Buzzzzy Bee!

We here on 3C1D have had our share of bees on flowers so this is not new subject matter. I enjoy seeing the different viewpoints and angles that each of us does with our shots. So here we go...

Nikon D90
ISO-400
Aperture F/4.5
Shutter 1/500 sec. +1 exposure
18-70mm Nikon @70mm
Natural Lighting/RAW

The challenge with this shot was that I saw this guy buzzing around and wanted to quickly catch him, but I had already set my ISO for a shadowy kind of setting and well I completely forgot to change my ISO for the brighter sunlight. I also should have upped my shutter speed but I didn't think that my lens would give me a wide enough aperture if I had done that. I am so wanting a F/2.8 lens.

I shot in RAW because those of us that don't have macro lenses have to improvise and zoom in as much as possible, plus editing is sooo much easier with RAW as we have commented on before. I also had the way wrong lens for what I was trying to shoot here. I should have had my telephoto lens, but I had brought my other lens for a different purpose so I had to make do.

I think my friend thought I was a little crazy because I'm chasing after this bee muttering to myself and at the bee trying to make it do what I want. Because that works so well haha. It was a good afternoon though of fun. We climbed trees, got muddy, and I got this shot. All in all a good day.

Ohhhh I totally didn't see that there is a aperture connection between Scott's picture and my picture of all having an aperture of F/4.5. Totally not planned on my part, but how cool is that?

Enjoy!
Sere

WooHooo!!

I had a photo I wanted to use to follow up Sere's picture but with Jay'me going in between us I wasn't sure I would get to. Lucky for me Jay'me gave me something to work with.


Nikon D300s Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8

ISO 200 natural light and a bunch of other settings that I can't extract at the moment.

This is a weed. It was the coolest weed I've ever seen. Instead of being rough, pointy and hurting, it was soft like velvet. While my daughter and I were enjoying some time on a friends 30 acre property I noticed this fuzzy little guy and a few of his friends. I was drawn to him from the beginning but then it rained.
And WooHoo!
The water drops caught in the soft hairs on the surface of plant creating a wonderful texture. I've been so impressed with this lens and it's almost macro capabilities. This picture is straight out of the camera (SOOC). I've done nothing but sharpening it for the web so that when Blogger tanks the quality of the photo it still looks like it does in real life.
Love it!!

xoxo,
Brandi

Chaos

If you're not living in the midwest, Texas, most of the east coast then you're pretty lucky.
In these places (and others I'm sure) we've had some wild weather. Jay'me's snow picture is a great example.
In this part of the world (Chicagoland) we've moved from snow to rain. Lots and lots of rain and to top off this super fabulous drowning, we've got 36 degree temps and whipping winds. Yep, it's February. Oh wait, not it's not.

Anywho....
I had to play in the rain today. Rain and mud. I love it.
Except when it's raining inside. Then it's not so awesome.


Nikon D300s
Nikkor 24-70 f2.8
ISO 2500
Shutter Speed 1/20
Focal length 58mm
Aperture f/2.8

I was really trying to get out of the f/2.8 range with this picture but I was inside shooting in a the center of a partially complete brick building. I pretty much needed every bit of light that I could get. So f/2.8 it is.
A girls got to do what a girls go to do.

Lets see what a boy can do. You're up tomorrow Scott.

xoxo,
Brandi

Surprise!

Hey there Kids! Time to run and hide, Brandi's back!

Before I get down to business, I want to take a moment and thank everyone for the overwhelming support, love, prayers and positive thoughts that you have sent to my family. Losing someone you love is never easy. The support and care my daughter and I have received in the past couple weeks has been such a blessing.
Scott (my husband not the Dude) was my not only my biggest fan he was my biggest cheerleader. He was the main reason I got my new camera gear. I just wish I had gotten it sooner so I could show him what I can really do with it.

He inspired me everyday he was here and it is in his honor that I carry on.

In order to have Jay'me's picture tie into my picture I had to use our good friend YouTube.


This song about fish was played (in part) on this.

Nikon D300s
Nikor 24-70 f/2.8 @ 58mm
ISO 250
Shutter speed 1/4000sec
Aperture f/2.8

I know we've already done the musical instruments thing and I apologize for bringing it up again. I've been obsessed with depth of field shots at f/2.8 on my new lens and this guitar was just screaming to have it's picture taken yesterday. I didn't even know that I would be sharing it when I snapped it. Hell, I didn't even know I would be sharing it until 2 hours ago.

So there you have it. I'm back. Scott can resume his place following me tomorrow. Sere will be here on Tuesday and Jay'me (who is rocking the D40) will be here on Wednesday.

Love one another.

xoxo,
Brandi

It's the Everyday Things

Sick child=no camera time today. After taking care of all those things that a mom needs to when her child is not feeling well it was way past dinner time and the day was effectively gone. But..... My husband was playing chess with my son before bed, so I just decided to snap a few pictures of that. The connection being all about the common, everyday things of life. Blueberries and chess pieces in this instance. Nikon D2 ISO-200 (oops not so good for inside shots without flash) Aperture F/1.4 (wide open baby!) Shutter Speed 1/10 sec. Nifty Fifty Lens No Flash, Indoor Lighting

Squishy Face Friday - reader beware

This is your caution, the below picture is so ridiculously cute you will find yourself wanting a baby. While I want everyone to look at every picture posted here if you cannot handle a severe case of the "I wanna baby"ies please do not move forward. I'll give you a moment to decide if you can handle it.



Here is another warning. I'll keep talking to you for a few moments to allow you to make a good decision. Oh, I should mention this is Brandi. Scott and his wife and two young boys are traveling by car from the Chicago area to Denver to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family. Don't worry Scott will be posting tomorrow once they are settled in Denver. Your prayers for Scott and his wife are appreciated. Can't imagine traveling that far with a 2 year old and a 4 year old, even though both his boys are terrific.

Have I given you enough time yet? Have you made the right choice?

Here goes... last chance....

Nikon D40 kit lens
f/5.0
Shutter speed 1/400sec
ISO 800
manual
natural light

This is Ryan. He's a dear friends youngest boy. They came over for a play date today and Ryan was my perfect model. Well, as perfect as a one year old, that just learned to walk and is a crazy crawler can be.
His happy little face is simply contagious.

I wish I could have closed up my aperture (higher f stop number) so I could have gotten a little better focus on his eyes as well as the block. Unfortunately, I had to keep my shutter speed high to keep up with his fast movement which meant moving up (lower number fstop) to keep proper exposure.
As I've lamented before my camera does horrible with high ISO. Normally with a camera that can handle higher ISO, you could have bumped that up (maybe to 1200ish) to allow the shutter speed and aperture to be more to my liking. Alas, I didn't get that option.
I'm still really happy with this photo. He's a beautiful little boy and I really feel his contagious smile through the picture.
My tie in to Jay'me's wooden spindles is the wood block that Ryan is holding. Weak, I know, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

One more day to try to get in on this weeks Wordless Wednesday. Scratch that I'm making an executive decision, two more days. Sere will post the winner with her post on Sunday.
We're still looking for Kevin McQuire. Paging, Kevin McQuire. Kevin McQuire please check in at 3chicks1dudephoto@gmail.com. You won, now you just have to claim your prize.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Scott will be here tomorrow with something fantastic from Denver!

Floating Away

Before I get to today's photo I want to ask you all for some extra thoughts, prayers and love for one of our Chicks.
Sere, as you all know, lives in rural America. Her husband is a farmer and they are a farm family. Working hard everyday to carve out a little (or well, huge) piece of land to grow something for the world to enjoy.

Last night around 7pm CST the machine shop housing the tools for the farm caught on fire and was destroyed. The shop is the closest building to Sere's home. Fortunately, no one was injured and her prized Siberian Huskies were all safe as well.

In a world where your success is directly linked to the tools you have loosing a machine shop is a devastating blow. Please say and extra prayer, send some extra love or just some kind thoughts for Sere and her family as they navigate through the mess that will come.


Now without further adieu,


Nikon d40
18-55 1:3-5.6
1/250 at 46mm
f5.3
ISO 200

I had quite a few ideas on what I wanted to do as a follow up to Scott's post. A few of them were a little more PG-13 building on the "moon" in Scott's photo. Around mid-day I was feeling a little despondent and couldn't quite get my "mo-jo" going. Thankfully I have a wonderful little girl that wanted to play outside in the beautiful sunshine on a gorgeous 78degree evening.
After numerous trips down the driveway on her bike we moved on to bubbles.

Ah Ha! Bubbles! BINGO

Watching them swirl around capturing the light from the sun, casting colors about just like a kaleidoscope.

Perfection

Taking photos of bubbles floating in the sky was pretty tough with the equipment I have. There wasn't enough depth in any of the photos.
As I laid in the grass feeling a little discouraged once again, I noticed a bubble just sitting perfectly atop a few blades of grass.

I knew I wanted to capture only the bubble in focus so I went wide open (f5.3 - sure would have been nice to have the f1.4 but...). My auto focus (the only auto I use on my camera) couldn't find the bubble so I had to do the focus manually. Not my strong suit given the fact that I wasn't wearing my glasses but I feel strong with how it ended up.

A calm, peaceful, delicate bubble, resting on the soft blades of grass in the remainder of the beautiful setting summer sun.

Where are you going to take us next Jay'me? Can't wait for the journey.

Scott Likes Metal

I prefer leather.

Nikon D40
f5.6
1/80
ISO 400
Focal length 50mm

Spent a quick bit of time away. It was so refreshing. I went away to my happy place and came home sane once again.
I walked through 30acres of beautiful wooded, hilly, countryside. Taking in all the sites, smells and silence. Pure golden silence.
I stumbled upon a tree bridge. At first glance I was a little daunted by the amount of moss covering the tree thinking to myself "That's a lot of moss and that is a 7foot deep creek bed I could fall into."
Every photographer knows what happened next. I climbed across the mossy tree. Wanting a shot more than I cared for my safety. Of course, the only decent light was more than half way across the tree.
Why can't anything ever be easy?

This photo is straight out of the camera. I did nothing to it. Considering I had the camera perilously balanced on the mossy tree, working with nothing but my auto-timer and some good luck I was pretty pleased.

And Scott, if you're going to take a shot of a field you should try taking the shot from 4000feet above ground, out a small plane window.


f5.0 - I wish I had made this more like f10 but...what's a girl to do
1/2000sec
ISO 200
focal length 24mm

Jay'me's up next ladies and gentleman. Get ready for a real treat.

I got a 50mm Too!

Canon 30d
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
Shutter Speed 1/400
f/1.4
Focal Length 50mm
ISO 400
Natural Light

So yes, I brought this lens out partly to needle Brandi a bit (I'm going to pay for this) but more importantly, it's my connection to Sere's post. This is a celebration of Sere's new toy. Hip, hip, hooray!!!

Now let's get serious. The beautiful thing about a prime lens is it forces you to "zoom with your feet." That is, if you want to view something from a larger magnification, you must literally walk closer. It's a great learning tool. You typically have the additional advantage of better optics. It's just plain easier to make a prime lens hence, you get better quality for your money, albeit without zoom capabilities. You just can't go wrong with a good prime lens.

As for this photo, the subject is part of an abandoned homestead near my home. I was actually hoping to get some photos of the rundown house and barn. Those really didn't turn out so you get faucet picture number 3. I was struck by the fairly bright blue against the dark rust. The contrast was too good to pass up. Plus, if gave me a chance to shoot wide open and show off the depth of field capabilities of a wide aperture. It's a fantastic tool to master and it can make the difference between a good photo and a great photo.

And just because Sere posted 2, I'm cheating again. This is in response to both Sere's second photo and to Brandi and her day in Galena.

Canon 30d
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
Shutter Speed 0.3
f/22.0
Focal Length 50mm
ISO 100
Natural Light

This is a field near my home that happens to shelter about 1,000,000,000 mosquitoes. You know, I must be an idiot because I keep finding these places to donate blood. It's truly unreal. I'll say it now; my next photo is indoors!

Moving on, I pass this field daily and I've always wanted to set-up my camera after they cut. The rows and the colors are just perfect. Plus, there is something about the smell of a fresh cut field. I can't get enough of it. So I finally put tripod to earth and snapped off about 60. You gotta love digital!

I was hoping the sky would cooperate and give me a decent sunset but sometimes Mother Nature has different plans. So I decided on making the field the real star. I intentionally left out a lot of sky (which was hard because the moon was begging to be included!) and let the patterns of the rows do the talking.

Something totally different from the first photo is the aperture. I used a very small aperture to allow for maximum depth of field. As a result, the foreground is sharp as well as the trees. So all of you bemoaning your lack of a fast lens (wide aperture) remember, small apertures are really cool too! Okay folks, that's all for now. Stay tuned for Brandi - she's gonna knock your socks off!

Scott