March 31: Day 83

I focused on the color green today because I enjoy participating in the Pioneer Woman's Photography Assignments and the current assignment is Green. I really wish I had a macro lens because I could have taken some super cool wet leaves photos today. My current lens selection makes getting those super cool shots kind of difficult because they just won't let me get any closer then a few feet to get a focused shot. Boo. Perhaps I need to try my ghetto macro technique again.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/640 sec
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

I thought I'd give an easy and low cost photography tip that works great for still life shots like the pears. To avoid the heavy shadow on the pear's left sides I held up a sheet of white paper to act as a reflector and help lighten the shadows. The photos below are completely unedited to show you the difference a plain piece of paper can make.

Without the Super High Tech Piece of White Paper Reflector:

With the Super High Tech Piece of White Paper Reflector:

See the difference in the shadows?

March 30: Day 82

Grace hanging out with me in the office enjoying the futon.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

March 29: Day 81

I confess, I have a thing for taking photos of flowers and details of plants. I find them so beautiful and fun to photograph. Plus they don't grimace or look cross-eyed at me when I point my camera towards them. I can't say the same for my family! These particular blossoms are blooming on our backyard tree. Grace thought our tree was growing mushrooms. Not quite, but they are pretty big white blossoms for such a little tree! I did very little editing to this photo, just a little adjustment to the RAW file but not a single action or anything. I love it just the way it is.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 56 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 28: Day 80

I didn't get many photos on the trip home because I drove a good chunk of it. I drove from Pendleton to Dallas with a detour through Sherwood. I could have stopped several times on the drive from Sherwood to Dallas because there was some absolutely beautiful light and gorgeous rural views. Truly beautiful. But since I had a carload and cranky kids I didn't stop and instead you get this photo of my kids wishing I'd hurry up and unbuckle them because they want to get out of the car.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

March 27: Day 79

Today we visited my husband's Opa and Oma at their home in Caldwell. Oma has some beautiful collections, one of which is this collection of small boxes on an end table in the living room. I absolutely love the rich colors and shiny metals!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

March 26: Day 78

Hello yellow! This gorgeous flowering bush is in my inlaws front yard and I was excited to try and get some photographs of it. Naturally the day I chose to do so it was freezing cold and the wind was blasting which made it hard to get a photo of the flowers in focus since they were waving wildly. Plus the yellow is super intense. At least it is on my wide gamma screen.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length:50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 25: Day 77

I'm not super thrilled with this photo, but since I only took three the entire day and this was the best I'll share it. Totally missed his eyes when I was focusing. Otherwise the lighting was super and he was relatively still sitting on the tread mill! And notice he's wearing his Blazer jersey again. He pulled it on over pretty much all his shirts. That boy likes basketball.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 51 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

March 24: Day 76

Today my mother in law took the kids and I to the Boise Zoo where we had a great time visiting the animals. Since Idaho kids weren't on spring break it was pretty quiet and the weather was beautiful which made it a great zoo experience. The Boise Zoo is smaller then the Portland Zoo but that means the animals aren't as far away and are easier to see. They didn't have elephants but made up for it by having lots of big cat varieties that the kids had never seen in person. I forgot how HUGE tigers are! I'll post more about the zoo visit on my family blog.

This meerkat was hilarious. He sat on this ledge and kept looking back at his audience and posting for pictures. I couldn't resist making him my photo of the day!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/1000 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 23: Day 75

Grace helped Oma make a batch of Specalaas, a Dutch bar cookie that's super tasty. The dough is really thick so you have to mix it by hand with a wooden spoon. No modern mixers in this old recipe! The results are worth the elbow grease.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

March 22: Day 74

Zoe and the kids both enjoyed playing outside in Opa and Oma's large fenced backyard. Emphasis on the fenced. One of these days our small yard at home will have a fence and I'll happily send the kids and the dog outside to play. It's a dream. In the background you'll see Ethan playing with his blue ball we picked up at the Dollar Store. It lasted about a day before it deflated due to multiple punctures from the rose bushes.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/800 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 54 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

March 21: Day 73

Grace is obsessed with The Princess and the Frog. We watched it two times on the trip to Idaho (we gave the kids a movie as an early Easter present for the trip) and then she watched it twice a day for the next couple of days while March Madness basketball dominated the big tv. It's a good thing that Opa has a travel DVD player so she could watch her princess movie at the kitchen table!

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

March 20: Day 72

This photo is of the kids and their Uncle Sam. Notice that Sam was still sporting his Mustache March facial hair which has since been shaved off. Grace is reading a book while the boys watch March Madness basketball. Ethan is polishing off a banana.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

March 19: Day 71

We're back from our Idaho Spring Break Trip so I can share the last week's photos with you. Not sure how long it will take me to catch up, depends on how often I get a chance to sneak into the office uninterrupted. I was busy trying to buy milk and eggs and other perishable items as well as attend an Easter party and stuff eggs for the preschool party on Wednesday...let's just say this process could take awhile.

The majority of Day 71 was spent in the van driving from Dallas, OR to Nampa, ID. We left here right after breakfast and got to Nampa at dinner time. It was a looooooong day. This photo was taken in front of a gas station in Burns, OR where we stopped for a bathroom break. Our 4 year old declared the bathroom in the Sisters, OR McDonalds to be too disgusting to use. The Burns gas station bathroom had a very strong orange dreamsickle smell which she immediately liked and declared that rather gross bathroom to be clean enough to use. At least she used it. When we drove to Idaho for Christmas she refused to use any potty for the entire drive. And yes, she made it.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 53 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

March 18: Day 70

The cherry trees in our neighborhood started to blossom this week. I'm very sad that I never made it to photograph the kids in front of the State Capitol this week and since we're leaving tomorrow morning for Idaho I'll probably miss it this year. This is the last photo I'll be able to share for a week since we'll be in Idaho for Spring Break. I'll share next week's photos the following week.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 17: Day 69

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I thought I'd choose a green subject for today's photo. I considered getting a photo of our grass (I always forget that having green grass in the winter is a NW thing and was shocked by how brown Denver was...guess I'm spoiled!) but decided to focus on my hydrangea's budding leaves instead. I love an early spring!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 16: Day 68

Another photo of our pretty kitty. You can't tell from this photo but she's actually being rather tightly squeezed and held by our four year old. I wouldn't trade our mellow kitty for the world!

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

March 15: Day 67

Today's photo inspiration comes from one of our three bookcases. That's right, three full size bookcases. And yes I've read every single one of my books and quite a few of my husband's as well. I happen to have a thing for childrens literature and have amassed quite a collection over the years, starting well before I had children. This particular shot shows my favorite childhood book series, Little House on the Prairie. If you look real close you can see a few other favorites, A Little Princess, A Wrinkle in Time, and Little Women (the title isn't visible but you can barely read Louisa May Alcott's name on the spine). Since most of my favorite children's literature is girl oriented (I am a girl afterall!) I need to hear some good boy literature suggestions for my son. Particularly books featuring basketball.

I took this after I put the kids down to bed with all our living room lights on. I did bump the ISO to 800 but since fine detail isn't that big of a deal in this shot I can live with it. I'm still totally digging this post-processing sequence I've been using for the past week or two. I like the soft look. What do you guys think? Like it? Love it? Tired of it?

Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

March 14: Day 66

I was pretty tired by the time we got home from the airport Sunday afternoon but I was pretty happy to see my two kids after a weekend away. So Sunday's photo is of my son playing at my Mom's dining room table.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 65 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

March 13: Day 65

On a gloriously warm Saturday a large group of us went to the Denver Botanical Gardens. Apparently March is not the best time of year to visit if you're expecting to see anything green or blooming. I didn't care since dead and brown things make just as nice photos as green and blooming things. What really matters is sunlight, form, texture, composition, etc. I have no idea what sort of plant this is but I really love the texture and the way the sunlight was hitting it. I also have some really cool shots from the indoor tropical garden which did have green and blooming things that I might share on my regular blog.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/640 sec
Aperture: f/2.5
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 12: Day 64

Photo from the wedding ceremony, not the greatest but then I wasn't the wedding photographer! The lighting was pretty dim for photos and the photos all have a yellow tinge even though I did have my color balance set at the correct setting. Hard to avoid with halogen lighting! I kind of like black and white photography for weddings anyways, and since I was on ISO 1600 there's quite a bit of grain which always looks better in black and white in my opinion. I so wish I could afford a camera that performed better at higher ISO's. I didn't know where I would be sitting so I had my 28-75 zoom but it turns out that I probably could have gotten away with my 50mm prime which would have been handy for the slightly lower aperture.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 48 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

March 11: Day 63

Today is a very busy day which is why you're getting this very so-so photo of my very cute shoes that I'm packing to attend my friend Niki's wedding in Denver tomorrow. Since all I'll have is the HP mini laptop (i.e. No Photoshop!) I won't be able to share the next couple day's photos until Monday. See you then!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 60 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

March 10: Day 62

I'm feeling completely lethargic and useless today. I hate being sick. I've spent 99% of the day on the couch with my feet up. Looking at my cute slippers I was inspired to take a photo of them and thought it was especially fitting since I haven't taken them off today. In fact I went out in public wearing my super cute slippers today and have worn them to pick up my daughter from preschool twice this week. It's a good thing so few people actually pay attention to footwear.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 37 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

March 9: Day 61

Not that you can tell from this photo but today has been a rough day. It started off with Ethan puking 5 times before 10am and is ending with my husband and I feeling half dead ourselves. Soooo not the week for this. At least Grace is staying strong and staying healthy for the time being. I'm sure nobody wants to see photos of pukey people!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 56 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

January & February Collages

Found this neat site that I can easily make monthly collages of my Project 365 photos.

Here's January:

And here's February:

I think I'll try to post a monthly collage at the end of each month. I've already taken today's photo but haven't had a chance to get it off the camera yet. Will share that later...

March 8: Day 60

Late this afternoon I pulled into the driveway and noticed that the sun was hitting the lilies in our side yard so I rushed out with the kids and the camera and played for a bit. I'm still struggling with sun flare a little, if I go up to f/18 or so to get the good sunbeams my subject shows up really dark, even when I compensate by upping my ISO and using a slow shutter speed. Any good tips from sun flare pros? I'll keep trying!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 7: Day 59

Tonight we hosted our 9th Annual Oscar party, complete with all the traditional food: brokkies (sp?), hummus & homemade tortilla chips, brownies, licorice, popcorn, and fruit. Instead of chocolate covered strawberries I made some world class lemon bars. Mmmmm. If you didn't make it to the party you totally missed out!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 66 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

March 6; Day 58

Today's photo was taken at a 5 year old's Birthday Tea Party that Grace attended this afternoon. The table was completely adorable with little tea cups and place cards at each setting. What little girl wouldn't enjoy this party?!?

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 38 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

March 5: Day 57

Apples in a bowl. Pretty classic. This bowl was given to me by my Grandma Kathy and I can't remember now which family member passed it down to her. I know it's an antique but I have no idea how old it is. It's been my fruit bowl for the past several years because I really like it.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 63 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 4: Day 56

This photo was taken at the elementary school playground right before Grace's gymnastics class this afternoon. For some reason I'm just very inspired right before Grace's gymnastic class, I've been taking lots of photos right at that time on Tuesdays and Thursdays! I think the quality of the light at that time of day has something to do with it. Plus this particular playground is kind of cool.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 30 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

March 3: Day 55

Grace put together a puzzle on my filthy kitchen floor. Spending time on the icky floor with her prompted me to spend the next two hours scrubbing the kitchen table/chairs/floor down. The sad thing is that you really can't tell. No matter how hard I try the kitchen floor gets gross the second I finish cleaning it. Either the dog will puke on it, one of the kids will spill a whole cup of juice all down the table/chair/floor, the dog will insist on going outside to go potty during a rainstorm and track in muddy footprints, or I will have the foolish notion to bake and spill 3 cups of flour down the cupboards and on the floor. You name it and it's probably happened to my kitchen floor. And please, for the love of God, do not look too closely at my kitchen floor if you ever come to my house.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

March 2: Day 54

Splash! There's nothing like the magnetic draw between a little boy and a puddle of water. My son just can't resist a good splash. And the walk from the van to the elementary school gym where my daughter takes gymnastics is loaded with puddles on wet days like today. I actually gave him the go ahead to splash away for two minutes while I snapped photos. I tossed my camera in the car at the last minute but since I only had my 50mm I couldn't get decent photos of Grace from across the gym. So this impromptu splash session (which would have happened even if I didn't give him the go ahead) was my best idea for a photo for today. Be grateful I got this photo because otherwise you would have got a photo of my son clutching to his new package of underwear for dear life. He's pretty attached to them and is actually holding them in his unseen hand in this photo. Let's just hope the enthusiasm for new underwear kick starts an enthusiasm for potty training.

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

March 1: Day 53

I love watching the slow progress of spring. This year the process seems to have started a little earlier then usual and that's fine by me! Winter is my least favorite season with January and February being particularly dreary months in this neck of the woods. Hints of blooming flowers and trees promise me that the sun will shine again. This beautiful blooming tree is in our front yard. The sky was overcast and I was out taking photos during nap time and just before I picked Grace up from preschool, so about 2:15pm.

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