A Day of Valentine....

I had a great day using my new camera.  After waiting very patiently, and after much research, I bought a new Cannon D6, the new entry level full frame camera.  NO regrets!  The color is amazing and it just feels good in my hands.  I haven't taken it on a full journey that it deserves, but for now, taking photos of flowers fixed my creative urge.   So, I send to you, flowers for this special Valentine week! 

2B - Day 3

This week in 2B, we worked on camera settings, focus tricks & Lightroom layouts.  Good stuff!  I enjoyed this exercise.  Changing the focal point really does have an impact on your photo.  I took a lot of photos today.  I finally created my template for the class, but after I was done, I went outside and took several photos of Gracie, one of our basset hounds.   I loved focusing on her nose.  The bottom photo is my favorite.  She is such a little ham!

Beyond Beyond - Week 2

Time continues to fly by...It seems like it was just yesterday the family was gathered and we were enojoying the beginning of the holiday season.  And now, Valentines Day is upon us...sigh...

Here we are at week two in Beyond, Beyond.  For this week, Kim reviewd some camera tips and specifically, aperture settings.   We were to take photos using different aperture settings to see how changing the aperture affected the overall view of the picture.  This is always a good practice excercise.  The depth of field (DOF) has a great effect of the "feel" you are trying to achieve or towhere the eye is directed.  These photos were all taken at an aperture setting of 4.0, which is the lowest aperture setting for the lens I was using (which happens to a new lens on my new camera!).   These are just random shots from my artroom.  These are all SOOC so I could see the performance of my new camera.  The top photo is my favorite, and in the collage as well:

 

My artroom is my "safe" place in my home...my refuge and my retreat! 

Beyond Beyond and a New Year

My how time flys..I mean REALLY flys.   I set this blog up with the intention of documenting my journey of many facets of my life, but life is full...sometimes too full and not always full of good stuff.  So, once again I make a pact with myself to be good..find BALANCE...Stop and smell the roses, as they say. 

Once again I signed up for Kim Klassen's Beyond, Beyond journey.  I really don't think of it as a class but a year long journey.  If I keep up with the class, I know at the end of the year, I will have been on an incredible creative journey.    So here goes with Week 1.   

The Capture Challenge - for this week's challenge, we were to experiment with shooting a subject, any subject.  We had to photographic it from various angles and points of view.  Only we could not move the subject.  I chose to photograph a succulent plant from the cactus family that has been in bloom for several weeks.  Soon, it will be gone and I will have to wait another year to see this miracle.  It always astounds me when this plant blooms.   Below is a collage of several of the pictures I took.  The center photo is my favorite. 

The blooms are like umbrellas that grow from two large stalks. I have included a photo for better understanding of how it blooms.