Week Seven. Mel.

On Saturday a girl Milo works with wanted to have everyone over for a barbecue. I was not excited about going, I get all uncomfortable around a group of people I don't know. And I only knew one person. Not my idea of fun. I went anyway and even made a really good strawberry cake (they're on by the way, are you making 50 jars of jam again this year, ha ha!) The girl lives out in Mae Valley and has a horse she wanted to lead the kids around the pen. Oh my all three of them were in heaven!!

1/640 4.5 80

1/640 4.5 80

1/640 7.1 ISO 80

1/250 7.1 ISO 80

I'm going to post about in on my blog but am a little behind (not a shocker, I know) but NASA astronauts are in Moses right now out at the sand dunes using robots and gear practicing for the moon landing in 2016. After we left the BBQ, we went out there to see if we could see them in their full gear suits (go to Kortni's blog, off of Korbi's.) The kids were so confused as were drove out there, they could not picture it in their heads what sand dunes are. The loved running up this hill and back down again. I didn't grab the camera fast enough, they were already back in the van wanting to get to the astronauts.

1/500 8.0 100

This is a crane that moves that box to a robot 'truck' with 12 wheels (I have pictures I'll put on my blog) and then back again. Not sure of the importance. It seemed like a lot of smart, nerdy men playing with computers and robots. The one working this crane had an Aussie accent and a crocodile dundee hat and wasn't bad looking either, ha!! I just really like the sky and wish my camera could go higher with the aperture number.

Now that you have reminded me that I was supposed to shoot some in macro, I realize how many opportunities I missed! This week, right?

Shaila's Week Seven

Weekly Challenge: The Close-Up

Since I don't have a macro lens, I could only get really really close to take the picture. But I like the pictures I got anyways. It was cold and gray all week until today, so most of these are inside. I noticed these flowers behind the fence of my apartment and was wanting to take pictures of them all week. I finally got a chance today. I shot all of these pictures at 55 mm length, as far as my lens will extend.

1/250 5.6 ISO100

I cropped this picture to get the zoom that I wanted. There was a bumblebee flying around it. It was hard to get the bumblebee in focus since it was windy, blowing the flower, and it kept flying around.
1/320 5.6 ISO100

1/60 5.6 ISO400 with flash

1/60 5.6 ISO400 with flash

1/10 5.6 ISO400 with flash

1/30 5.6 ISO400 with flash

Week Six. Mel

I guess you could call this challenge, faces of Reed. The morning light hasn't been the best this past week and by the afternoon things get too crazy around here. So these are a bit grainy but I still like them. And like you, I just haven't taken the time to do it this week. Ugh.

1/80 3.2 ISO 400

1/80 3.2 ISO 400

1/80 3.2 ISO 400

As you can tell, he pretty much hates the Bumbo more than about 4 minutes. He arches his back to get out and that's big for him considering how squishy he is.

(Apparently I never changed the settings, they're all the same. Duh.)

Shaila's Week Six

Weeks Six Shooting Indoors

I definitely didn't take enough time this week. I didn't take these pictures until today after 4pm. Bad on my part, since I didn't get much that I liked, and the lighting wasn't much. It's also been a pretty cloudy week. But nonetheless here's my takes for this weeks challenge.

1/80 5.6 ISO 800

1/125 5.0 ISO 800

1/125 4.0 ISO 800

1/125 4.5 ISO 800

1/125 5.6 ISO 800

1/100 5.6 ISO 800

I'll also be posting these on my own blog tomorrow for Winston's 4 months post. Maybe I can be more creative and do some tomorrow too!

Week Five. Mel

The Hick Version. Tonight I went out at 7:30 so light was definitely limited. Most of what I took is grainy because my ISO is so high. I left not knowing what I would find and since I couldn't find any cool landscapes, animals it was! The cool paint horses were too far away so I was left with a couple white and one brown horse that were a bit on the mangy side.

1/640 F3.5 ISO 800

1/500 F3.5 ISO 800 (grainy but I still like it)

1/500 F3.5 ISO 800

1/500 F3.5 ISO 800 (this baby's mama is in the last photo)

1/2500 F8.0 ISO 400

I want to take more photos like this. I love our sunsets in Moses Lake and this summer I'm going to get all the pink and purple skies. I realize this isn't that clear and would have been better with a tripod but I put it here anyway. We're learning, right?

1/250 F2.7 ISO 400 Super Macro
(this looks dark to me but it was 0+/-, ?)

I ended up at the cemetery (random I know) and these cute daisies are on Todd's grave.

And last but not least. In fact, it was the funniest one I took tonight. I've never heard a cow 'growl' at someone before but when I got close to her baby (the one above) she totally made eye contact (so it seemed) and made a mad growling sound at me. It's a blurry photo but classic subject....

A fellow nursing mother, HA!!

Shaila's Week Five

Well I didn't feel like I was "trying" for pictures this week. All I was doing was shooting just for fun, and I hoped by the end I would have some pictures to choose from. Well I got a few I like, so here they are. I'm disappointed in this first one that I forgot to change the ISO. Quinn was being so funny with his hat, and I only had a few moments to capture it. Also I focused on his hat, rather then his eyes. I don't know how people can get it all. It must take lots of practice.

1/320 5.6 ISO-1600

1/640 5.6 ISO-400

I was just letting it do auto focus, and it ended up being more focused on the brick rather then Malcolm. UGH!

1/200 5.6 ISO-400

These last two I actually took a couple weeks ago. We were driving home from Malcolm's t-ball and saw this awesome sunset. Matt sped to the top of the hill and made me jump out before we missed the awesome colors. I didn't capture it quite like I wanted to. Didn't help that I didn't change my ISO. Oops, that's what happens when I am trying to capture the moment. I forget to change some settings.

1/125 6.3 ISO-400

I had to throw this one in here, just because I like how the bar wire fence looked.

1/250 6.3 ISO-400

Shaila's Week Four

I was not that creative at all! I don't feel like a had a whole lot of chances to try. Plus not really any will subjects. Oh well...it's a learning process, that maybe someday I can do better at! I also forget to change my ISO a lot. That would probably help with better photos!

Challenge 1: Use fill flash to "pop" colors on a gray day.
Well I didn't have a chance to find a subject that was "colorful", so this was the best I got.

No flash, 1/200 14.0 ISO-1600 With Flash, 1/200 14.0 ISO-1600

Challenge 2:Use fill flash to eliminate dark shadows on the face on a bright day.

No flash, 1/250 7.1 ISO-100

With Flash, 1/200 7.1 ISO-100

Challenge 3: Use fill flash to combat backlighting on a shadowed subject.
I asked Malcolm to stop to take this picture. I loved how he posed!

No flash, 1/125 16.0 ISO-100

With Flash, 1/125 16.0 ISO-100