My Week of Photos - Long Lens

Most of the time, my 50mm lens is on my DSLR. It is my favorite lens to use in most cases. And because it is so light, it makes the whole camera easy to pop into my bag and take along with me should I feel the urge to bring it along.

But this week, I kept my longest lens on my camera, which is my 55-200mm lens. My favorite time to use this lens is for taking candid shots of people at gatherings. Well, I didn't really have any gatherings on my schedule, so I had to get a little bit creative for this week of photos.

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec at 200mm

The tulips have bloomed in my backyard and I just love the color of these! I had taken a photo of them earlier in the day, but the sun wasn't shinning on them yet. So I wanted until a bit later to capture this one. I could have dropped my ISO down to 100 since I had plenty of sunlight. But I love how the front tulip is in focus and the one behind it is slightly out of focus.

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/320 sec at 200mm

On warm afternoons, I love to sit in our backyard with a book and read. It is my way of taking a break in the middle of the day. While I was sitting out there one day, I brought my camera out to see what I could capture with my long lens. These window frames are across the patio from my chair. I focused on the front one and love the bokeh that was created with the sunlight back toward the fence.

ISO 100, f/4.8, 1/125 sec at 125mm

Over the weekend, I was able to stop by and visit with some friends at our local Civil War Reenactment. While I was there, I couldn't help but quickly capture a candid shot or two of 'soldiers' outside their tents in the camps. I had to crop this one in a bit because a young lady in wearing modern clothing had just walked into the photo. Then I converted the photo to black and white to make it look a little more 'authentic' to the period.

ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/320 sec at 90mm

While at the event, I walked down toward the river and saw that all the lupine was in bloom. Makes me wonder how much longer until the Dogwood trees will be in bloom in Yosemite?

ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/400 sec at 200mm

When I stopped alongside this orchard to capture a few photos, I wasn't really sure what I should photograph using the long lens. That is until I saw the bees...do you see him in the middle of the photo? Sure am glad I had my long lens to capture him up in that tree!

ISO 100, f/10, 1/1000 sec at 200mm

One last photo for this week...the front set of hills are about a mile from where I was standing. I even captured a bird over on the right side of the photo above the hills! With all the rain we have been receiving, the hills to the west of us are still so green for this time of the year.

That wraps up this week of photos using my longest lens! What did you capture with your camera this week?

My Week of Photos - Some of my favorite things

This week, for my week of photos, I decided to share with you some things that I enjoy doing. I know that some of you reading this blog may not know me in real life. So I thought this might give you a glimpse into some of the things that make me happy. 

Now in the course of one week, there is no way that I can photograph all of my favorite things. But these things I am sharing with you are some of the things I enjoy doing around my home.

ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/160 sec with 50mm lens

I love to cook and bake! Each week, I try to plan dinners that I know my family will love to eat. As a stay at home mom, it is one way we can save money by not eating out so much. Plus, many times, there are leftovers which are great for lunches the rest of the week.

ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/640 sec with 50mm lens

Most weeks, usually about three times a week, I love to get out in the morning for a brisk walk around my neighborhood. When I started tracking my walks using the MapMyWalk app, I was walking just over 2 miles a week. Now I am up to almost 6 miles a week! I don't have any particular goal in mind, I just know that getting a bit of physical exercise each week is good for me, especially with as much as I love to bake!

ISO 400, f/2.8, 1/100 sec with 50mm lens

Did I mention I like to bake? 

ISO 800, f/2.2, 1/40 sec with 50mm lens

Even though I recently cleared out a full bookcase of books in my home, I still love books and I love to read. When my kids were little, I loved reading aloud to them. We read so many picture books and classics that make up a special part of my home library. Today, I am usually reading at least three books at any given time, nonfiction is book form and fiction on my Kindle. Want to follow along with what I am reading? You can find me on my Goodreads account.

ISO 800, f/2.2, 1/100 sec with 50mm lens

If you have been following along with my Kickstart to Clutter Free posts, you know that I love to do craft projects! And recently, my love for doing craft projects has come in handy while fundraising for Compassion sponsor trips! My daughter and I are just starting to plan for a trip in January 2017 so stay tuned to hear more!

ISO 3200, f/4.5, 1/60 sec with 50mm lens

One more thing to share with you is my love for music. This particular piano is the one I learned to play on many years ago. I don't spend as much time practicing as I ever used to as a child, but it is one thing I am glad I learned to play.

So, that is my week of some of my favorite things! I hope you enjoyed this little peek this week.

What are some of your favorite things?

My Week of Photos - Night

This past week, the theme for Easy Camera Lessons was night photography, so I decided to follow along with their theme again.

Night photography turned out to be a bit of a challenge. I had to actually plan things. I couldn't just pick up my camera anytime of the day, because these photos need to be taken when it is dark outside. This theme did allow me to be a little more creative than usual, and I did learn a couple of tricks along the way.

And for this week, all photos are straight out of the camera with no edits.

0.6 sec, f/1.8, ISO 100 with 50mm lens

This was my first attempt for the week. These solar lights hang right outside our back door, so they were pretty easy to quickly snap at dusk.

1/3 sec, f/1.8, ISO 100 with 50mm lens

Without venturing too far from the house, these canning jar solar lights are in our backyard and made a great subject.

1.3 sec, f/4.0, ISO 800

Since there is only so many interesting subjects I can photograph at home while it is dark, I headed out with my DSLR and my tripod to see what I could find around town one night.With all the rain we have received lately, there are quite a few areas with lots of standing water still. I love the reflections in the water and the shades of blue in the sky and water.

15 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

For this one I left the shutter open a bit longer to get streaks of light from the cars on the freeway. If I had brought my longer lens along, I could have zoomed in more on this one.

20 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

This one is up the hill a bit from the freeway looking east toward the mountains. I love the streak of light heading up toward me as that car's headlights were coming my way.

15 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100

Have you ever heard of light graffiti? For this one, I just set up my DSLR on a tripod in our backyard, set the shutter speed to 15 seconds, set the self timer to go off in 2 seconds, then I stood in front of the camera with a small flashlight and continually make the shape of a heart with the flashlight facing the camera. This one was fun to do!

Bay Bridge photo from 3 years ago

My all time favorite night photo has to be this one I shot while on a photography field trip of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. Hopefully I have a chance to take more night photos soon.

Have you ever tried night photography?

My Week of Photos - Focus

At the beginning of this year, I was determined to start taking pictures everyday with my DSLR. I started out following some daily photo prompts, but honestly, sometimes those daily prompts just don't inspire me.

So, I was happy to find a new Instagram account to follow called Easy Camera Lessons.  They also have a blog and a YouTube channel where they have been sharing weekly photography tutorials and tips. This past week, they shared a lesson on 'How to Start Loving Your Auto Focus'. And since I enjoyed focusing on just black and white photos last week, I decided to 'focus on focus' for my DSLR photos for the week.

ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/100 sec with 50 mm lens

Simple objects make great subjects for photos because you can move them around to where you want them. 

ISO 200, f/1.8, 1/320 sec with 50 mm lens

Some outdoor light in the backyard and a few apples were fun to play with. I moved the focal point over to the left on the one apple in the front, then placed the other apples toward the back of the bench.

ISO 1600, f/2.2, 1/60 sec with 50mm lens

Chess pieces always make great subjects for photos. I made sure the board was getting some good window light and moved the focal point in the camera over to the right this time so the castle was the one piece that was in focus.

ISO 100, f/2.0, 1/200 sec with 50mm lens

The whole valley is filled with blooming trees right now, so I took a bit of time on Sunday afternoon and found an orchard to photograph some of the blooms.

ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/50 sec with 50mm lens

I love the look of the pink blossoms against all the green. By moving the focal point over to the right, the blooms are in focus with most of the background out of focus. This is also achieved by the wide open aperture.

ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/200 sec with 50mm lens

Not the most exciting subject, but I loved all the blurred out colors in the background. And by focusing on the window frame, you can see a lot of details in the chipped paint and the rusty window hardware.

This wraps up my week of photos focusing on focus (try to say that three times fast!)

Were you able to pick up your DSLR this week? What types of things do you like to photograph?

My Week of Photos - Black and White

This week, I focused on taking pictures with my DSLR of subjects that I thought would look good as black and white photos. When taking pictures with my DSLR, I usually use Lightroom to do some basic editing.  These photos are basically straight out of the camera, just converted to black and white.

ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/50 sec

When the weather is nice, I like to ride my bike after dinner. During the winter though, my bike doesn't get much use. It looks really nice in black and white against my daughter's playhouse in our backyard.

ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/100 sec with 50 mm lens

Did you know that two candy canes put together in just the right way make a heart? 

ISO 1600, f/1.8, 1/80 sec with 50 mm lens

This was one of my grandmother's tea cups. She was one special lady and I love having a few things that belonged to her.

ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/30 sec with 50 mm lens

My daughter and I are having fun with the Scrabble tiles we have in our entry way.

ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/200 sec with 50mm lens

Sure was a surprise to see this Gerbera Daisy blooming in my backyard! Still waiting for my daffodils and tulips to bloom.

ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/80 sec with 50mm lens

Yes, I love to bake. Made a batch of Heath Bar cookies this week.

ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/640 sec with 50mm lens

Clothes pins are still hanging in my backyard...and I love the bokeh in this one!

ISO 800, f/1.8, 1/50 sec with 50mm lens

Travel has been on my mind this week since it has been a year since my Compassion trip to Colombia and two years since my Compassion trip to Mexico.

Do you ever take pictures and convert them to black and white?

Now to figure out what I want to practice on this next week...