FIMBY

I like aperture priority. I kind of, sort of know what I'm doing in that mode. I choose the aperture (how large or small the lens opening is) and the camera does the rest. I love shooting shallow depth of field shots (wide open aperture) and I'm comfortable here but I need a new challenge. I want to capture motion in my photos. But, shutter priority scares me. I have no idea in a given situation what to set my shutter speed at. No clue.

So I experiment. I try a shot. Ack, way to dark! Adjust shutter speed (which way do I turn this little knobby anyway??), try again. Too much light. Fiddle with the ISO. Oh, and while I'm doing all this I'm trying to capture some kind of action. Action that has already happened by the time I fiddle with knobs, take a test shot, fiddle again, take another test shot. This is hard work.

Here's what I came up with this week, don't laugh.

Brienne playing with homemade marble works (I helped with the tubes and such and she made the marble from FIMO clay).
Homemade marbleworks: look! look! I captured the ball in motion at the end of the track

And for something totally different. A nighttime driving streaking lights shot. With the kids safely & warmly parked in the car right behind me I froze my fingers while fiddling with the tripod and shutter speed on a downtown corner. Cars driving in front of Orphan Annies

I obviously don't do the technique of motion photography any justice. Be patient, I'm getting there.

In the mean time you can read this beginners guide to motion photography.

My garden is still delighting me. I took these photos this week. I'm posting them and participating in SOOC Saturday at Slurping Life.

Lamb's Ear

Foxglove: why on earth is this blooming right now??

SOOC is short speak for Straight Out Of the Camera. Since getting my new camera almost all my photos that I've posted here and on Flickr are SOOC. I'm just so pleased with what this camera can do compared to what I had before I don't give much consideration to processing and editing. Maybe the photos would benefit from a boost here and there - oh well, they are what they are.

I actually want to hone my skill as a SOOC photography. I only have so much time and I'd rather be taking, posting and sharing photos than editing. My little computer is struggling with all these RAW files and all that processing takes time that I don't have.

Not that I don't love edited photography, I do. Some of my favorite photos from other photographers are quite processed. It's just not my thing right now.

That's my story. And I'm sticking to it. Till I change my mind.

(Because you asked... not because I think I'm some sought after hot shot photographer)

A couple people have asked me recently what kind of camera I use. I'm a little embarrassed to answer that because from what I understand my camera is an entry level professional camera. And I am not a professional photographer. But... someday I may actually get paid for my photography skills so when we had the chance to invest in hardware we choose the best we could get within our price range.

Camera

My camera is a Nikon D300. We based this purchase on a lot of research. Here's one such review we read, er... Damien read at Digital Photography Review. I don't have a head for technical details, just give me the summary. So here's the summary from the above review.

...Nikon's biggest problem now will be bettering the D300; it raises the bar to a new high, and represents the state of the art despite strong competition from the likes of Canon, Sony and Olympus. There's simply no better semi-professional digital SLR on the market.

And another summary from Imaging Source:
...the Nikon D300 will exceed your needs. Those requiring a faster frame rate and greater autofocus speed should consider a D3, provided they can handle the extra size and weight. I won't call it a compelling upgrade for happy D200 owners, but it sure wouldn't hurt if you're in the market for something even better than the D200. Nikon's D300 is an amazing machine, well worth the $1,799 price tag, and a rare five-star

Here's the story of how I was able to purchase this baby, after an initial disappointment.

Lenses

These are the lenses I currently own. I don't understand all the letters but I do know what f/something means.

AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D I use this for low light conditions, like in my house or late afternoons/evenings outdoors. I have also been trying out portraits with it and like f/2.8 (focusing on the bridge of the nose) for those up close face shots. Can anyone recommend a setting they like for those kind of shots?

AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED I'm using this for everything else. Especially when I want a really small aperture to shoot some interesting flare. But man I do wish I knew what some of those letters meant (I do know VR is Vibration Reduction - a very good thing).

I want to get macro extension tubes because I love close up, detail photography. Especially of critters and blossoms. But I haven't done the research yet to know what to buy. Can anyone recommend something for my camera? I seriously would love input. I just don't have patience for technical mumbo-jumbo and would love it if someone would say "get this one".

That's it folks. Happy clicking and thanks for encouraging me with your kind comments and photo feedback.

post-post update

My cousin has helped straighten me out. Here's the low-down on what all those letters mean. "As to what those letters mean. AF-S is Nikons manual/autofocus system (M/A mode). DX refers to a lens that is optimized for a DX camera, which your D300 is. DX is a slightly smaller sensor than a full frame sensor. IF stands for internal focusing which means the lens doesn't get longer or shorter when focusing (which allows a closer focusing distance). And finally ED which stands for extra-low dispersion which is Nikons good glass and increases sharpness and contrast and such. Hope that didn't bore you into a coma."

Not bored at all. I think I get it, kind of, sorta.

I decided to take up this challenge from Me Ra Koh's blog this month. Man, this was hard. I'm not used to taking photos of non-living persons, places and things. But I'm trying to stretch myself and grow as a photographer. Can't say I'm totally thrilled with the result but I learned a few photography and processing lessons along the way. I wrote this story to accompany the photo because a rock doesn't really say much on it's own now does it?

Simplicity Stone in Sepia

It was late spring. The last afternoon of our first camping trip of the season. I was crying as we sat on the pebbled beach and watched our windswept children find shells. We were going home and a slew of "I think these are important and should all be done now" things awaited me when I got there. Creating the perfect garden, perfect house, crafting a cool blog, taking breathtaking photos, spending time with friends and family, loving our neighbors, serving in our community, all while giving my best to my husband and children. How to take care of the needs of everyone else, how to take care of myself.

I was overwhelmed but that wasn't why I was crying. The tears were the outward release of my inner conflict with these wise words of my husband, "focus on doing fewer things well instead of stretching yourself too thin". "But I don't want to focus!", I silently rebelled. "I want to accomplish all these good things and I want to do them now". I especially wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the creativity I was just discovering in myself.

I had started to experience the taste of freedom that comes after the babies and toddlers are grown. As my youngest turned 4 and then 5 I realized I had slept well for 2, no 3 whole years! I felt lighter and more energized without the physical and emotional demands of nursing day and night. And I was no longer constantly training, negotiating with, soothing, and feeding preschoolers.

For years my basic daily goals were to simply keep on top of the laundry, maybe have a walk, definitely have a nap and put a healthy supper on the table. Some days I didn't even succeed at that. Those were sweetly tender but tiring years. And although I missed movement in my womb, nursing, snuggling and rocking I was done with that stage and was excited about everything else I could now invest in.

So, to have my kind husband, from his own experience, suggest I focus on pursuing a few passions felt like I was being reigned in. I was frustrated and I cried, kind of like my toddlers used to.

During that conversation on the beach I picked up this stone and found comfort in it's surf battered smoothness. It fit just right in my palm and feeling it's heft seemed to help my tears subside and reason to return.

Of course I can grow our own food and make all our own everything, finish renovating and decorating my house, build a blog and photo portfolio, spend quality time with friends and family, love and serve our neighbors, home educate and love my children into independent, kind young adults and nurture respect, friendship and passion in my marriage. I just can't do it all right now. I have to choose a few things that I will do well in this time of my life.

I can't say that I've been totally successful at learning this leason. It's hard to curb my enthusiasm for "wanting it all now" and I've found my focus changes with the seasons. But my simplicity stone, the name I've given that black beach stone, serves as a good remembrance of that talk. It sits on my desk and reminds me to say no to some things so I can say yes to others. I recall my husband's advice and I'm inspired me to be focused in my goals and to be disciplined in achieving them. And better still, this nondescript black stone reminds me of precious time spent with my family on that windy May day.

Some of the photography blogs I follow had great posts this past week that informed, amused and inspired me. Thought I'd pass along the goodies. But first a little goodie/tutorial of my own.

While washing dishes on Sunday morning out of the corner of my eye I saw the sun catching the prism in the window. I ran to grab my camera and clicked away.

To capture this effect I used a very small aperture (f32) so I'd get the rays of the flare. Learned this trick here. Because I was shooting in aperture priority and focusing on the prism (lots of light) the camera would of tried to counteract all that light by having a very short shutter speed. So, instead of switching to total manual mode, which I'm kind of scared of, I metered on the wall next to the window (darker than the prism) to trick the camera into having a longer shutter speed. A longer shutter speed let in more light so the overall picture wouldn't be too dark (see example below). Make any sense?

Here's the one I like (from above):

And the one I don't like as much because I think it's too dark:

I must of metered this wrong since the camera choose an exposure time of 1/30 sec vs 1/8 sec for the green spectrum shot. In case you're fraction challenged like me 1/30 is a smaller number (less light) than 1/8.

By the way I took about 30 photos and really only like this green one. Practice makes almost perfect. Still not there yet.

If you're still with me, here's the other goodies I promised:

Information

Wondering where to develop those photos "piling" up on your hard drive? I wonder the same thing. I wasn't happy with my last Snapfish order and I'm looking around for alternatives that are hopefully truer to what my photos look like on my monitor. There's probably just some special magic or voodoo that's necessary to get your photos to print just like you see them on your computer. Maybe the trick is simply to choose a better developer. Anyway, I'm trying to work this one out and appreciated Miz Booshay's advice over at Pioneer Woman Photography. With the (sometimes) annual Christmas family photo mailing coming up I should get on this soon.

Amusement

Pure photofunia over at Dolce Pics. Haven't had the time to try this yet but looks like it could be addicting. Perhaps it's best I avoid it.

How about an Amazing Picture-Takin’ Geotaggin’ Solar-Powered Super Bike. Simply crazy, but I like crazy (sometimes). And no I don't want this for Christmas.

Inspiration

Need the courage to pick up a camera and start clicking, or pick up the brushes and start painting. What about textiles to start stitching? Jen Lemen recently posted some encouragement on my favorite photography inspiration blog, Shutter Sisters. Read, be inspired to discover the artist in you.

Thinking that your inner artist might be a photographer but you're lacking what you believe is the necessary hardware? Before I got my fancy pants camera (the only "thing" I own that I truly love) I was using a Canon S60 point and shoot. If I was still using that point and shoot I would be sure to make use of the tips posted by the newest contributor over at Pioneer Woman Photography. Ivoryhut exclusively uses a point and shoot camera and is sharing her tips and techniques to encourage and help other photographers. Yay for point and shoot cameras!

Other people draw, dance, sing, write music or poetry, play instruments, meditate, chant or pray. I sometimes do all those too. But tonight this was my worship, my hymn if you please.

I wrote a post today already but I can't help it. I just have to share my happiness with my new lens. The last big splurge arrived today, my new Nikkor 50 mm f/1.4. Simply put this lens has a very large aperture which lets more light into my camera. More light means faster shutter speeds in lower light conditions (faster shutter speeds are better since the picture is sharper, less blurry). A wide open aperture (the lower the f stop the bigger the aperture - go figure) also creates shallow depth of field (focal point in focus, everything else fuzzy). I go weak in the knees for shallow depth of field photos.

Ok, enough speak. Here are some photos with my new lens.

My absolute favorite is the grass against the sunset. I took that tonight at the farm.

I like this photo of the books too, not because it's the greatest photo (every photographer and their dog has a shallow DoF book shot) but because these were Laurent's bedtime books from last night. Let's see a little poetry, American history, classic children's stories, a library book called Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf and some outdated Time Life books on Reptiles and Plants. Funny thing is he can't "read" yet. Man, I love that kid.

morning Masterwort

Monday was difficult. Here's the run down, I:

• spent a fair amount of time bawling my eyes out, mourning the mortality of everyone I love.
• burned myself with tea kettle steam and had to do all my morning chores with salve, bandages and a glove on my right hand. Thanks to Eden Salve my fingers are pink today but barely sore and fully functioning.
• discovered moldy tomatoes (once beautiful garden and farm produce) in the dehydrator that I had forgotten to take care of in all the activity of the weekend.
• washed sheets, towels, underwear. Washed more sheets, towels and underwear.
• helped the kids change the cat litter, again. Have I mentioned I don't like owning a cat, never wanted a cat and made my husband promise I wouldn't have to take care of the cat when I finally agreed to getting a cat 4 years ago. No hard feelings dear, I know how these things go.
• lost patience with my squabbling, attention deprived, going through sugar withdrawal (2 sets of grandparents had just left) youngsters. Thankfully I didn't say "shut up, just go away and leave me alone" but that's what I felt.
• cut hot peppers with my bare hands and later picked my nose (come on, at least I didn't pick and lick). Let's just say hot peppers up the nose hurt.

But I found some solace from the day behind my camera lens. And through my tears and frustrations (because of my them?) captured the beauty of late summer flowers. Both those in my garden and a bouquet I picked from a zinnia plant the wind blew over.

Monday's photography and the beauty it rendered, was a salve for my soul. What's your soul salve on those really bad days?

morning Anenome

morning bee on Armeria (sea thrift)

afternoon Zinnia

Yesterday was a wonderful day at home. I spent most of it in the garden, cleaning up perennials and harvesting the beans (post about that to follow soon). This morning's photo prompt at Shutter Sisters was about the gift of photography, "photography is a creative gift where the satisfaction of distilling a single fleeting moment in a picture is reward enough to keep us clicking, creating, learning and growing as photographers, paid or otherwise."

Hum... I couldn't agree more. I was delighted when I finally sat down last night at my computer and looked at the photos of the day and found these gifts - moments of a day at home captured, forever.

September Rudbeckia and Joe Pye

Dolly crafting