Advanced Pro: Assignment #4

Inspiration and creativity was our assignment this week. From this class, I have changed how I look at my environment wherever I go. I actually think how viable a location can be for shoots, at what perspective would yield the most flattering images and what would be the best time of day!

My inspiration this week is location. Like real estate, location, location, location is important as is light, light, light. These photos were taken about 30 minutes before the sun was setting - I desperately wished to have captured a few more images from my posing guide....when a passerby wanted to chat about what I was doing and why. Not meaning to be rude, I entertained her questions only to feel saddened (and anxious) about the rapidly setting sun :-) How does one manage these situations?

As with my other assignments, my daughters were my models, somewhat begrudgingly :-) For this location, I was inspired by the gorgeous setting sun against the lake AND I loved the tall flowing grasses that flank the lake area. That golden light is beautiful...sigh...

This image was taken with the sun still bright and "mid" high in the sky but you could definitely see the burnt orange colours. I thought it would be fun to try a silhouette this week to showcase the sunset against the water. If I could reshoot this image, I would stand a bit further back to capture more of the wind blown grasses.

Here is my youngest daughter thinking by the shoreline. For a change, I converted the image to black and white. I am curious if the image would be more impactful with more contrast?

Lastly, here is my daughter waiting and watching the sun get ready to set. I like how the grasses have enveloped her and the golden light on her face. However I do notice the difference of light on her face and next time would move a bit more camera left. What do you think Brooke?

Thanks Brooke - I loved the class!

Advanced Pro: Assignment #3

Here I am at Assignment #3 already. To prepare for this assignment, I took the opportunity to truly understand the goal of the assignment. After some clarification from Brooke, I understand that the purpose of the assignment is to obtain genuine emotion from my interaction with the subjects that I am photographing. To me, this is a daunting task. I am not a professional photographer and have had little experience doing so but I was up for it. I'll be the first to admit that I felt awkward and self-conscious but I felt it was important to remain true to who I was and what my natural personality is. So I "practiced" a few sessions with some friends...and of course my family.

Below are my 3 favorite images from the different sessions.

This sweet guy is 2 months old; he has a lovely disposition and a proud Mama! (I intentionally had Mama in a softer focus!) At the time, she was recounting an adorable anecdote to me.

For this photo, this young man demonstrated to me what he would do if he were a rock star. I think he is well on his way; don't you?

For this image, I decided to trial a "Beloved" invitation. To be honest, I wasn't sure how the invitation would be received. My first thought was I would capture a goofy response but I was pleasantly surprised to receive a genuine hug between the girls. Aaah, if only all days were like this! (And I am hoping this is rim light I see in their hair too!)

Question for your Brooke: Regarding the processing of this image, I left the white balance as is to capture the glow from the setting sun. But I am curious if it should be lightened? I am also wondering if the image would be more impactful if I cropped it tighter? This image has been uncropped.

Brooke, you asked about the role of the interview. For me, the informal interview both helped and hindered. When I spoke with the parents and/or the subjects, there were no strong desires of the images they wanted captured so I felt somewhat directionless. At that point, I used my posing guide as a guideline. Perhaps I was too easy going? But I like the session to evolve and when the opportunity arises to use a pose on my guide, I went for it. Is that what you do Brooke or do you direct the session more?

Some of the interactive ideas used were props. For the two special young men in the photos, I knew they were budding golfers and rock stars! Other techniques were to speak to them (and my other subjects) about topics that were important to them. Personally when I speak with others about interests close to them, I notice their eyes lighting up and changes the demeanour of their faces. For my daughters, I had them play games they loved; they are used to having their photos taken so when given the opportunity to do whatever they please, they take it!

Advanced Pro: Assignment #2

Great assignment this week - posing is something I have been working on. Having a posing guide has been a Godsend for me and my personal preparation style. As per your suggestions in the lesson, I searched several resources for images to include on my lifestyle shoot. However given the scenario that I was shooting; that is, my oldest daughter going to a 6-day overnight camp for the first time, I over estimated the number of images I could capture. As well, the situation leaned more on the uncontrolled rather than controlled side and my inexperience with unforeseen external factors such as multiple friends, varying light and my daughter's own raw emotions was evident. Consequently I was not able to capture all the shots that I had prepared.

Below are the shots that I had planned and did capture. The first image is that of my girls walking together through the field to the check-in point. I love this image because it captured a moment of tenderness between the girls and each girl had some anxiety with my oldest being on her own for a week and my youngest missing her older sister. I was happy with the perspective, behind and low.

This shot was unplanned for a couple of reasons - (1) I was not expecting my youngest to be gutted by her sister's soon to be absence and (2) I wanted to take this shot from a lower perspective but I was not quick enough to lie on the ground, instead I was sitting on the ground.

For this image, I wished I was a smidgeon more camera right to capture more of my daughter's face. I liked the perspective it was shot and I liked that I captured my husband giving Danielle a reassuring kiss. This shot was somewhat unplanned as I had actually planned to capture a slightly different shot of my husband giving a reassuring kiss to my older daughter at goodbye time.

As well, I have been practicing and practicing and practicing with my 50mm and am finding some improvement! Yeah for me!

Thanks Brooke! I look forward to your feedback.

It Was A Hot One Today!

Goodness today it was a hot one in Saskatchewan! The thermometer on my Mom's deck read 42C - yep, 42C but the "official" temperature was 35C with a non-existent breeze. We luckily had the very fortunate opportunity of spending much of the afternoon at a neighbour's pool! The girls spent the afternoon diving for these cool diver guys with propellers that I picked up at Superstore, squirting each other with the noodles, dunking each other and cannonballing into the water. For myself, I swam lengths and also dove for those silly diver dudes! Anything to keep cool! This might just be one of the THE hottest days we have had this summer! (I am not looking forward to going back to the usual tepid summer of Calgary! LOL)

And tomorrow is an equally beautiful and scorching day! Yippee!!!! We have been invited to a pool party and bbq - let's just say I am SO looking forward to it! :-)

Thanks for dropping by! (My blog posts have been sporadic as we have been away almost every week!)

Lifestyle Photography

The old adage "Time flies when you are having fun" definitely applies to my time with you Brooke :-) These last 4 weeks have been dynamic, revitalizing and informative.

For the last assignment, my theme was a Family Walk on the pathways in Fernie, British Columbia. (Gosh, Fernie has a plethora of photo ops - the textures on their walls and the mountain backdrop is breathtaking. Now getting my family to cooperate is a whole other story *rolling eyes*)

Fernie's pathway system hugged the river and wound itself through various grassy fields. This particular grassy field was inundated with wild white daisies. In my mind, I wanted a shot of each girl running through the field but my youngest didn't want to crush any of the flowers so we were at a stalemate. After listening to her arguments of not crushing the flowers, I agreed and she jumped up in glee. This picture is of her jumping in glee. I happen to be kneeling at the time and lucky me captured her expression against the mountains.

Here she continued to jump up in the air but I like the cute toes peeking out from under her dress.

Not to be outdone by her younger sister, my oldest decided she wanted a shot jumping in the air too! ;-) Technically I like that her face is evenly lit in contrast to the above pictures where is a shadow on the face. Despite this, when I see these pictures, it evokes a real emotion in me and my husband.

My hubbie shot my self-portrait after Danielle opened her birthday presents - not sure if I like the photo but considering I can't remember the last time I had a photo of me taken, this is a step in the right direction! I will definitely make it a point to create a "self-portrait" of some sort in my Project 365!

Yes, I see the backs of the chair and the island in the background but I am willing to overlook it considering hubbie rarely takes any pictures :-)

Thanks Brooke for a great class! So what is next for us? :-)

Lifestyle Photography

So here we are at Week #3 - wow! I can't believe it! Taking a more creative expression photography class has really been helpful to me. I love photography. I love seeing life through my camera. This class is teaching me to REALLY see life from different perspectives and that in itself has been a liberating experience. Up until now, I have really been beating myself up about the technical aspects of photography. I am certainly capable of learning all the technical jargon of shooting but it isn't something that wow's me - it's wrong I know but feeling exhilarated when taking these creative photos has rejuvenated my passion and  has paired the technical lingo with the creative. I love this!

Enough rambling - here are my submissions for the Contrast component of the assignment.

In these 2 photos, I snuck up to take a picture of my Mom holding Danielle's hand. My Mom has a special relationship with each of my daughters. The relationship she has with each girl is unique and mutually exclusive from the other. I love that and so do my girls because they are the loved for who they are and "lumped together."

What I could not decide is...is the photo emote a strong emotion taken slightly above or below? I looked at these shots for a long time. I like each image for different reasons - from slightly above as it symbolizes an elder/wisdom relationship and the image from a slightly lower vantage point seems to symbolize a guiding relationship. I just don't know; what do you think?

When I snapped these images I consciously chose to not crop at the joint, to focus my image on the hands, to show aspects of the forearm and to blur out the background. I hope I did it justice.

My other images for contrast are below. Originally I wanted a photo of my husband and daughter's feet in a jumbled mess but my daughter was being an uncooperative turkey!!! I thought it would be interesting to take the photo from a low vantage point with their faces blurred. Now that I look at the image, I think it may have been more interesting it I had taken it from above behind their heads; again, I am not sure?

And I will readily admit here that this may be a lame image. My intent was to contrast the petite size of the leaves against the larger green leaves in the background but this seems somewhat of a train wreck to me. My original intent was to photograph a bee in a flower but could I find one when I needed it??? Of course not!

Ah, we have now arrived at the Decisive Moment submissions with 3 measly shots. Sticking to 3 shots only was a real challenge for me and I'll be the first to admit that I failed. The timing of the shots is hard for me to coordinate with 2 wiggly jiggly girls. What I will say is I shot much much MUCH less than I normally would and that is a huge improvement for me. (Does that count?)

Here is my Mom and Danielle tossing the ball around in the backyard. I tried to keep my focus point on the ball as I loved the splash of red against the muted background colours. I wonder how I could have removed some of the distracting elements in the background by standing in different locations??? I was limited by the available space in the yard.

For these next 2 shots, I stood beside Madison as she cannon balled into the pool. I tried to move what I could from the background but I see the small slide snuck into the background. Hopefully it does not look like some strange horn growing out of her head! However I do love seeing her suspended in the air!

In this image, I like it from above but again my question is...which image is stronger? Here all I see are the funky shadows from the sun on her. I had scoped out how I wanted to take the photo but again I see the pool noodles in the background...aaaack!

Lastly, here is Danielle who seems to enjoy the skateboarding moves - not entirely sure where she gets this but it does make for interesting photography! Once again, my eye is drawn to the harsh shadows and image seems somewhat under exposed. What do you think Brooke?

This was a fun assignment and really had me thinking about point of view alot. Thanks!

Lifestyle Photography

This week's challenge is Point of View and Less is More. I took some time to review the video tutorials, to digest the material and then brainstorm what I would shoot that was marginally interesting. I chose to document Danielle learning to ride her RockBoard (pssst! I love the RockBoard - it is rockin' fun even for a Mom!) :-)

I wasn't sure if we were to crop the images so I didn't - but I would like to know for next week???

For Point of View, my initial shot is of my husband teaching Danielle how to ride her RockBoard. (Given that I taught her how to rider her 2-wheeler, the hard work is all done!)

Then the fun began! I actually felt like papparazzi, like I had some idea of what I was doing and truth be told, I really enjoyed thinking through the different points of view to shoot.

For this shot, I was crouched on the ground working to snag a side shot with her Dad briskly walking behind her.

With this shot, I was in the grass, perhaps a verrrrry loose frame??? but I felt this image added so much to the story with my husband rubbing her boo boo after a particularly nasty spill.

And I love this shot from behind and slightly above of my husband putting a reassuring hand on her back as she begins her ride.

For the Less is More portion of the assignment, my initial image depicts Danielle's determination on the RockBoard. I love how her foot is in the air to give that extra oomph to ascend the slight incline.

To breakdown the image, I shot my daughter self-soothing her earlier boo boo. (Yes, she had a wardrobe change after falling and tearing her pants.)

With this shot, I was lying on the ground as she sat on her RockBoard analyzing how she would attack the next segment of the pathway. (She is a cautious determined 6 yr old!)

To further narrow down the scene, I shot her prior to take-off. I am not sure if this is what you were looking for Brooke but in some way I like it. I like that the bolt holding the RockBoard together is in focus but the logo on the front is blurred out as is her foot. I can make out each element but it takes second place. I would love to hear your comments on this one Brooke.

Thanks for reviewing my work - it is greatly appreciated!

Lifestyle Photography

Over the past year, I have made a concerted effort to educate myself on photography principles, techniques and skills. At times I have been SO frustrated I could drive over my camera but I continue to pound my head against the wall to conquer it. Right now I am taking a Lifestyle Photography class from Brooke Snow. I love the concept of this type of photography and while I think it is super important to have tack sharp photos that are technically sound, I remember the reason I started on this path was to augment my storytelling in my scrapbooks. Looking at the scenario from a fresh perspective has been enlightening and somewhat freeing for me.  

So I here I am...onward and forward with learning! Below are my images from Parts 1 and 2 of Assignment 1. 

Part 1 asks for 3 images that depict your character. When I first read the assignment I wondered how I would tackle illustrating the details that characterize my youngest daughter, Danielle. There are many facets to this little person. I wanted to show her emotion, her personality and some likes/dislikes.

Here is her beloved pink blankie - this has been a match made in Heaven. And to capture it on the princess crown pillow, well, does it get any better??? :-)

Danielle has amazing dexterity for a 6 year old. She adores playmobil, polly pockets and littlest pet shops. It cracks me up to see her motoring her creation with her toes! In the background is the bucket of polly pockets where we adds and exchanges the riders!

I am SO glad I caught Danielle's expression here! Who wouldn't love banana flax pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries? Yeah, I thought so. Her expression is priceless to me!

Part 2 asks for 3 images that depict conflict. I am thrown by the word "conflict" - to me, conflict refers to either an internal/external struggle. When I see Danielle interacting, I don't view it as conflict. This concept I need to get my head around it more. 

Danielle has been working hard with her french reading. Imagine my surprise when I learned she had parlayed her reading skills to that of english. Well, so goes the end of leaving little notes here there and everywhere - there are no more secrets!!! 

From a technical standpoint, I am not quite sure of this photo. I had intentionally focussed on her fingers holding the book but I see now that her face was in the same plane. Her face does not look tack sharp but it isn't quite blurred out either. I am open to suggestions on how this photo could have been re-composed.

In this photo, Danielle was racing her toys on the floor. I love that she keeps one eye closed or has hair covering it so she can push it in a straight line :-)

And lastly, here is my munchkin working with her Destination ImagiNation group to create the longest road from the island to the mainland...so they would reverse the shrinking dust!

Brooke - I am open to any and all comments on how I may improve. What this assignment has done for me is to look at a situation and photograph it from different vantage points, with each telling a slightly different story - thank you!

Thanks for dropping by! 

Neglected! ***WARNING: Photo Heavy****

My poor blog has been sorely neglected these past (almost!) 2 months! I've been SO incredibly busy!

For Easter, we vacationed in Orlando. Gosh, it was absolutely divine being in Florida; I would happily vacation there 2 to 3 times a year! :-) Highlights were NASA, DisneyWorld water parks, outlet mall shopping and lazing in the pool EVERY.SINGLE.DAY! You just can't beat that :-)

Here are a few pictures for you from Orlando - I continue to work on my photography every day. Besides scrapbooking and quilting, photography is true therapy for me.

The girls first Easter egg hunt on the golf course of Mystic Dunes. There were over 2500 eggs hidden and a grand prize for the greatest number of balls collected. Not sure of the reasoning but girls went for the golf balls. We did however learn that Danielle is one heck of a runner!

Danielle's highlight was meeting Rapunzel. It must divine intervention because there IS a princess who loves purple as much as Danielle! Yes, it 'tis true! (Can you see the pride on Danielle's face?)

A rare photographic feat - a family photo! The Disney photographer kindly used my camera to snap a family shot of us! I love it!

Madison surprised me by jumping into the street party put on by the Disney characters and boogied down!

My personal highlight was going back to NASA! To be THIS close to the shuttle, Endeavour...wowsers! The day was surreal - I loved every moment of it. The best part? It put how Science and Math works in our everyday life into perspective for Madison and Danielle.

The weather was divine - hot, hot, hot! And nothing cooled us off better than hanging at Blizzard Beach,  one of 2 Disney water parks. OMG, it was THE best!

We splurged and took in Cirque du Soleil - amazing is all I can say, absolutely amazing!

To Madison and Danielle, a vacation is perfect if there is a warm pool in the sun. If I didn't know better one would think Danielle had gills. Madison loves floating on the warm water, basking in the sun. Yeah, it's a tough life! LOL

Yes, I have been scrapping and have lots to share. I also have pictures from Tennessee where we attended Destination ImagiNation, a truly profound experience!

Thanks for your patience and dropping by!

Happy Birthday Danielle!

Today, my baby girl, Danielle is 6 years old! This birthday is a tough one for me. Danielle isn't a baby anymore, that much I have accepted. And she isn't a toddler either; ok, I can accept that too! But a grade schooler??? What happened?

While Danielle is excited to be starting Grade 1 in the fall, I haven't truly grasped this nugget of information yet. I will miss our mornings together...slowly enjoying our breakfast, doing a craft, reading a book and going for a walk. But she is definitely ready!

Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!

With much love from Mommy! xoxoxoxo

Belated Happy Canada Day!

We have spent the last week in Fairmont enjoying the sunshine, the beautiful amenities and the joyous times as a family. One of the special moments we had was spent at the Canada Day celebrations at the Fairmont Ski Hill. It was also a fundraiser for the local Lions Club chapter - I really like the Lions Club for all they do.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed the rock climbing. Danielle was quite a surprise to me, climbing 2/3 of the way to the top. Madison has taken a rock climbing class but scared herself about 8 feet off the ground. Then she was off to try the archery. Here they are on the rock climbing wall. (I am taking a photography class right now with Wendy Schulz so I hope to be learning lots and seeing amazing improvements in my photography!)

Unfortunately the line for the face painting was too long so we went off to explore the fire engine and play a few other games. What I thought was a nice gesture was the ski hill had a giant white and red (strawberry) cake for everyone in attendance. It was delicious!

Happy Canada Day everyone! And to my American friends, Happy July 4th!

School is Out!

I honestly thought the end of school this year would never come! It's not that we disliked school or had a bad year - it's quite the contrary! The educational experience for Madison and Danielle were both fantastic...but the end of the year seems to always bring a zillion volunteer commitments and a host of other items to be completed. To sum it up, I am plain old exhausted beyond belief! (Hence the neglected blog!)

But I do want to share with you some favorite photos!

First, meet the future grad of 2022!

Danielle is so proud she finished kindergarten and the year-end presentations were fantastic. It is a bittersweet moment for me. In the fall, Danielle will be in Grade 1, meaning school all day long...away from home and I will miss her ... (gulp) alot. Yet at the same time, I am really proud of her for putting in her best effort to learn french. She is thus far enjoying french immersion and like Madison, we will see where it will take her. So far, she loves it and that is good enough for me!

What is a photo session without a vogue shot??? Hmmm....

And here is a photo of a gal moving from the elementary school to the middle school. Ah, another bittersweet moment. This year, Madison has really come into her own. She was a true leader at school, being a Friendly Helper and signing up for literally everything she possibly could at school to make the most of her last year in te elementary school. And now she is off to the Middle School. The elementay school has been a safe haven for her; it is quite insular and gives the children alot of opportunities and confidence. So far the transition to grade 5 has been great.

Without further adieu, here is a grade 5 student!

And here they both are - their smiles are infectious; don't you think?

Thanks for dropping by!