This weekend's Challenge: UP

This past weekend's challenge was "UP." I didn't go anywhere, but I did hang out with my son. Two of the photographs I took from last post I posted. The first because he was looking UP at mommy (bet you can guess which one I'm talking about) and the second because mommy was UP above him looking down while he was taking a bath in a tub outside.

I was able to catch the natural light again and among tens of pictures of my son, I came across this profile where, again, I was UP above my son looking down at him. Ok maybe I wasn't, but the camera was. It produced a very striking image, in my opinion.

Here it is!!!!

Fun Times

I had a fun couple of days with the macro lens, but also with my boy.

Macro lens fun!

My baby boy's first outdoor bath/playtime!

60mm Macro Lens

I borrowed a lens from a friend last night. I took only a few minutes to get some fun shots in my mom's backyard! Yayyyy for spring time and flowers! And yayyyyy for a mom who takes care of her flowers!!! (Good job, mom)

Here is what I came up with!

Love those daisies! But then, I found something I had wanted to photograph for a very long time! And It was totally worth it. This is what I got...

I really like these photos. I suppose the macro is an A-OK lens to have! Now to check the price......*gulp* it's $469 on Amazon.com. DANNNNGGGGG!!! Another lens to budget for....I am finding out this is a real expensive hobby!

Did I mention, I love my family!

At the zoo today, we sat on the grass and ate lunch. My son got to get out of his stroller and spend time with Grandma. I think Grandma had fun! Oh yeah, my son did too...

Grandma and Grandson...

Having so much fun standing!!!

A few more for good measure...wait, I mean, a few more because he's so gosh dang cute!

Grandma was was having fun with Grandson....

He was so proud of himself in this next one!

And of course, the hubby!!!

Oh yes, and to prove we were at the zoo...

We had a fun day! The year membership pass has a dual purpose. The first and most important, taking our son for a day outside and learning about the animals. The second is so that I have a place to go to experiment and have fun with photography!

Reid Park Zoo...you better get used to us frequenting you... :D

This Weekend's Challenge: BLUE

So I thought I was going to have a difficult time taking photos for this weekend's challenge. I live in Tucson, where the main colors are tan, brown, oranges and sometimes even green! However, the good thing about that is you have good contrast when you do find blue. Of course, the challenge "Blue" didn't need to be taken literal, it was how we wanted to use it.

So I found an older picture that I could use and realized I can't just use older pictures. I took the family to the zoo (got a year membership too) and kept my eyes open for any other blues that I could possibly make into an interesting photo.

I came home, looked at photos and thought I had just a horrible day of photography, BUT I did get some pretty decent shots, in my opinion.

Here is what I came up with...

The older photo..

I kept my eyes on this peacock as I was making my rounds at the zoo. By the time we got around he was still there. Here are the results...

Here is what I got just keeping my eyes open...

I had a fun day. I wish more of my photos turned out, but I guess that's what happens especially for a beginner!

On the bright side, after today, we get to start budgeting for a new lens! YIPPEE!!!

Weekend Challenges.

The Light Stalking forums that I follow on a daily basis have weekend challenges. To me, these challenges are just that, a challenge. I've had difficulties with some of the challenges, but sometimes I find that taking photos for them allows you to look at subjects in a completely new way so that the theme is captured.

Now I know that a certain theme isn't always on the mind of a photographer, but I've definitely found that this helps with certain perspectives/ideas, etc. for me. It's all a learning process, and I enjoy learning.

This past weekend's challenge was texture. Texture to me definitely gives photos depth. Creating shadows and outlines to tell a story, even if the story is just Texture! So here are my shots for the challenge.

Another weekend challenge was Wet. During that weekend, I was preparing to head to Florida So I didn't have a chance to get out in Tucson, so my photos from Orlando were added. Here are the ones I took in Florida for that Challenge.

The first one I wanted to put into the texture challenge too, but I had used it for the wet challenge already. I suppose I could have done that, it wouldn't have been a problem, but I thought it could be "cheating" although there are no rules.

A couple of weeks ago was a challenge about "selective color." These are those photos that you take and make everything black and white except for the objects you want colored or the color you want to stay. I don't particularly care for these types of photos, so my photo was basically close enough to the subject that the main color was one.

YUM YUM YUM!

This weekend it's "blue" and I haven't had a chance yet to take pictures. So I'm hoping to get out tomorrow and take some photos of what "blue" means to me.

I will never be a wedding photographer...

Last night I went to a wedding. Beautiful couple, beautiful setting. I learned, however, that I would never make a good wedding photographer. I really don't think it would fun. However, I did learn that I'm starting to develop an eye for things that look like they could be photographed. I do still feel like I gamble with subjects and composition and tell myself that I'll critique it later. I did get some delightful photos though.

Here is my best wedding shot. Being an Irish wedding, I thought it important that I got the hands tied together (but go figure, I didn't get a picture of the kiss or any dances, etc.

My husband, always feels like he has a camera in his face and rarely smiles for the camera..But I GOT ONE!!! --teehee--

Because the wedding was located at a ranch, The Tanque Verde Ranch (where they filmed "Hey Dude"), I had to get some pictures of horses and cacti.

This saguaro has seen better days, but honestly, I think this saguaro is one of the cooler ones out there!

The view from the porch where the wedding was held.

While we were waiting for the wedding to start we were lucky enough to see some hummingbirds. This was my favorite of the 3 or 4 I took.

There were some really neat wood columns for this ranch house. I took these photos with a texture challenge in mind (and I'll add them there as well) in the Light Stalking forums.

Finally, I had some fun in the reception. It was a low lit room, with a very warm feel to it. Here are my results...

So maybe I WOULD like to photograph weddings, but only if I was in charge of details. Good thing I have a day job I'm not quitting anytime soon.

Pets are family too!

Our pets make for good subjects (when they behave, which is rarely!).

Meet the dogs (the cats will have to wait for their debut)! Hopefully as I work on my photography, the pets will make more appearances!

Meet the dane, Nanna. She's the sweetest pups and wants to cuddle all the time! She loves to cuddle with my son, but with her being so big I have to be careful she doesn't step on him. She is also very protective of me, which I like.

Meet the basset, Penny. She is r-o-t-t-e-n. She is a cuddler, but she also likes to wait until you're not looking to get into things. She is a happy pups who loves her humans, but don't leave her unattended or you'll have a mess to pick up!

Meet the beagle, Ira. This is my husband's dog. He is the most protective over HIS things. His things are his, and so are yours! He's a happy pups and still gets into a little bit of trouble here and there. He's a BARKER!

I must get some more pictures of the cats to post.

It's amazing to me how personalities in pets can differ so much. My goal in the future is to show our pets' personalities through photos.