefer to shoot things as they really happen.

So, this week was my most challenging one yet. 

I searched the house over,

found a few objects I thought would look nice,

and this is what I ended up with.

I'm not sure what my evaluation will be like,

but I like the colors and hope it will make the grade.

I have definitely seen improvements in my composition

since I started this class.

Perhaps I'll share a more pictures over the next few weeks.

Out Of The Archives

I've been taking a PHOTOGRAPHY class.  

It's a composition class and I am learning so much.  

This week we were asked to pull a photo out of our archives that contained certain elements of composition.  

I looked through a bunch of photos before stumbling upon this one.  It was taken this summer in my back yard.  

Funny how such a simple photo can draw you in. 

(Don't even get me started on the 

CUTER THAN AVERAGE 

subject in the photo).