O Magnum Mysterium

This is the sound track and words for my post. Merry Christmas to you all and may you have a blessed day.

O magnum mysterium

et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in præsepio.

Beata virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt
portare Dominum Christum, Alleluia!

Translation:

O great mystery
and wondrous sacrament,
that animals should see the newborn Lord
lying in their manger.

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy
to bear the Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!

Canon 30D
Canon EF 18-55mm f.3.5-5.8 with fish eye adapter
Shutter 1/25
Aperture f/4.5
ISO 800
Natural Light

All the best from us at 3C1D,

Scott

Christmas Eve with Brandi

Jay'me is celebrating the holiday with her family far away from a computer. I happily offered to post in place of her.

May your Christmas Eve be exactly what you want it to be.

Mine is....


Nikon D40 kit lens
natural light
shutter speed 1/10
aperture f3.5
ISO 800

Two Turtle Doves....

Okay not sure if these guys are turtle doves but I do believe that they are doves of some sort and there's four instead of two, but hey who cares!! As I have stated before we do not have any snow right now so this picture is an archival picture, but I think that it ties in well with Brandi's picture from yesterday. It was great to be able to catch these guys up in the tree and it was before all the snow and ice had either melted or been disturbed. You know that quiet time after a snow storm where everything is just calm and beautiful. I love that time.

Nikon D2X
ISO-320
Aperture F/11
Shutter 1/400 sec.
18-200mm lens at 200mm
Exposure +1
Natural Lighting, No Flash

We might actually have a white Christmas, I'm hoping. It sounds like we might even get that snowfall on Christmas Eve which would be even more exciting. That will be so pretty.

Here's hoping that your holiday is calm and peaceful, filled with the love of family and friends.

Sere

Brandi's Wordless Wednesday

The poster (that's me) will post a photo and it's settings. No other verbiage is allowed. The commenter's (that's you) will guess in the comments section below what ties Tuesdays photo to Wednesdays photo. It can be a setting. It can be a play on words. It can be a theme. It can be anything. In almost every photo there are numerous ties thus creating no right or wrong answer. Just simply make a comment below and you'll be entered into our drawing to be our next guest photographer.

What happens when I'm a guest photographer?
Good question. Guest photographers typically post on Sunday (that can be amended if needed). All you have to do as a guest is email us a photo sometime before 10pm on your post day. The photo has to be yours, it has to tie into the photo before it and we (3C1D) has to be given authorization to use your photo. That's it.

Why would I want to be a guest photographer?
Another grand question. Guest photographers get the creative challenge of working with other photographers to make their photo. Additionally, if you have a blog, website or such that you would like to "advertise" this is a good way to do that. We're happy to share a link to your space on the world wide web. But most importantly, you get to say that you were a photographer with 3C1D. It's a pretty prestigious title. *wink, wink*

But I'm not good enough!
You are good enough and gosh darn it people like you! We love photography of all kinds. Cell phone, point and shoot, high end professional grade. Anything goes around these parts. We believe that everyone out there has a viewpoint and we want to see it.

When will I know if I've won?
The contest will go on until the poster (that's me) announces the winner on his or her next post day. So if all things go according to plan I will announce today's winner on Monday. (Should there not be a guest photographer to post on Sunday I would then announce the winner on Sunday.) The poster (that's me) will then share the story behind that shot as well as their photo for that day.

How is the winner chosen? Are you guys playing favorites?
No favoritism here. Random.org will be used to generate the winner. Everyone that enters, regardless of what their guess is, has an equal chance of winning.

I want to be a photographer on your site but I don't ever win. What can I do?
Bribery kids. We all loved baked goods. I'm just sayin'.
Kidding aside, if you want a chance to come play along just send us an email 3chicks1dudephoto@gmail.com and ask. We're happy to oblige.

Ready.... Set.... GO!!!


Nikon D40 kit lens
aperture f/9
Shutter speed 1/1600
ISO 200

Take What You Get

Okay, so all this talk of reflection and I had to give one more take on it. This time I went completely abstract and experimental. And, as is so often the case, I'm posting something completely different than I originally intended - love this pursuit of ours! Here's my post:

Canon 30D
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Shutter 5 Seconds
Aperture f/5.0
ISO 800
Exposure Compensation -1 stop

The experiment is that I used a fish eye on a 100mm Macro lens. It was awful. I mean REALLY awful. All I got was a really close up and clear view at how the optics on the adapter just aren't that great. It literally became the subject. So much for that idea!

Then I noticed how cool the reflections off the front of the fish eye looked and set about trying to capture it. What followed went something like this: "Good God why didn't I buy a tripod yet!!!???" This was followed by "Good God why didn't I wear boots!!!???" And finally, "Good God I should have worn snow pants!!!" Instead I used body contortion, a leather protector, and came to terms with the fact that I was going to get wet. Oh well. My butt is starting to thaw out - I think I'll live.

You'll notice I underexposed a full stop. The purpose is to ensure the pin points of light remain pin points of light instead of a bloody mess of halos and bleed. If you haven't found the exposure compensation on your camera, find it now. It's a great friend.

In terms of post process, I sharpened a bit, fixed contrast, cropped in a little, and cooled the color temperature a touch. That's all I got for now folks. Now to knock the rest of the frost off my cheeks!

Happy Merry!

Scott

Hold on Tight-So Very Tight!

Cannon Rebel XT
1/60
f4.5
31.mm
ISO400

Reflection reflections reflections... When we take photos, we hope to use them to reflect upon later... right. Capture memories to savor later, stop time, hold on tight to the moment.

This time of year is when we really reflect on a the year about to become last year. We work hard at making GOOD memories with the ones we love. (at least we should be). Those of us blessed with children try to get those precious shots and wish we could stop time. I want them to grow up and be happy adults, just not so darn fast!
This photo is of my six year odl Maddie.
We enjoyed a brunch with Santa (YES ! She still believes ! ) Maddie was so polite and chatty with Santa. Sniffle, sniffle please let me remember her little mickey mouse voice.
Take lots of pictures and Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas, and the Happiest of Holidays to All!


Now for the Wordless Wednesday winner. Random.org helped us in finding Reese as our WINNER! Please email us at 3chicks1dudephoto@gmail.com. and we will help you with details.

This ones for you Reese...
Now don't you go falling in love with her Clark, 'cause I'm taken her with me when we leave here next month. Christmas Vacation ROCKS!
Thank you,
Jay'me

Reflections

It's Sunday evening and do you know what time it is....
It's time for Brandi to introduce you to a new guest poster. Gather around kiddos you're in for a real treat.

Everyone I want to introduce you to my friend Jen. Jen was the first friend I made after my family moved from Iowa to Illinois when I was 3. I refuse to tell you how long it's been but let's just say it been a LONG time.
Jen gave me the freedom to "write anything I want". Heehee silly, silly girl. She should know me better than that.

Jen is a child psychologist by profession but her real passion is for running. For as long as I can remember Jen has been running in marathons. She's one of the nutty people that gets up at the ugliest hour of the day and runs 13miles just to "get started". When she's not running she's finding the best cupcakes around, traveling the world (usually following Dave Mathews Band), and taking photos of everything along the way.
Being relatively new to the photography game Jen got her Nikon D40 (copy cat) about a year ago. She's taken some pretty gorgeous photos with it including this one of Bainbridge Island, Washington.


Nikon d40 kit lens
aperture f/6.3
shutter speed 1/160
ISO 200

Jen's tie in is actually to my post on Friday, Sere's photo wasn't posted yet when Jen sent this to us. The tie in is the reflection. Reflection in the water or reflection in the true meaning of the holiday season. It's all reflection. Posting this for one of my oldest and dearest friends has given me a chance to reflect on our unique friendship. I'm so very lucky to have her in my life and being able to share a mutual love for photography... priceless.

Jay'me is up tomorrow. You all have until she posts to enter your name in the guest poster contest from last Wednesday. Just click here and put your name in the comment section. Random.org will select a winner when Jay'me posts tomorrow.

Thanks for playing Jen. And thanks to all of you for joining along in the fun.

xoxo,
Brandi

Red and White Puppy

Hi, Sere here and I have to apologize to everybody. I missed my day completely. I was taking care of an injured puppy and just completely forgot about my post. So needless to say I did not get out yesterday with my camera except to take a quick picture of my puppies. So that is the picture that you get today. Luckily my puppies are considered red and white so it actually fits with Brandi's red bellhopper photo.


Nikon D2X
Iso-400
Aperture F/16
Shutter Speed 1/60 of a second
18-200mm lens at 100mm
Nikon Speedlight 400 Flash

No post processing at all. This little guy is my only male and a stinker. He had crawled up the side of the basket he was in and had crashed at the very top of the pile of towels. Now remember his eyes are not open yet, so he did all of this blind. He was looking for mom I'm sure. Enjoy!