Day 11 - M&Ms

MMMMM! My favorite snack!  This is an M&M dispenser that my Hubby gave to me. It's kinda like a gum ball machine. He and our daughter, Kristina, gave me a LARGE bag of M&Ms a few weeks ago. They know my weakness.

Settings for this photo are: f/8, 1/6 sec., ISO 800.

I thought we could use some color today.

Day 10 - Tree Pods

Well, it is a dreary day out today. The wind blew like crazy and then the rain came. It was nice to have the rain, but it sure does make for a lazy day. I walked around the yard today looking for my photo of the day. The dark skies and wind made it difficult to get a good shot. This is the best one of the bunch. Not everything is in bloom yet.

Settings for this photo are: f/5.6, 1/50 sec., ISO 200

I did lighten it up a little bit.

Day 9 - Aged Flower Pot

The elements have really taken their toll on this flower pot. We've had it for a long time and between all the times we've moved and the sun, rain, cold, etc. that it has been through, it is looking a little beat up. I gave this photo a sepia tone. Also, this is my first try at an HDR image. HDR is High Dynamic Range and when you use this technique, you merge multiple photos of the same composition that have different light levels. I've seen some amazing HDR images. Mine is no where near amazing, but it was fun to see what my software could do.

Settings for this photo are: f/8, ISO 400. The shutter speeds vary.

Day 8 - Ring

This is my Grandmother's ring. She passed away in 1990. I have a few of her rings. She was a big fan of rings with cubic zirconia gems and big colorful pendants. I remember going through her jewelry box as a child and thinking she had the neatest necklaces and rings. I've recently started wearing some of the rings. No need for them to stay hidden away in a jewelry box.

This photo was taken this evening with my macro lens. You can see the small focus area. I was as close to the ring as I could possibly get and I had the aperture all the way open. The settings were: f/3.5, 1/100 sec, ISO 800. I wanted to take this photo outside with direct sunlight but by the time I was ready to take the photo, the sun was behind the trees. Maybe I should try it again in a couple of weeks after the time change.

Day 7 - Daffodil

One of the first signs of Spring for us is the blooming of the daffodils ( I also saw some beautiful tulips this evening that were growing in a highway median). These daffodils are a part of an existing flower bed in our front yard. They are a bright spot after a cold winter!

Settings for this photo are: f/8, 1/40 sec, ISO 400.

These were in shadow by the time I got home, changed clothes and got my camera out. I needed to change because I had to get low to the ground. My neighbors were probably wondering what on Earth I was doing!  Still, I think the lighting was good, no sharp shadows.

Spring is in the air!

Day 6 - Texas Flag

In honor of Texas Independence Day I chose to light paint our Texas Flag. Have I mentioned how much fun it is to light paint? I used blue, red and white lights but the blue really didn't show up well. I am proud to be a Texan and even though the Marine Corps has taken us across the United States, we haven't forgotten our home state. This flag is a comfort for me.

Settings for this photo are: f/5, 60 seconds, ISO 100. I used 60 seconds this time because I knew I'd need more time to paint. This flag is on our wall and it wasn't easy to reach the top (I am a shorty). So I had a step stool on one side and a chair on the other and had to climb up one side and light up the areas that I could reach, then climb down and cross to the other side and climb back up and paint again. A little bit of a work out. :)

Day 5 - Light Painting

This has been such a fun 5 days! I am looking forward to the next 360 days. Everywhere I go I see things that I could photograph. I knew I'd have fun and I wanted to learn. I hoped this project would help me learn more about photography and to get me out of my comfort zone (which is a really small zone!). A couple of weekends ago my friend Heather and I joined our Photography group for a "Long exposure and light painting" photo session. We had a blast playing with light!  We were both inspired to "light paint" a guitar. She used her son's guitar and you can see her photo here. I used my daughter's bass guitar. I have two versions here. My daughter liked the all white photo and I liked the white and blue. 

The settings for this photo are: f/5, 40 seconds, ISO 100.

I will be doing more light painting. It really is a lot of fun!