Getting in the holiday spirit

This year I feel like I know my camera enough to experiment a little with it during the holidays. You can probably tell I'm a bokeh addict and I never shoot anything with an aperture higher than 2.8 (I would go lower, but that's as low as I can go, right now).

A few weeks ago, I pondered about bokeh and shapes. My friend Melissa pointed me toward this great website. It shows you how you can make an adapter for your lens to create shaped bokeh from surrounding lights. I showed the idea to Gene and asked if his computerized laser could cut the shapes for me. (I'm worse than a preschooler with scissors). I bought some cardstock and told him the dimensions and he went to town.

Heres what they look like...he cut a variety of shapes and sizes for me, not really knowing what would work.


He made them so they go between the lens and the filter.... like so


Heres what it looks like.... I had to manually unfocus because I didn't have a subject I could put in my foreground to give me an adequate depth of field for the optimal bokeh. I was at a tree trimming party at a friends house and just couldn't wait to try. (Hopefully when we get our tree up later this week I can try out some more).



A few with a full perspective of the tree...




Gene had me be a model so we could try it with a subject in the photo.... (its dark, but you get the picture)


I found that the star shaped worked the best. The snowflake did ok, but it cut off more of the shape then I liked. The heart may have been too big and it was just and odd shaped blob, not really a heart.

Stay tuned for more pretty shaped bokeh posts!

That time of year again

Its time to start thinking about the holiday card. I always like to have them done around Thanksgiving, so I can get them mailed out early. I love looking at every ones card, so the earlier I can get mine out to people, the longer they can enjoy.

I've had a hard time this year deciding on a photo. So, I think I've decided to do a collage of some of my favorite JJ photos from this year. Gene doesn't think him and I should be on the card (who wants to look at us?). I've narrowed it down and I'm eager to get them printed.

I'm pleased with how my photography skills have developed over the past year. I think the collection of photos that I have chosen accurately depicts that. I've met an amazing group of women that have shared their knowledge and love of photography. Its great to have this fantastic resource available. Its easy to look at all the photos you take with "momgoggles" and oh and aw over how great they are. But these women can give it to you straight, and also direct you on how to make it that much better. I still have a ton of learning to do, tons I tell you, but its fun to have a hobby that I can pick up when I have a few minutes and experiment with.


Back to the cards...just when I was about to hit the buy button in my shopping cart, I came across this great deal at Shutterfly for bloggers. Of course, I saw it on another blog. What I ever did before google reader, I don't know!

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Sign up and you can receive 50 holiday cards for free! What an awesome deal! I'm so glad I found this. Our list gets longer every year and this will help us spread the holiday cheer!

Don't have a blog of your own... well Shutterfly had plenty of great offers for those that don't. Free shipping, 20% off.... now is a really great time to buy. Their selection of holiday cards this year is fantastic. I've used other sites in the past and I haven't had near the selection that shutterfly does. Check out what they have here.

Once I get the cards and get them mailed out, I'll share it with you all here! (I'll share that it includes 5 photos!)

I alsowant to share that shutterfly has great holiday gift ideas. One I love is the 2011 calendar. I made one of these a few years ago for my mother in law and one for JJ's mom and they both loved them. It was a great way to incorporate all the photos from the last year into one great gift. Check out the Calendar templates at Shutterfly.

Serene

Where have I been... the Bahamas! I went on a cruise with my families (parents, grandmother, brother and sister in law, in laws, friends, friends of friends) for 5 whole days! We had a fantastic time. I saw the You capture theme for this week and knew I had a photo to share. I know you aren't suppose to search archives, but this isn't really from the archives because I just took it last week and I haven't touched the camera since I unpacked it.

Gene and I took JJ for a little beach time when we arrived in Nassau. We loved playing in the crystal blue water and white sand.

This is serene....






Here are a few others from the trip....
JJ watching the sun come up as we pulled into port...




He looks like a model here... the dang kid is RIPPED!


And one of Gene, because I love him...


Lastly, because we have one of these from every trip we've ever taken....
The self portrait


Check out more Serene photos over at You Capture.

I hope to get back to blogging more, with or without photos. Our life is going on a new and unchartered journey and I hope to share that here.

It's Fall Ya'll

Do you know that I really hate that statement?!? It just seems really cliche to me. I always hear it in a Paula Dean accent. Don't get me wrong, I love Paula Dean and I live where ya'll is a regular vocabulary word, but I just can't get a handle on that statement.

But anyway, I digress, the point of this post is to share some Fall photos for you and for you to check out some others over at The Paper Mama with Chelsea. This past weekend we were in the Smokey Mountains for Gene's work and I managed to convince the boys to stop at Newfound Gap for some photos.

The overlook was crowded, extremely crowded. I almost gave in and say forgetaboutit, but I didn't. JJ wasn't in an a very photogenic mood, but I did manage to capture a few of him. The timing was horrible (2 pm, bright sun with the sun on the wrong side of the mountain). I had little options on where to place him so that the lighting would be just right. I managed to find a few spots and then work some editing magic.

Here is JJ, age 9, fall 2010....

JJ being coxed into a decent smile... too bad it turned into a great laugh!

Lastly... my two boys

Make sure to hop on over to The Paper Mama to see more fall photos.

POTW side lighting

I'm getting back up on the horse. I've felt lately that I haven't had anything fresh to contribute to photo challenges, nor did I have time to take any new photos for these challenges. This weeks POTW challenge is about side lighting... getting into the technical (which, as previously stated, I enjoy more).

I immediately was drawn to scavenge this summers mountain vacation photos. I knew there were several of JJ in the river, with great side lighting. I selected one, not previously shown. I did a little editing, uploaded it to the site and sighed that I got one in on time!

However, this weekend at JJ's soccer game, I captured a shot that I knew was better for side lighting. I love it more because not only does it capture the theme of the challenge, but it captures the type of photography I love to do. Its not easy to capture action with side lighting. But, JJ was placed just so, as was I, and as they say.... Magic happened. Of course, I'm tooting my own horn here, this photo could be total garbage, but I love it.

Without further ado... here is the photo...




I love that the focus fell on JJ and the ball is out of plane and out of focus. I love that you can see his coach behind him, watching him. I love JJ's expression as he's going for the ball, his thumbs tucked in (apparently his little quirk that he does while playing because he's like that in every photo). Can you tell that I love this photo (toot toot)!


And because I want to toot my horn a little more... here is the original... SOOC



Can you tell I cloned Gene out from behind JJ? Ok, so maybe you experts can, but I think I did a pretty decent job for the mediocre software I have. I think Gene was distracting, once I cropped in, he didn't fit in into the photo. (Sorry Gene)

Oh. and just in case you were wondering... here was my original side lighting photo....

Wee bit O Me

Its time for Wee Bit of Me Wednesday over at Myleighashley. Here's a little bit more about wee me....


{one} have you ever milked a cow or a goat?
hmmm.. maybe once at a fair or the petting zoo.


{two} what sound does your alarm make when it goes off in the morning?
Its set to a country radio station. Sometimes the reception is bad and its static, but I'm quick with the snooze. I use to have it on the pop station, but I got tired of waking up to Gansta Rap.


{three} chocolate milk or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate...not doubt. With whip cream. Even better after coming in from playing in the snow.


{four} what is one of the quirkiest things about you?
We recently hired a cleaning lady to come and help us out. We aren't messy people, but we just don't have time to do the nitty gritty cleaning. Well... I've discovered that I don't like my picture frames moved and rearranged. I know they have to move them to clean. I went nuts after the first cleaning putting everything back the way I liked it. Gene told me I needed to relax. I just don't think I can do it.


{five} are you more like your mom or your dad?
As I get older, I'm more like my mom. I stop myself sometimes because I say things that she did or do things that she does. Its even more obvious after I've spent time with her. My dad laughs at me all the time and calls me her.


{six} do you sleep with the tv on?
Yes, I can't stand for it to be quiet! If I wake up in the middle of the night and its silent I have a hard time falling back asleep.


{seven} if you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Blue-Violet. I loved the hyphenated colors... blue-violet, violet-blue, blue-green, red-violet. Its like they couldn't make a decision to make it all one or the other. That's me...I can't make a decision.


{eight} ross, joey, or chandler?
Chandler. I love a funny man. I think Gene and I are Monica and Chandler


{nine} do you play any musical instruments?
I took piano lessons and played in elementary and middle school. I'm really rusty now and not sure I could.


{ten} what’s the worst thing you’ve ever cooked/baked?
I tried to make Chinese a few weeks ago. Beef and Broccoli lo-mein. It wasn't good. The noodles tasty funny. The meat and sauce was ok, but just not as good as take out. I think I've learned my lesson... I'll stick to the Wok N Roll when I want Chinese.

Light

This weeks theme at Simplicity is Light. Last week at JJ's soccer game I worked on capturing some shots with the sun setting in the background. This was his last 6:00 game, so I knew it would be my last chance to get any quality photos. (It's too dark at the 7:00 games for me to get photos that I like)

When I got home and reviewed them, I was pleasantly surprised what what I captured.
This is my favorite... even though its only the upper half of his body, I love the sunflare around him, almost a perfect circle. The orange glow that exudes the feeling of fall. His intense stare down field for the play. Love it all.

Here are a few more from that night. I love that Gene is in the background of this one. He's really enjoyed helping coach JJ. He provides some tough love on the field, but JJ's a tough athlete and can take it.

Showing off some of his mad footwork skills. He's been watching way too much soccer on TV.

And this one... he caught me being the paparazzi

Check out more light photos over at Simplicity