Photography

Guest Post for Emmy

This was my guest post written for EmmyMom.

One of my favorite magazines I get in the mail is Food Network.  What can I say, I love to cook.  So the night that the May 2013 magazine showed up at my door, I dove right into it to see what new and interesting things I could find.  Flipping through every page, reading it’s contents, I made it to page 32 and this is what I saw… (dun dun dun)

shared on instagram that night (Boomerbear)

Wow, this hit a spot with me.  Now… I am absolutely no pro (although I’d love to be) but one of my favorite things to do is to photograph my food at restaurants number 1 and secondly a lot of times I will write a review on my thoughts about that particular restaurant if I haven’t written one previously.

Honestly, that’s great publicity for your restaurant in my opinion.  Free advertising, because you’re not paying me anything (yet, call me… lol).  The first review I wrote was last June for a Cajun style restaurant in my area.  I wrote the review, posted it on their facebook site and they loved it.  In fact, the next time I went in and from there on out the owner has remembered me.

So, I pondered what I read in the magazine for a while and then kind of let it be.  Since then, I’ve still photographed my food, still written my reviews, but been a little leery at the same time.  Now I live in, as I always joke, podunk Missouri, so obviously not NYC or LA, but I still wonder if at some point someone is going to get on to me.  I absolutely hate getting in trouble.

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Education – dSLR Camera Settings

The two main types of dSLR cameras it seems like people use are Canon’s & Nikon’s.  When I got my first dSLR, I bought a Canon but then later hubby switched me over to Nikon’s.  I love my Nikon, not to say I didn’t love my Canon, but I’ve since upgraded as well, so to say I love my Nikon over my Canon would be a bit of an understatement because the Nikon is a few steps up from my original Canon.

Whew, did you follow all of that?  I’m not sure I did!

So I took a photography class when I first bought my dSLR.  In fact, that’s why I bought my dSLR.  Prior to that I had a Canon Point and Shoot that had dSLR settings which I had absolutely no idea what they were or how to use them.  I should have read the owners manual, but come on, seriously, read all that jargon that I didn’t understand in the first place.  Oy!

Today I want to share with you what I’ve learned about the Settings.  Now I’ve never shot in fully automatic.  Sad to say I’m not sure I understand it.  LOL.  You know, the simplest one.  All I knew is I didn’t want the flash and it kept putting it on so I steered clear of fully automatic.

The Settings
Green Auto (Canon – Green box) – This is the Fully Automatic setting. Everything is already programmed and the flash pops up when it thinks it is needed. (Steer clear of the flash if at all possible!!)
P = Program – I shot in this mode quite a bit before I totally figured out manual. You can pick and choose whether or not to use the flash in this setting. This setting is very similar to the Fully Auto setting, but you have the ability to change your ISO.  As you change the ISO, the camera adjusts the rest of your settings.
S (Shutter Speed or Canon – Tv = Time Value)
~In this setting you can change the shutter speed using the little dial on the backside of the camera. You also set the ISO settings.

A Slow Shutter Speed (low number) was used for the picture on this picture.
     ~When keeping the shutter opened for a longer amount of time you will often need a tripod (or monopod) or you have to hold extremely still or you will a crazy blurry picture.  
A Fast Shutter Speed (high number) was used for this picture.
     ~High light.  Makes it extremely easy to use a fast shutter speed. 
     

A (or Canon Av = Aperture Value) – this determines the amount of light you let in. The Aperture Value is changed by using the dial on the front of the camera.  You also control the ISO.  (It also includes the blurry depth of field, but we’ll address that another time)
In short…. 
Too much light entering the camera means you will have a photo that is overexposed or “Blown out”.
Too little light entering the camera means you will have a picture that is underexposed or too dark.
M = Manual – With Manual Exposure you have full control of your picture.  You change both the Shutter Speed and Aperture Value as well as controlling the ISO.
The shutter speed is changed by using the dial on the back of the camera.
The aperture value is changed by using the dial on the front of the camera.
On my lens there is a switch that allows you to switch from AF (Auto Focus) to MF (Manual Focus) I don’t take it off Auto much but every once in a while I can’t get it to focus in on what I want so I will place it on Manual and focus it in my self.
The little lightning bolt button on the front left of the flash is what you push when you would like to use the flash in any of the setting except fully automatic.  Remember, the camera does everything in fully automatic mode.



Catch up with Day 1 Here

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Throw your camera in the water…

…And see how people react 🙂  Disclaimer! Only do that if you have a waterproof camera!!

Anyway… Tuesday night hubby and I got the opportunity to do something wild and CRAZY :). haha.

We got the opportunity to “Try it Tuesday” also known as scuba diving in a heated swimming pool.  Earl’s sister and brother in law are certified scuba divers and through different means, we all got invited to go try out scuba diving.

Not going to lie, I always kind of wanted to learn to Scuba Dive and I even put it on my 101 in 1001 list.  Yup, I sure was confident, wasn’t I?  lol.

And those aren’t called Flippers, Flipper is a dolphin, they are called fins, just so you know.  And fins are extremely hard to walk in!  Then add the weight of the air tank and I about fell over 4 times until I got the weight distribution thing figured out.

They had to try 3 different pair of fins on me before they gave up and gave me adjustable ones.

T beat us in the water.  Now being 8 he can’t become certified yet, however he can scuba dive in a swimming pool with an instructor present.  You bet he was all over that and he had a blast.  Of course he’s always been a fish, you should see him when he comes over to our pool in the summer.  He’s going to have a long year and a half wait time to turn 10.

Now Pokey doesn’t like water in his face.  Earl wasn’t quite sure if Pokey would like it, but Pokey is also one, let him do it at his own pace and he’ll even get underwater in our pool.  He was doing sooo good.  In fact, Earl said he didn’t like water especially in his eyes and they got him to take his mask off, under water, put it back on and blow the water out. 

oh Hai, Yup, that’s hubby and me.  The pool water was a bit on the murky side, not sure why.

They wanted us to swim down along the bottom.  At first I couldn’t get off the top portion of the water so they put a 2lb weight in my vest and that helped me.  Then I was scraping my knees on the bottom and could actually sit on the bottom.  Earl didn’t have any problem getting down there, in fact she put some air in her vest (so not the right technical name) so she wouldn’t worry about scraping her knees.

It’s Pokey and Earl 🙂

I tried smiling with all my might but those goggles refused to let me.  And they aren’t goggles either… goggles are what someone wear (I forget what they told me).  This is a mask.

It was a busy night and luckily we got there early.  Once we were done, they took our tanks/masks/fins and gave them to other people to try out.  We went and sat in the lovely hot tub to chilax.

And then the gator tried to get us… or is it a croc?

Hey again.  Ignore the makeup running down my face and the hair all over the place, k?

T wanted to get back in so he went on the hunt for fins to fit him.  He’s learning that I’ll stalk him until I get a picture. ha!

And Moo even got in on the action and is becoming a fish.  Can’t wait to see what this summer brings for her in the pool!

I may yet get to cross a task off the list of becoming scuba certified… we’ll see.  I’ll let you know 🙂

Add Instagram Photos to your Sidebar

So does it seem like to anyone else this year is just FLYING by?  Holy cow where has it gone,  Seriously.  We’re already in November.  Before you know it Santa will have come and gone and then we’ll be left with cold dreary January.  I’m sorry Poor January, but you’re not my favorite month, AT ALL.

So anyway let’s not focus on that and let’s do focus on the topic at hand.  Seems like more and more I’ve started finding blogs that have their Instagram photos displayed on the side bar.  I thought that could be interesting and thought maybe, just maybe someone else might enjoy learning how to do it just as I have.

From what I can tell, if you’re on wordpress there are many options, however this is the way I found it works for blogger.  It’s simple, so here’s the few steps to accomplish it.

First you’ll want to go to Snap Widget.  Once there it will ask you a few details about your blog.

  1. Your Instagram user name
  2. if you want to just display specific hastags, otherwise just make it blank.
  3. Grid, slideshow, or map options
  4. The thumb nail size (my blog is set up for 150 pixels)
  5. Photo border, yes or no.
  6. background color (you have to know your html color code)
  7. Hover effect (dunno what this is, I left it to default)

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Photo Contest & a Plead

Hi All!
I have recently entered a photo contest and I have a really big favor to ask of you.  Here are 3 of the photos that I have entered (below) and it would be phenomenal to win.  What am I winning?  A chance to have my photo displayed on the Pards.com website for an entire month.  Oh and I just found out a $25 gift card to Pards… You don’t have to register to vote, all you have to do is click on a link, click vote and that’s it.  You can vote only one time per day but on as many photos as you’d like.  There are 463 entries, so if none of mine suit your fancy, obviously there are others to choose from 🙂.
I know this is a big favor to ask, but I would appreciate it if you can or would like to.  You can vote every day from November 1, 2012 (today) through December 15, 2012.  Please don’t feel any pressure to vote though.
Official Rules to vote from Pards.com – You can vote for 1 or more entries every day, but you CAN’T vote for the same photo twice in one day. So come back often to vote again and while you are here check out what Pard’s has on sale too!  Make sure to check out our Featured Items below
http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/560
http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/554

http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/553

Ok so I’ll fess up now… between the hubs and me, we entered 9 photos total.  If the three above (my faves) don’t suit your fancy, check out the rest 🙂  Remember, you can vote for all 463 entries if you really wanted, you can just only vote for the photos 1 time per day :).  Vote Early, Vote Often!

http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/558
http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/557
http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/556
http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/550
http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/551
http://pards.com/contests/viewentry/552

I hope you all have a wonderful, fabulous 1st day of November.  and don’t forget to read about hubby’s Surprise Birthday Party, today’s his birthday!

The Everyday "Stuff"

Life is Fast!  Blink your eyes and you could all together miss it.  I swear, I just got married yesterday when the reality of the whole thing is I was married a little over 2 years ago.  Wow, where has the time gone?  And I’m not going to lie, I think one of my worst fears is getting Mr. Alzheimer’s.  I’m afraid I’ll forget all those special moments that make up our every day life.

Yes, we all pull out our camera a birthday parties or special events, but what about those every day routine’s that some day we’ll be able to show our grand kids or our grand kids could show their grandkids about the way great great grandma/grandpa lived back in the year 2012 and can you believe there even was such a year… What on earth did they drive, now we have rocket ships or beam ourselves places… ok I’m getting a little far out there, but hey, you never know, back in the late 80’s cellular phones were just coming out and most people didn’t know what they were or even own one… It could happen.

Anyway… Why don’t we photograph those everyday moments that are special to us?  Well I do, but that’s one because I’m a blogger and two, I like pictures.  I get made fun of a lot though.

They types of things I’m talking about…

1.  Catch the Everyday Mundane routine

There are things we do every day of our lives that is just kind of the norm for us, from waking up in the morning and fixing our hair/putting make up on to training for our 5K to heck, brushing your teeth.  Remember those everyday routines.

How about the motivation I get from taking photos before our run and posting to Facebook after the week is over.

Like grilling hamburgers or petting the pooches
And seriously, who can forget brushing their teeth.  So routine.

2.  Don’t forget the Details

To me, details are important.  Those details are what help make you… well you.

How about 1st anniversary traditions.

Holding hands, going to the movies or having a family night playing John Deere Monopoly

3.  Life isn’t perfect, don’t forget to document that either.

And remember, life isn’t perfect.  Heck my car keys have been through the washer twice.  What’s sad is two different sets of car keys, one would think after the first round one (I) would remember to check pockets, but I suck at that.  I should start taking photos of all the random things I take out of my washer, that could be cool, right?

Keys get washed, it’s funny.  Remember those funny moments!

4.  Be Real – Remember the Favorites

Take pictures of the moment.  Be real.  Not every time someone is looking at the camera or even “camera ready”.  Sometimes those make some of the best photos.

Like just chilling, waiting to help build a fence.
Apparently the light was too bright for her…

Don’t we all go to work without shoes on?  J/k, my shoes were in the car.

5.  Show Personality

We all have a personality.  It isn’t always bright and sunny either.  Don’t forget to document that.  That makes people in photos become REAL.  And that of course is what we all are.

They are all so deep in thought to the point, none of them really knew I was snapping their photo.
Sometimes you yell Smile and this is what you get.  Hey, go with it.

Are these photos masterpieces?  No, probably not… but do you get a sense of feeling for us and our lives, I would hope so.  That was my goal anyway.

Happy Friday.  Go out this weekend and create memories!

And I’ll leave you with one last photo, if this doesn’t show personality and real life, I’m not sure what does…

How to Create a Watermark Brush in PSE

It’s always great to learn new things, right?  I mean I know we aren’t all in school anymore but still, it’s always good to learn a new thing once a day!  That’s what I’ve always been told anyway.  So today I’ll show you how to make a Watermark brush in PSE.  Super simple and super easy!

btw, I use PSE 8 but I’ve played around on 10 and I know it isn’t a whole lot different, obviously 10 has more features but anyway, you get the picture 🙂

Ok first off you’ll start by opening PSE up and going to New–> Blank File

It’s always better to have a huge canvas then to have too small of a canvas to work with, so I opened a 2000×2000 pixel canvas.  Make sure you select Transparent at the bottom too.

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Resizing Your Photos for Blogs via Photoshop

So here I am, Monday night, in a King sized bed, in a hotel room, the first time away from my husband since we’ve been married.  I’m a little sad so when I packed my clothes I packed one of hubbys shirts sprayed with his cologne.  At least I somewhat feel close to him.  All my friends who do this on a regular basis, you’re so strong!  I’ll quit whining now :).

Where am I and why?  I’m on a trip for work.  I’ve never traveled for work so this is new and different.  I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit sad not getting to go to bed next to my husband.  And I’m writing my post for tomorrow tonight.  I have nothing to do and am a bit bored.  Maybe depending on how tomorrow goes I’ll share with you my trip, but so far, today was mainly just sitting in a car for about 4 hrs.

So I thought I would share with you how to get photos blog read via Photoshop Elements.  Remember I already told you how to do this without PSE, now I’ll show how to do it with :).

1.  Open your photo.  Simple enough!

2.  Click on File –> Save for Web

3. Now you’ll wind up with a window similar to this.  Hubby asks me why it’s double photos and for that I do not know… if someone does, please share!

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