Day 194: March 17, 2012

My late afternoon cup of chai sitting in my bedroom window while I snuggle with Grace.

Day 193: March 16, 2012

The corner of the office gets nice late afternoon light.

Day 147: January 30, 2012

I bought this bigger sized french press with birthday money and it has paid off big time.  I needed more than one cup of coffee in the morning and with this I get just enough for both David and I.

August 2: Day 207

I'd love to share the original photo but my husband vetoed it because he didn't like how he looked. So with a little Photoshop magic I came up with this version because unfortunately, these were the only photos I took on August 2nd. The cropped/cloned out version is looking down our desks from my workspace to his. You can barely see the preschool project snowman from Day 23 in the foreground.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

June 1: Day 145

I got the email from the library that the newest Charlaine Harris book that I put on hold 3 months ago was finally waiting for me to pick up yesterday afternoon and I promptly picked it up and read it from cover to cover. I finished by 9pm. I love to read!

This photo was taken late at night (after I finished reading it!) so there was no natural light to speak of. Hence the high ISO and slow shutter speed.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 44 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

May 8: Day 121

I had the privilege of attending a Mothers Day Tea with my mom, mother in law, and daughter! Yep, I'm pretty lucky. This is my teacup and saucer, I imbibed in some Earl Grey and about 50 cookies. Oh, and a few chicken salad tea sandwiches too!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/80 sec
Aperture: f/3.8
Focal Length:47 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

April 26: Day 109

I almost used the rather boring photo of the greeting card aisle in Rite Aid but thankfully I was inspired by the pretty candles at my bible study last night and had my camera in my bag. My husband asked me to take the greeting card photo for his PowerPoint presentation for work. I'm sure that's what most people do when they want a particular photo for their presentation. Or maybe they just use Google Image Search. Hmmmm.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 42mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

April 3: Day 86

Today we dyed our Easter eggs. Two dozen of them in fact. The kids enjoyed the process and amazingly kept the mess to a minimum. Ethan slurped a spoonful of orange dye but doesn't seem worse for the wear. If he turns out weird we now know why.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

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?

February 24: Day 48

Today's photo doesn't have a great story behind it. David asked me to make hot chocolate this afternoon (I think we were both feeling the cold rainy weather today!) and I took a picture of my cup of hot chocolate. I confess that I did have to wipe the crumbs off the counter first because I thought they might detract.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/21.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

February 22: Day 46

Today's photo is of my beautiful roses that my sweetie let me pick out at Costco this weekend. With the all the sunshine lately I had to pick this mix of roses that remind me of warmer days!

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

February 16: Day 40

Today's photo is of my beautiful teapot that my brother in law made for me. He's quite the talented potter and this certainly isn't our only handmade pottery item made by Sam but it's certainly my favorite!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

February 10: Day 34

Today's inspiration came from some conversation hearts. This was taken on my front east-facing window sill in the early afternoon. I really should have switched my lens for my 50mm but I was lazy.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO: 100
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 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 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