I’m happy it’s Friday!  And for getting caught up on all things around the house.  The last batch of laundry is in the last spin cycle and the sheets will be fresh out of the dryer in  no time.  It’s a good feeling going into the weekend with the hubs.

Yesterday was a different story.  Have you ever had one of those tasks when your “joy” went from full to expired in an instant?  That happened to me yesterday when I made someone angry.  I fled the scene on foot making a b-line for my car.  Home sweet home, that’s the only place I wanted to seek refuge for the remains of the day.  Read on to see how the story unfolds.

So I took this shot at the height of joy.  I was so excited to be in the heart of downtown San Diego.

I could NOT wait to get this shot.  I stood here on this corner a very long – long time taking all sorts of shots as these guys moved in and out of our busy town.

It was fun taking shots of strangers when they had no clue I was around.  This is all part of our urban assignment this week.

And this guy looking back at something.  Glad it wasn’t me.  The goal is to capture expressions without them seeing the camera.  Yay for getting the job done!

But here is the part where my joy expired.  I got yelled at on this corner.  The lady made a complete scene and I thought she was going to knock my lights out.  Seriously.

She was a dear homeless lady and my heart felt for her, while I worried about me.  I don’t know if I stood on her corner too long or what.  I couldn’t make much sense of what she was saying, but I could understand the word “pictures”.  Clearly I was not taking shots of her, but it was clear that she was not happy, at all.  She also pointed to her eye and said something.  I think she wanted to throw a punch.

So I quickly raised my left hand (in a wave gesture) and said “no – no” in a very soft voice. And it was that precise moment that I knew I did not have it in me to hit/harm her in my defense.  Nor did I feel safe standing there a moment longer.  So I quickly joined a group of strangers and walked with them away from her. Oh boy, did I ever have a very angry woman on my hands.  And all I could imagine is running and screaming thru the streets of San Diego.

Once I was about 300 feet away, I turned around to see if she was tagging along. Luckily, she was back there on the corner.

But my joy of taking photography in the streets of San Diego was gone.  My heart was pounding for a while and my artsy fartsy was out the window.  And all I wanted to do was go home.  So I did.  I didn’t even bother going to the other places I wanted to shoot.  I just made a b-line for home sweet home.

As late afternoon approached, I thought I’d hop in the car and run into town for some more shots.  I did run into town, camera in tow.  As I weaved in and out of the one way streets, my heart wasn’t in it.  Home, there’s no refuge quite like home and that’s where I spent the remains of the day and evening.

I don’t believe in giving up, but I do believe in time to heal that expired tank of joy.

Last evening when hubby asked about my day, he felt so bad, but thankful I was ok.  He assured me that he would take me into the city this weekend AND he assured me that I could have whatever street corner I pleased.  He said he would protect me from any and all who stood in my way of getting the shots I need for the class.  He’s amazing like that.  I love him for making me feel that everything will be ok.

I’m sure I’ll have all the shots I need for class come Monday.

Today was a brand new day.  A day I was ready to pick up my camera and shoot some more.

So I headed over to the farmers market, something a bit more my speed.

This is the very first thing (a little garden flag) I shot today. I think it was for good luck, as my little light was shining bright.

I took shots of decorations on the outside of old buildings.  This establishment has been in the same family since the 1800’s.

This wasn’t for sale, just a part of the outdoor decor.

This shot tickles me.  Gramps, the guy over on the left side of the pic (I like how one sock is up and the other down) was trying to tell his “bride” that I was taking her picture. Fortunately, she could not hear him and I was able to capture a lovely market exchange.

This pair of shoes (hanging on the exterior of a building) called for my attention.

And this old (cash register?) piece called for a shot too.

I was truly in my happy place.

It was sheer joy when the owner of this beautiful pooch allowed me to have a photo session with her baby.

He had my heart at hello.

Mommy was feeding him treats and he was drooling for more.

I can’t think of a better place to shoot than the farmers market.

And I can’t think of a better way to end this week.  It’s nice ending on a good note.

Blessings – Debbie

I don’t claim to be good or great.  But I can claim that leaving something alone is not part of my DNA.

I’ve had that jug of coins (outside) on that counter for days.  I’ve taken pictures of that thing several mornings in a row, as well as a couple of evenings.  My assignment is complete but I can’t stop analyzing it inside out.

Here’s a shot where the coins were getting the last squeak of light from the sun last evening.  There’s something warm about it that I like.

And this morning I took this shot of that jug of coins.

I like this shot because it lends itself to the feel of the sky.  As you can see, the upper part of the jug has a reflection of the blue sky and the mid portion has the feel of white  hazy clouds.

I was focused on the coins midway thru the jug.  This is a shallow depth of field shot.

I framed it just for you!

It’s to be determined if I leave it alone and move on to the next thing.

Keep doing what you love, you never know what you’ll discover.

Blessings – Debbie

= Fun for this artist.

After playing with my assignment for a good part of the morning (yesterday), I decided to play during the golden hour last evening.  And then again this morning.

I won’t go into the process of sharing all 4 photos of each object (like yesterday), but I would like to share some shots with shallow depth of field.  That means, the object I’m focused on will be in focus and everything else, blown out of focus.

When taking certain images, this has been my favorite way to shoot this past year.  That’s when I got my 50mm 1.4 lens and that’s what opened my shallow depth of field love.

After playing with the assignment this week, I have a great big wish for a really cool telephoto lens.  I can only dream of the shots I could take with that bad boy.

Onward and upward with my 50mm 1.4 experiment…

Forks Hold an Egg – I prayed the wind would not knock the egg off its rocker.  My prayers were answered.

The Money Spill

It was yesterday afternoon during one of my brainstorms, I got the notion to pop the lid on my ancient (20-year-old) bank.  I literally broke the brittle bank lid doing it.  It started cracking the moment I began tugging.  But I didn’t care, I wanted the money spill shot.

After taking a few shots from the angle as seen above, I wasn’t happy at all.  There was  something lacking and the angle was all wrong.

So I made this adjustment last evening.

This was focused on the spill, as you can clearly see the coins on the counter and everything else is thrown out of focus.

This next shot was focused more on the money in the bank.  It’s like your eye reaches way into the bank.  See how the foreground and the background are blurred?  The coins on the counter are no longer in focus.

Here we are working playing with the same subject during the golden hour last evening.

One more golden hour shot.

And back at it again this morning.  Focused on the coins inside the bank.

Focused on the spill (coins) scattered about the counter.

The same thing with this vase filled with flowers.  I was not happy with my shots yesterday morning.  I didn’t care for the angle or the way the roses were placed.  At the time I thought it would be cool to kinda have the flowers spilling over the one side.  But after criticizing it, things had to change.

So I played during the golden hour last evening, as my subject was backlit with the sun.  I love the soft light this time of day.

We played again this morning.  Isn’t this a cheerful hour?

While all the experimenting is not part of the lesson,  I can’t help myself.  The perk was getting to stay around the house such that I didn’t have to do a lot of running around this week.

Cheers to getting to stay home + I nailed my assignment.  Bring on the weekend with the hubs!

Blessings – Debbie

Our photo project of the week is Depth Of Field (DOF)

DOF is the area in front of and behind the subject that is in focus.

Using different lenses is one of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of photography.  Understanding what wide-angle and telephoto lenses do and how they do it is vital.

Follow along if you would like to enjoy the process.

Before I get started we have 4 pictures, all taken (with the camera attached to a tripod) the same distance (about 3 feet) from the subject.

First up – Taken with a 50mm f1.4 prime lens. The Aperture set to f11 = a greater depth of field.  In other words, the background and foreground are not too blurred.

The subject today is a pottery piece I made last year – Filled with fresh roses from the garden.

Now consider the second shot.  It’s taken with the same lens (50mm f1.4 prime lens) but with an aperture setting of f2.8.  Ah, see the difference?  Same shot, same lens, same distance but with that delicious blurred background.  This is my cup of tea, this lens and a good shallow depth of field.

Now see what happens when we keep the tripod in the same spot (3 feet away) but we change the lens.

Instead of shooting with a 50mm like the shots above, we switch to an 18mm.  See the difference?  The subject appears further away, yet we are still in the same spot.  The aperture for the shot below was set to f16 (not so blurred) with pretty much everything in focus.

Again, the same shot with the 18mm, the aperture setting at f4 = a little more shallow depth of field.

You will also notice that the smaller the lens, the less depth of field we can achieve.  No wonder I use my 50mm 1.4 so much.

I started a wish list of a few lenses I would like.

• 16-35mm
• 24-85mm
• 70-200mm
• 70-300mm

The possibilities are endless!  I just wish the bank account were endless as well.

Now I’m off to brainstorm, as I need to find a few more images.  Then follow the procedure as seen above, to complete the assignment this week.

Should be fun!

Blessings – Debbie

Hey ~ hey peeps, where did the week go?  Wherever it went, I’m thankful for all the good things that filled the time and space.

This post and pictures do not belong together.  As in, I’m sharing a few pictures I took yesterday (they did not make the photography assignment) sandwiched between the subject of change.

Change is all around, if we take a moment to note it.  Consider the fact that it’s already getting dark a bit early.  Soon we will be adjusting every clock in the house and it will be pitch black at 5 pm.  But that’s not what I want to talk about.

As I was saying, change is looming.  In fact, it’s happening under the roof in this house.

I went from a homebody (which I love) to a busybody, overnight.  Hey, it’s what I consider a busybody as I’m filling the gas tank a lot more often than the “old” norm.

I feel a shift from what I’m used to and I’m beginning to see the direction in which this thing called change is going.

I’m making daily visits with my calendar, something I never really had to do in the past.

As I look back over the last two weeks, there is not a day where I just stayed put.

I love that hubby asked me to join him for lunch today.  It’s these kind mid day afternoon dates that make my day.

This change is taking me in all sorts of fun and new directions.

It’s stretching me to be a better me and I’m learning to manage time more efficitntly.

I’m learning from my mistakes.

There is always room for growth.  And I find that opening myself to view the world with a larger lens, I’m able to see, learn, grow and carry out so much more than I dreamed possible.

Cheers to change and being swept away from my homebody zone.

Blessings – Debbie

Well, It’s Tuesday morning and I have to say, it’s been a crazy busy last few days finding subjects for my photography assignments.

On Bracketing – This project is to help understand how to adjust  F stops and shutter speeds and to understand under, proper and over-exposure.

While I thought I had my bracketing assignment “in the bag” yesterday morning.  For some reason, I did not have something that completely satisfied me.

So last evening during the “golden hour”, I set out to get “the” shot.

The assignment called for:

• An object outdoors
• The subject can be anything large
• The background can be anything but it should contain areas of dark but detailed shadows and bright but detailed highlighted areas.
• Shoot in Bright sun (before 11 am or 5 pm on) This was taken at 5 pm
• A total of 10 shots of the same subject (over and underexposed)

The ISO was set to 100 and all camera settings are set for manual in this class.

I continued taking shots by underexposing the object by 1 stop (shutter speed)

One more shot underexposed by 1 stop

And another.

Back to the top.  Now the process was repeated by starting out normal, then overexposing.

I used the tripod for this lesson (not necessary but so helpful)

Over exposed again by 1 stop

Again

and again

The assignments are all wrapped up and copied on thumb-drives ready to turn in tomorrow.  This was a fun assignment.  A true labor of love.

I’m taking a break from photography today.

It’s one of those fun “meet the hubby for lunch” kind of days.

And I think it involves a little food shopping and laundry too.

Have a great day!

Blessings – Debbie

Good Monday Labor Day Morning!  I hope all is well in your world.

I do believe photography has taken over all of my free time.  I’ve been waking up so early such that I can get out of the house, practice and get to my assignments.

This week, I’m not only studying reciprocity of exposure, I’m also learning about bracketing.

Back to Reciprocity.

Reciprocity of Exposure:  Photographs are made because light strikes an object and is reflected towards the viewer where the camera can focus it on the imaging sensor. Learning to correctly adjust your Sutter Speeds and F-Stops to provide optimum exposure is vital and basic to your understanding of the photographic process.

When I started this class two weeks ago, I had no clue reciprocity had anything to do with taking photos.  But thru the exercise this week, I have learned the meaning and importance of reciprocity.  I’ve also learned a lot from my mistakes.  I continue to make mistakes, but luckily I have yet to repeat the same mistake twice.

Turns out, the reciprocity thing was a disaster this morning.  But, all is well that ends well.

So I set out today knowing my two assignments (this week) inside out.

I already have just what I need for the bracketing assignment but I wanted a few more subjects on reciprocity.  Even though I already have enough, I wanted a little more practice.

A not so funny thing happened.  I got the assignments confused in my head and took all bracketing shots.  And yes, I had the assignment with me, in the car.  But since I “knew what I was doing,” or not. I did not think to double check.  Thus, I confused bracketing with reciprocity.  Who does that?  Um, yes, that would be me.

Reciprocity for disaster did indeed strike, but there is another lesson learned.  Double check the assignment goofball, it could save you a trip!

I learned the hard way as I didn’t realize this until I came home and downloaded my work.

So I got back in the car to have another visit with my subjects.  Cheers for getting it right the second time around!  Now I really know the meaning of reciprocity inside out, forwards and backwards.  And I don’t see making this mistake again.

While I had my fair share of troubles this week.  I learned a lot from my mistakes.

I’m ready to turn the chapter and up for the next challenge.

Blessings – Debbie

The first week of class went so much better than the “beginning” of my first day (Last Mon, the 20th) of school.  See the post following this to read all about that.

After my class last Wednesday, the hubs and I hit the road for a short business trip.

While the hubs went to work, I studied the lesson, read a couple of chapters in the book and set my camera to the right settings.

When hubby left for work the next morning, I sat in the living area of our room waiting on room service.

While I waited, I took some practice shots.

Once the room was clean, I put the do not disturb sign on the door and left the room.  It was just me, my camera and a very happy heart.  I could not wait to start taking pictures (for practice)  in the lobby.

This is the first thing I saw that begged for a shot.

This statue rested on a coffee table in a sitting area.  I thought it made for a great subject, so I shot it too.

As soon as I shot the above statue, the battery in my camera died.

It’s the exact moment when I realized I not only forgot to bring my spare battery but I also forgot my battery charger.

It’s the moment my heart sank, the moment when I realized all the hundreds of shots I wanted to take would not be taken.

It was a moment when I found it difficult to forgive myself for leaving one of the most important things of my camera equipment behind.

I believe it will go down in history as another lesson learned the hard way.

The shot below was taken (outdoors) during class yesterday.

This is one of the 3 shots I used for our lesson (in class) on reciprocity.  Reciprocity is a really cool exposure tool for photographers.  It was fun for me to not only understand it, but to put it to work and understand it all the way around.  Good stuff!

Last week, we studied:

• Pixel Dimensions of our cameras
• Metering
• Digital Workflow
• Color Management Procedure
• Digital Processing Procedure
• Bit Depth
• Resolution and RGB
• Color Temperature
• ISO
• Aperture
• Shutter Speed
• White Balance
• Exposure Bracketing
• Exposure Light Meters
• Reflective Light Meters
• Bracketing
• Reciprocity of Exposures

I would like to journal the things I study each week so that it’s here for my future records. And I think it will be fun to look back on each week to see how far I’ve come.

Blessings – Debbie

I could write so many little stories about my first day back to class.

• Road Block – As I arrived for my first day of class, I was rerouted to another street, only to have that street blocked off by construction workers upon my arrival…
• Angels Watching Over Me – The Angels watched over me while a great big S.O.S circled over my head…
• The Good Samaritan – The Good Samaritan watches on with the Angels as I got out of my car, on the road that was blocked off, trying to ask the construction worker where I should go to get back on that road.  All the while the construction worker threw up his hands, shook his head at me and got back into his truck…
• I Could Have Cried – When I didn’t know which way to turn…
• The Good Samaritan Part II – The Good Samaritan stopped me on my way (on foot) back to my car.  After exchanging a few words he said “follow me.”  I spun my car around as I fully trusted him to lead me to the right place.  Bless that nice man real good…
• Twenty Five Minutes Early – The twenty-five minutes early vanished quickly from the time I initially arrived on campus.  This story would take 25 min + a lot of unpleasant memories to tell…
• Late – I was just shy of arriving to class on time.  I hate being late for anything.  And I’m not happy that I missed the opening of class.  At least I know how to get to the proper parking lot from the back of the campus, thank you nice man…