January 31: Day 24

Today the kids and I went to a friends' two year old birthday party which was a lot of fun! It was at lunchtime and there was a huge spread of yummy food including tons of kid friendly goodies and sandwiches. The garage was set up with a jungle theme and there were several small tables out for the kids to color and play with playdough which was a great idea since it kept the mess contained and nobody had to worry about spilling red punch on the carpet. Brilliant. There was natural light coming in from the windows in the garage door but it was still a little dim so I found myself using my 50mm prime lens once again. I love that lens! The light was coming from behind me and to the left a little in this photo. At least I was able to get some catchlights!

And this wasn't my favorite photo from the party, but since I don't have permission from the other children's parents I will refrain from posting them. Maybe I'll ask to borrow a few kids to photograph so you all don't get tired of looking at photos of my own two kids all the time!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 30: Day 23

I didn't remember to take a photo until just now and it's after dark and the kids are in bed which leaves me few of my favorite options. However this adorable snowman that Grace made in preschool a week ago caught my eye so that's what I photographed! Not that you can tell, but this was taken in the new office. Maybe I'll blog more about that tomorrow. The office is almost done except for the box of random stuff to be put away.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/50 sec
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 29: Day 22

I apologize if this photo looks terrible, it's the first one I've edited on the new desktop and my monitor is about as far from calibrated as you can get. I really need to scrounge up a $100 or so and get a monitor calibration device because this is going to drive me crazy! Since it looks good on this monitor my guess is that it looks very bland to the rest of you. All my other photos are screaming color at me and not in a good way.

As for the photo, it's actually some ornamental grass from our neighbor's front yard. Isn't it pretty?

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/640 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

January 28: Day 21

Ethan used the potty for the very first time today (thank God for older siblings who encourage this process!) and to celebrate we headed to McDonalds. Since the Play Land is outside I didn't feel like freezing so I talked the kids into getting our hamburgers To Go and then we had a picnic on the living room floor and watched Veggie Tales off the Netflix Instant Watch. They were hoping for Diego but he wasn't available. Anyways, this photo is the kids sharing the chocolate milk and using the fun straws I bought at the dollar store last week. They thought it was way fun!

Tonight's photo isn't high quality but I didn't have time to hunt down the flash and probably should have cranked the ISO up a notch. I don't know how much slower I could have had the shutter speed without major blur. I did shoot pretty wide open, though I could have moved down to f/1.8 I suppose. Starting to wonder if I don't get better results at f/2.0 though.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 27: Day 20

Life is like a bowl of jelly beans. So many flavors, not enough time.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

January 26: Day 19

Our dog Zoe's favorite napping spot is in the sun spot that falls on my pillow. That's right, my pillow. It drives me nuts because the last thing I want to smell when I go to sleep at night is dog. Blech. She loves to burrow between the window sill (the window at the head of our bed) and the pretty decorative pillow so that all you can see of her is her ears. She's very stealthy napping on my pillow.

Played some more with my nifty fifty. I can't believe I've only had this lens for a year, it's definitely seen some use! I'm also making a greater effort to switch completely over to manual instead of aperture priority. I pretty much know what shutter speed I should be at so it really hasn't been all that hard. I've also been working a lot on focus. I'm feeling hindered by the 9 focus points I have with my camera and I'm hoping that my next camera will have more focus options. Not that I'm close to buying a new camera, but I can dream.

I used Coffee Shop's Butterscotch Vintage action. It was already a warm photo with all the afternoon sun (I wish I could take a nap on my sunny pillow instead of the dog!) but this just added some oomph.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

January 25: Day 18

I've always been interested in macro photography. I find that I'm always drawn to the details no matter what media I'm using. Since I can't afford a $$$ macro lens I thought I'd give the "poor man's macro" technique a try. I used my 18-55mm lens (which I almost never use) and reversed my 50mm prime and switched both to manual focus. I hand held the 50mm and didn't use a tripod which made it really hard to focus. Macro photography has a pretty small window of what's in focus and what's not with very little room for error. Next time I might take the time to do the tripod.

So can you guess what it is?

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/40 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 45mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

January 24: Day 17

I was busy grocery shopping today and doing chores and didn't get a chance to pick up the camera until tonight after dinner when I got the kids in the tub. The bathroom has terrible lighting for pictures so I tried to improve the lighting with my speedlite which helped a lot. I angled the flash behind me and up to the ceiling. I love his expression!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/40 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: On, Fired

January 23: Day 16

Today the sun came out after a long absence and my Mom was visiting which prompted us to take a trip to the park right before lunch. The lighting was pretty harsh for January at almost noon so most of my photos didn't come out quite right. Swings are hard to get decent focus for me anyways. That and I'm a little out of practice since we haven't played at the park on the swings for months! That said I'm not completely happy with this photo but it's passable and Ethan's smile makes up for any technical flaws.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 57mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

January 22: Day 15

The kids and I are all wearing Converse today which inspired me to catch this shot on our small cement patio. We're literally within six feet of the house. Since I had to press the button I had to keep the camera pretty close to us, one of these days I should really get one of those remote clickers. Until then I do gymnastics to get these sort of shots. I also used my Gorillapod tripod to get my camera up off the ground a few inches. That really helped. The hardest part was really making my two kids stand still next to me when all they wanted to do was make a break for it!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

January 21: Day 14

I made sure my camera was in the van today on our long day of shopping. One of our stops was a children's consignment store off Burnside in Portland where we found this dress for $4. Grace absolutely fell in love with it and it fits her perfectly so I couldn't say no. She even asked to wear it out of the store! As luck would have it the tights she was wearing today match perfectly. That gave me the idea to fish the camera out of the van, walk down a block where the traffic was quieter, and do a quick photo shoot. This was my favorite and I had to really convince her to sit for it because she thought the stairs were too dirty. Having the camera in the van with me is paying off!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 47mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

January 20: Day 13

I wasn't feeling very inspired today. It's very gray and rainy. Not exactly fantastic natural lighting conditions which is my preferred way of taking photos. I decided that this dreary afternoon was the perfect time to practice some with my Speedlite. I turned on Barbie Swan Lake and Grace was happily mesmerized by the ballerinas. I took the opportunity to take a photo of her adorable little hands and pretty dress up dress (bought on super clearance at Target two years ago and still fits!). She always wears this dress when she watches Barbie Swan Lake. It's purple and matches Odette which is very important.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/40 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: On, Fired

January 19: Day 12

Today's photo was taken three steps from my front door. This poor hydrangea has been chewed on by the deer lately so I hope it still looks as beautiful this summer as it usually does! I started out in Aperture Priority and switched to Manual and liked my results in Manual much better. Then I used one of my favorite actions from Coffee Shop called Vintage Honey. For some reason this picture screams "winter" to me even with all the green grass in the background. Maybe I'm just nuts. Or maybe I just need to get out and prune my hydrangeas!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

January 18: Day 11

Today's photo was taken in the car on the way home from the Otis Cafe where we had a fantastic late breakfast with friends this morning. Ethan was playing with his toes because he had taken off his socks and shoes. Love the eye and lips in this profile shot!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 51mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 17: Day 10

It's been a long day. That's why you're getting this rather uninteresting photo, although you might appreciate the sneak peek of our Office Remodel project. The boxes and the piles of stuff are behind the little bit of new green sofa bed.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/8 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 32mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 16: Day 9

Grace watched The Jungle Book in our bedroom this afternoon and enjoyed snuggling into Mommy and Daddy's bed. I snuck in with my camera to play with the metering modes. There's a large south facing window above our bed so it provided a great spot to try out different metering modes. I think this photo was shot in Evaluative Metering mode.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/40 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 47mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 15: Day 8

I snapped this photo while I was in the car waiting for Grace to get out of preschool. In case you can't tell, it's my dusty dashboard. I kind of like the abstract nature of this shot and the texture of the dust.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 75mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 14: Day 7

I took this photo this morning as we were getting ready to head up to visit my Mom for the day. I told both the kids to pack one toy and one book in their backpacks. Ethan looked so gosh darn cute (and like such a big boy!) I had to snap a photo. I took them to the front yard for two minutes and this was the best I could get in that time frame. I think I took it a little before 9am.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/3200 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 13: Day 6

Today is very drizzly and gray. A typical Oregon day for sure. While driving my daughter to preschool this afternoon we saw a gorgeous rainbow so after I dropped her off I rushed back home, grabbed my camera, and started driving. I was hoping to find a nicer setting for the rainbow then a subdivision. While I didn't succeed in getting a good rainbow shot, I did have fun shooting a few photos of this railroad right outside of town. Any locals know this spot?

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/800 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 80mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

January 12: Day 5

Today's photo is of my son. He's not feeling so well today and is pretty cranky, but when I busted out the basketball he was all smiles and ready to play! We're next to the same sliding glass door as yesterday's photo. Unfortunately the background is my messy kitchen. One of these days I really need to figure out a way to make a cheap background. I did take this photo in manual mode which I don't usually do. I'm a fan of Aperture Priority but one of my goals in doing Project 365 is to know my camera inside and out!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

I am also entering this photo into the I Heart Faces "Best Face" Contest for fun. Click the link below to see more great photos!

January 11: Day 4

Today I plopped my daughter on a wooden stool in the kitchen, handed her Princess Bunny (at her request), asked her a question to start her talking, and started clicking my shutter. Once I get Grace to start talking she will tell me a 20 minute story. I find that having her tell me stories is the best way to get her to look at me and smile real smiles when I have my camera in my hand. Today she told me all about Princess Bunny and what foods she does and does not like to eat. In this particular photo she is giving Princess Bunny a kiss.

I did play around with some actions and liked this one. It's a free action from CoffeeShop called Butterscotch Vintage. I like the rosy hue.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

January 10: Day 3

This afternoon I challenged myself to take a photo using only the available light and objects in our cluttered office/guest room. After staring at the piles of stuff on the bed and random knickknacks on the desk I got inspired by a piece of fake fur fabric that I picked up at a yard sale last summer. Next I spotted a glass paperweight on the desk and thought the smooth glass would be a nice contrast to the fur. I took the photo on the windowsill (facing west in the late afternoon) using only natural light. I like that instead of the pirate ship that is actually on the bottom of the paperweight you see the reflection of the scrubby trees in the back yard. Kind of a cool effect!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

January 9: Day 2

Today's photo is our cat Boo. I was playing with different metering modes and since Boo was stretched out next to the sliding glass door she became the perfect subject. Doesn't she have the prettiest green eyes?

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/50 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 30mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

January 8: Day 1

I've decided to challenge myself to take at least one photo a day for a year, mostly as a way to keep myself working on improving my skills. I'm also hoping that I might get in the habit of carrying my camera with me more often! To kick start my 365 days of continuous photos I thought I'd start with a self portrait. Self portraits are hard. This one took me probably five minutes to accomplish using a tripod and a stuffed horse as a decoy to get my camera to focus. Then I used the timer and attempted to put myself exactly where the horse was to keep the photo in focus. It took several tries to get a somewhat focused photo that looked halfway decent. I would have happier if I got my face in focus rather then my hands, but my diamond sure looks good!

By the way, the plastic camera doesn't work. It's a fun toy for the kids I picked up at the thrift store so that they can take photos with me.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/50 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 40mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off