Wet Leaves in the Sun

I turned the sprinkler off by our pepper plants, and noticed the leaves on the tree were dripping water. I had to get a few photos with the setting sun throwing light on the leaf with the droplets of water.

Date: 06/05/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/320 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 100mm

A few minor tweaks of blacks and lighting in Photoshop.  I also cropped part of the photo.

Frog in the Rocks

As I was watering plants outside, I swore I could see a rock jump.  On the double take, I realized it was a interesting colored frog.  After watering everything, he was still there, so I grabbed the camera and got some pictures.  This was my favorite.

 

Date: 06/05/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 100mm

Little if any editing in Photoshop.

.

Blooming Sunset

We had another awesome sunset this evening.  I didn't go out at first.... but once the sun went all the way under, it just lit up the clouds to the point I needed to go out and take a photo.  The tree in our backyard of course became the subject again.  This time though, the leaves are blooming out in full force.

 

Date: 05/30/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/30 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 28mm

Photoshop was a slight WB adjustment.

Flowers and Grass

Steven's Lake has an bald eagles nest. I went down there looking for the bird to photograph, but did not have any luck. We hung around for a while, but rain was moving in and I was not going to get the camera wet. I took some photos of the flowers as we were leaving.

Date: 05/30/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/100 sec
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 100mm

 

Photoshop involved cropping a bit of the top off the photo and a minor tweak of the WB.

Walk Down the Road

As I was photographing the flowers, everyone went to "town" to get icecream. Dakota came back and we went for a walk down to the creek. I just loved this photo of her on the road. She looks so big!!

Date: 05/29/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 400mm

 

I'm fairly certain I didn't do anything in Photoshop...

Beetle on Pedal

I switched over to the macro lens and started to look at individual flower pedals.  I found this little beetle crawling around. I liked this photo with the little bug's antennae on the flower.

 

Date: 05/29/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/125 sec
Aperture: F/3.2
Focal Length: 100mm

 

Photoshop involved cropping the photo in closer.  

Flowers on the Hill

On the hill behind the cabin, we have an old lawn roller that is rusting away.  The neat part was the two grouping of flowers that were positioned by the roller.  

Date: 05/29/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/13 sec
Aperture: F/13
Focal Length: 32mm

Photoshop was a minimum of  WB tweak and a little bit of cropping.

Playing with the Hose

The second water photo of the day was when Dakota was playing with the hose.  In this photo, the part I love the most is the color of the water. 

 

Date: 05/28/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Aperture: F/7.1
Focal Length: 200mm

Again, only minor WB tweaks (if I even did that, I don't remember now). 

Drink of Water

Once the sun finally poked out on Saturday, Dakota needed to get out and play in the water.  Dad had the pump running with ice-cold water coming up.  Even though it was FREEZING, it didn't stop her from playing in it.  I had two photos I really liked of her with the water, this being the first one.

Date: 05/28/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/320 sec
Aperture: F/7.1
Focal Length: 175mm

 

Small tweak of white balance in Photoshop, but that was it.  

Pouty-Faced Baby

It has been almost a week since I broke the camera out, but I managed to take a bunch of photos this long weekend.  I first started with Mason, my nephew.  I positioned him in the light and got a bunch of pictures of him smiling and giggling... but then he got upset that he was laying down.  He got this big pouty-face on him, and I just love how his lips bunched all up in the photo. 

Date: 05/28/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/50 sec
Aperture: F/9
Focal Length: 200mm

 

I played around in Photoshop a little bit for this picture.  I took the "shadow" slider made it brighter so the shadows that were across the bottom right of the picture and his face lightened up a bit to make it look better.  Other than that, maybe some minor tweaking of white balance, but nothing else.

Foggy Bridge

On our way home for the weekend, it was a nice sunny day until we get up to the Mackinac Bridge to cross northward.  As we approach, I see it is blanketed in fog, so we had to make an emergency stop to try to photograph the bridge in the fog. 

Several lessons learned -

1) In fog, any dust will stand out in the photo - I really need to clean my filters...
2) Why these bayfly bugs hatch, they are everywhere, maybe some of my "dust" are these bugs (I know it is some dust, since I looked at the filter since I got home),
3) Bugs are annoying when photographying, I should have had long pants on :-P

I was not thrilled with how the photo turned out.  It's not bad, but it didn't "wow" me. 

 

Date: 05/22/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Aperture
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/125 sec
Aperture: F/16
Focal Length: 150mm

I did a little cropping, but the big help of Photoshop was the "spot" tool, to help me get rid of the dust/bugs that were dotting the photo originally. 

Apple Tree and Bee

The apple tree was in full bloom at Kerry's Grandpa's house.  It was alive with a buzzing sound, that I found to be many bees doing what they love best.  I chased these guys all over the tree.  I first tried to use the tripod focusing on one flower, but they moved around too much and too fast, so I went to hand-holding.  In the photo, I wish I would have bumped my ISO even more to allow for a faster shutter.  Another lesson learned.

 Date: 05/21/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/400 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 100mm  

I cropped in Photoshop.

Mackinac Bridge

We traveled to lower Michigan for the weekend for Kerry's Grandpa's memorial service.  On our way over, I had to stop and try to get some cool photos of the Mackinac Bridge.  We stopped and had supper to give the sun a little more time to go down to get that better light for photographs.

 

Date: 05/20/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Aperture: F/11
Focal Length: 50mm

This was originally taken as a vertical photo, but I cropped it, since the trees below and the blank sky above did not add anything.  Did some minor spot removal - not sure at this point if it was dust or bugs, since they were having a big bug hatch.

Square Foot Garden

I leveled the dirt after work today and put the strings in place to space out the "square foot" garden we have.  Right now it seems bare, but it will not be for long!

Date: 05/18/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/60 sec
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 18mm

I straightened the picture in Photoshop, and then cropped a little off the top, so you didn't see the neighbor's houses and some sky that was washed out.  No other adjustments.

Backyard Sunset

This is why I like Denmark and our backyard of an open farmer's field (and HATE the fact they may be selling it as housing lots this summer!!).  Color in the clouds this evening was amazing.  I had to take a photo, and the tree in our backyard with the clouds and color background provided the perfect photo for the day.

Date: 05/17/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/80 sec
Aperture: F/3.5
Focal Length: 18mm

Very minor editing in Photoshop - straightened out the horizon some, and a little cropping, but that is it.

Trillium on Bark

I placed a Trillium on a piece of bark.  I setup the photo this way to pick up the bark.  I shot some at a small ampeture, but it was this one at f/16 I liked the most, since it shows the most texture. 

 

Date: 05/14/2011

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/10 sec
Aperture: F/16
Focal Length: 100mm

Slight white-balance tweak in Photoshop, but nothing else.  Didn't even crop it!

Trilliums Part 2

We were at Kerry's folks this weekend and went down to the woods (camera and tripod tagging along of course), and I got some photos of some more Trilliums. 

 

Date: 05/14/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/400 sec
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 100mm

I cropped a little tiny bit off the top and bottom.  Other than that, no changes in Photoshop.

Sunset Sky

We had rain today, but as the sun was setting, the clouds broke enough to let some awesome colors through. I quickly dropped what I was doing, grabbed the camera (with the Macro Lens that was on it), and went outside in my socks on the wet patio.  In the end, I think the photo was worth it :)

Date: 05/12/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Shutter
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/125 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 100mm

I did some minor cropping in Photoshop.  Along with that, I did play around with some of the coloring to punch up the yellows a bit.  Nothing too much, just enough help give the picture the wow I seen when I was taking the photo.

Trillium's Arrived

I have been watching for weeks for the Trillium's to start showing up across our house in the wooded park.  As I was coming home tonight, I caught a glimpse and ran over there to snap some photos before we had to meet Kerry's uncle for dinner.  I even got a break and the rain let up to allow me to get some photos.  Although some were already blossomed, I liked the look of this photo the most!

Date: 05/11/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Shutter
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 100mm

I tweaked the white balance and exposure on the photo.  No cropping. 

Cherry Tree

While working on our garden today, I noticed our choke cherry tree was starting to leaf-out.  I got a photo of it tonight as the sun was going down.  I pushed the zoom to the max, and really liked how the farm field and trees in the background completely blurred out.

Date: 05/08/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Aperture: F/7.1
Focal Length: 200mm

I changed my ISO and went back to RAW+JPEG.  I cropped this photo so it was a vertical picture.  No other Photoshop editing.

Look

I liked this photo from the wedding.  It is my cousin (not the one that got married) holding his nephew. 

Date: 05/07/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/20 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 160mm

This photo was cropped only.  It was too shot in just JPEG.  One of the lessons learned, is to aways check your ISO before you shoot.  I had it set to 800 from taking the spider picture the day before.... and forgot to change it.  Both photos' still turned out good for me :)

Nephew

Today was my cousin's wedding.  My nephew was along at the ceremony.  Since we arrived early, we were sitting in the front lobby area which was all windows letting in the beautiful sunlight.

 

Date: 05/07/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/200 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 170mm

I purposefully changed to JPEG only for the wedding.... since I was only snapping them for fun.  This photo has no editing at all from what came from the camera.

Spider in the Basement

I started plastering our basement tonight.  As I was putting up the last tools, I seen this bad buy crawling around by my freshly plastered wall.  I grabbed the macro lens and wanted to try getting some shots.  I'm not thrilled with how it turned out.  I needed more lighting on the spider itself.  Extension tubes would have been helpful to get in closer as well... I might need to buy some of them :-)

Date: 05/06/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 800
Shutter: 4.0 sec
Aperture: F/13
Focal Length: 100mm

I just did some cropping in Photoshop - nothing else.

Morning Dew

 I woke up this morning to some awesome sunlight.  The last week or so has been nothing but rain and clouds, so it was a nice change of pace.  The light meant something needed to be photographed, so I took out the camera and found all the dew on the ground. 

Date: 05/01/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/200 sec
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 100mm

In Photoshop I adjusted the white balance, cropped, and also played with the vignetting and sharpening tools.  

Last Bullets Standing

After shooting this weekend, the comment was made, as we were putting up the empties, that I had something new to shoot, with a camera that is.  Turns out, Lindsay was right.

 

Date: 04/28/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/13 sec
Aperture: F/14
Focal Length: 100mm

Cropped in photoshop - no other adjustments.

Reflections

After the eagle was scared away by somebody driving past, the light outside was too amazing to simply go back in the house.  So with my pajama pants on, I wanted over to the pond because I thought I heard some geese honking. 

The geese were not there, but the water was as flat as a mirror!  It created awesome reflections of the gazebo and tree!

Date: 04/24/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/160 sec
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 105mm

I did not do any post editing in Photoshop.  This is the JPEG that came out in my RAW+JPEG format.

Eagle's Perch

We were over to my wife's parents for the weekend.  I brought the camera and gear hoping to get out at some point to snap some photos.  Saturday was dreary, not a good day.  This morning however, was a big change.  I woke up, starting going down the stairs, looked out the window at the landing, and right back up I went to find the camera.

This eagle has a nest about a mile away, but likes to sit up in the tree across the street from Kerry's parents to scope out the pond and the open fields.

Date: 04/24/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/200 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 350mm

I cropped a bit in Photoshop, but that is all I did for post-processing.  

Ripples of Snow

I will admit, the photo did not turn out like I wanted.  The sun was setting this evening with awesome colors reflecting in the snow.  I hee-hawed around for a while,since I was pressed with time trying to get my homework done before we leave for Easter, and quickly realized I was running out of time.  I ran out, setup the tripod, snapped a few shots, and hoped for the best.  I'm a little disappointed in the results, but again, learned a great lesson about waiting and rushing....

Date: 04/20/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/320 sec
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 50mm

Photoshop involved a crop.... that was it so at least I got the color balance right in my rush....

Thundersnow

April 19, 2011 - Wisconsin gets hit by a snowstorm predicted to drop 8-12 inches.  The snow is wet and heavy, sticking to everything it touches.  This was the first time ever where as I was shoveling, I got to watch lighting and hear thunder almost constatntly.

Our potted plants were put out two weekends ago, because the calendar said Spring.  The snow stuck to the stems from last years dead stems.

 

Date: 04/19/2011

Camera: Canon EOS 40D

Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Exposure: Manual

ISO: 100

Shutter: 0.8 sec

Aperture: F/16

Focal Length: 100mm

Post processing in Photoshop just involved cropping. 

Flooded Farm Field

Down our street is a flooded farm field that I have noticed ducks, geese, and a few cranes flocking to the water each night.  After supper, I drove down and snapped several shots out the car window (some of the birds flew away with just me driving by and slowing down).

 

Date: 04/17/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 640
Shutter: 1/400 sec
Aperture: F/7.1
Focal Length: 400mm

I cropped the RAW file for this JPEG, zoomed in a little to make the ducks the focus.  

Full Moon

Today is a two photo day.  While taking the photo of the breaking storm, I turned around to see the break in clouds had the full moon out!  I knew it was not going to last long, since more clouds were fast approaching.  I switched lenses and started snapping.  A minute after this photo, clouds rolled in and ruined the opporutnity.

 

Date: 04/16/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/80 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 400mm

Little post-processing on this photo.  Just a square crop of the moon. 

Breaking Storm

It's April in Wisconsin.  This means snow is a real possibility, and, unfortunately, we experienced it today.  Well, after spending all day cooped up doing homework, I noticed the snow stopped and you could actually see sunlight.  A quick walk outside and I was back in grabbing the camera, lenses, and tripod.

 

Date: 04/16/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/50 sec
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 18mm

When I got home, I did a bit more Photoshoping than I normally do.  It started with a crop, since this was actually taken as a vertical photo.  After straightening the horizon, I then applied gradient filters twice.  Once to darken the sky and lighten the ground, and then another one at the bottom of the ground to lighten the farm/house and the bottom skyline.

Lego Indy

I wanted to get a photo of the day today, so I decided to try get an image of the Lego Indy that is on a magnet on my filing cabinet (Lego Indy is from our Florida Trip from Lego Land in Disney!). 

Date: 04/15/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Aperture
ISO: 200
Shutter: 10 sec
Aperture: F/16
Focal Length: 100mm

I wasn't thrilled with the photo.  I need to find a way to better light objects I want to photograph.  Holding flashlights or positioning with lights from the room is less than ideal.  Minor white-balance in Photoshop.

Grass in the Sun

Up to this point, the photo of the day, was always posted the day I took it.  I'm taking an exception to this photo and posting!  I entered the Ice Age Trail Alliance photo contest back in February.  The end of March I found out two of my photos made it to the final round of voting that happened on 4/9.  On 4/12, I got an email stating my "Grass in the Sun" photo won in the Flora and Fauna Category !!! (http://www.iceagetrail.org/photo-contest)

 

Photo of day for: 04/12/2011
Taken: 10/31/2010
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Landscape Mode
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/400 sec
Aperture: F/11
Focal Length: 18mm

The photo was taken in JPEG.  I remember I did some tweaking in Photoshop, but not a ton - mainly cropping and some lightening of the grass.

Orange Rye and Wheat Bread

My wife cooked up some bread this weekend.  After flooding the house with the awesome smell of baking bread, I got to eat some when it was still warm, which is always a great treat!!  Two days later, I finally found time to photograph the bread for her to use in her blog.  Notice the pieces missing  :)

Date: 04/11/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/60 sec
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 100mm
Flashed used (to light the left side of the loaf)

Not much in the way of post editing.  White balance was good - the only issue was some slight cropping of the right side to get rid of empty space, and the top to eliminate the blurry lettering of the knife manufacturer.

Grandma's Helper

Today, Dakota was helping Grandma with dishes.  Great photo opportunity since it was right in-front of the window in the kitchen.

Date: 04/09/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/100 sec
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 100mm

Again, I'm using RAW+JPEG.  I quickly run through the JPEG right in Windows to delete files that are blurry or not good.  Then I open up the RAW in Photoshop and in this case, just adjusted whitebalance.  No cropping or any other tricks!

In a Child's Eye

My brother and sister-in-law came down to my parents for the weekend.  We of course went up for dinner and the evening of entertainment by Dakota and Mason!

 

Date: 04/08/2011

Camera: Canon EOS 40D

Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Exposure: Program

ISO: 800

Shutter: 1/30 sec

Aperture: F/2.8

Focal Length: 100mm 

Again, I take pictures to learn.  I found out tonight, the Macro lens is NOT (I repeat NOT) for taking pictures of moving children.  Focus takes way to long, that as soon as it is in focus, they have moved and the pictures was a blur.

The good news, is that Dakota finally settled down when it was time for her "buba" in Grandma's arms.  She was still enough then for me to use the macro, and get a picture of her eye (singular, I couldn't bump up the aperture to get a better field of depth, without decreasing the shutter to the point where everything was blurry).  I could see a light reflecting, but it really wasn't until I got home and pulled the photo open that you can make out the entire dinning room light in her eye.  I didn't realize I was still in ISO 800, but the photo looked clean regardless....

In photoshop I cropped the eye closer (since I had blurry face to both left and right of the eye), and tweaked the white-balance since I took it in RAW.

Moon

The moon was nothing more than a sliver tonight, and I wanted to see what a 400mm zoom really could do.

 

Date: 04/06/2011

Camera: Canon EOS 40D

Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

Exposure: Manual

ISO: 800

Shutter: 1/160 sec

Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 400mm 

I was thrilled with the lens!!  I took the pics in RAW+JPG format.  I have been trying to get into using RAW more, but I have the bad habit of picking up my camera and just firing away (and since I was just in JPG mode, I forget about the RAW).  Once downloaded I quickly scanned through the JPG files, deleted the bad files, and then played in Photoshop RAW editor to set White-balance and crop out the black around the moon.

I really was blown away by the detail of the moon that was picked up!  I'm looking forward to a full moon and hopefully a clear night to try it again.  Maybe I do need to look at that 2X extender...... 0:)

Heart from Rings

I finally stopped reading about photography tonight (and dreaming about new camera bodies and lenses) and decided to actually take some photos with the equipment I have.

Date: 04/05/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1.3 sec
Aperture: F/8
Focal Length: 100mm

The idea of this photo came from one of my numerous books on photography that I have been adding to the piles over the past couple of years.  I wanted to see if how easy it would be to duplicate the double hearts based on our wedding rings.

I learned several valuable lessons including the need to find ways to hold light sources better.  I had a flashlight balanced on a box with napkins.  It only rolled off about a half-dozen times before I got it all to stay in place for the photo.  I'm thinking I need to find a lamp with the movable arms (like the one we have in our bedroom), but smaller......


My disappointment with the photo - I wanted to find a way to put some sparkle into the diamond.   Well, between that and my knowledge that I used an old dictionary instead of a Bible turned to a page to capture some meaningful scripture verse by the rings.  These are opportunities to improve on next time.

Learn by Doing

I have been messing around with photography for a while now.  I remember when I was little, I liked to be the one snapping the photos on the family trip.  I bought many cheap-o cameras to capture memories throughout high school and undergrad.

Marriage brought my first digital camera - a Canon point and shoot.  I borrowed it from Kerry when my brother and I went out to Yellowston fishing during 2005.  We used it for our honeymoon in 2006.  Things took a big change in 2007, when Kerry and I went out to Colorado and we borrowed her brother's Canon Rebel DSLR.  It took me a few years, but I bought one (Canon D40)...and really it has all been down hill from there!


Like most hobbies I have gotten into, I start them by reading... a lot.  My stack of photography books is growing, as well as my supplies.  I like playing with different "tools".... but what can you expect.  I'm an engineer.  I'm anal, detail-orientated, a somewhat of a tech junkie.

I'm also a life-time learner.  I'm finishing up my 3rd degree (May 2012 here I come!!).  And its not that I need more to do, because I have way more than enough - full time job which is typically 60 hrs/week, one class this semester, a basement to finish, and a baby to get ready for - for me to get better and learn more about photography, I need to use it more.  This is what I hope to accomplish with this blog.