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Go Ahead, Knock

Yesterday, I made sure I was outside at sunset so I could get some more pink sky images. But this time, with my wide angle lens.

I think I was a tad too late. The pink is really VERY fleeting. But I did get a cute dog pic.

Go ahead, roll your eyes and say, “More dog pictures?” My subject matter is limited. And I love my dogs. 🙂

All I have to say to those pesky solicitors is, “Go ahead, knock.”

As for the pink sky, yes I missed nature’s show. But I did capture some nice, wide-angle sky shots.

Missing nature’s show isn’t the end of the world when you have processing software. I just added my own pink.

The difference is quite dramatic, isn’t it? Just so you can really appreciate the difference, here’s another picture that’s straight-out-of-camera (SOOC).

I did not edit the above shot at all. I didn’t even remove the dust spots from the dirty camera sensor I am afraid to clean.

Here’s the same image with dust spots removed and a little color enhancement.

That’s what is great about processing you image after shooting. It can be quite time-consuming, however. I got a few more decent shots, but I didn’t feel like doing any more processing before writing this post.

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On Taking Better Pictures

A little over a week ago, I wrote a post about cameras. The general gist of that post was that having a fancy SLR camera doesn’t necessarily mean you will be able to take better pictures. Taking good pictures takes work. And practice.

I practice a lot. On Saturday, while Hubby was home baking cinnamon rolls, I decided to drive over to the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge to try out my new teleconverter (think of it as a booster that increases the power of your lens).

The reason I wanted a teleconverter was to increase the power of my zoom lens. So I can get clearer pictures of stuff that’s far away. When you use a zoom lens, every teeny tiny movement of the camera will make your image blurry. That means, in addition to a zoom lens, you really need a tripod. Even with a tripod, if you are not careful pushing the shutter, you’ll shake the camera and blur your image. A cable release or remote (wireless) shutter release button is good to have, too.

Often, I don’t have the time or inclination to drag all of that stuff out. Saturday, I did. And I managed to get a few good images.

I was really just playing around to see how well the teleconverter worked, i.e., does it really bring subjects that much closer? Will it allow for clear focus? Will I be able to use autofocus or will everything need to be manual? That sort of thing.

With the tripod and remote shutter release, it worked pretty well. There weren’t a lot of critters around to try the long-distance bird shots, so I was just shooting pics of the grass and trees and stuff. That’s when a bluebird couple decided to drop by.



They were far enough away that I couldn’t see them well with my naked eye. I am pretty sure there was a Mr and a Mrs, but the Mr was being elusive. The Mrs sat still a tad bit longer, so I was able to get a few nice pics of her. (This might be a male. Females are usually much duller than the males. This bird is much duller than the elusive one, but the more I looked at these shots, the more I realized it isn’t as dull as most of the females I have seen. But it could have been the light making her chest look more orange. Her head is sort of on the dull side. Here’s an old pic of mine with a male and female side by side, with the male on the left. Bluebirds

The camera was on the tripod and I used the wireless shutter release for all of the above shots. Those two pieces of equipment really do make a huge difference.

I snapped this image of the woods as I was walking out, then I edited it with Photoshop Elements.

As I was shooting pics, it was getting darker and darker. I had to stop shooting when the flash kept firing and I realized I don’t know enough about aperture and shutter speeds to capture any really good low-light images.

That’s because I have become lazy. I have been relying way too heavily on my camera’s automatic settings to do most of the work for me.

So, this morning I decided that I was going to limit my SLR shooting to the camera’s manual mode. That will force me to become aware of and practice using the various aperture and shutter speed settings. I told myself I would not revert back to automatic until I’d mastered those two things.

And then this bird landed in our backyard…

It is a Red Shouldered Hawk. I was fortunate to catch a glimpse of it as it swooped in.

They don’t land in the yard often. And, when they do, they never stick around long. Luckily I still had the teleconverter and zoom lens on the camera. I did not have time to set the tripod up or use the remote shutter release. And, I had to shoot through the window. I also didn’t have time to fiddle with manual settings I know so little about, so I went back to automatic temporarily.

I did tweak the shots with Photoshop Elements slightly, but overall I was pleased with how well they turned out. Considering I was standing at the window just snapping away.

It wasn’t exactly close to the house either.

Since I started feeding the birds again yesterday, the yard was pretty busy with birds and squirrels today. I thought it would take the hawks a while to notice the smorgasbord in our backyard, but was very pleasantly surprised when this one showed up. Usually, it’s Redtailed Hawks that we see.

Anyway… this year I am going to be working on learning how to use aperture and shutter speeds manually. That means you’ll probably be seeing a lot of pictures of odd stuff. But hopefully they will be good pictures. Then maybe by next fall I’ll be able to take good eagle pics when they come back to Conowingo.

Speaking of eagles, have you checked out the nest cam yet (there’s a link in the navigation bar on the right)? I just added a link to the osprey cam today. My favorite nature photographer, Jon the Nikographer, was kind enough to let me use one of his osprey images for the link button. If you haven’t looked at his stuff before, you should check it out. He’s really very good. You’ll have to remember to check the nest cams periodically to catch a glimpse of the birds.

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Homemade Goodness

I have an awesome Hubby. It’s been awhile since I told you that, so I think it’s about time.

Wanna know what inspired this particular gush of Hubby-gloat? If you are still reading, you must. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll show you…

I jumped to this photo on purpose. I think it’s a cool shot AND I wanted to keep the suspense going, at least for some of you. Others, I know, probably know where this post is heading. (Like Shannon, who I should just apologize to now, because there’s a pretty good chance this post might make her a teeny bit homesick. Or hungry. Or both.)

Let me back up a bit…

Does this shot help? I doubt it. I mean, I took the picture. I know what this is, but you can’t really tell just by looking at this shot, which I think sort of resembles a mud pit.

How about now? Is this better?

That amazing Hubby of mine made CINNAMON ROLLS yesterday. From scratch.

His cinnamon rolls are quite tasty. Very. Heck, they’re downright delectable.

As I was taking these pictures, I was thinking to myself, “My blog is going to end up looking all Pioneer Woman-ish.” Which is cool, ’cause I love the Pioneer Woman. That wasn’t my goal, though. I just love the way food pictures turn out when shot with my 50mm prime lens (if you are at all into photography, there’s a good discussion on the lens thing here).

Hubby didn’t even complain that I was all in his way as he carefully rolled the buttery-cinnamon-sugar-laden dough. He’s nice like that. Or he knows that after almost 17 years of marriage it’s best to just shut up sometimes (i.e., often) and humor your wife. Maybe it’s a little of both.

Look at that focus!

Yes, this image is a repeat. But I like it. Not only do I think it is sort of artsy, it’s a great example of where the “roll” in cinnamon rolls comes from. If you’ve never seen them made, you may not have known that.

Let’s say you knew that the dough is rolled as part of the cinnamon-roll-making process. Did you know how the soft, squishy dough is cut without being all smushed? A knife would totally smush the things so you’d end up with oddly misshapen ovals instead of circles.

The cutting tool of choice for this particular baker (aka Hubby) is dental floss. Not the minty kind either. Just plain, ole dental floss.

See how neatly it slices the dough?

Here’s another artsy shot. Click on the image so you can see the big version if you really want to appreciate the artiness of the shot.

See how nice and round they are?

The next step is baking. You may need to let the rolls sit for a while first. I’m not sure. The baker is not downstairs yet, so I can’t ask. But it doesn’t really matter because this isn’t a how-to post, it’s one of my I-bet-I-can-make-you-hungry posts.

Because I had to leave, I was not able to get a shot of the steamy, fresh-from-the-oven rolls. I missed the whole making of the cream cheese icing, too. In all honesty, I even forgot to take a picture of the finished product until after I’d consumed one (okay, two) and was going through these pictures.

However, knowing at least some of my faithful fans would want to see the end product, I did what any good blogger would do and made sure I got at least one good shot so I could include a shot of the ready-to-eat cinnamon rolls in today’s post…

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go grab myself a cinnamon roll. Or two.

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I’m At a Loss for Words

Most days, if I woke up to this, I’d be all excited.

I mean, it snowed!

I love snow.

But it’s been snowing so much lately, it just feels like more of the same.

My first thought, of course, was to turn the dogs loose in the backyard and grab the camera.

But just how many snow pictures can one person take?

How much can one person say about snow?

Sigh…

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Camera Talk

Happy New Year to all of my Blog fans. If you’re not a fan (yet), please pop back in every now and then to visit. Maybe you’ll be inspired to bookmark this Blog. Or (gasp!) maybe even become a follower.

I won’t go all into my personal list of resolutions for the year (there aren’t many), but I will say that one of them is to take more and better pictures. “More” and “better” go hand in hand. Because, in order to capture great shots, you have to take a lot of pictures and/or know how to use photo editing software.

If you could care less about taking more and better pictures, just stop reading now and come back tomorrow because this post will bore you to death.

On taking MORE pictures…

Here’s a unique image I encountered recently…

Cool, isn’t it? It was taken by Monstergirlee. It’s just a Christmas ornament on a tree, right? Here’s what Monstergirlee had to say…

“I took 36 pictures of this ornament, something I’d been planning for 3 or 4 days. Or at least thinking about it, how to set it up, etc. I really wanted some nice bokeh and a warm light. I edited 6 of them, and finally decided this was the best mix of all that was desired.“

She’d been planning the shot for 3 or 4 days and took 36 pictures of this one, stationary ornament. I’d say that’s a lot of pictures, wouldn’t you?

Here’s one of my favorite, recent, dog pictures…

I took about 30 images of the dogs wrastling. I just clicked away as I watched them play. I know they make goofy faces when they play, so I figured if I just kept clicking I’d catch at least one of them looking silly.

Instead, I got lucky and captured them both looking “psychotic” as one friend described.

That means there were 29 other images I threw away. I might employ a different strategy if I were using film. All that developing would be expensive. (This is where Hubby would tell you, like he’s told 50 other people and tells me about once a week, he’s the one that had to convince me to use a digital as opposed to film camera. And he’s happy because if I hadn’t switched, we’d be in the poorhouse.)

Here’s another recent capture that I love.

Shots like this cannot be planned. And 99% of the time, you need to click the ole shutter many, many times to capture something like this. Not only that, you need to know how to do some editing (more on that in some other post).

On taking BETTER pictures…

Quite often, when people see me with my digital Canon Rebel SLR camera, they say, “I need to get a good camera like that so I can take better pictures.” So as not to sound like a know-it-all, I have resisted explaining what I am about to explain here.

SLR cameras like mine are not the best camera for everyone. Unless you work hard to set up the proper shot, the less-expensive point-and-shoots take better pictures.

What’s an SLR camera? A single lens reflex (SLR) camera has one lens used for picture taking and viewfinding. What you see when you look through the viewfinder is what you capture in your shot. SLRs have interchangeable lenses, too, which is both good and bad. Good because you can have a wide range of image options. Bad because lenses are expensive. Also, when swapping lenses, it is easy to get dirt inside your camera. They are not easy to clean and it is very risky. One wrong move and your very expensive camera becomes a very expensive paperweight.

A point and shoot means just that. You point your camera and you shoot. There’s no swapping of lenses. Most have zoom features and lots of different settings like macro (for close-ups), landscape, portrait, etc. Point-and-shoots are typically less bulky, too, so they are easier to carry in your pocket or your purse.

Here’s some proof that you don’t need an expensive SLR camera to take great pictures:

Look at this shot of Ernie in the snow. It was taken with a Blackberry camera phone.

A very nice landscape shot, captured with a Vivitar 6300.

All of Shannon’s travel pics were taken with a Nikon Coolpix L18.

Shown below is a Nikon Coolpix L20…

I just bought it and an 8 GB memory card for less than $100. It’s an awesome little camera that I can easily carry with me everywhere. And it takes videos. So you know I’ll have lots more interesting content here in the future, right?

On choosing the right camera…

There are tons of things to consider when choosing a new camera. Tons. If you are considering a switch, here’s a great article that might help you out.

On what you should focus on first…

Composition is the most important thing you need to master. If you just think your images are as interesting as those shot by other people, I bet composition is your issue. There are many aspects of composition that are important. Where in the picture is your subject located? Is your background too “busy”? Are you focused on the right thing?

Lots of stuff has already been written on composition, too. Do yourself a favor and try to work on this sort of stuff before spending even one cent.

I’m sorry if I have bored you fans that could care less about cameras and/or how to take pictures. I promise my next post will have more of the fun and excitement you typically find here.

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To learn all kinds of cool stuff about digital photography, just visit the Digital Photography School. It’s free and contains just about everything you need to know about digital photography.

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Christmas 2009, the Recap

I finally managed to go through all of the Christmas pictures taken at various family gatherings over the past few days.

I didn’t take nearly as many people photos as I should have. I realized that after having captured some particularly delightful (to me) kid pics at my mother-in-law’s Christmas gathering.

The beautiful children pictured below belong to Mike’s nephew, Curtis, and his wife, Candice.

First Adriana…

Do yourself a favor and look at it large (click on the image). She just has the most beautiful blue eyes and this angelic face that just melts your heart. Unfortunately, she spent most of the party napping. But this one perfect shot makes it okay. One time soon, we’ll have to arrange a special photo session for this little cherub.

She has a brother, too, which you probably would have figured out for yourself.

Mason also has big blue eyes and a little cherubic face that just screams, “Take my picture!” I couldn’t decide which shot of him I liked best, so here’s another. In color…

The little guy on the left is Mike’s great nephew, Ryan. He is Chris and Steve’s little boy.

Ryan is not the sit-still-and-pose type. Actually, he doesn’t sit still. (Don’t worry, Chris and Kathy, I deleted the crazy pics of him.) But look at this boy’s skin. Have you ever see such creamy, flawless skin?

He is sitting with his paternal grandmother. Her name is Kathy, which is really quite funny. Why funny? Well, my name is Kathy, and I am married to a guy named Mike. Ryan’s maternal grandparents, my sister- and brother-in-law, are named Kathy and Mike. So this is Kathy #3 in our family.

The above images are from the day after Christmas. The day before Christmas, aka Christmas Eve, was at our house. For whatever reason, I didn’t take many pictures at all. Most of the ones captured by my camera were taken by my daughter, Amy.

I did capture this shot of Joey, our youngest grandchild, digging the very yummy, homemade trail mix, gifted to us by June and her family (Mike’s cousins) in Willow, Alaska. I practically had to pry the bowl away from him.

I did slide it away from him at one point (he wasn’t paying attention). But he politely grabbed the bowl with two hands and pulled it right back. Notice how he’s holding on tightly with the right hand?

Here’s Brianna with the Shrinky Dinks Hubby and I gave her. I used to LOVE Shrinky Dinks, and I think it’s super cool that she likes them, too.

This is the only full-face shot of Gaige captured all evening. He’s trying to make Meg say “cheese” I think.

Here’s Joey in his cute Santa apron. He knows how to say “cheese” for sure.

I got zero pictures of Amy and TJ. None. What a bummer. I was going to remedy that at our post-Christmas gathering, but the whole family was sick and had to stay home.

I did take a few shots of the parents on Christmas day. Here’s my Mom…

And my Dad…

… who can now grow upside-down tomatoes without being called a redneck.

And here’s Mike’s mom. My mother-in-law. We camouflaged her candy in this box full of packing peanuts, trying to trick her into believing we forgot to get the one gift she looks forward to most every year. She dug, and dug, looking quite perplexed. Then, as soon as she hit the box, she said, “Oh, is this my candy?”

That totally cracked us both up. She LOVES that candy and knows we would have enough sense to warn her in advance if we weren’t able to procure some.

And that’s it for the highlights. I told you I didn’t take many pics. If you want to see the rest, you’ll have to go to my FLICKR site.

All in all, it was a nice Christmas. Even if Shannon is halfway around the world.

I’ll try to get more shots next time. I promise.

I did take a few cool pics yesterday…

This is K, who was sleeping beside me, on her back, on my chair.

This one shot I took while testing my new 2x teleconverter lens. Doesn’t this image just scream COLD?

A teleconverter increases the focal length of a lens. So, if you have a 300 mm zoom like me and use a teleconverter, you effectively can have a 600 mm zoom.

That’s how I got this close-up shot of the moon.

You will not achieve the same quality you would get with a true 600 mm zoom lens, but it costs ten times less than the cheapest 600 mm zoom. The more-expensive 600 mm zoom lenses cost many thousands of dollars. For one lens.

That’s it for now. I hope to get more people pictures later in the week. Stay tuned!