I had an awfully hard time trying to figure out how to connect to yesterday's post for some reason. It's winter and snowy out here in the midwest and as such I have lots of winter, snowy type pictures that I have taken this week. Not much to connect with on those. I thought about doing friendship, but really who wants to see a picture of me.
I LOVE the flower in Jay'me's hair, a little spot of color during a cold winter. It made me think of this picture that I had taken a few days ago. One with a little spot of color in it as well.
Olympus Stylus Tough 3000 ISO-200 Aperture F/4.3 Shutter 1/5 sec. Focal Length of 15mm SOOC
This picture was taken through the windshield of my husband's truck while I was waiting for him to get out of Lowe's. I was bored and playing around with the camera when I spotted this blue car next to all these white, black, and gray cars. It just totally stuck out.
Photography is not just about getting a technically good picture (of which this would NOT be a good example of) even though that is important. It is also about being able to spot things in the world around you that stand out and capturing them.
Jay'me is up next. Let's find out what she sees in the world around her. Sere
BigDan's picture made me think two things. 1) I want a hot dog. 2) The building glowed. A soft beckoning calling to me.
Well, I got a hot dog for dinner and I decided to post this. Nikon D300 what? I don't remember which lens I had on it at this point, I had too many to choose from. ISO 500 Shutter speed 1/10sec Aperture f/2.8 swoon
Scott's father has a wonderful Nikon D300 that he let me borrow for a few days so I could put it to the test and make a decision on my new camera choice. Mr. L is a wonderful, wonderful man, that I canNOT thank enough. He loaned me his entire camera bag, lenses, speed light, camera, extension tubes, and a very well loved manual. It was pure camera heaven on earth. I didn't get enough time to play with all of it but I got enough time to know that the D300 will be my next camera.
This glowing orb is a ball that belongs to my daughter. It's a super bouncy ball that has glitter inside and changes colors. Once again I headed to my dark but large master bedroom closet, shut the door and snapped away. I took these photos last week, just to see how the camera handled in these conditions. But when I saw Dan's photo, that soft warm glow struck me and I thought it would be a good time to share this.
In other news the Wordless Wednesday winner for this week is mamalu. Mamalou was right, my connection was in the white. We had just gotten 19'' of snow and there was nothing but white. Pure white everywhere. This particular snow drift was about waist high on my 5'7'' frame. I just loved the texture of the snow. I'm not entirely happy with how I captured. Next time I'm going to try getting a little lower a little closer to eye level.
Well kids, Sere is up tomorrow. I'm sure she's going to GLOW.
We've got our latest Wordless Wednesday winner Kristine joining us. Kristine was the randomly selected winner from Scott's post.
A little about Kristine in her words... About me I am married with no children but two cats that we love. Currently living in West Michigan but born and raised in Crystal Lake, Illinois. I have always liked taking pictures but my true passion lies in music. I love to sing and it has given me the chance to go so many places.
A little about the photo in her words... This is a picture of one of my 6 nieces. This season lends itself to running and jumping into large piles of leaves and Abbie loved it so. We were thankful that the rain held off so we could have a little fun outside.
And now beautiful Abbie... Nikon D90 18-105mm VR kit lens ISO-200 Aperture f/5.6 Shutter 1/125 sb-600 flash
Thank you so much for joining us Kristine! We loved having you and little Abbie is such a gorgeous face to have grace our little blog. Please come back anytime!
Before I unveil my picture for the night, there is some 3C1D business to tend to. First: Go comment on Scott's post from yesterday. Seriously people all you have to do is comment and you could be randomly selected to be our next guest photographer. Click on the guest photographer link over there ---> to see who else has been a guest photog. They'll all tell you it's easy as pie.
Second: We've got our very own flickr stream. Ever look at one of our photos and wonder what the pull back shot looks like or what kind of bloopers we might have? This will be the place for you to see all of those. No more cheating on here. If you want to see that second shot (or 4, 5, 6..10th shot) you'll have to head here.
There. That's done.
**************************** Scott's picture yesterday was all about light. The color cast from the high pressure sodium lamps, the flare, the specks... it's all about light. The deliciously, wonderful light. I wanted to find another way to make light the leading actor. In fact in this photo the light is the only actor. Nikon d40 kit lens ISO 400 Shutter speed 8.00sec (yes that's correct) aperture f25
These are glow sticks, 6 of them to be exact. I originally had lofty goals of writing of 3C1D but alas getting the heart was enough for a solo project. I slowed the shutter down, used my 10sec timer (you'll remember my wireless remote is in the bottom of the lake) to make sure I didn't shake the camera at all and slowly drew a heart. Over and over again, trying to stay in the same shape and size as the previous heart. Grab your flashlights, your tripod and your camera and give it a try. It's crazy fun. Oh and locking yourself in your dark closet can be dangerous. A hanger to the eyeball is painful. Use caution.
So when Scott posted his photo yesterday I commented that I wanted to see the leaf against the bright blue sky. Here is a different leaf against a different sky at a different time of day but I wanted to see how it would look. In a picture perfect (read cash flush) world I too would have a macro lens and this photo would look remarkably different. Such is life. Typically I shoot full manual with auto focus. Taking Scott's advice I flipped my camera to the macro setting and snapped off a few. As is typical for my camera it just didn't give me what I wanted. I find I have to 'force' my camera into submission and make it do what I want on a regular basis. I'm just working on understanding all the settings on my camera so I can quickly pin my camera and win the match, making my first shot the best shot. That doesn't come without practice, lots and lots of practice (this makes me happier than I can express). So for me, for right now, I'm going to keep shooting in manual until I win the war I have silently declared on my camera. This is the lifestyle I have chosen, but as my very best friend is always saying "my advice only works for me, do what is best for you." Just keep shooting.
It's Sere's turn today but she's off enjoying some time in a remote cabin in the woods of northern Wisconsin near Lake Superior. When Sere texted me this information I (Brandi) got to thinking. Here's an excerpt of what went through my brain... I'm sorry...
"I never talk on the phone anymore. Everyone just texts. Why don't I talk on the phone more? Because Sere and I can't talk for less than 2 hours, ever. Should we just skip Sere? Should Jay'me just go on Saturday? Should I post something in Sere's place? Gosh it was fun growing up with Sere. Remember that time we got lost in the woods across the street from her house. Of course, I remember getting lost, I was there. Those woods, I miss those woods. They always have the best color... wait.... the woods... I'll take a picture of the woods. Not a picture by Sere but a picture for Sere. The woods it is."
Nikon d40 kit lens 1/640sec ISO 200 f5.0 19mm
This is a tree just off the street where Sere grew up. It sits at the entrance to a forest preserve where Sere and I, along with another friend of ours, got lost in the woods. Wandering for hours, singing and carrying on as only freshman high school girls can do.
I tried this photo from a few different angles to make it unique. In the end I like the classic presentation cut square to give it a more contemporary feel. That same blue sky that caught my fathers eyes yesterday sets off the beautiful fall foliage.
This isn't a photo that will wow anyone but it's a photo taken from the heart for a woman that I've been blessed to know for so many years. Travel safe Sere.
Jay'me is up tomorrow unless we hear from Amanda, the winner of this weeks Wordless Wednesday.
Wishing everyone a beautiful fall weekend. Spend sometime catching up with an old friend, I just did.
Boy, did I have a hard time following up on Scott's amazing water drop photo. The pressure was really turned on. I spent the day doing different variations of the rose glasses but ultimately my husband helped me pick this one. To be honest, I'm not completely happy with any of them. I believe it was about 10am when I texted Scott and cried that I needed a fish eye lens at f1.4. Considering this photo was taken around 745pm that's a long day spent attempting to fill some pretty big shoes.
I headed down to the lake by our house tonight, packing my tripod, my wireless remote, my camera, my rose glasses and some patience. I came home with my camera, my tripod and my rose glasses. My wireless remote and patience are both somewhere at the bottom of the lake.
As always, I had a blast, even when I was frustrated. I learned more taking this photo then I would have in a month worth of photos before starting this blog.
Can't wait to hear some feedback from all of you. I wonder what I could have done differently to really make this photo pop. Please give it to me straight, I have my big girl panties on and can handle it.
Canon 30d Canon EF 100mm Macro f/2.8 Shutter Speed 1/250 Aperture f/11.0 Focal Length 100mm ISO 100 2 external Alien Bees flash heads and a softbox/tent
I really enjoyed Jay'me and Sere's last posts. I was tempted to go out and get some macro shots of flowers around me. I've done it in the past and I really enjoy looking at flowers through the lens. It's one of my favorite styles of photography. I decided however that the spirit of 3chicks1dude is to push our knowledge and comfort zone and try new things for the sake of learning. With that in mind, I decided it was time to try my hand at capturing water droplets. It's nothing new - it's practically cliche. But I've never tried it!
The story starts with me trying to capture water droplets using hot lights. For those learning, hot lights are essentially really bright lamps that are on continuously. They are called hot lights because they get freaking hot! The advantage of hot lights is that you see exactly what the light looks like before you start shooting. It can make things a lot easier. Additionally, they are relatively cheap, another big plus when you are trying to learn and not go broke.
I set-up my hot lights and threw a bunch of stuff into plates and glasses and had limited success. I couldn't get the motion to freeze. What I needed were my strobes. So I fired off a text to Brandi (she was borrowing my gear for a bit) and next thing I knew, I'm in my kitchen setting up one heck of an obstacle course. My wife was a sweetheart, knowing I can get a little laser focused when camera gear abounds! Off she went to read while I literally fired off over 300 shots! What a blast!!! You can't believe how much fun this is.
The reason you need strobes (or speedlights) is to stop the motion. The duration of a flash is so short the exposure only gets the merest fraction of a second to capture the scene. For those crying about a lack of strobes or speedlights, use your pop-up flash. It is somewhat limiting but I was able to capture several good shots with just the pop-up. Just remember to keep the ambient light as low as possible to eliminate spillover.
As for the set-up, it is a glass vase filled with water. Then I dropped a few drops of green water into the vase (I took pictures of that). I wasn't satisfied with the intensity of the green so I decided to start dropping pure food coloring into the vase. And that's when it hit me! I had just added green. If I drop some red next, I might get a "rose" with the green water being the stem and the red dye being the bloom! Imagine my excitement when it actually worked! I was going to use the water droplets from Sere's flower as my inspiration. But now I was able to use the water and the flower! I told you it was fun.
When I decided this is what I wanted to try, I warned Brandi I might go neurotic and post as late as 11:30. Alas, I may just beat that time...barely. Thanks to all reading this. I hope you're enjoying this as much as we are. Stay tuned for some fun news coming down the pipeline. We (all 4 of us) can't stop thinking of ways to play and improve this blog. Keep the comments coming and be sure to tell your friends about us! Tag Brandi, you're it!
Nikon d40 same old lens (boohiss) 1/40 f/8 ISO 400 focal length 26mm
So my head us full of ideas of where to go with Sere's powerful picture. Something about that photo really spoke to me. I don't know if it was the lighting, the subject matter or the fact that it was taken somewhere I've always wanted to go. Either way it sent my brain into overdrive. Having Kate at school today didn't help my ADHD tendencies. She usually slows me down or makes me focus and use my time more wisely. I bounced around town finding all kinds of inspiration.
All day I found myself surrounded by the color green. It started with the clips I put in Kate's hair, moved with me to the Starbucks for my favorite drink, then in all the fresh summer produce at the farm stand. A box of Mike and Ike's given to me by my mother sat nestled next to a few bucks. Green, green everywhere.
All green... all happy, spirited, multi tonal, dimensional GREEN. Putting all of these things against the backdrop of my green dining room seemed like the perfect finishing touch.
A little tweaking in Photoshop Elements 8 (that I'm now thinking I over did) and I was set.
Before this adventure I would have just kept moving through my day without the realization that the color green surrounds me. I'm so grateful to my friends for pushing me to see the things that are right in front of my face.
Alrighty hope this loads okay! Obviously I used the tree from Jay'me's picture as a basis for my picture. I was trying to do an atmospheric shot of life and death, light and dark, while trying to incorporate the live oak and spanish moss that Savannah Georgia is known for. Savannah is also known for ghosts and such, i.e my choice of using a graveyard as well.
I used Adobe Photoshop to bump up the vibrancy a little bit on the green foliage and adjusted the lighting a bit
***************** Brandi busts in again! Dang I'm a total blog stealer. So, I just realized that this post didn't actually post to the blog. I know Sere was having some internet issues while traveling so I'm re-posting it. I'm crossing my fingers that Sere is ok with that because it's 10:17pm and I'm not mean enough to message her to ask permission. So, if something isn't right it's my fault. I accept full responsibility. Looking forward to building on this tomorrow. My brain is already in overdrive. Great job Sere! I would have never thought to take a photo in a graveyard but it makes for a beautiful shot.
