Last Bits of Fall

Winter is coming (just ask my family and friends in the midwest), so I'm trying hard to savor what's left of fall.

An Afternoon at the Orchard

A bunch of friends went to another friend's family's commercial apple farm yesterday. It's right along Lake Ontario and my friend's dad is so welcoming. He takes the time to show us around and teach us about the apples.

The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect opportunity to take photos. I'm probably posting too many, but I really like these ones and hope you do too!

Speeding by

Anyone else feel like this is how their summer's going?

It's just speeding by!

My sewing machine has been quiet thanks to a lot of time in the library studying for my comprehensive exam and taking care of wedding plans. I'll finally be done with the studying when I take the exam August 9-12.


This weekend I got to see a good friend of mine from high school compete in a bike race. 25 laps around a 4 square block loop was the perfect opportunity to try out different settings on my camera.






Afterwards we went to Niagara Falls and although it rained the whole time we were there, it was a really fun time.

Photo Assignment #2 - White Balance

Anyone else frustrated that their colors come out all weird when they take photos at night or inside? I had an aha moment at my past photo class. Part of this has to do with getting your exposure right (mainly light vs dark), but a big part of it for those of us who care about getting accurate colors turns out to be white balance.

This week's assignment for my DSLR class was to experiment with our camera's white balance settings. It is definitely worth it to take a few minutes to see if you can adjust this on your camera and how to do it. For me, I have some good presets (like Tungsten and Florescent), but my sewing space has a combination of incandescent and compact florescent light bulbs so I tried out the custom setting. This was as easy as taking a picture of a white piece of paper in the weird lighting and telling the camera to base its white balance off of that picture.

Here's the picture from my last post that I took after creating a custom white balance setting (taken without the flash):


Here is the same shot but using all of the other preset white balance settings on the camera (again without the flash)... see what a difference it makes?

Look Mom, No Flash!

Last Monday, I started my DSLR class at a local art center (only 3 blocks away!). So far, it's been helpful and I haven't used the flash on my camera since. I'll probably be posting more photography on the blog as I get more familiar with my camera... this was only week 1 of my 8 week class!

I had an assignment this week to take pictures using full manual mode and the modes were you choose the aperture (Av) or the shutter speed (Tv). Here's what I'm going to bring to the class on Monday. Click on any of them to see its full description on flickr.
















And here's one more in memory of my dad's aunt who was an absolutely wonderful woman who passed away unexpectedly this week. My parents found this slide in a box full of old photos/slides in the basement. Don't you wonder where they were off to?

Christmas Excitment

A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!
Jon and I just enjoyed a wonderful week at my parents' house in Minnesota. Almost everyday was busy with get-togethers or errands, but it was so wonderful to be able to spend time with everyone.

I got completely spoiled with gifts this year. My sister really surprised me with a Modern Quilter illustration from Ariel Eldridge (on flickr and etsy)!! I was just gushing about how I love this series and lamenting that she didn't have any more for sale. Little did I know that the reason was because my sister already bought the last one!




I got some really beautiful books about Gee's Bend Quilts from my aunt and uncle. There's way too much inspiration!!




And finally, I really got spoiled with a new camera from my parents. I have a good point and shoot, but lately, I've been getting frustrated by the limitations that come with a small point and shoot.




I asked for a DSLR so that I could get better control over colors, better low light photos and so I stop missing the moment waiting for my camera to respond. I'm definitely going to get that and a whole lot more. I have no idea what I'm doing with it and have only used it in full auto mode. I'm already soooo happy!!

Here's a little direct comparison with indoor light (my biggest frustration).

Old Camera

Me and my dad

My sister and her husband

New Camera!

My sister laughing

My aunt and uncle
Sisters!

And here's a fun moment that I caught (and wouldn't have caught with the old camera) at a family get-together with my dad's extended family. My dad's cousin had set up a way to race little bait fish and here's one of the races. There was also a costume contest if you're wondering about some of the outfits. :) By the way, bait racing is really fun!




I'm going to take a 6-week class at a local art center on how to use a DSLR camera and I can't wait to get started January 25th!

Photography-along Lesson 1

I decided to join Petit Debutant's Photography-along. You should give it a go too! It's fun!

Before I explain what I've been up to, I figure I'll give a little background: I've been frustrated with my little point and shoot recently since I really would like a camera that can handle low light conditions, more outdoor conditions and pick up colors in my projects a little better. I've been thinking about getting a DSLR camera this Christmas but when I saw Norma's photography-along, I thought that might be an even better place to start. You know, improve the photography, learn to really use my camera and then figure out if a new camera is really the right answer?

We're using the lessons on MorgueFile and Lesson 1 was about composition. There were 2 assignments, but I only got a chance to do assignment 1 so far. For this assignment, we were supposed to focus on composition and take abstract photos. I think you can still recognize my subjects, but I tried!

Here's a few of my favs from the many I took (the lesson encourages lots of photos and it really makes a difference!). I put a few more on flickr. Click any of the pics to go there.



















Feel free to leave comments, I'd love to know what your thoughts are!

Edited to add: I'm using a Canon Power Shot SD630 for this. I love how small it is and originally got it because of how big the screen on the back is.