Photo Walks

Alright....so since I received a tripod and a lens hood for my birthday (and a whole lotta scrapbooking stuff!), I was itching to take it out and use both. To be honest, I've also been dying to shoot the fountains in the man made lakes (?) we have all around our neighborhood...and I absolutely love the light about an hour before the sun goes down (meaning, I also have to work pretty fast).

The first set of photos came about when Joe and I were returning home from a family event. We drove across the bridge right above the River Valley (about 149st and Summit Drive) and I looked over, and it's one of the most amazing views of downtown. I've always said to myself that I will get to that bridge and shoot it, and so when we got home, I grabbed my tripod and camera and hopped in my car. I HAD to get the photos - no better time than now! The river valley was a technicolor of fall - rich reds, sunny yellows, burnt oranges, and shades of green all over - framing downtown perfectly in the background. I hope you like the photos - fall is one of my favorite times of the year and I wish it would last abit longer before the dreaded 'w' season! lol.

And a sunset photo I took later when I got home (through the window of the spare room)...too hard to resist!

My next photo walk came about just last night. I was driving home after work and just told myself I had to go get those fountain photos I want so bad before they are turned off for the winter. So, I just did it. It was really fun to play around on my camera, especially with the Tv modes and Av modes (shutter and aperture priority) and to see the difference each made. The lighting was gorgeous, the lake practically crystal clear and I'm pretty happy with the photos I took!

Hope you enjoyed! Countdown to counting our blessings ;)

P.S. Once I get Creative Suites set up on my computer, I'll be able to do more of the photo style blogs you see on other photographer's sites. I am assuming that this is how they do it....if there is a way in iPhoto to do this, please someone tell me!

Cherie Howard Shoot

So here it is...the photos that I liked the most out of the MANY I took from the Cherie Howard photo shoot. They're not the greatest, but I was working in low light conditions with no external flash, no flash hood (is that what they even call it?) and with about 10 photographers around me trying to get 'the' shot with all their external gizmos. A few of the pics I attached my camera to some lighting mechanism and I was amazed at the quality it produced.

However, the models were all really fun to work with, had a great sense of humor, and it was fun seeing all of Cherie's designs. Plus the photographers who were there were always willing to answer a question (or two or three) and ready to help! Anyways, let me know what you think, I'm really open to critique..it's how I learn!

Yes this photo is way overexposed, but...I kinda like it.

I like the next two, the first I think I just like that the model is doing something with her hands, and the second, I caught her in-between poses.

Conversion Complete!

I am officially an Apple user - and I Looooove It! The iMac is so easy to use...there is a little finagling with controls, but it's pretty easy to get the hang of, and not like a huge alienbeast I thought it would be. The only habit I seem to have, thus so far (6 hours into using the iMac), is hitting the 'control' button on what would've been a PC keyboard, when I have to use 'command'. Also...it appears that iDVD has disappeared out of my applications folder, so I'm sure there was some user mishap there. I am also unable to load my discs from my engagement and wedding sessions onto iPhoto, which is frustrating me (all other discs that I have have been fine so far). Hopefully I will be able to sort this out soon! So far, a very enjoyable experience...and the resolution! Don't even get me started - sooo amazing.

My 30th birthday party came and went....and was a blast in the process. Everyone came out and had a great time, for quite a long part of it, I was running around inside like a madwoman making sure everyone was ok for food and food was topped up, while Joe was outside barbecuing for his life! In the end, all the work and effort was so worth it, and we have still discovered that we have not tapped into the finesse of hosting a party without looking and being frazzled. With practice I'm sure...

Here are a few new cards I made.

Tried iris folding....not loving the card, but was more trying out a new folding technique. Turned out well, but is so time-intensive that I don't think I'd be doing this too much. There's also tea folds, which look super cool, but again, takes alot of time...but would like to at least dabble and try it out...so let's see what I come up with.

Got a new cartridge for my birthday...the Cricut Songbird...here are a few cute cards I made. They are a little different from my usual style, as I try to stay away from the Cricut/Stampin' Up looking cards, but the cartridge was just too cute!