Flat - The End

I think it's obvious we've fallen flat. What once started (almost a year ago) as a way to challenge ourselves, and each other, has become a burden. Something we "have to get done". That's just not what this place should be.

It's understandable though. Our collective lives have chanced dramatically. Our kids are another year older and need more of our attention. I've lost my husband and my friends lost their friend. You wouldn't think that a years time for a group of mid-thirties people would be so profound. This should be the part of life where the days just sail by. That's simply not true for any member of the 3C1D family. We've all got our own fights right now that simply cannot need more of us.

I thought after losing Scott that I would need this place to regain some of myself. That I would bury myself in my photography and I would once again find solace with my camera. While all of that is true on some level, I find myself with less time, more stress, more distractions. All leading to less creativity.



My photography has grown so much in the last year. I have this blog and my wonderful partners in crime to thank for that. I know there is still more to learn, more to do and more love for photography and I'm certainly going to keep doing all of that. I'll just be doing it when life allows and with less stress.

Thank you to everyone that has ever visited our little place on the web. We've made some great friends along the way.

To my comrades, I love you all. You were my best friends before this and that isn't going to change with it's ending.

Nothing but love.

xoxo,
Brandi

Happiness

If you're a parent you know there is nothing better than seeing your child enjoying life. Seeing the sheer excitement on their faces just seems to take away all the naughty things they do. If only it could take away the gray hairs too.


Nikon D300s Nikkor 24-70 F/2.8 VSII @ 55mm
ISO 200
Shutter Speed 1/2000sec
Aperture f/2.8

This picture was taken around 1pm. The heat of the day being eased by the cool, pool waters. As a photographer I just wished there was a better way to ease the sun's powerful rays. Taking photos at that time of day is awful. What isn't shadowed is blown from the super bright sun.
But happiness can't wait for the sun to settle and I'm not going to miss an opportunity to capture a moment that really matters.


****
Melissa, one of our fantastic followers asked us for a recommendation to an entry level DSLR camera. Melissa being the proud mommy of a 8month old and a 17year old is finding her standard point and shoot just isn't giving her what she needs.

Here's my personal response to Melissa's request for help.
Nikon, Cannon and Sony have great entry level DSLR cameras. Any DSLR will give you the option to continue to grow in photography. Allowing you to change lenses, shoot (and edit) in RAW format, turn the camera on manual and make decisions for yourself, allowing you to decide what type of "mood" your photo should have instead of the camera deciding how to take the best photo.
DSLR cameras also shoot better in low light conditions, have better shutter speeds, memory storage and pixalization. All that said, in the entry level DSLR family I don't think there is too much difference between the larger, name brands that are on the mass market today. Every company has it's strength and weakness. It becomes more about personal preference than anything.
When I moved from a point and shoot to a DSLR, I went with the Nikon D40 (no longer in production). I chose the Nikon over Sony and Cannon for a few reasons. At the time I got a great deal on the D40. We all know finances matter. Another factor in my decision is the way the camera felt in my hands. I had experience with Nikon film cameras and was more adjusted to the grip. Additionally, the menu driven functions just made more sense to me on the Nikon. It seemed like I just knew where everything was.
My advice, go out and play. Hit up the local Best Buy, Costco, Wolf Camera or anywhere else that has display models and try them out. Get them in your hands and see what feels the best to you.
If I were just venturing into the market right now I would most likely get the Nikon D90 or the Nikon D3000. There are lots (LOTS) of great resources on the web for comparisons that are far more intelligent than mine. Do a little research and by all means, if you find yourself struggling between a few, drop us a line. Maybe one of us has used that camera before, or maybe we've heard or read reviews that might sway your decision. We're happy to help.
My comrades might add their own two cents. Listen to them, they're wicked smart.


xoxo,
Brandi

Memorial Day

It's a day to honor the men and women that have serve this country. Regardless of rank, classification, job title or other boring detail, every man or woman that now serves or has served in the armed forces should be honored today.
I do find that there is a distinction between Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day. To me, in my heart, the distinction lies with making this day, Memorial Day, a day to honor those that have lost their lives serving this nation.
Maybe I'm right with my thoughts or maybe I'm wrong, but the point is, today is not just about hot dogs, cold beer, lemonade and marking the opening of the pool. So as you're enjoying those things think of the people before us that have given their lives so that we can splash, gossip, and hit home runs today with our family and friends.

Nikon D300s Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 @34mm
ISO 200
cloudy, foggy overcast
aperture f/2.8


I'm not going to lie, I over exposed this shot. I went out in search of a flag, preferably one that was buried in the fog that blanketed this area yesterday morning. I found a few but nothing was quite what I was going for. Making one last stop, I found a flag in a quiet downtown park surrounded by trees and greenery. I thought "Yes! This will work." Getting out of the car, walking through the park and up to the flag, I found it surrounded by these monument markers. WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and then the Gulf War(s) monument.
I was struck. All the other monuments had numerous names, 10 or 20 on them. But, here there were just two names. Two names of two loved ones that had not been forgotten. These tulips were the only flowers placed on any of the monuments.
Gone but certainly not forgotten.

I was so distracted and moved that I really didn't take the best photo. I guess I don't read my histogram really well through tears. Thankfully, shooting in RAW allowed me to recover most of what was lost. I'm still not happy with the composition. Maybe I'll go there again today and make it right.
Whatever you do with this day, take a moment to remember those that have lost their lives. May they all rest in peace.

xoxox,
Brandi

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

What day is it and what's my name again?

I'm so easily confused these days. Forgive me.

Yesterday Jay'me shared her feelings with us via a photo. Today I'm going to do the same.


Nikon D300s Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 @56mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/1600 sec
Aperture f/2.8
natural light

I found this gorgeous rose in the Magic Kingdom. I was instantly drawn to it. The soft, dewy petals, layers upon layers of not quite perfect pieces all held together to form something glorious.
To me it's the imperfections of this rose that make it what it is. If every piece was the same, if there was no "worn" spots this rose just wouldn't have any charm or character.
That's very much how I'm feeling these days. My "worn" spots are what makes me interesting. Like a perfect piece may fall away but it won't leave me ugly.

Dude will be here tomorrow. I can't wait to see what he brings.

Stand in your own beauty.
xoxo,
Brandi

Blogger stinks

Well Kids, the title says it all. Blogger stinks. All the chicks and the dude tried in vein to post a picture yesterday but alas, Blogger had some type of epic meltdown and wouldn't let us on. Boo hiss.

I'm glad it's back up and running. I've got so much to share both here and on my other blog. My best girl and I (along with my super fab parents) just spent four wonderful, really, REALLY hot days in the glorious Walt Disney World. I'm proud to say that I took just shy of 500 pictures in those four days. My ten pound baby (my camera) was attached to my wrist almost non-stop. It was terrific. I'm happy to share one of them with you tonight.


Nikon D300s Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 @62mm
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/640
Aperture f/2.8
natural light

Scott's picture is incredibly abstract. Even I can't figure out what it is and usually Scott and I share similar brain patterns, especially as it relates to photography. Well, except he's a Cannon guy and I'm a Nikon girl. I forgive him for his misstep. He went to the dark side long before I knew him.
Anyways, here is my most abstract picture from the "Disney motherload". It's a fountain that was sitting just outside the Crystal Palace restaraunt. I got a few moments to wander around and look at Disney though the viewfinder, while we waited for Winnie the Pooh and his friends to join us for breakfast.

Who's been to Disney World and have you eaten at the Crystal Palace? I would love to know. It sure seemed like the entire universe was there while we were.

Sere is up tomorrow and then Jay'me will be wrapping up the week.

Have a wonderful, magical, weekend.

Jay'me is right

"I hope everyone enjoyed some fresh air and sunlight today. I highly recommend taking your shoes off planting you feet in the grass with your face towards the sky and letting your soul stretch towards the sun. The sun will hug you back today! The air will make you feel alive, I swear!"

Jay'me ended her post yesterday with the above statement. In strange coincidence (the universe screaming) my daughter was doing this exact thing while Jay'me was writing about it.



Yesterday was my daughters 4th birthday. Every year on her actual birthday her dad and I would take her to Main Beach, a local beach on a lake. We would play, take pictures and enjoy the beginnings of spring. Taking special time to remember all the special moments that brought our daughter to life.
Kate and I spent the day at the beach as usual. It was her first birthday since her fathers passing. Instead of devoting all of time to thinking about her birthday, we spent most of it remember wonderful thoughts of my husband.

He was with us yesterday. Giving us just enough glorious sun to enjoy our time at the beach.

I'm really glad that I was shooting in raw for this picture. Harsh, changing lighting conditions made this photo really tough. Being able to recover some of the blown (or lost) detail in the sky during editing really makes the photo a success.

I hope your spending the day reaching toward the sky.
Happy Saturday everyone!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Everyone looks at everything different. As you all know, I LOVE a good piece of metal. Give me something dirty, rusty, gross and I'm in love. The depth of the imperfections astounds me and I find myself drawn in.
Yesterday Sara captured something classically beautiful. Who doesn't love a beautiful blond haired little girl? Everyone (myself included) is drawn to pictures of beautiful things. But, as my daughter reminded me this morning the things we usually find "ugly" or "offensive" can be beautiful as well.
Our lawn hadn't been mowed yet this season and when my almost four year old opened her blinds this morning she squealed with delight.
"Mommy look at all those beautiful flowers. This whole place is filled with them."

Nikon D300s with Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 @66mm
natural light
ISO 200
Aperture f/2.8
Shutter speed 1/2000sec

I don't think a yard filled with dandelions is classically beautiful like Sara's daughter but I do think the flowers serves as an ample tie-in.

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
Before I announce this weeks winner of Wordless Wednesday (or Talkless Thursday as the case may be) I should share the tie in and the story behind the photo... it's my job.
Click here for the picture.
My tie in was "sleeping like a log". Except my girl wasn't sleeping. She was pretending to sleep Easter morning so I could take a picture of her amidst her "mouse" friends.
The winner this week is... Sharon. Great guess Sharon. You were correct (not that that matters). Contact us at 3chicks1dudephoto@gmail.com and we'll make the necessary arrangements.

Find the beauty around you.
xoxo,
Brandi

Surprise!

We've got a guest photographer today. I want everyone to meet Sara. She was the winner of Scott's wordless Wednesday.
Everyone give Sara a warm 3C1D welcome.

A little from Sara in her words...

I didn't get quite what I was hoping for but one decent shot of the bunch will do, especially when the model grows weary of being the subject of meticulous instructions ("Smell the flower, honey!") and apparently doesn't want to get her knees dirty in the dirt (after picking up trash and planting in the woods at school all afternoon). If it looks to you like my daughter is rolling her eyes at me, I think you might be right. The tie-in is the flower. It's red of course. You can't see it but there are yellow tulips right beside it. Of course, the red is her favorite so I went with it. But she is wearing yellow so the color ties in, too.
The project definitely bred discontent with my current camera. I used a point and shoot, the Canon Powershot (and not even a new one) with a trigger that's retrofitted with a paperclip. I'm hoping a new camera is in my near future. We'll see! Thanks for letting me play today! Sara

Boy we can relate to the unwilling model and the working by sheer will camera. Thanks so much for playing with us Sara. We hope you can join us again soon.
Go on over to Sara's blog and check her out.

Want to play with us too. We promise it's easy. Go here and make a comment. Doesn't need to be anything fancy. Just say pick me and maybe I'll pick you. Tomorrow night the winner will be announced.

xoxo,
Brandi

Talkless Thursday

Wordless Wednesday got skipped yesterday. Which is fine that left me with Talkless Thursday (thanks Sere for the phrase). It's been a long day around these parts so not having to share works for me right now.
You know the drill.
Rules

The poster (that's me) will post a picture and its settings. No other verbiage is allowed. The commenter's (that's you) will guess in the comments section below how my picture associates with yesterdays (Tuesday's) picture. It can be a setting. It can be a play on words. It can be a theme. In every photo there are numerous ties, thus creating no right or wrong answer. Just make a comment below and you will be entered into our drawing to be our next guest photographer.

What if I am not good enough to be a guest photographer?

You are good enough. We love all kinds of photographers! That's what makes this so much fun. We believe that everybody has a unique view of this world and we want to see it through the lens of your camera. Any camera goes, camera phone, point and shoot, film camera that has its photos turned into jpgs., high end professional grade cameras, any and all of them! So make a guess and have some fun!

How does this all work?

The contest will go on until my (Brandi's) next post. I will use random.org to choose the winner and post the story behind my picture and what the connection is, along with my photo for that day. All you have to do, as our chosen winner, is email us your picture before 10pm on your post day. Usually on a Sunday, but we are flexible. The photo has to be yours, has to tie into the picture from the day before, and 3C1D has to be authorized to use it. Just remember to keep checking back with us to make sure you get the post about who has won.

Only one guess per person. Have fun!

Ready! Set!! Go!!!

Happy Easter Everyone

I hope you've had a wonderful, indulgent Easter spent with family and friends.

We've got one of our great 3C1D friends with us tonight. I'm sure you all remember MamaLu.
Here's what she's got to say today.


Here's my shot for today. The leaves pick up the green from the grass in Saturday's picture with Scott and Justin. Since today is Easter, and as it's (supposedly) spring, I wanted to depict renewal and rebirth. The daffodils are easy to tie in with that theme. With humans, one type of renewal and rebirth is based on emotions triggered by memories that never die, but lie dormant until a word, a photo, a song, a scent - something - triggers them. These are precious gifts, as are the flowers in spring. Enjoy.
Mamalu




Bring on the spring! From all of us, to all of you, Happy Easter.

Catch

This is a photo from the achieves. Not because I didn't want to or couldn't take a picture today but because the moment I saw Jay'me's picture, I thought of this shot.
Don't ask me why, the only link is the sports, but I knew I had to share this here tonight.


Nikon D40
The rest is a mystery because the exif data is missing from the this picture on my external drive. hmmmm....

This is my late husband Scott, throwing a frisbee to my younger (and much bigger) brother Justin. This was the day Scott got home from a 3 month stay at Rush University Medical Center, August 15, 2008.

It was a happy, wonderful, beautiful day. I hope your Easter is equally as wonderful tomorrow. Mary Lou is going to be joining us again. Can't wait to see what she gives us. It's always a treat.

Hoppy Easter Everyone!

xoxox,
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

Friday Feet?

Did you know that when your ? key is stuck you will find yourself asking more questions in a day than you have the entire last week? True story trust me.

I have a confession. I spaced that it was my day today. I will admit I knew it earlier in the week and was looking forward to challenging myself but in the end, I found myself distracted by the other things in my life and the awful rain and didn't quite get things done. My apologies to my team mates.

I have some pictures of my parents new kittens and I could use those but all of them are a little... well.. flat. So no face today. Today you get feet.


Nikon D300s
Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 *did you know the / key and the ? key are the same sucks when yours is broken*
ISO 800
Shutter Speed 1/640sec (should have turned down the ISO dang changing light conditions)
Aperture f/2.8

As you know, I "work" in the construction industry. These are Dave's feet as he cleaned the mud off the first floor deck of one of our job sites. As you also know, I'm a little obsessed with feet. Specifically work boots. And dirt, I'm also obsessed with dirt.
This picture puts that all together. I wanted to catch as much of the debris flying as possible and I wanted to make it appear that Dave was going to "walk" right out of the frame.
I'm pretty happy with how I achieved my objectives. As usual I could have stayed and played longer. All that debris flying was making me a nervous wreck. I was envisioning having to send the camera in for a cleaning already.

I originally thought I had no tie in. But, that's untrue. I actually have three. The squirrel and Dave both have feet. They are both animals. And both of them are working.
Not bad for pulling something out of my rear end.

The weekend is here. May we all be able to get out and take a picture of something that makes us happy.

xoxo,
Brandi

Love Ya Willie!

A little tune to play while you're enjoying the rather crappy photo below.

Jay'me went to the Dells. I was supposed to join her (and the other 2.9million people there this weekend) but instead was diverted to my hometown in Iowa.
Jay'me snapped her photo from the car window. It inspired me to do the same.

My trusty driver (Hi Mom!) was less than excited at the prospect of me motioning to an over the road trucker and getting his permission to take a photo of his front tire in motion. Sigh. Parents...
So I snapped this as we flew past the oil truck doing 72 (in a 70mph speed zone).


Nikon D300s
Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/2500sec
Aperture f/2.8

I really had intended to change my aperture. I wanted to get as large of a focal point as possible. But, when shooting on the fly you sometimes forget the most basic of principles.

To not make this post totally suck I'm going to include my personal opinion on JPEG vs RAW photos.
As I said, this is just my opinion. As we all know opinions are like.. well.. you know. I'll keep it rated G.

Way back in the day (circa 2007) when I got my first DSLR, I shot in RAW and JPEG format. My computer quickly filled up and I ran out of hard drive space. I switched to JPEG only (circa 2008). Until my recent purchase of the D300s I stayed that way and never really thought much about it.
Right before I got the new camera I also got an huge external hard drive (thanks Mom and Dad). I backed up my 4.2million photos and cleared off most of my internal hard drive. So when the D300s showed up I chose to shoot in RAW and JPEG once again.
Immediately upon downloading the first pictures I noticed a real difference in the quality of the photos between the RAW and JPEG formats. I was impressed. The RAW really did seem to make a difference.
Fast forward to my first major round of edits. I LOVE editing a RAW photo. It's so quick and easy to make any small corrections that might be necessary. Shooting in RAW has absolutely changed how much time I spend editing. I didn't spend much time before but now I spend next to nothing. It's absolutely worth it to me to me to take up a little more drive space to get the better, faster photo.

All that said, get the photo right in camera and you really won't have any editing time. And you might also be living in an alternate universe that I would like to live in with you.

RAW or JPEG? What do you shoot in?

All That Glitters

is Gold!



Nikon D300s
Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 @ 62mm
ISO 500
Shutter speed 1/500sec.
Aperture f/2.8


I think my tie in is pretty easy to figure out.
This was an idea that I got from a fellow amateur photographer on a message board that I frequent. It's a glass bottomed dish (think Pyrex) balanced on two boxes so it hangs between them. Then I placed my daughters puzzle under the glass to get some colors to shine through. Using a desk lamp to light the entire dish from underneath (hence the need to raise the dish) I filled the dish with water and drops of olive oil.
Stand back, relax and SHABAM! Let the water and oil do what they do naturally and snap away.

Pretty fun! I wish I had more time to play with different objects underneath but I put this together in about 10 minutes at my parents house before we headed out for dinner.

Did you find some inspiration today? I did. Strangely it came from dropping my little girl off for a playdate with Grandma and seeing my dish that I had brought over last week.
I hope you had a great Thursday. Be watching for that inspiration tomorrow. You might find it in a box of cereal.

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

For Scott and Brandi

Scott was all about his girls. He loved his family deeply and that was what was most important to him. Brandi is all about enjoying the moments in life, those precious moments with loved ones that keep you sane through lifes cruelty and frustration and sadness. It's the little moments piled one on top of another, captured in our case a lot of the time on our camera, but also those that aren't, that make life bearable and wonderful and worth living. It is in that spirit of these two wonderful people that I am posting this picture. In this case it's not the greatest picture I've taken, but it portrays one of those precious, special moments in life.


It was taken with my Nikon D90 but I am not going to post the settings because to be honest I had it on full auto mode. I'm sorry, I shudder as I write this, but it's the God's honest truth.

I had come up to visit Brandi and Scott and while I was up there I was able to visit with my family. Now I have all boys at my house so girly things like painting toenails and that sort of thing I just don't get to do very often. My wonderful sis-in-law and brother have two adorable girls that she is willing to share with me sometimes so I can do those girly things. In this case, we all sat around chatting, laughing, loving and painting each others toes and fingernails. I was able to paint my niece's toes the color you see here (the top toes in the picture) and on her hands she had one hand a bright purple color and on her other hand a bright blue color. It was one of those precious moments in time that make life worth the pain of living it.

You will be soo missed Scott.

A Tribute of Sorts

We here at 3C1D are a family. We're definitely a little dysfunctional but we share a common interest. And more importantly we are joined through friendship and love of life. Tonight, we are hurting. As Brandi mentioned, her husband is battling a terminal illness. Today he lost his fight and has passed away. The world is a little more gray now and I find myself at a complete loss. He was an uncommonly good person, a fantastic father, a loving husband, and an extremely loyal friend. We will all miss him a great deal.

If you care to offer condolences for Brandi, you can certainly leave them here. But you can also visit Brandi's personal blog here and read more about the extraordinary Witt family and all that they've been through.

Brandi, you are an amazing woman. And you have an incredible family. We are thankful that you've chosen to share your family with us and we're better for it. I've decided to post one of yours tonight. It's already been seen here on 3C1D but it just feels right. I hope that's okay.


Scott, we'll miss you buddy. More than you know.

Sad

Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, chicks and dudes...

It's with great sadness in my heart that I submit this as my last photo for the blog for a little bit.
This blog is a piece of my soul. It's my brain child and all the friends are tied together by Brandi glue. It's not easy for me to leave (and it's not permanent).

For those of you that don't know me and don't follow along on my other blog, my husband is terminally ill. He has a rare genetic disease that has ravaged his body. Things have progressively gotten worse since the beginning of the year and this past week (last Tuesday to be exact) we brought in hospice to help assist me in caring for him in his final days. Taking care of him and our 3year old little girl has to take precedence at the moment.
Rest assured I will be returning when life gets a little less crazy. I just cannot in good faith continue to attempt to post on my day. The photo I have for today is less then stellar (not that that matters around here) and to be honest I didn't give it a single thought that today was my day.
I love all my photo friends and hate not honoring my commitment to the group. I know they all support me in my leave of absence and will continue on without me until I can return.
If there is anyone that would like to take my place for the time being please contact us at 3chicks1dudephoto@gmail.com. I know my friends can handle a 3 day rotation but it's better with 4 the way I intended it.

In saying "see you soon" I offer you slobbery dog kisses from my new friend Sedona.

Nikon D300s - yipppeeee
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 - swoon @48mm
ISO 3200 - say what?
Shutter speed 1/320
Aperture f/2.8 did you expect anything else?

I am LOVING my new gear. Sadly, I haven't been able to really study it much. This picture could really benefit from some post processing. Brighten things up, sharpen things up and remove the noise. I could have helped some of that noise by turning down my ISO but I just didn't have the mental capacity to make such a correction today.
I'll still be here with photos whenever the time allows and I'll be here all the time with my love and support for my "family". I look forward to my return.

Love you much,
Brandi