Tag Archives: photography

Shoot Happy: Morning by Morning

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Well, so far this blogging for 31 days straight thing hasn’t really worked out. Honestly, I kind of started out this month knowing 31 posts wouldn’t be happening within the confines of one month. But let’s play this week by week shall we? This past week, I had intended on posting a photo a day of a pretty floral with an inspirational scripture or quote, but the week passed me by and I didn’t get one post up. Maybe, it was the week long vacation that distracted me from the computer. Actually, I’ll take that sort of distraction anytime over normal stressful distractions. Even if my little blog must suffer from radio silence for a little while.

Anyways, this week I’ll be posting all those florals and pretty words I had lined up to share last week. And of course, all shots were taken with my trusty nifty fifty. Most of them were shot at sunset, that’s my favorite-est time of day, the lighting is so warm and casts an angelic glow on everything. I understand sunrises have the same impact, someday I’ll see one and maybe I’ll be awake enough to grab a few shots of it’s magical-ness.

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Thankfully though, you don’t have to be a morning to person to experience the magical-ness (it’s a word, because I’m using it) to experience God’s magnificent will. We just have to open our hearts.

Shoot Happy: Bad Day Muffin

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31DaysNiftyFiftyButtonOver the month of October, I’ll be posting (or trying to post) everyday. These posts will be centered around all things nifty about the fifty, they could be about how awesome the 50mm is, or just some cool shots captured while enjoying the nifty-ness of the fifty. You can read this series from the beginning here.

So, you ever had one of those days where nothing goes the way it’s supposed to? Ya know, the kind of day when you lose your sunglasses but your actually wearing them, or you realize you don’t have your keys just seconds after the door has slammed shut behind you, or you fear your automatic window closing button (highly technical term) has broken because it only clicks instead of closing the window only to realize the window was never down in the first place. And that was all during my morning rush out the door. Thankfully, after looking for my sunnies for a solid 5 minutes ,I finally realized why the world looked so dark, and I was able to use a spare house key hidden in my top secret hidey hole to gain access back into the house. Let’s just say, the rest of the day didn’t get much better.

It was one of those days where you just want to cuddle up with Netflix, and eat baked goods for dinner. Who needs protein anyway?

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Aww..yes…a muffin from my favorite diner. If you ever find yourself in the Albuquerque area you’ll definitely have to hit up Manny’s on Central. Their muffins are huge and oh so tasty. The perfect remedy to a terrible, horrible, not good, very bad day.

banananutmuffin

 

 

Shoot Happy: Bokeh

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The month of October brings so many happy things, pumpkin lattes at Starbucks, fall sunsets ( there’s something about the warmer lighting that’s so magical), and if you live in New Mexico that first whiff of roasted green chili is a sure sign that fall has arrived. But over the past couple of years, October also means participating in a 31 days series hosted by the Nester, click on over to her site to see what all the other 1200 bloggers  also joining in on the joy (or misery) of blogging for 31 days straight about one topic are up to. (Whew, that was a run-on sentence!)

This year, I’ll be talking about shooting happy with the 50mm. Although, I’m starting to question my topic, it’s only the 3rd day into the series and I’m already struggling with blog topics, in fact I’m getting a little bored with it. I may have to resort to posting random shots without any caption, or maybe tweaking the topic a little. Wonder if that’s against the rules of this little bloggy project. I could always change my mind half way through and do 15.5 days of indecisiveness.

But for today, I’ll stick to my chosen topic, and blabber on about how nifty the fifty has proven to be. Today we’ll be talking about bokeh, pronounced BOH-KAY (like the bunch of flowers that hubby brings home when he’s trying to suck up after purchasing more 80’s video games) , meaning the part of a photo that has been purposely blurred to bring focus to a certain area of the shot. According to wiki: Bokeh is the blur,or the aesthetic quality of the blur,in out-of-focus areas of an image.

Here are a couple examples of bokeh I shot while enjoying that warm fall light shining into my living room.

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Notice, how my models ear is in focus while the area around the ear is slightly blurred. And in the photo below, the other model has a very focused nose (better for sniffing out rawhides), but the background is blurred.

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I should also add, that the use of bokeh is perfect at blurring out a messy background (i.e. the mess that is my living room).

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Shoot Happy: Why so Nifty Fifty

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As mentioned previously,the month of October will be about shooting happy with the nifty fifty. Over the next month, I’ve made a pledge to myself to shoot more with my trusty 50mm lens. To use more of my vintage manual lenses, and to find joy in simple photography, ya know without all the bells and whistles and new fangled toys. With a few tips and tricks thrown into the mix, and you might see a few projects I’ve completed that will be shot with my sweet fifty. It’s also a chance for me to participate in the Nester’s 31 Days of Change Series, click on over to her site to find out more.

Now, you might be wondering what makes the fifty so nifty, where do I even start? How about with one?

1. Value. The 50mm is relatively inexpensive compared to a lens with more moving parts. You can typically pick up a Canon 50mm EF f1.8 for about $100 brand new. Here’s one I found on Amazon. Now, that’s something to talk about.

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2. Natural Angles. This lens is perfect for those situations when you want an angle that is close to what you see with your own eye. Meaning that, the shot you get will look similar to what you see when your looking at your subject without a lens.

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3. Low Light No Problem. When shooting in a low light situation, the 50mm is perfect because you can have a wider aperture to let more light in without sacrificing the quality of your shot. Plus, when there is plenty of light you can get a pretty glow-y effect.

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There’s so much more to make the fifty so nifty, but those are the top three that keep me shooting happy.

Shoot Happy: The Nifty Fifty

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Well, it’s that time of year again, where I scramble, hem and haw my way through a decision of whether or not to participate in the Nester’s 31 Days of Change blog challenge. In past years, I only got half way through the 31 days before something else took my attention. Well, this year to keep with tradition, because it takes two years to make a tradition dontchaknow, I’ll attempt to partake in the joy (or misery) of blogging for 31 days straight about one particular topic. Will I complete the 31 days this year? Will it really make a change in my life and possibly someone else’s? I can’t answer that just yet, but let’s hope.

In the past two years I’ve participated, I blogged about Thrifting and was entirely too hopeful last year and documented a series on Getting it Done, yes, I see the irony in that one. But this year, will be the year I FINALLY blog for 31 days straight, no breaks, no excuses, and no whining. Actually, I can’t guarantee the no whining, it’s really what I do best.

Now, you probably want to know what I’ll be jabbering on about for the next 31 days. I’ve given it some thought, what would be fun, interesting, and relevant to myself and my readers?  What won’t bore me to no end, and what won’t stress me out? Remember this is supposed to  be fun, darn it!  So, I decided to explore shooting.

No, not that kind of shooting! I’m not a member of the NRA, and don’t have one of those fancy purses that can cleverly conceal a weapon, unless we’re talking about my trusty Canon. I bring that puppy with me pretty much everywhere. Which is why I decided to focus this month of change on seeing things differently through the lens. Specifcally, the 50mm lens, or as I like to call it the Nifty Fifty. Because really, it is pretty nifty.  But I’ll get into all the nifty-ness of the fifty in a later post.

Let’s get into the point of this little series shall we? Over the month of October, I plan to explore all the great shots that can be accomplished by using the 50mm lens. Granted, there will be other photo ops during this month that will require me to use other lenses (i.e. vacation!), but for the purpose of this series I plan to devote all my posts to photos taken with my trusty nifty fifty. I’ve found that over the past few months I’ve become a little lazy when it comes to shooting, relying heavily on auto focus and not worrying too much about composition and what not. Hopefully, by the end of this month I’ll have honed in my skills, and become more artistic in the way I shoot and even in the way that I view the world around me. So, look forward to a photo or a series of photos everyday, sometimes it might just be dog picture, or I might share a tip or trick I’ve discovered along the way.

After having said all that, I should warn anyone who has been brave enough to visit my blog sweet blog, I am not a professional photographer. The tips and photos I have chosen to share are simply things I have found to be helpful or beautiful. They may not be correct in the technical sense, but they are appealing to me.

Now, won’t you join me as I try to see things differently through the lens?

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No Place Like Home

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It’s been far too long since I last posted, my how I’ve missed you bloggie world. There’s no good reason to go this long without a post, just life happens. Work days are long, but evenings are short, there’s always a myriad of chores to do on the weekend, and now I’ve caught a killer cold. I fear my family and friends may think I’m dead as I haven’t been active on social media and really haven’t been bothered to pick up the phone in several days.  Just so all of my loved ones know, I’m alive and sort of well, aside from a runny nose and a nagging cough that could easily clear the cold and flu aisle at any drug store. Yeah, and I’m a bit of drama queen. But that’s nothing new.

This post really doesn’t have a point, I’m not even going to attempt to get caught up on the goings on around my casa. There’s been some projects done, but photos haven’t really been taken, and others have just sort of been started but not completed, ya know, in true April fashion. I think I have DIY ADD, I start a project, then get bored with it and move on to the next one before completing the first. That breaks so many DIYer rules, because then you end up with a house that is always in some sort of dishevelment. Then again, I live with a husband who leaves his shoes and coordinating socks under the coffee table every night and two large very spoiled shedding dogs, so dishevelment is bound to happen no matter what I do. What’s the point in having a home, if we can’t really live in our homes right? Just plan on buying Swifters in bulk.

Anywho, Netflix  is calling my name, and someone is patiently waiting for a cuddle as a reward for keeping the couch warm.

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Dog Days of Summer: Wiped Out

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You ever feel like you need to be 40 different places at once, but there’s only one of you and you can only be at one place at once? Yeah, that’s how things have been around here lately. Between workie things and housie things, there just hasn’t been enough April to go around. So, when the work is done and I’ve chased all the other rats in this rat race, you’ll find me on the couch with my feet up getting acquainted with my most recent Netflix obsession, vintage Doctor Who. ( I can’t get enough of the 4th Doctor)

 

sleepingWiped Out

Dog Days of Summer: Drink

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Over the past few summers we’ve been having to replace sprinklers on a regular basis. The reason, some type of pest was chewing on the sprinklers and rendering them useless, but which pest was responsible?  The other day, while spending some time out in our barren yard, it all became clear…

drink1Drink

Obviously I missed a training opportunity and instead of telling her to stop (Goldie-dog was only getting her drink on, and not her chew) I took her picture. (I’ve never said my dogs were well behaved and perfectly trained. Afterall, there is a reason they both answer to the nickname Bratface.) But it was hot and the water straight from the hose was cool, who was I to deny her the pleasure of something cool to drink on a hot day? Even if she is a pest.

Dog Days of Summer: Sunset

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In the southwest we get some pretty dramatic sunsets. Maybe it’s the wide open spaces that make them so spectacular, or maybe I’m just a little biased being a southwesterner for most of my life, I tend to think we have the best of everything. Except water, we don’t really have the best of water, because there isn’t much of that here. But we’ve got some great sand, so if you want some ocean front property in Arizona I could hook ya up (name that George Strait tune). But I’ve grown to appreciate the different-ness (yes, it’s a word because I’m using it!) of each sunset every evening. A new evening brings with it a new painting in the sky to gaze upon. And I’m not the only one to enjoy a good setting of the sun.

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Annie-dog seems to have inherited my sense of wonder when it comes to the end of the day sun. Can dogs inherit behaviors from their owners? Maybe, let’s just hope it doesn’t work the other way around. If you see me driving down the road with my head out the window you’ll know why.

Dog Days of Summer: Duck

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There’s nothing better than curling up in your favorite chair with your newest duck.

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At least, Goldie-dog doesn’t think there is anything better. Well, maybe raw hides, and car rides, and walks…