Meter Maid!

I read a lot of blogs. Between my love of photography, my hobby of scrapbooking, my experiences as a mom, my quest for meal ideas, I have a lot of "stuff" in poor Google Reader.

The majority of blogs I read are photographically rich. Several of them are blogs of photogs (and I seem to add a new one every few days) but many are hobbyists who happen to take a great photo. It's on the latter, interestingly enough, that I find the best tips to improve my photography. We hobbyists are excited to learn and everything is new, so we like to share it with others.

Unfortunately, I tend to forget a great tip as soon as I move on to the next blog.

Or do I?

A couple of weeks ago at a birthday party, I was having trouble photographing one of the young guests as he sat with the patio doors at his back. For once my blog reading came to save me, and I remembered a tip shared on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog* aaaaaaaaaaaaages ago. Here's the video she linked to (by the delightful Candice Stringham):



Now I'm still figuring out all the ins and outs of my camera, but for the quick fix what you're looking for is that little star button. I have a Canon and mine's on the right side beside the button for selecting focus points.

Honestly, I was skeptical, but I gave it a whir. Here are both photos, SOOC:




By George it worked! Give praise for the magical star button! (and to my brain for somehow retaining that one).

Just in case it was a fluke, I decided to try it yesterday in the snow when a couple of my photos came out extra dark.




And yes, for those who are doubtless wondering, I did move afterwards so I'd have better light, but I wanted to try it--and it worked wonderfully!

If you'd like more of Candice's tips, you can find them at Creating Keepsakes (They're the series called behind the scenes). If you'd like a treasure trove, YouTube has all kinds of helpful videos. If your brain is like mine, you may want to watch one and IMMEDIATELY try it out so you're less likely to forget.

*Come for the scrapbooking/photos, stay for the playlist. Elizabeth's blog is usually playing in the background while I edit photos. I've found a lot of new favouite artists through her.

Wait for meeeeeeee!

Hello!

Ok, not sure how I got out for a few days, but I'm ready to jump right back into the HSMSHS game with this week's prompts so far.

Monday: Orange

Orange has never been one of my happy colours, but since having kids I'm noticing more and more orange in my space. Winnie the Pooh, clown fish, doll dresses, race cars. The one that really baffles me is this one though:

Listen, I know that no one knows exactly what the dinosaurs looked like, but do you really expect me to believe that the majority of them were, like his toys, bright orange? If so, extinction solved: liver failure.

OFF-TOPIC!

That reminds me of a story for you:

My Hubby's office is in the centre of a row. The kidney dialysis unit is on one side of his office and a tanning salon is on the other.

Yesterday, waiting to pick him up, a woman pulled up and parked beside us. She slowly got out of her car and I had nothing to do but watch. She was stick thin, had stringy hair, and her skin was an incredibly sickly orange colour. I immediately felt poor for her, brave woman, going in for her treatment. I hoped she'd get the help she needed.

And then she went into the tanning salon.

Really?

Really.

We live in a strange, strange world.

Tuesday: Trinket

I'm not one for a lot of trinkets or dust catchers. I rarely wear jewellry and dislike clutter. But I love this little gal, who sits atop my stove to keep me company and cheer me as I cook.

Today: Radiate

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful....During the day, these are the rays we count on to keep us warm....and they're fun to watch too. (I thought the coals radiated better than the actual flame). I guess some oranges make me happy after all!

That's my space this week! Can't wait to catch up with all the other players!

PS In case you don't usually follow her, I just thought I'd mention that the Pioneer Woman is having a giveaway for B&H Photography gift certificates. Sweet. (you can follow the link in my sidebar: Pioneer Woman Photography).

Doesn't the title say Superfluous?

How did a week get away from me like that? I really have no idea why I've been missing the HSMSHS prompts. I haven't even always missed taking the photos, just posting to the blog.

Let's blame it on JanuFeb, shall we? I blame everything on JanuFeb. (We don't get along.)

Anyway, here's a random sampling of some of last week's prompts that never made it to post on time:






And, as it turns out, we have a LOT of carvings in our house. I didn't realize how much I like them until that prompt. I'm still finding "carve" to photograph. In fact, I just now thought of another one. So I can't resist sharing a second carve:

And now that that's clear, I'll be off on a little photo safari to catch up on this week. See you in a bit!

Old Masters

I missed yesterday's HSMSHS prompt and meant to do both it and today's together, but when I went to get today's prompt I saw Carve and had to share this photo that I took on a trip to Springfield, Mass. this past September.

Everywhere I looked was so rich with detail and history, and I'm afraid I gave my camera quite a workout just trying to capture the beauty of the square where we were eating our lunch. You just don't see amazing workmanship like this anymore, and when I think of the tools they had versus the tools we have now, the love and artistry of their craft blazes through even more. It may be just a building, but that's no reason not to give it your best. Building things that last, giving your best to a job, carving a place for yourself in your surroundings. Why isn't this done anymore?

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PS I'll still be looking around my current space for discard and carve and will try to post later if I get any good shots.

Even a fairy princess can have a bad day...

Cold and wet

Today's HSMSHS prompt is water, and if you haven't been over there yet, you don't want to miss the photos. Beautiful, lovely, peaceful water shots. I keep sneaking back to look again.

And what have I got for you? Well, since all of the water outdoors looks pretty much the same...

...and we've established that I'm pretty much a total winter wimp, I decided to try to find some water indoors (though I did look around for some interesting icicles while I was bringing in wood for the stove; I'd like points for that).

Indoor water....actually, with our wacky weather we've been having some plumbing problems the past week or two, so indoor water is a bit of a sore subject right now. This is a shame, because we all love water, and we go through a lot of it. Long hot showers, baths for the kids, load after load of laundry, clean floors and kitchen counters, dishes galore...Water, I lOVE YOU!

Most of all though, I love water to drink. It's the first thing any of us grabs when we're thirsty or hungry. And where do we find our water? Well, the fridge of course! No fancy designer or bottled waters for us, though! Nope! We have a reverse osmosis unit at our sink (yay!). The water tastes great, but both Hubby and I like our water COOOOOOOOOLD. We have these two plastic jugs that are always on the go. They've never had anything other than water in them, and one has usually just been filled and is chilling while we drink down the second one. We really love water in our house!

(For a bonus, you get to see my milk, IN A BAG! Apparently the Americans don't have such a thing, and always act shocked when they see it. Of course now I'm wondering about my European friends. Milk--bags? plastic jugs? cartons? bottles?)

Thanks for looking at my water. I know it's not pretty, but it's pure, and it's refreshing.

Heads Up!

This was shared on my scrapbooking forum last night:

Scrapbooks Etc. magazine is doing a "Kid on the Cover" photo search. At Scrapbooks etc. we think all kids are cute, and we’re celebrating our 10th Anniversary by putting one lucky kid on the cover. We’ll hold six themed photo contests throughout 2009. You’ll upload the photos of your kids, and a panel of judges will select five semi-finalists. Those five will then be posted here for the public to vote. Get the word out to family, friends, etc., and make sure they come back to vote every day because the leading vote getter will be one of the six finalists.

This is what they are looking for now!

February/March Show us your cute kid! Upload your sweetest shots of your child enjoying Valentine's Day activities or anything you think would look perfect on our February/March cover. To increase your chance of winning make sure the photo shows just one person and focuses on the child's face. Also, the child should be smiling, relaxed, and looking at the camera.Upload your photos today at http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/kidonthecover/

I can't actually play because of this part:

Open to parents or legal guardians of children between the ages of two (2) years and seven (7) years of age as of January 22, 2009, who are legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, 21 years or older.

But I thought I would get it out there for my American neighbours!