Cup of ...

Last night I was making my children some hot cocoa and we were out of marshmallows.  I looked in the fridge and saw a container of whipped topping and became overwhelmed with memories of my Grandmother.  I remember as a child going to Dohacks with her and her "old" friends.  They used to meet for breakfast on weekends and socialize.  Everytime we went I was treated with a big cup of hot cocoa piled high with whipped topping.  As I made a copy cat cup I felt compelled to photograph it for the "cup of __" theme on my project 52... a cup of nostalgia to pass on to my girls.

 

 

I also played around with a new bokeh backdrop idea.  I love the result and it's SO easy.  You just set up crinkled foil far back from your subject and photograph on a very low aperature.  The result is that beautiful bokeh.  So fun!

Light

Lately I'm becoming somewhat obesssed with light.  I've found the next step in elevating the quality of my photos have been in chosing the proper locations based on light.  I often fall victim of chosing a place for a portrait because of a beautiful background and then find later that with low apertures, you can't even see the background.  Light has a profound effect on the color of the skin, the clarity of the photo and the emotion it portrays.   This month's photo blog challenge from Clickin'Moms is dramatic light.  All three of these photos were taken on Thanksgiving.  The first two are from a window at my uncle's house that has the BEST lighting.  The last one is the after dinner trip to the park.  Enjoy!

Experimenting with backlighting

 

 

This one is from the same window with Ally turned about 45 degrees towards it.

Swinging during golden hour

 

If you enjoyed my blog post, head on over to Gina's blog to see her take on dramatic light. I hope you enjoy this month's blog circle.

Each month I'm participating on photography challenges with fellow Clickin' Mom photographers... You can follow the blog circle by clicking on our links at the bottom of each of our posts. You can also see them directly here:

Gina / Megan



Spooky!

This month's Clickin' Mom's challenge is Spooky!  My kids are still young, so not into the scary stuff yet.  Just this season, Ally has discovered Scooby Doo and has more interest in the darker side of Halloween.  We started the season off with Boo at the Zoo.  It's a kid friendly style haunted house at the zoo that benefits one of the local Children's Hospital.  You don't see any animals but they have light displays and costumed staff who look kind of spooky.  So, that's about as far as my spooky set went.  Enjoy!

My little bat fairy

Lady bug

One of the light displays

 

If you enjoyed my blog post, head on over to Gina's blog to see her take on spooky. I hope you enjoy this month's blog circle.

Each month I'm participating on photography challenges with fellow Clickin' Mom photographers... You can follow the blog circle by clicking on our links at the bottom of each of our posts. You can also see them directly here:

 Gina / Megan

Turn of Fall

This is my favorite time of year ... the turn from shorts and t-shirts to jeans and fleece jackets...  The turn from greens to auburns, golds and oranges... the turn of summer boredom to overscheduled weekends filled with pumpkin patches, school events and camping!  One of the best parts of this photography hobby I've discovered is that I see the world in a new way.  I know that sounds hokey and all, but I really do.  When I drop my kids off at school, I see how the light shines through a tree's branches in their playground and creates a beautiful glow.  When my neighbor cleaned up his yard I mourned the loss of the weeds that were flowering and stood out in the morning fog.  It's funny how brainwashed I've become and I often regret not having my camera on my neck many times throughout the day.  It's kind of a cool problem to have.  I guess I've made a turn.  One where I see the beauty in little details that I didn't notice before.  My environment and the people around me are like art.  The whole process makes me see the beauty of life... definitely a turn for the better.  So, I hope you like my little collection of botanicals I've taken this month.  I call it the ...

Turn of Fall

 One of my turns- seeing texture in ways I never noticed before

 

 Another turn... seeing how blank or negative space turns something ordinary into much more.

 

 Turn three... when you learn the settings of your camera, you picture ways you can turn an ordinary weed into something soft and beautiful.

 Turn number 4:  My husband made a comment that I was crazy when I took this picture.  He saw a tiny leaf on a picnic table.  I saw leading lines and contrasting color that promised for an interesting photo.

 Turn five- I've slowed down.  Now a walk to a destination holds so much more... even little weeds are interesting.

I hope you've enjoyed my turn of fall collection and maybe inspired you to pick up your camera.  With practice you can really train your eye to see your world in a different way!

Seeing beyond the surface

Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life. -Marcus Aurelius

As a science teacher, I'm always teaching students to develop keen observation skills.  So when the Clickin' Moms blog challenge of the month surfaced- I had to put those skills to the test!  This month we were looking for ways to humanize the non-human.  I had ideas to use Ally's toys.  She likes to set them up in little scenes and play pretend.  I also took my camera to the outdoors and looked for ideas.  I actually found my favorite- a face in the bark by looking through my camera and focusing on small sections of the tree bark.  All kinds of faces surfaced by eliminating the surroundings and looking at little pieces at a time. 

Curiosity 

 Rage



Wisdom- this one reminded me of the stone carvings on Easter Island :)

If you enjoyed my blog post, head on over to Caristy's blog to see her take on humanizing the non-human. I hope you enjoy this month's blog circle.

Each month I'm participating on photography challenges with fellow Clickin' Mom photographers... You can follow the blog circle by clicking on our links at the bottom of each of our posts. You can also see them directly here:

 Caristy/ Gina / Megan 

Motion blur

This month's blog circle challenge was motion blur.  This one is tough because you want to use the motion blur to enhance your photo.  Most of the time motion blur is frustrating... it's there due to lighting issues or camera limitations.  This month I learned to embrace it with some fun activities like panning.  It was both fun and challenging!

and a couple of my favorites from the archives:

 

 

  If you enjoyed my blog post, head on over to Ana's blog to see her take on motion blur. I hope you enjoy this month's blog circle.

Each month I'm participating on photography challenges with fellow Clickin' Mom photographers... You can follow the blog circle by clicking on our links at the bottom of each of our posts. You can also see them directly here:

Angie / Caristy/ Gina / Megan / Ana / Erica

Florals

I've been really happy with all the floral pictures I've taken this summer!  I'm going to have to actually print some eventually.  Here is a collection of my newest ones taken at the Butterfly house in Faust Park. 

 

Tried out some new processing actions on these:

...and in case you are wondering, I did take butterfly pictures but I'm saving them for "bug" week in my Project 52.   

Abandoned

Today's post is a collection of photos I took at the Missouri Mines National Historic site.  It's a huge building just south of Bonne Terre... not well advertised but easy to find right off the highway.  The building was an old lead mine that was abandoned.  The state turned it into a museum that tells the story of the mining industries of southern Missouri.  When we went there we had the pleasure of getting a private tour from an amazing elderly woman who grew up in the area and had family that worked the mine.  She didn't make it far in her education but life turns out funny sometimes and she ended up becoming a teacher for children in the area.  The stories she had were fascinating.  On the other side of the museum there is an extensive rock and mineral museum.  I had to drag my kids out of the phosphlorescent room!  If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it. 

When you enter the place you get an eerie feeling like you shouldn't be there.  Everything is rusty and broken.  There are danger signs all around about lead tailing restricted areas.  But when you really look the place is like a wonderland for a photographer.  The texture and grittiness translate to interesting pictures.

 

 

Sky

This week I keep running into photo opportunities that go along with past themes.  The best part is I actually have my camera in hand and ready when they come along!  During the sky week we never really had anything going on in my neck of the woods other than overcast.  This week we celebrated July birthdays at my Aunt's house and she has this amazing deck that overlooks a huge area.  We were lucky to witness a storm rolling in with big beautiful clouds in it's path.  So, here we have the best of "sky".  Enjoy.

 

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Independence Day!

Yesterday I took the kids to their first close up fireworks display.  Most of the time on the 4th we end up watching fireworks from inside because the sound scares them but this year they were game and they loved every minute of it.  Sitting on a blanket, watching fireworks has always been one of my favorite childhood memories.  I love the thump you feel in your chest when the finale starts and the sport of oohing and ahhing at every one.  This week my project 52 theme was photographing fireworks so I set up my camera on a tripod and programmed it to click away on its own and the result turned out super cool.  I was so excited about it I edited as soon as I got home from the display :) 

 

 

 

 Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans and God bless all the men and women of the military today and in years past. I thank you for my freedom and the rights you protect!

 

"This, then, is the state of the union: free and restless, growing and full of hope. So it was in the beginning. So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith."  -Lyndon B. Johnson

Millie

This month's Clickin' Mom blog challenge is shallow depth of field.  It's my favorite form of photography- one because it really focuses on details of the face, which I love, and two because it blurs the random stains on the carpet or latest stuff the kids drug out of their closet so background doesn't matter quite as much :) 

Lately my children have been shunning me as soon as the camera surfaces.  When every photo of your kid turns into a snarled face or a "talk to the hand" it's time to give it a rest and find a new subject!  So, this month I turned to my perky little puppy, Millie.  Who doesn't like a web page with a bunch of funny pug pictures, right?  So here she is in all her glorious glory.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself."  -Josh Billings

 

If you enjoyed my blog post, head on over to Ana's blog to see her take on shallow depth of field. I hope you enjoy this month's blog circle.

Each month I'm participating on photography challenges with fellow Clickin' Mom photographers... You can follow the blog circle by clicking on our links at the bottom of each of our posts. You can also see them directly here:

Angie / Gina / Megan / Ana / Rebecca / Erica