Picture Perfect ... Almost!

Project 52, Week 23 - Reading / books I read A TON both for myself and to the kids.  They love books and there are books all over our house.  But believe it or not, this is one of the only pictures of reading I have taken. I had to make it black and white because the ISO was at 6400, making it grainy! 365 Project - I continued to work on the composition of my photos by focusing again on the rule of thirds.  I was able to crop some photos to off set my subject and draw more attention to it.  I've also learned when I use a high ISO inside turning the photo black and white often improves the quality.   Day 24 Day 25 - Working on catching action clearly inside Day 26 Day 27 Day 28 - Thanksgiving setting edited in PicMonkey with Urbane effect Day 29 Day 30 - A little bit tighter crop from Project 52 I'm excited for December and the many holiday pictures I plan to take!

I just finished the lesson for my photography editing class.  This week we focused on making adaptations during our photographing and editing.   Being adaptable and flexible is important to having a peaceful family.  You have to be willing and able to change plans to meet the needs of your kids and others in your immediate family.  I am, by nature, a planner.  I feel more focused and calm when my days are planned out and I know what to expect.  D is VERY much like that also.  When things come up and days have to be changed I try to be positive about it but it can be difficult for me. With the holidays coming up a week focusing on adaptations was perfect. The first adaptation I had to make was taking my photos without using the viewfinder or playback screen.  I could set the shot up and adjust the settings.  But then I had to shoot without looking through the camera in any way.  This resulted in some interesti...

The weather here decided to become WINTER all at once.  The past 2 days have been highs in the mid 30s with winds.  The sun is shining and D keeps asking if we can go outside.  Then she walks to the window and feels how cold it is and decides the answer for herself.  For the next 2 days we're expecting more cold weather and rain.  The return of cold weather means I have to plan better for our afternoon activities ... no more let's go out and play in the sand table / pool / playground.  I wasn't very adventurous today - but the kids loved it!   Play dough!! I was playing with different editing techniques with these photos. They were pretty good straight out of camera and I'm trying to learn more about the different tools on PicMonkey.

Project 52 - Laughter This isn't the best technical picture.  It has a lot of noise because it was dark in the living room.  The focus is off because I was taking it in a hurry.  But more importantly it's an amazing moment between S and B.   365 Project - I tried to work on my composition this week by thinking of the rule of thirds.  This is where you imagine the photo cut into thirds and put your subject in one of the thirds.  I have a habit of always centering my subject.  This is something I want to work on when photographing and also when I edit.  I'm going to focus on this again next week! Day 17 Day 18 I think I may have over edited this by adding too much red to the apple. Day 19 Day 20 Day 21 I edited this by adding a sepia effect to it. Day 22 Day 23 We went to a birthday party today and I didn't take my camera.  By the time we got home it was dark outside so I needed...

Today D had her Thanksgiving Experience at school.  Her class has been learning about the first Thanksgiving for the past 2 weeks.  After school D was able to tell me "The pilgrims came on the Mayflower because the King wouldn't let them worship how they wanted.  So they left and came here.  The president let them worship however they wanted when they landed.  But the ride on the boat was long and some people got sick and died."  I was impressed with the knowledge she had and could recall.  She also described how the the Indians helped the Pilgrims learn to hunt, fish, and raise crops.   They made Indian headbands, necklaces, and costumes to wear.  The pictures on the costumes are actual pictographs with meanings she learned about.  She has worn the costume all day and reenacted the first Thanksgiving at home several times ... I even got to be a Pilgrim. After school B and I surprised her with lunch at Tropic...

D and I had some time yesterday to do the last craft from her October Kiwi Crate.  It was creating and playing with racing jellyfish.  We carefully decorated the cardboard jellyfish with sparkly stickers and glow in the dark dots.  Then we threaded ribbons through holes to make the tentacles.  Finally we attached string to the back in order to be able to race them on the suction cups on the sliding glass doors.  D had fun decorating hers but LOVED how she could make it climb up the string.  She spent 30 minutes racing it up and down.  Then she stood the the side and pulled on the string, making it dance.  Unfortunately she had so much fun she caused a groove in the plastic suction cup hook which sliced the string in half.  After a few tears I told her she could have mine to dance with.  She gladly put it over the pantry doorknob and continued her dance. It always amazes me how she (and S) are enthra...

My challenge for my photography editing class this week was to choose a day and take a photo every hour.  The photo was supposed to show the things I am grateful for my everyday life ... my blessings.  The project helped me see the many parts of my day and all I have to be grateful for! The edits this week were basic - curves (brightness), color (balance / temperature), and contrast. Here's my day from yesterday, November 19.  I chose to take pictures hourly at :08. 6:08 - Time to get up 7:08 D came downstairs and curled up on the chair with her baby doll.  She is NOT a morning person and needs time to wake up on her terms. 8:08 Breakfast time 9:08 After dropping D off at school I needed to run to Giant.  It is about 5 minutes from school ... just enough time for S to take off his shoes and throw them all over the van. 10:08 Back home and S found a calculator to play with. 11:08 Time to go pick up D fro...