Well, kind of sad my first post is on the 10th, but I finally did a some shooting yesterday. First one is my favorite.

1st shot

I See Corn... and the Moon...

So I had not one creative bone in my body yesterday...

it looked much prettier in my head. :)

And then, by accident...I got this one:

(Demons)tration Day

Ok, I'm finding out more and more that I'm a hillbilly. lol

Katie's final 4H meeting of the year featured demonstrations by all of the little 4H'ers... here's the first shot of Kate's best buddies...

And then we had a surprise visitor for one of the boys' project...(my fave)

Painting Pigs

So...for Katie's 4H group's "community project", they are putting animal cut outs on each of the livestock barns. Mark was volunteered to paint them (he's so exited). I started out with this one (in which I think the pig might look as if he's being violated by the cow!)...

And I took what I thought was going to be some really cool shots of the paint being applied, but none came out as I wanted them. This one was a fluke, which ended up reminding me of a sunset on water (ok, so maybe it's wishful thinking of a vaca)...but this was my favorite:

Showing Off

And more tractors. This small tractor show actually draws big crowds, believe it or not. I started out thinking I'd get the multi-colored machines and they'd just pop. They kind of fizzled...

I'm not sure how many I shot, but tractors just aren't that interesting. lol... this one's my favorite...

Sunday Drive

So, we went on a little drive Sunday to look at a tractor Mark wants to buy and I happened upon this guy.









By the time the farmer walked out there, I'm sure he thought I was nuts, shooting this little guy in every angle possible. Lol... this is my favorite though... you can barely make out the International in the background.

Day 3

First:


Favorite:


While I love my prime lens, I still have issues with how far back I need to get. I'm usually an 'in your face' photographer, lol. It is hard photographing babies sometimes. Anyway, this is her first introduction to grass. I definitely wanted to catch her first reactions to it. This was totally spontaneous, so I didn't get a chance to do any sort of coordination but despite the crazy colors, I think her expression and the emotions stands out (my goal).

Day 2

First:


Favorite:


This is her 5 month picture (a few days late). Every month I take a picture of her with a different background. So the first shot was trying to get a full body, which is hard to do with a 50mm w/o standing on a chair. Had to go back to kit lens to get the focal length I wanted, but shot again in 50mm to get a few more candid shots.

Day 2: Up in Smoke

Yes. It's the obligatory smoke shot.

Here's the first one:

Then, a couple of hundred clicks later, I finally got something close to what I wanted:

I had a really hard time with the sharpness on this one, resulting in a f/11 shot by the time I was done.  I'm thinking tomorrow, it might be time to shoot this thing wide open at f/1.8, to ensure that I've got a good copy on my hands.

I Beg Your Pardon...

As I walked by our flower bed into my office this morning, I noticed that the roses were especially pretty today. The longer I sat here doing the bills, the more I wanted to go out and shoot. So I'm going to use my favorite shot on our facebook page, that way I can claim that I was working. :)

Of course, laying out on the ground...right outside the front doors...I'm sure I might have looked a little crazy. But crazy is beautiful, right?

Puppy Love

Though this isn't the first shot I was going for, it's my favorite. Katie can't stand to share the spotlight. lol

Day 1 - Em's Canvas

So here's what I'm thinking...
I'm going to shoot at 85mm all month and get used to this new lens.
31 Days... 50+ shots per day... that's about 1500 frames.  I really should know this lens inside and out by the time this game is over.

Day 1 - Em's Canvas.
My dear cousin Emily painted her first canvas last year, and I just love it.  I've chosen it as my first subject.
Here's my first shot, almost straight out of the camera:
85mm/1.8@1/25th, ISO 1600

A few shots later, I realized that what I wanted was to show the texture of the paint and canvas in a way that gave this two dimensional medium some life through depth.  So I added a side light, adjusted my settings for the light, change my angle kept shooting until I liked what I saw.  59 frames later, I wound up with this, again nearly straight out of the camera:

85mm/14@1/125, ISO 100

Thoughts? Anyone?

Stormy

I chose the 50mm focal length. Sometimes it's a bit tricky to use, as I'm constantly getting in too close with my first shots. Regardless, this is, by far my favorite lens.

This is the first shot. Though Stormy is usually pretty low key, she absolutely loved the camera (which surprises me, as my other two dogs act as if I'm holding a gun). I couldn't get her to stop posing. lol

Are you kidding me, this pad crap again and now I have to follow more rules! I was eyeing the 400mm 2.8 the other day, think this is an excuse to drop $6K on a lens? :)

So is this for the month of July?

Stephen

It's about time for another round of PAD, don't you think?

Know your camera, know your glass.  That's what Zack says.  So why not spend a month getting to know a single combination your gear?  So here's the idea...

• One focal length for the entire month.
• If you have a prime lens (one that does not zoom) then use it.
• If you don't, choose a single focal length on your zoom lens (50mm) and stick with it.
• Shoot every day for one entire month.
• Yes, every single day.
• Yes, even when you don't feel like it. (That's when you'll grow the most.)
• Find a new subject for each day, and shoot it to death.
• Shoot from different angles, different lighting, different distances, different apertures & shutter speeds.
• Shoot at least 50 frames of that subject.
• Post two frames per day.
• Post your first frame, so we understand where you started.
• And post your favorite frame, so we understand how far you came.
• Consequences are on the honor system.
• If you miss a day, a penalty shot must be posted before you can post again.
• Penalty shots must be recognizable self portraits
• Comments are encouraged, as long as they are encouraging.
• No one values your critique... trust me on this one.
• Just be nice.