Photography Class Field Trip

A couple of nights ago, our photography class met downtown in the nearest 'big city' to take some night time photos. Our focus that night was using a tripod and using a slow shutter speed while shooting pictures. Because we were using a slow shutter speed, we didn't need to use our flash while taking these pictures. Out of the almost 30 pictures I took that night, here are my favorites:

 ISO 100, 35mm, f/5.0, 0.5 sec

 

 ISO 100, 18mm, f/4.5, 1.0 sec

 

 ISO 100, 44mm, f/5.3, 2.0 sec

 

 ISO 100, 18mm, f/4.5, 1/3 sec

 

 ISO 100, 32mm, f/4.8, 1/6 sec

Good reminder that 'The Hobbit' is coming out next month!

 

ISO 100, 40 mm, f/5.3, 0.4 sec

 

When using a tripod and a slow shutter speed, our instructor gave us a good tip. If you have a self-timer mode on your camera, set it for about 2 seconds. This way, once you have set your focus and pressed the shutter, you can take your hand off of the camera and not have any camera shake (basically, this will help to eliminate blurry pictures!)

 

This lesson will be fun to put into practice next month with all of the Christmas lights up everywhere!

Take the time

We live in a very busy world.

 

We have instant everything.

 

We get impatient when we have to wait.

 

One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 46:10.

 

"Be still and know that I am God."

 

Be still.

 

When was the last time that you were still?

 

The children that we sponsor through Compassion want us to be still.

 

They want us to take the time to pray for them.

 

They want us to take the time to write to them.

 

 

 

They want us to take the time to send them encouraging words.

 

They want us to take the time to share our prayer requests with them.

 

They want us to take the time to share about our daily lives with them.

 

They want us to tell them about the hope they can have in Jesus.

 

The letters we write to our Compassion kids can be the 'hope in the darkness'.

 

Please take the time to read about Marco.

 

 

Will you take the time to write to your Compassion sponsored child today?

 

 

 

 

Peru - follow along!

The Compassion Bloggers Team is in Peru!

 

Kelsey and I just looked at the pictures that have been uploaded today on Flickr.

 

Here are a couple that we really liked:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, to go on one of these trips and have the experiences that all of these bloggers are having. I am so thankful that I can follow along from my home until I have the chance, if the Lord wills, to visit one of my sponsored kids. Just today, I received a letter from Lina. She told me it would be wonderful to meet me in person and to give me a big hug.

 

Are you following the bloggers in Peru?

Window Light - Take 2 Edits

A couple of weeks ago, I took some pictures of my kids using window lighting as part of my photography class assignment. I was pretty happy with the results, but now that I have been playing around with Lightroom, I am really able to see what just a little bit of editing can do to make these pictures 'wall worthy'. And since our current class assignment is to play with our current photo editing software, this has given me a chance to learn more about this new program!

Here is the before picture of Matthew, straight out of the camera...

...and here is the after picture.

 

 

 Here is teh before picture of Kelsey, straight out of the camera...

 



...and here is the after picture.

 

Can you see a difference?

Update: 1/9/13 - I am entering the picture of Matthew in the I Heart Faces Photo Challenge!

A quick Lightroom edit

Last weekend, while we were walking out to Mirror Lake, there were so many fallen leaves all along the path. I thought it would be fun to try something, like take a picture of the kids throwing leaves up into the air...

 ISO 800, 32mm, f/4.8, 1/1250

 

We had a lot of filtered light along the path, but it was still pretty dark, even with the ISO up. I wanted the fast shutter speed to try to capture the leaves in the air after the kids had thrown them. With a little work in Lightroom, here is the after picture...

In the 'Develop' mode in Lightroom, I adjusted some of the basic settings (exposure, contrast, highlights, etc.) and was able to brighten up the photo, which is something I wasn't able to do straight out of the camera.

As much as I was dragging my feet on this photo editing stuff, I might just be a new convert!