What a good flash can do for a photo

O.k. Don't fall over dead k? Yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I'm actually posting! I know, shocking right? These past several months have been crazy! Emily is now 5 months old. We're only a month away from being able to finalize her adoption! I can't wait!!! For those that have asked about Em's birthmom, she is doing fabulous! She actually spent Christmas morning with us so that was great to have her here. :D For more on our lives, and our adoption, you can check out our adoption/family blog here. For now, I wanted to share a few things with you. I'll be doing separate posts for each.

The first is all about my new camera flash that I got for Christmas! In September I took a fabulous and fun photography workshop hosted by a couple of fantastic Pro Photographers I know. During this workshop they covered just about everything you'd ever want to know about photography. Including flashes. They mentioned a type of off camera flash where you can bounce the light off of various things because it has a rotation and tilt to the flash. This happened to be one of the things I mentioned to my husband I would like for Christmas.


I have a fairly decent camera, a Canon Rebel xsi. It's a 12.2 mp. For my needs I don't need any more. I would like to get a couple of newer and nicer lenses, but for now, like I said, what I have works. But I didn't have a good flash. All I had was the on camera flash and a really cheapo flash that would blind everyone who I took pics of so I never used it. So my hubby decided he would get me a new flash for Christmas. What I wanted was a flash that had a 360 degree rotation with a 90 degree tilt. He probably got a nicer one then what I needed, but I'm really happy with it so I'm not complaining. He got this one, a Speedlite 580EX II.



Here is an example of what a good flash can do for your photos. Now, I'm not a pro by any means, just a hobbyist, so keep that in mind, these are just snap shots that I did.


For this first pic, I didn't use a flash at all. This is just the seriously bad lighting in my kitchen, not to mention that my incredibly adorable Em was moving when I took it:

This next one is an example of the on camera flash, do you see how Em looks kind of blue:

Now here is a picture using the speedlite, much better:

Now, one the things I mentioned is that with the flash having a rotation and tilt you can bounce your flash off various things. So here is an example of my flash bouncing off my living room walls (which are a goldy beige color) and an example of the flash bouncing off my white ceiling. Bouncing your flash means that you can point the flash towards something, in this case the wall and the ceiling, and it will give the photo the glow of whatever it is you're bouncing the flash off of. Did that make sense? Here, let me show you.

For this first example I took a pic of a card box I made for my mom for Christmas. In this photo I pointed my flash toward my wall. Remember, it has a golden tone to it. So it gave the box a golden glow:

Now, I took a photo of the same box, same angle, but this time I bounced the flash off the white ceiling. Here are the results:

See the difference? Cool huh? Yup, I'm pretty pleased with my new flash. :D Stay tuned for more projects. I have this card box, and another one to tell you about. And I have a few other projects to include some quilts and our Christmas cards to show you. :o)

A little of this, a little of that

I know I've been quiet lately on this blog. I guess that getting things ready for our adoption home study (the updated one for our new home) wiped me out more than I thought. Not to mention the moving 900 miles thing. Anyhow, I am finally starting to feel normal again, not to mention I just got a box of goodies from SU. My first stamp order for myself in about a year (I ordered cardstock for my brother-in-laws wedding invitations, but that wasn't for me so that doesn't count). So I'm really excited to use all my new goodies. I got several new stamp sets, and the new My Digital Studio, just to name a few. I am going to be working on my Christmas cards soon so stay tuned.

In the meantime I have been blogging like crazy over at our family blog. Partially because blogging on that blog takes no more effort then sitting here, but mostly because of what November is. Did you know, that November is National Adoption Month? Did you know that this weekend, Saturday to be exact, is National Adoption Day? In honor of National Adoption Month I have been blogging each day about adoption. The first week my posts were all about adoption resources that I have found. Last week was all about adoption success stories and families who have been brought together through adoption. This week I am blogging all about other families hoping to adopt and next week I will be spotlighting birth moms. Starting with a profile of my cousin who placed her son 5 yrs ago. So be sure and check that out.

Anyhow, I realized the other day that I never shared the photos I had taken of the family I shot in July. This was the family of 15. So here are just a few of those.

this was the whole clan. This was my first time doing a group larger than 8 so I wasn't thrilled with the large group shots, but I did like some of the smaller ones.

This one is the grandparents in this group.

This one is a candid of two of the grandsons.

One of the families, I dubbed them the blue family since they were all wearing blue.

This is the brown family since they were all wearing brown.

One thing I learned with this shoot is that 10 a.m. is not a good time to shoot. That was the time the family requested though so I went with it. The sun was way to bright though as you can see in some of the pictures.

I also don't remember if I ever shared these. I did a shoot with some friends of mine who are also hoping to adopt. These photos were for their adoption profile. Here are just a couple of my favorites.

Recent Photography

I haven't posted and photography shots in a while. Sorry bout' that!

Last weeks photography challenge on Splitcoast was the 25th challenge. We were asked to post something that makes us smile. And then there was a bonus challenge where we posted a photo that we have taken that could be a postcard. So here are my iSmile photos:


I read the challenge and immediately thought of my husband, my daughter, and my dog. Well, my daughter is at her dad's, so I couldn't do a photo of her. My husband was sleeping, the thought of taking a picture of my sweet wonderful husband taking a much deserved nap after a hard day at work made me smile even more, so I tip toed into the bedroom and took this:

My dog always makes me smile, he cracks me up. He's such a funny dog, if you knew him, he would make you smile too:
Now for the postcard challenge, I actually posted a picture I had taken at White Sands while my in-laws were visiting back in January. That is sand, not snow in this picture.
Now this weeks challenge is to take a picture of something at an odd angle, whether looking up at it, down on it, angle the camera, etc. The weather has always been really nice in New Mexico, with the exception of a few days here and a few days there. It has been so nice lately that my hubby has started watering the lawn on our designated days (since we live on a military post, they have days that are designated for us water our lawn.). Well yesterday was one of those days, I went outside and took some pictures, here is one I took of the trees turning green and the sun peeking through. I love this shot!

Tulips in Bloom

I wasn't going to post again today, but I walked into my living room and I saw the Tulip plant that my husband got me for Valentine's Day. The Tulips are starting to bloom so I had to show you. *grin*

(Taken with my Canon Rebel Xsi, 18-55 mm lense, color setting was faithful, zoomed in completely, on RAW setting, converted to Jpeg to upload here)

Photo Challenge

On SCS this week the photograpy challenge is to take pictures of wood. The catch was that we weren't allowed to take pictures of trees or anything like that for our wood picture. I decided that I wanted to take pictures of an old fence for my wood pictures. My sweet hubby suggested this "two rail" fence near the museum that we have on post.

This first one I wanted to get some of the New Mexico architecture and landscape in it

For this second one I wanted to get the fence in a fun angle. So I chose to squat down and take a picture of the fence from the side.

One this last one I decided to try a black and white shot. I love shooting in black and white. I decided to get the fence head on with some of the New Mexico plant life in the background. I thought black and white was fitting for this. This one is my favorite.

No more 365....

So I am finding it harder and harder to take picture every daym for instance, 3 out of the 7 days last week I didn't get pictures. 1 of the other 4 days was of a card I made. So I decided after 1 month of doing the project 365 that I'm not going to do that anymore. I will however still post photos when I have them. I wasn't feeling well at all yesterday or I would have posted then.

Anyhow, I have 3 photos for you today.

Since I got my new camera I have been wanting to take picture of White Sands from up on the mtn. pass going from Las Cruces to WS, just so that I can remember years from now just how teeny tiny WSMR (White Sands Missile Range) is. So, here is a pic of where I live:







You can see the light colored buildings in the almost center there? They almost blend into the surroundings, that's WSMR. This was taken with my Canon Rebel using the 18-55 mm lens with UV filter on. I tried the photo with my polarized filter (because it was a little foggy) and with no filter at all, the UV filter gave the best results. (I have been trying different photos with different filters and such, just to see what results come with using each one. That is the best way for me to learn. I don't like reading manuals.)



This next photo I actually did for the SCS photo challenge last week. It was to take pictures


of windows. I wanted to find a stained glass window somewhere thinking that the chapel on post had some. Well, they have colored glass panels in the windows, but no stained glass of the type I was wanting. I did try to get good pictures of the windows on the post chapel, but they were retarring the roof and had roofing supplies and orange cones everywhere so that was a no go. So I drove over to the Missile park on post and took a picture of this glass block window that houses the rocket exhibit. The yellow that you see if actually the rocket that is behind the windows, not a reflection. I decided to practice my black and white shots. But I wasn't feeling very well and didn't want to leave the house, so I went to my living room window and took come pictures of the tree in my front yard. Depsite having gotten the roof line in the very corner of the picture, I liked this one.

Tomorrow I will post one of the cards I have. I can't post the other one for a few days because the recipients, or at least one of them reads my blog, so I will post that one later in the week.

Grease is the word! And Project 365 part 4

Where did January go? Seriously! It just flew by didn't it? Here we are, already February. Crazy!


Anyhow, on with the final week of Jan. in pictures.


Jan. 25- I forgot to take a picture until at about 11:30 at night I was sitting there with my husband and pulled out my camera. He posed for me. Nice huh.....

Jan. 26- The photography challenge on SCS this week was "A is for..." We had to take a picture of something starting with an A. Mine is A is for Antiques. I took several pictures of various antiques around my house but this one of my antique treadle sewing machine is my favorite.

Jan. 27- Fabrics for baby quilts and receiving blankets. I have some for boys and girls. I know it is probably still a long way off before the adoption process is complete and we have our baby placed with us. But I thought I would get a jump start. :)
Jan. 28- Plant in my front yard. Just practicing with my Macro lens.
Jan. 29- A pecan from the tree in our back yard. I call it the death tree. I am allergic to tree nuts.
Jan. 30- This one makes me laugh. I have a wide angle attachment for my camera lens. I put it on and tried to take a picture of the dog. He walked right up to the camera so I adjusted the lens, snapped the picture and ended up with this. You can see the circle which is from the attachment itself. But it actually looks like I am looking through a peephole in a door and seeing the dog on the other side. It was a shot I didn't mean to get, but makes me laugh just the same.
Jan. 31- Again, I forgot to take a picture until late at night. Hubby and I were playing the Wii so I thought I would take a picture of that. Why not right?

And as an added bonus: My daughter has been auditioning for her school musical. That is a huge deal in and of itself cause she gets terrible stage fright. She made it all the way to call backs for the part of Sandy in Grease (she didn't originally try out for Sandy either, but the teacher liked her so much that she was asked to do a call back for Sandy). (side note, why didn't we do fun musicals like Grease in high school? Just sayin') She didn't make it for that part but was put in the Chorus. I was so proud of her. Just the fact that she audtioned was huge for her. So I tell her I will fly up and come see her in the play thinking I am just going to see her in the Chorus right? Well then she calls me on Monday and tells me that she not only is in the Chorus, but she is the understudy for the part of Frenchy! That is the part she originally wanted, not to mention the part that 75% of the other girls who audtioned wanted. :) Well, the really cool thing about her drama teacher is that her teacher beleives that understudy's put just as much work and effort into learning the part as the actual actors who are playing the part do, so feels that the understudy's should actually get to be on stage as well in the role of the part they are understudying for (with me still?). So the play runs for 3 nights. 2 of those nights she will be in the chorus and the other night my girl will be on stage as Frenchy! I am so very proud of her. Hubby and I are both going up for it. :)

About the Macro Studio

So my friend Robyn asked what a Macro Studio was and asked if was something to help me take pictures of cards. Yes, that is what I use it for but it is oh so much more then that. Macro Studios can be purchased online for around $20 or so for a basic studio. I made mine through the help of the website that I posted a few days ago for less then $1. My poster board was .50 cents. The box was free, it was one we found for our move to NM from KS several months ago. The tissue paper was in a pack and then I used a little bit of packing tape. So no it isn't professional, but it does the job just as well.

Anyhow, a Macro Studio, yes, although I use it mainly for cards can be used for so many things. It no only makes your colors better and really helps to focus the eye on the item you are photographing, but it also helps the light to dispurse more evenly on your item which in turn also helps with the colors. Case in point. I took this picture of my sister-in-law's card without the macro studio. I took it in the same room with the same light at the same time of day (about 9 at night):

Now the same card, again same room, same lighting, and same time of day (in fact this photo was taken directly after the above photo) using the macro studio:

Do you see how the color's look so much clearer and truer. Take the white for example. In the first photo you can see the the white actually looks a little yellow. But in the second photo you can really see the colors better and not only that but see the detail of the card better too.

Macro Photography is close up photography. It is where you can really capture the details of what you are taking pictures of. Have you ever seen a picture of a rose with a water droplet on it and you can really see every detail, or a picture of a bee on a flower and again, you can see every detail?

The above photo is one I found on Wikipedia, it shows what you can do with Macro Photography. Link is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hibiscus_petal.jpg

Well, That is Macro Photography. A Macro Studio is just an extra tool that can be used to help capture the details of your photo subject, in this case my cards. Although I did take some more photos today using my Macro Studio that weren't of cards that I will post on Sunday with my project 365 post. Anyhow, I hope that answered your questions on what a Macro Studio is for. :)

Project 365 part 3

Taking pictures this week was somehow easier then last week. I think it's because I made more of an effort to actually take pictures.

The challenge this last week on SCS was to show winter in a new way. Well here in NM we are still in the 50's and 60's every day. No winter weather for us. So I didn't do the challenge this last week.

Anyhow, here is my week in pictures:

Jan. 18- It cracks me up when the dog does this. If we don't pay him enough attention (a.k.a. fawn over him every moment of every day.) he trys to get our attention by getting in our faces. So I had to snap a picture of just how cute he is.



Jan. 19- Hubby working in his shop (a.k.a. the garage)


Jan. 20- The dog being oh so cute again



Jan. 21- We had an activity at church this day and I had to bring a dessert (or an appetizer, I chose dessert) I made cupcakes and did a swirled two color frosting on top. It's really easy to do. You just load half your bag with one color and the other half with the other color (so that the colors are side by side) and pipe your frosting on. :)



Jan. 22- This picture is for my mom. I got ambitious a couple of weeks ago rearranged my living room. So I took this picture to show how it looks now. Our living room is almost double this size so the rest of it is fairly empty space but that's o.k. for now.



Jan. 23- I finally made my macro-studio. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I got the directions from this website: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html I did use a different size box then what they recommended because I didn't have what they suggested. I did take pictures of the cards I have done recently and will post those starting tomorrow.



Jan. 24- I actually had a different picture for this day but when I took the dog on a walk I saw the sunset over the mountains and I just couldn't resist doing this photo instead. I was so struck by the beauty of the colors.

I promise I will have cards for you tomorrow. I have actually made several in the last few weeks so I have plenty to show you. Have a great rest of your weekend!

Scorpions and walks and dogs oh my! (Project 365 part 2)

So taking pictures every day is proving harder then I thought even with my boring and non-busy life. But still, I'm getting it done. As you can tell from this weeks project 365 title it was a funfilled week complete with a scorpion in my bathtub of all places. So without further ado, this week in photos:


Jan. 11- An updated picture of the outside of our house for our adoption profile. (Yes, even though we are just in the application process I really want to get a headstart on all the profile stuff)
Jan. 12- SCS has weekly photography challenges to get our creative juices flowing. This weeks challenge was to take a picture of signs. This particular day I didn't have our vehicle so I was kind of limited to where I was able to take pictures. I chose our street sign on the corner. (yes, our skies here are normally that blue and clear. *grin*)


Jan. 13- The dog thinking that because I am the back yard that must mean I am there to play with him. ;)

Jan. 14- On this day I was home by myself and I couldn't find the dog. Normally he comes when I call him. This time he didn't. I thought, is he outside, nope, not outside, where is he. Lo and behold, this is where I find him. Happy and content on my bed giving me a look like he is just daring me to tell him to get off. (He's a little spoiled)

Jan. 15- This day I decided to take my camera when I went for my daily walk. Let me tell you how interesting it was holding camera, holding the dogs leash and talking to my mom on my cell phone all at the same time. This is a view of the mountains near our house, I walk past here every day on my walk.
Jan. 16- So this day I got a lovely surprise, a scorpion in my bathtub. How fun huh? (Not so much... It was about an inch in length, this is the 6th one we have had in 5 months -unless you count the 2 very small baby ones, then this one makes #8 )

Jan. 17- Hubby decided to take a break from school work and woodworking and go on my daily walk with me. I figured since he would be with me it would be much easier to take pictures. Here is hubby and the dog on the walking path near our house. (the total walk is about a mile)

I know that this is up late today. I will try to have it up earlier next week. Now, my brother-in-law (it's partly due to him that I have this awesome new camera, he helped me figure out what I wanted. *grin*) commented on one of my earlier posts wanting to know what flash I am using on my pictures so I thought I would share here rather then just emailing him. I actually am using the built in flash on the camera. I do have another flash that I bought but I don't know how to use it and frankly I am a little intimidated by the camera let alone the flash that I got *snicker*. So for now, I am just using the on camera flash. Maybe someday soon I will actually use the flash that I got for the camera. ;) I also shoot mostly at auto ISO. I am just starting to learn about all the different ISO speeds and what they do. So far, not too bad, but I'm sure I will get better. ;)

Tommorrow I will post some cards I made this weekend. I need to build a macro light box to help me take better photos of my cards but right now it is too late so that will have to wait till the morning.

Project 365 part 1

In my last post I mentioned that I saw a posting on SCS about something called project 365. This is where you take a photo every day for 1 year to chronicle your life. Since our lives are kind of boring out here in the middle of no where NM it wouldn't be much fun if I did that. So I decided that instead of doing that I would just take a photo a day to kind of sharpen my photography skills (as beginner like as they are right now). This way I can see how I grow as a photographer. This post will have more pictures then will be normal as it has a week and a half worth of pictures, but next week I will have just 1 week (I am posting them by week that way I don't overload my blog with daily posts of pictures, ecspecially seeing as how this blog is about all of my crafting such as cardmaking etc., not just photography.) So anyhow, without further ado, here is my first week (and a half) in photos.

Jan. 1 - My in-laws came to visit so this photo is of my DH chatting with his mom.



Jan. 2- Photo of the gorgeous sunset at White Sands Sand Dunes

Jan. 3- My daughter hiding from the camera.... again..... She does that alot.






Jan. 4- A coin rack that hubby made to hold all his coins that he has been given in the Army.




Jan. 5- A collection I have of heritage items, the picture is of my Grandma in her early 20's, the doll she made I think when she was in her 30's (not sure on that one though) and then the glass case is filled with items from my great grandmother and my grandmother to include my great grandmothers baby spoon and some doll house items.

Jan. 6- Hubby playing the Wii and wondering why I am taking a picture of him.

Jan. 7- A plaque that I have from my grandfather with his name on it. Probably hung in an office of some kind.

Jan. 8- Playing with the macro lense which makes items appear larger and more vibrant.

Jan. 9- Practicing Night Shots, This one of the moon behind trees was taken in my front yard, I'm not so good at night shots, that will come though.

Jan. 10- Last nights full moon was the brightest and biggest that there will be in 2009 (according to Yahoo news). It was a little hazy out but still a great photo op! This was taken at sunset as the sun was setting and the moon was coming up. Taken from 60 miles away with a 70-300mm lense.

Next weeks photos will just be for 1 week and not for a week and a half. Also, I am working on some stamping projects that I hopefully will be done with soon. One of them I am so excited about and can't wait to show you. I hope that it turns out as well as I think it will, so far so good. Also, very soon I should be ready to announce news about the ink storage that my hubby made me last month. Let's just put it this way, if you are looking for a great solution to your ink storage and think that a unit like mine would be perfect, you can get one just like it, or get the very detailed plans to make your own! We are just trying to work out the final details, but stay tuned!