ClickinMoms Photography WS Week 2

Well this week was much different than last week. They threw it all at us, this is for sure. This week are incorporating three different types of metering, white balance, and types of focus. Oh it sounds easy till you have to chase a two year old down the street and trying to meter a light that is constantly changing with your focus! :)

So my first shots are of the different lights that we are suppose to shoot in:
This one is my outdoor shot:


My indoor:


Lowlight:


My mentor says that all the pics look great but that JuJu is a bit underexposed. I could have saved it by lowering my shutter speed. :)

Then we had to work with the white balance in the camera. White balance can either make you look like an umpa lompa from Willy Wonka or give you great looking skin. Mine were some where in the middle.

Auto White Balance: The camera pics it for you.


Incandescent white balance: A preset in the camera.


Custom White Balance: I achieved this by setting my camera to custom and taking a meter reading off of a white sheet of paper.


Out of these three, the AWB looks the best. I probably metered wrong of of my paper, but hey I am just beginning too!

The final shot was to incorporate it all together. So I custom white balanced my camera, found my focus modes that were good for my conditions, metered my light and set my metering. I also attempted what is called the back button focus. This button locks the focus on your subject while you can recompose your pic. It is a bit awkward, but I have to say totally worth it.
Here was my final product:


I am happy with my outcome of my pics. I would have loved to take the girls to some scenic park to do some lovely pics with them too. But time doesn't allow it this week and I am one of those folks that just can't stand to have a deadline hanging over them.
This is a fantastic workshop and I am so enjoying myself. Now if only the girls would hold still and smile!!

ClicknMoms Photography Workshop Week 1

Well I have finally done it. Decided to sign up and take the time to learn the basics of shooting in manual. I felt it was important for me to learn the basics and get a good foundation. I know how it works but it is always good to get a class and feel more confident in my work.

So this weeks class is on the triangle of manual shooting. So we are doing shots in manual and adjusting our aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings. As we are doing this we are also learning about metering in the camera and to get the exposure to O.

My first attempt was with Molly in the late afternoon. I took wonderful pictures of her. But when I uploaded them to Flickr, I realized they looked a little off. So I rechecked the settings on my camera and noticed that I had it set on the lowest resolution. So that for sure isn't going to work!! Here are the four of Molly I was going to use. I have to have an outdoor, indoor, window light, and optional.






Of course after realizing my mistake I was very frustrated but I woke up this morning and had a little photo shot with JuJu. She is not in the mood for pics at all lately but I tried to bribe her with chocolate. I felt like one of those moms on toddlers and tiaras! I think they turned out good. I am learning a lot and getting more confident in my ability to shoot in manual. Also have a great time while doing it.

Here are my final shots of JuJu. Oh I forgot to mention, all shots are SOOC, Straight out of the camera. We are not aloud to edit them or shot in RAW, Jpegs only.

Enjoy!
Optional Pic

Outdoor Pic

Window Light Pic

Indoor or lowlight pic

Finding the Words....

Ugh...as I sit here and think of something to say, I just can't. I just can't put it into words. I know what my heart feels but it just doesn't come out. So just like ripping a piece of paper from the typewriter, I strike the delete key.

A week ago, our lives were impacted by the loss of a dear friend. As I sit here and think about it and think what would have been, what should have been, and why. There are no answers. I am angry and sad.



And then I think of Clint...of the stories Travis has told me...of the conversations that I have had with him...of the friendship. When I think of him, I think of how highly Travis spoke of Clint and how he was always excited to be with him. How he always snickered and laughed at Clint's name, like some joke I didn't know about, truly a happy laugh. Then through Clint and Travis, I met Shannon.




Shannon is a military wife like me. She shares the love of photography, although I think she totally ROCKS it, she is strong at heart and loves her man. I can see why Clint loves her so much, with her shining smile, always giving heart, and funny little soul too.



And then from the two of them came Cadence, Audrey, and little baby Wermers. The sweetest little girls, that share the personalities of Shannon and Clint...of course their daddy's infectious smile too.

So on Monday when, some of our closest friends and family start to say goodbye to Clint.......it will be hard....we know we lost a good one...a Hero.

Clint, you will be missed.

The Boat Comes Home

It has been a long nine months for the men, women, and spouse of the USS Abraham Lincoln, but it has finally come home to Everett. The boat has been in Bremerton, this is where the boat is in it's shipyard period. The men and women of the boat were bused and ferried over from Everett everyday. Travis would drive over everyday with his shooter pals. It was a two hour trip each way. It made for very long days.

So today they came home and we were able to see our very first look at this huge boat, which I think I should refer to as a ship. I am so use to the sub terminology. It will be the first of many this year of out and ins. Travis will be spending much time away from us this year, even before his six month deployment. We will miss him very much but it is something we must do.

I posted this earlier on my Facebook but I wanted to share it with my blog readers too. I found this letter that Molly wrote a few weeks ago:

Even when he's not here I'll still love him!
Even if he's not here I'll still love him.
I know he's doing something good so I'll let him go, but I'll always know
he's thinking of me and I'll think of him. He'll always be right here
in my heart. Even if he misses stuff I'll still love him. I love my dad
more than you can think. I miss you daddy I still love YOU!!!! XXXOXXXO

I think she nailed it on the head.

Molly is super excited. They thought it would be funny to look goofy.



The girls waiting for their daddy.



JuJu cute as always.



Hunter, goofy again!



Gracie, she is very very happy to see her daddy.



Coming into port.Travis is on the back there somewhere.