Capture Your 365

I am on photo overload right now! So many photos to edit! But I did manage to complete four of the photo prompts for this last week.

clouds

ISO 100, 18mm, f/5.6, 1/4000 sec

Day 86 – Hunt: I just love clouds in a blue sky! Do you ever look for shapes in the clouds? When the sky is filled with clouds like these, I love to take a moment to ‘hunt’ for things in the clouds. Makes you wish for those days when you could lay out on a blanket in the afternoon and watch the clouds roll by.

washing machine

ISO 800, 55mm, f/13, 0.6 sec

Day 87 – Flowing: Now why would I take a picture of my washing machine filling up? Because I was trying to get some blurred water shots. Also, since we have hard water where we live, I have found that cleaning my washing machine every few months helps it clean my clothes better. I know, boring picture, but it completely fit the photo prompt!

bare feet

ISO 100, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec

Day 88 – Minimal: Ahhh, bare feet! I just love when the weather starts to get warm enough here that I can walk around in bare feet and not have to put socks on!

hard boiled eggs

ISO 100, 48mm, f/5.6, 1/10 sec

Day 89 – Dyed: plain, white, boring hard boiled eggs. That is what we had for Easter this year. My kids really didn’t want to dye eggs this year. But I still did a batch of hard boiled eggs because my husband loves them!

So that is my week of Capture Your 365. Did you take any fun pictures this past week?

Capture Your 365

This week I am making a dismal showing in the Capture Your 365 Challenge with only 3 photos. Not that I didn’t take a lot of pictures over the past week, just didn’t have a chance to really focus on the prompts for this week. So here goes:

13_Mar_plant something_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.5, 1/160 sec

Day 79 – Plant Something: I love freesia! These bulbs have been coming up in my backyard for a couple of weeks now. They are so fragrant and colorful. The best part is planting them in the fall and waiting for them to come up in the spring. Such a treat!

13_Mar_hiding_001_edit

ISO 800, 50mm, f/4.0, 1/13 sec

Day 80 – Hiding: Last year, I found this Mama & Me journal idea on Pinterest. Kelsey loves to write notes, so I thought this would be a fun way to keep in touch with each other. My husband and I went away for a couple of days and I found this when I got home. She left me the sweetest note! I just know this journal is going to be a treasure for both of us!

13_Mar_color_001_edit

ISO 100, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec

Day 85 – Color: Now I know these freesia are white (and I had just taken another picture of my freesia a few days ago), but I had just watered my garden and couldn’t resist taking a picture with all the water droplets.

Are you following along with the Capture Your 365 challenge?

What did you photograph this past week?

Capture Your 365

Ring the bell, I actually have photos for all 7 photo prompts from this last week! Ding, ding, ding!!

13_Mar_messy_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/3.2, 1/25 sec

Day 72 – Messy: My freezer was getting a little low on homemade pasta sauce. I usually like to clean up along the way while I am cooking, but who can resist a good photo prompt and an excuse to leave it all a little messy?

13_Mar_branches_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.0, 1/4000 sec

Day 73 – Branches: Many of the nut and fruit trees are in full bloom around here right now. Makes me wish I could drag by camera around with me all the time!

13_Mar_in a field of green_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/3.2, 0.6 sec

Day 74 – In A Field of Green: Most pool tables have green felt, but my husband and I had a chance to play pool on this pool table with red felt which dates back to the very late 1800’s. By the way, my husband won the game (re-match for next time!)

13_Mar_green_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/1000 sec

Day 75 – Green: Starbucks stop on our way home from a couple of days in Monterey with my husband! Caramel Frappuccino is one of my favorites, what is your favorite Starbucks drink?

13_Mar_wearing of the green_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.2, 1/20 sec

Day 76 – Wearing of the Green: We had a really good reason for not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day! My daughter did our Compassion Sunday presentation so we all wore our Compassion Sunday t-shirts, which just happen to be one of my favorite colors. You can watch the video of her presentation here. I love that our pastor gave her a big hug when she finished!

13_Mar_spots_001_edit

ISO 400, 36mm, f/5.0, 1/20 sec

Day 77 – Spots: or marks. This is how I keep track of our homeschool days. I just write in a ‘P’ for days that we did any kind of school work, field trip, or life skills lessons. Daily attendance is one of the very few requirements we have here in California for our homeschools. You can print out a calendar like this one here.

13_Mar_play a game_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/20 sec

Day 78 – Play a Game: Today was one very busy day! My morning started off at a MOPS meeting to listen to my friend, Kendra, share with the moms there about the hope we have in Jesus. Then after a quick lunch, Kelsey and I headed on over to our ladies Bible study. We have been going through John MacArthur’s Fundamentals of the Faith book with our pastor leading the teaching and discussion. After the study we were back home again to get a couple of loads of laundry done and throw together a quick dinner. Then my family all went off in different directions for the evening. There was definitely no time to sit down and play a game today! But seeing how many of my bulbs in the backyard are blooming, I cut a few and brought them inside. Great reminder that in spite of the busyness of some of our days, we can still stop and see the beauty that God provides all around us.

Do you love these photo prompts as much as I do? Be sure to visit Katrina’s blog, Capture Your 365, and join in the fun!

Capture Your 365

Time for another week of photos!

13_Mar_in the morning_001_edit

ISO 100, 30mm, f/5.0, 1/5 sec

Day 66 – In The Morning: About a year ago, some somewhat local friends and I joined up with the Hello Mornings Challenge. It was very inspiring and motivating to get my mornings started with God’s Word. I am not following the Hello Mornings current Bible study, but I still strive to start my day soaking in Truth. Currently, I am working my way through Romans chapter one. Writing out all the verses, all the cross references, and looking up all the Greek words gives me a better understanding of what Paul is teaching us in this book.

13_Mar_a hobby_001_edit

ISO 400, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/50 sec

Day 67 – A Hobby: part of my sewing area, with a pile of baby blankets and wash cloths that need hand stitching

13_Mar_me_001_edit

ISO 400, 50mm, f/4.5, 1/10 sec

Day 68 – Me: As the photographer, I am usually not in very many pictures. When the daily prompt arrived in my inbox, I loved the photo that was shared. Here I am copying that photo using a cute mirror that Kelsey has in her room. Are you receiving the daily prompts? If not, be sure to sign up for them here!

13_Mar_liquid_001_edit

ISO 400, 50mm, f/4.0, 1/20 sec

Day 70 – Liquid: While many of my online and blogging friends have been suffering under inches and feet of snow, God has blessed us with an incredible week of beautiful weather here in California! It was time to start brewing some iced coffee for our warm afternoons.

13_Mar_shamrock_001_edit

ISO 100, 50mm, f/2.0, 1/1000 sec

Day 71 – Shamrock: Here is where creative license comes into play. I don’t have any shamrocks growing in my backyard and my house is not decorated with shamrocks either. But we do have quite a few bulbs in the backyard that are just waiting to burst forth with beautiful spring colors! Can’t wait to see these tulips!

Be sure to join up with the Capture Your 365 challenge! I would love to hear what you photographed this past week!

Just a Swingin’ – The Edit

So last week, I posted some photos of my daughter, Kelsey, that I took at my photography class. I encouraged my readers to look through the unedited version of the photos and pick their favorite. And the winner was, this one:

13_Feb_swing before editing_009_edit

Here are the settings from the original photo: ISO 400, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec

Then I pulled the photo into Lightroom 4 (which I am loving by the way!) and did a little bit of editing:

image

In addition to these settings, I also did a skin softening on her face and a post-crop vignetting in the amount of –24. Now I am still learning the edit part of photos, because I really never thought it was necessary. Since taking these couple of classes, I am now able to see that even just a little bit of editing can make a big difference in my photos.

So again, here is the before:

13_Feb_swing before editing_009_edit

And here is the after:

13_Feb_swing_001_edit

Now if someone had moved her hair away from across her eyes, that would have been helpful! But I am not by any means at expert at Photoshop Elements yet, so I am not even going to attempt to edit those away!

So what do you think? Does it help to see the screenshot of what I did in Lightroom?