Nos. 9, 10, and 11

I'm surprised I didn't fall behind (and thus have to play catch-up) sooner than this.  But I caught up...  at least for now.  I'll probably fall behind again this week, as school really back in session, the kid and I try to finish his science project, and the kid's basketball practices start.  

No. 9

A short foray into food photography (after a desperate search around the house for something that looked as if it would yield an even marginally interesting photograph).  Will gave me his best 'you're nuts, mom' look when he saw me standing on one of the kitchen chairs with my camera pointed down at the table.  

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(f/4 - 1/25 sec - ISO 1600 - 50mm - flash)

No. 10

The outside spigot drips constantly.  Yes, I should have this fixed.  If it were fixed, though, this photo wouldn't be nearly as interesting.  What looks like a stream of water from the spigot is the ice that's formed as the water has continued to drip throughout the winter.  

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(f/5.6 - 1/25 sec - ISO 400 - 100mm)

No. 11

My neighbors have several of these whirly-birds in the flower beds that run the along the fence that separates our yards.  They look rather forlorn these days, with the flowers long gone and the snow on the ground.  I'm a little surprised that I wasn't chastised for sticking my camera lens through the wire fence to get this photo (I saw Mrs. Neighbor look out the window as I was snapping away).  Then again, they're the neighbors whose yard drains into mine during heavy rains, so I really don't feel that bad.

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(f/3.5 - 1/640 sec - ISO 400 - 100mm)

No. 8

June 24, 1911

Without really intending to, I seem to be focusing (no pun intended!) on macros during this first month of 365 days/365 photos.  This, I believe, is my favorite (so far).

This my paternal grandmother's wedding ring, which I was given after her death (late 1987 or early 1988).  As I remember the story, she was 20 and my grandfather was 21 when they married in 1911.  Two weeks after they were married, they set sail for the Republic of Cameroon in central Africa, where they lived and worked as missionaries for the Presbyterian church for 50+ years.


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(Canon EOS Rebel T3i - f/7.1 - 1/20 sec - ISO 1600 - 100mm - flash)

No. 7

It was only a matter of time before this relic showed up in the photos.  It's 25 years old and badly in need of some maintenance, and these days it just sits on the shelf.  I loved playing it, but I think it might be time to retire it.


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(Canon EOS Rebel T3i - f/3.5 - 1/15 sec - ISO 1600 - 100mm)

No. 6

Rest in peace, Agnes Nash...  beautiful spirit, kind and gentle soul, a true woman of God if there ever was one.

(Canon EOS Rebel T3i - f/3.5 - 1/10 sec - ISO 1600 - 100mm)

No. 5

Remnants of Christmas

An ornament that didn't make it into one of the boxes for the garage caught my eye, sitting forlorn on the coffee table amidst the standard clutter.  I left this bell beside the letter 'Santa' left for Will Christmas morning.  Every now and again, he picks it up and rings it, and I wonder how much longer he'll believe.

If it's not become apparent yet, I like editing the photos as much as I like taking them.


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(Canon EOS Rebel T3i - f/3.5 - 1/8 sec - ISO 800 - 100mm - with flash)

No. 4

playing with depth of field

Depth of field is the range of distance where, in the finished photo, things will appear sharp and in focus.  Parts of the photo that are outside the depth of field will appear blurry.  The narrower your depth of field, the more blurry your background will appear.  Click it Up a Notch has a great, easy to understand article about it here, that explains it much more thoroughly than I have if you want to read more.

The result of the disagreeable winter weather is lots of photos of things in and around my house. This is likely for the best, though.  From day to day and room to room, my house offers any number of lighting situations.  Add to that the multitude of stuff sitting around, and different techniques I want to master, and the opportunities for practice are endless.

My father got me these nesting dolls years ago.  We attended a concert at a nearby college, given by a singing group from the Ukraine.  They had various items for sale in the lobby of the concert hall, including these handmade dolls.  These days, they sit on a shelf in my dining room with lots of other tchotchkes, and they're one of my favorite things (cue music).

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(Canon EOS Rebel T3i - f/2.8 - 1/20 sec - ISO 1600 - 50mm)

No. 3

The kid had to get new glasses back in the fall (and I had to start wearing glasses back in the fall, at the age of 44, but that’s a whole other conversation).  When it came to decide on the extras for these new spectacles, the optician launched into an infomercial about some new, amazing coating for the lenses that blocks the toxic rays that shoot out of today’s computer screens and televisions and straight into our eyes, thus causing an alarming rise in the cases of macular degeneration.  I’m sure I was snookered into paying for something that the kid could have lived without and been just fine, but because I have to over-achieve as a parent, I opted for the triple-glazed turbo lenses. 

This protective coating on the lenses results in them having a purplish tone (only to the person looking at you; if you’re the one wearing the glasses, everything looks normal to you), and of course this purplish tone also shows up in photographs, as you can see in the original version of photograph No. 3.  I’m sure if the photo was taken from just the right angle, the lenses would appear normal.  Or, I’m also wondering if a circular polarizing filter (fancy technical terms!) would get rid of the reflection off the lenses, and get rid of the purple as well.  Something to play with as the year goes on.

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A semi-sepia toned edit gets rid of the purple nicely, though, I think:

(Cannon EOS Rebel T3i - f/1.8 - 1/60 sec - ISO1600 - 50mm)