Christy's Photography

Flower Gardens

2011-03-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

I was going through my pictures this morning and found ones that I took this summer on vacation. Stanley Park in Vancouver is absolutely amazing. If I had more time while we were there, I think I could have spent a day taking photos of all the flowers in the park.

I love the purple and red colors in these flowers and the lush green surroundings.

Winter Time Again

2010-11-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful autumn this year. I don't know if it's ever taken it's time snowing here. I was able to get some amazing pictures of the leaves turning such beautiful warm colors. Now it's time for winter. I've been thinking about what season I like to shoot in best, and I think as every one of them comes about I remember why I like photography the landscape in the current season. I will admit that by February I will be ready for spring, but right now the snow looks absolutely amazing.

One of my favorite places to take pictures is in my yard. My front yard is where I do most of the photography. I love taking the photos because as I look through them, it doesn't look like my surroundings anymore. It's fun to get just the right angle where I can't see any houses, but I can see my kids' bench under the tree and take the shot.

Aspen Alley

2010-10-05T14:07:00.000-06:00

September was a busy month, but we're trying to get out and do something fun and not only do what needs to be done. I'm glad we couldn't go sooner though, because this past weekend was perfect for autumn pictures in Aspen Alley. Aspen Alley is in southern Wyoming fairly close to Encampment, Wyoming. Although not really well marked, we found it and the leaves were perfect fall colors. The aspen trees are taller than I'd expected them to be.

My son got a camera for his birthday so all of us had cameras. We didn't stay long; we should have eaten lunch before we went looking for the place. I'm hoping to start getting out with my camera more. This weekend was perfect for it.

Summer Tree

2010-09-02T20:12:00.004-06:00

Victoria had the most amazing parks. On our last day in Canada, we went to one of their parks and had a great day. I had my camera and had a ton of fun taking pictures of all the summer landscapes. When I saw this tree, I knew I had to get a picture of it. This tree was so unique. It had a really neat trunk.

I'm not used to the size of parks that Victoria had. Parks here are more for a picnic and playing the play ground. I'd say the difference is all of our national parks, but British Columbia isn't lacking mountains.

The kids played in the park and I had a really good time photographing the landscape. We even saw quite a bit of wildlife.

Sailing In Seattle

2010-08-30T20:17:00.004-06:00

One of Russ' favorite part of our trip was when we went sailing in Puget Sound. It was so amazing. It was the longest day of the year when we went out for our night sail. Because of that, it was toward the end of the night when the sun started to set.

I took quite a few pictures while we were out there, but this is one of my favorite shots. The sun was just starting to go down when on our way back from being out on the water. This is one of my favorite scenes from the night; besides the ones I took of the kids steering the boat.

Summer Daisies

2010-08-28T18:37:00.002-06:00

I planted daisies in the flower garden this year. They were awesome. I worked on depth of field when taking pictures of the flower beds.

I love how the rest of the flower bed and the bricks on the house are out of focus and leave the daisies as the only thing that catches your eye.

Oregon Coast at Sunset

2010-08-27T13:13:00.002-06:00

We had a great time in Oregon this summer. I spent a lot of time on Canon Beach with my camera as the sun was setting. While I was taking pictures my kids hunted for hermit crabs and looked through the tide pools.

It was such a great place to take pictures. The rocks along the coast line made the scenery so much more interesting.

Blue Heron

2010-08-22T16:08:00.003-06:00

We walked through Stanley Park when we were in Vancouver. It was such an amazing place. It was hard to believe that we were in a city while we were there.

On or walk through the park, we saw this heron in an area that was a wetland. It was amazing. The bird looks like it's posing for me. The lens I used softened the images as well.

Unique Iris

2010-08-21T10:36:00.003-06:00

My Iris bloomed for the first time this summer right before we went on vacation. I went out and got a few photos before we left because I knew it would be gone by the time we got home.

It turned out to be an amazing bloom, and I really love how this photo turned out. I love the white pedals with a touch of purple around the edges. I sweat I bought pink irises, but I'm okay with these.

Yellow Roses

2010-08-18T20:20:00.003-06:00

I had fun taking photos in a rose garden this summer. I loved this photo with the bright yellow bloom above the other blooms.

I used a fish eye lens on these which distorted the outer edges but left this bloom in focus. I think I could have spent hours going through photography the flowers, but the kids were ready to move on long before I was ready to go.

Exciting Summer Vacations

2010-08-15T16:28:00.002-06:00

It's been an amazing summer for my photography. We took a two week vacation up to the Pacific Northwest, and I got to really focus on taking some amazing photos. We went to this waterfall near Portland because the front desk clerk at our hotel said it was a must see. It was absolutely amazing and a great day trip. The lush greens or Oregon again the waterfall is just refreshing. I played around with the shutter speed, and this is one of my favorite shots.

Heart Flames

2010-03-27T14:26:00.002-06:00

My husband got me a lensbaby for Christmas this year. It definitely expands the photography realm for me. Instead of thinking of everything having to be in focus the lens baby really gives freedom to be artistic.

Some of the pieces that you can use are shaped like hearts of starts for example. The light in the picture will take on the shape. I went to my church one afternoon and had fun taking pictures. This one with the advent candles is one of my favorite.

Winter Scenes

2010-02-20T12:50:00.003-07:00

Although a little too cold, we got more snow this past week. The snowflakes clung to the trees, and I could resist going out before work to get some amazing shots in the front yard.

This one of the bench under the tree was one of my favorites. I used a fish eye lens to distort the sides.

I love my front yard. It always is astounding what fun shots I can get from it. You'd think I didn't have any houses near by.

Beautiful Birds

2010-01-21T19:30:00.003-07:00

I've always liked this picture, but in the background there were lights on the tree. I'm learning Photoshop Elements and learned how to use the clone stamp to blend the tree to cover it up. I haven't always been a fan of graphics programs, but as I learn to use them and see what can be done with them, I'm finding them an amazing tool in photography.

I love the vibrant colors of this peacock and love the I got rid of the Christmas lights in the background even more.

Fairytale Castle

2009-12-28T15:46:00.004-07:00

With my daughter's 11th birthday tomorrow, I have princess castles on my mind. I guess I can understand. I'm still impressed with castles even though I'm not eleven.

This picture was taken from Mary's Bridge. After touring the castle, we went to the bridge over a canyon to see this amazing angle on the castle.

Spending 2 weeks in southern Germany with my camera was quite frankly the funnest photography I've ever taken.

Nature's Colors

2009-11-02T08:14:00.002-07:00

Outdoor Photographer Magazine has some fun themed contest. The one ending today is called Nature's Colors. I love looking through all the amazing photos from photographers all over the world. The entries are so different and the color that are captured are simply amazing. Take a look at the gallery. It's fun and inspiring.

This is one of my entries in to the contest. The yellow contrasted against the green leaves brings me feelings of happiness. I encourage you to go look through this gallery or galleries to past contest. It's a great site.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T06:41:00.002-06:00

Forgetting we're under a smidgen of snow, Happy Halloween! We've had a nice fall. We decided for the first time to go to a pumpkin patch and pick out our pumpkins a few weeks ago. The kinds had a ton of fun and even let me and my husband carry their pumpkins back to the car.

I took my camera along and had fun getting some shots. I need to get out more with my camera. It's really a craft that the more you do the better you are at it.

I'm still getting used to the new camera as well. Most of it's the same, but every camera takes pictures a little bit differently.

New Office Space

2009-08-29T17:59:00.004-06:00

My husband has new office space and is excited to get pictures on the wall. With his new space he wants something different. I took this great picture of my daughter that we both have hanging in our offices. I actually posted it last year here.

I've been wanting a more artistic one of my son as well, but I hadn't taken one until now. We went to Denver this summer and went to the park. I saw the empty bench overlooking the water and told him to go look thoughtfully at the water.

It's so interesting to me that it often takes me months to decide I like a picture. I love this picture. I mentioned to my husband that I was going to hang this in my office and he immediately wanted a copy as well. It should be here next week, and I can't wait.

Summer Gardening

2009-08-23T14:29:00.002-06:00

I've been having a good time in my yard this summer. Although I've let it become more natural and reseed itself, it's been fun watching where flowers will pop up.

Not only do I love gardening, but I could spend hours out there taking picture of the flowers in the garden. It's good to have two hobbies that overlay so well together.

I love the bright red blooms on this plant.

Changing Pictures

2009-08-22T20:25:00.003-06:00

Summer is nearly over; school starts on Monday. I've been out a bit with my camera. Summer has been really busy and the camera hasn't really gone with us many places. It's also been pretty cold, so we have not done as much hiking or camping as we did last year.

Instead of being behind the lens most of summer, I've been learning quite a bit out layers, altering colors, and using the want in Paint Dot Net. I even made a tutorial on line on Squidoo that explains how to make this black and white effect while leaving some color.

I do have a few ideas for some photos, and I'm hoping as school starts and we get back in to a routine that I'll have a little more free time (before the snow falls) to go out on my own and get some pictures.

Paris Carousel

2009-07-18T07:22:00.003-06:00

We're having a very busy summer here. I'm not taking as many pictures as I would like, but I am getting out with the camera.

While the kids watch a movie, I like to work with paint.net and see what effects will do to a picture. I changed this carousel photo to sepia and then left all of the red; which is only on the bottom and the hot air balloon.

As a color piece, this wasn't as eye catching. There was just too much going on in the picture. Now with the sepia tone and only one color it really became a neat scene.

Weekend in Wyoming

2009-06-13T07:30:00.004-06:00

We took a trip up to Yellowstone. On our way there, we drove through Teton National Park. The mountain peaks are absolutely amazing.

Grand Teton Peak was covered by clouds, but this smaller peak with it's reflection in the lake below was just perfect.

The whole family has their own camera's now. Most of the family was out of the car taking photos. My son was in the car reading comic books until we kicked him out for pictures.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T19:21:00.002-06:00

We took some time off this weekend to relax. I took tons of pictures. Every family member has their own camera now. It was a lot of fun to go into the city and have all of us taking photography.

One of my favorite pictures over the weekend is this butterfly picture. I love the shape of the wings. The way they're resting they are shaped like a heart.

Two more weeks and we'll be going on another little vacation so I can take more pictures.

Weeping Birch

2009-05-17T20:47:00.002-06:00

More photos with my new camera. I was playing with some of the lenses in the front yard. I love the contrast of white against all the green of spring.

This tree is one of my favorites in the yard. I honestly think it's beauty made us want the house even more. It's dying and probably should be removed soon. From this angle, it looks amazing though.

I'm certain that once it goes, it will be replaced by the exact same tree.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-14T20:31:00.002-06:00

It's a little late for Mother's Day, but my gift came last night. My wonderful family bought me an Olympus E-520 SLR camera! I'm so excited to get to spend the summer using it. I'm really happy with staying with the Olympus. Knowing the basics to their camera already has really helped.

Last night was mostly spent taking pet pictures. They weren't that impressed with it. However, after dinner tonight I went into the front yard and took some pictures of my gardens. There's not much blooming yet, but these gorgeous purple flowers have sprung up.

I love the new camera. The pictures are so amazing with it. I'm so ready to start the new season of photography with this camera!

Spring Bubble Fun

2009-04-27T18:40:00.002-06:00

We went to see some of my husband's family this weekend. My sister-in-law is a super sweet aunt and bought the kids these bubble makes that would make hundreds in seconds. With three of the kids hard at work the bubble were everywhere.

My daughter, being the budding photographer, asked me to take pictures of it with her camera. This one turned on neat. I might have spent more time working on reflections that they were making or setting up a different shot had it not been so cold. I spent more time enjoying the bubbles through the window than outside.

Roses

2009-04-16T19:08:00.004-06:00

When my husband bought the roses this weekend, he also picked up a nice full orange one. I put up a white back drop and started taking pictures of the flower.

I had fun setting this one up to photograph. Once I was done, I opened it on the computer and did a little editing. I put a little more orange in a background layer in paint.net as to add some depth to the flower.

Inspired

2009-04-12T12:49:00.002-06:00

I went out and took pictures yesterday. My husband bought some roses from the store for me. It was kind of dreary outside, so I decided to do some still life photos with them. They turned out really well, and I had a lot of fun.

We went out to dinner and after we got home, the rain just started pouring. It was somewhat hard to convince myself to go outside, but I had a great idea for one of the roses. I laid it out on the bench in the front yard. They turned out amazing. I turned the background black and white to leave the focus on the rose.

I finally feel inspired again. I had so much fun taking photos again. Even out in the rain and it was pouring down, I remembered how much I love taking photos.

Easter

2009-04-10T18:07:00.003-06:00

Happy Easter! I got these flowers from church. One of my friends is a florist and will bring in flowers to decorate with and let us take them home. I had so much fun taking pictures of these flowers. They are so elegant.

My goal is to get out and take pictures this weekend. The big question is whether they will be great spring pictures or more winter scenes. I may just opt to do still life Easter eggs.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Promises

2009-04-09T20:37:00.002-06:00

As it snows a little more outside, I find the need to see the promise of spring through this rainbow photo. This picture was actually kind of a surprise to me. I was trying to capture the raging water of the river and notice the rainbow coming off the water to perfectly.

Finding rainbows to photograph has always been really fun for me. Most of the time for me, the rainbow looks so more more magnificent in real life that I can't take the right shot to bring out the right color or size of the arch. This picture turned out really well.

So, I will continue to look through my rainbow pictures hoping for the promise of brighter days.

More Fun with Paint.net

2009-04-08T20:48:00.002-06:00

I think this is one of my favorite photos that I've altered graphically yet. I turned the green parts of the peacock feathers black and white and left the eyes of the feathers bright and colorful.

The lack of color on the background creates more texture and leaves the eyes of the feathers to really stand out. I'm having so much fun experimenting with paint.net

The snow has started to melt. I was even outside without a coat on today. After talking with my husband, I think we're going to go to Yellowstone right after school gets out. I'm so excited. There's going to be so many photo opportunities with my camera.

No More Snow!

2009-04-04T10:43:00.002-06:00

I have lived here long enough to know that it still snows in April, but I really need it to snow, warm up for a week, snow again, warm up for a month, etc. It's been cold and gloomy for far too long. We went to a friends house for dinner last night, and she had a picnic despite the weather. (We did not eat outside in the snow though.) I also realize that we've gotten much less snow that a lot of places so I will count my blessings on that one. I'm also getting some extra housework done since we're stuck inside instead of playing outside.

So after shoveling the sidewalk this morning, I looked through my summer photos to warm up. I think snap dragons are my favorite flowers to have in my garden. I love this picture with the purple flowers in the back ground out of focus.

I can not wait to go back out and take pictures in my gardens again this year.

Learning New Things

2009-03-30T19:40:00.002-06:00

I'm slowly learning the graphics program called paint.net. It's a free graphics program that can be downloaded at www.paint.net

I have to admit that I'm very much a naturalist when it comes to my photography. I guess I feel like it's cheating. I need to work at getting the best picture while I'm doing it; not later.

At dinner this weekend, my husband mentioned that several on my floral photos would look really cool if I made the background black and white and left the flower in color. Since it's colder out this month than it was in January, it seemed like a good project to work on to work on my graphics skills.

This yellow tulip picture is my first go at it. It was really fun to play with the picture and create a completely different piece of art from it. Working with the layer functionality this effect is actually pretty easy.

Look At the Butterfly (And Not How Long Since I Last Posted)

2009-03-26T19:25:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since February. It's amazing how fast time flies while you're not updating your blog.

I think I'm mostly avoiding posting because I was really hoping that starting the blog would get me to take tons of pictures. Every time I think about posting, I realize that I haven't taken new photos in a really long time. I know that some of it is the weather. I love photographing outside. I've gotten some really great winter scenes, but I love photography in the summer (or spring and even fall...)

Although I'm bummed about not doing as much photographing that I would like, I do love looking through my archives to do an entry here. There picture was of the butterfly was taken in my yard this fall. Butterflies are always gorgeous. If the sit still long enough to be in a picture then the photo turns out awesome just because you caught a butterfly on film. Most of the pictures of this butterfly turned out blurring. I really like this one though.

It reminds me of a time I was talking to a coworker about my photography. She was admiring a picture I had on the calendar. I was talking about how many of the flower I actually took to get one photo that I felt was awesome. Some of that is experimenting. Some more of it is the fact that I've learned a lot about exposure, aperture, shutter speed, etc. It also show the patience for getting the shot of the moving butterfly.

Rain

2009-02-28T07:03:00.003-07:00

I love photographing in the rain. The lighting is so much different. There is so much natural light, but any issues with shadows are gone.

The other great aspect of rain is the way it makes the leaves look. The leaves are so vibrant in this picture.

This photo way taken in my yard. It always amazes me when I get gorgeous photos without leaving home. I love my yard and it's so fun to find pictures on the macro level that seem to take me out of the yard and some place completely different.

Extinction Sucks

2009-02-23T07:13:00.003-07:00

Time has definitely gotten away from me. Late winter colds have hit the family, and I haven't had much time to think about much else except keeping everything done to a bare minimum.

The whole idea for me when I started this was to post NEW pictures; thus getting my out with my camera more often. I shouldn't be to hard on myself though, I'm more of an outdoors photographer and get out very little in the winter.

Looking at the bright side, it's just as fun to pull from the archives. When I go through old photos I always find new ones to fall in love with. We were on vacation and went to a natural history museum where my daughter insisted on getting this huge sucker. Because we were on vacation I was a huge sucker myself and let them get them. We waited in the lobby while my husband ran up to the room to get something and I got this candid shot of her eating her treat. I'm not sure if you can see it, but it says "Extinction Sucks." Landscapes come much easier to me, so when I take a photo that I like of a person I'm also so excited.

I'm taking an oath to myself that I will take new pictures someday soon, and I will get better.

Feeling A Little More Sane in a Crazy World

2009-02-04T19:38:00.003-07:00

The world seems really busy around me; moving a little too quick. I'm trying very hard to slow down though.

This photo shoot that I did, in my front yard, was one of the funnest I've ever done. It was challenging to have items in the shot that were motionless, but showing motion around. I love this picture because it looks like I'm picking the flower off a marry-go-round that's spinning out of control. With the lenses I got for Christmas I should actually be able to do a little longer exposure with my camera when I do a shoot like this.

These marigolds in my yard were really thick this year. They grew from seeds from the plants I had the year before. They were so think in the flower bed this year that it was so beautiful. I let the them die off in the garden this year, and I hope they come back this summer as well.

Six More Weeks of Winter

2009-02-03T20:03:00.003-07:00

As always, the ground hog saw his shadow and there will be six more weeks of winter. (Or in my case probably three more months.) I'm getting a little stir crazy for some great summer landscapes to enjoy. I do enjoy the winter landscapes, but this time of year it's not always gorgeous and white but more yellow and muddy.

I took this picture of Steamboat lake this last summer while we were camping. I'd gotten up really early and went for a hike with my camera in hand. There was steam rolling off the lake as the sun rose. I took some really neat reflection pictures, but with the bark beetles in the area, the trees make it hard to take a nice landscape picture. It's so extremely sad to look at the forest with the beetles killing so many of the trees.

So, while we're still fully into winter, I will be planning some great camping trips and can't wait to take my camera along during the warm morning hikes.

That's Better

2009-01-27T20:46:00.002-07:00

Unlike the last entry shows, our dog Izzy usually does a really good job posing for me when I've got my camera. It's harder for her to pose with the family, but when she's by herself she can sit patiently while I change lenses, angles, and lighting.

This night was actually hysterical at how much she wanted to by the subject matter (or at least get all my attention.) When I'd change subjects, she'd actually get between the camera and the other person or animal and get in the picture.

I really like this picture. It shows so much emotion. Her ears show so much of her feelings.

Say Cheese

2009-01-21T18:48:00.002-07:00

I'm more of a nature and landscape photographer, but I sometimes try to see what I can do with people and animals.

My son and my husband were having a really nice moment, and I thought it would make a nice family picture and be really sweet. I started taking them and was checking out the lighting. Then the dog realized I had the camera. It's amazing to me how much she likes to be in the picture. I asked my husband to make her go away. He assured me that it would be good practice to have her in the picture. I assured him that it's really hard to get good pictures of people and animals.

So, here's the proof that it's really hard to take pictures of animals and people at the same time. The very first picture the dog appears doing the fake school smile thing. It was a great laugh to see her like that after the discussion my husband and I had.

Busy Times

2009-01-14T17:45:00.002-07:00

It seems that my daughter's birthday was just yesterday. Time seems to be flying by with school and work back in full swing.

I had a really great photography trip planned in the Black Hills this weekend, but my husband's family is too sick to have company. I was excited to take some winter photos of the Black Hills, but it looks like it'll have to wait until February.

We're trying to figure out where to go now since we have everything set up to have the weekend off. The kids like to go to a city so they can go to museums and stay in a motel. I'm not against a weekend like that, but I'm anxious to get out and take some landscapes photos. It would be good practice for me to try to get some city pictures in as well. At least we're getting away from it all for some great family time.

Winter Hike

2009-01-07T21:20:00.002-07:00

Over the break, I took a short hike by myself. It was really peaceful on the trail all by myself and so beautiful. It was early in the morning, so the sun hadn't been able to warm the snow off the branches yet. There was about an inch of snow that had fallen that night.

The way the snow laid across the branches looks skeletal creating a really interesting composition.

Over all, it was an amazing winter hike. My family is trying to spend more time enjoying the outdoors than we have in the past. I think we're planning to go out again this weekend and spend more time out having fun. I have lots of new lenses to try out too.

New Skills

2009-01-03T19:15:00.002-07:00

My husband bought me lenses for Christmas. The step up ring came in the mail on Friday, so I got to try them out today. One of the lenses he bought me was a polarizing lens. Since I was anxious to try them out, I didn't do too much reading before we left this morning. Of all the reading that I have done, I know that they make the sky stand out more.

After sledding a little while with my family, I wondered off to test my new lens. I can definitely say that it does make the sky much bluer and the clouds stand out a lot more.

It was a great time to go out and take some pictures. We left pretty early in the morning and there was about an inch of snow covering everything. The sun hadn't melted any of the snow off the trees yet.

Tomorrow I'm going to read all the books that came with the lenses and go from there.

Worked Like a Charm

2009-01-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

We got my daughter a camera for Christmas. Besides all kids needing good hobbies, I wanted her to enjoy going out for photos a little more. I needed a partner is crime. In fact, on her birthday we allowed her to pick the activity for the day. She picked going up to Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo) to go take some pictures. It was pretty cold, but we did take some pictures.

We ran into a frozen stream and went out on it. There were layers of bubbles that were trapped inside. It was an awesome effect. My step-up ring didn't make it to me yesterday, so I'm still waiting to use my Christmas present. Hopefully it'll be here tomorrow, and I can go out this weekend to use it.

Back to work tomorrow. At least it's a one day week.

Pine Cones

2008-12-27T08:15:00.004-07:00

I haven't gotten to do much photographing yet this break. The holiday season is keeping me on my toes. I received some amazing reference books for Christmas along with some lens filters from my husband. I need one extra part before I can give the new filters a shot, so I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival.

I love how the snow sticks to the needles in this pictures. If you look close enough each individual snowflake can be seen. This picture was taken in my front yard.

I'll be back to work in less than a week, and my parents should be on their way for my daughter's birthday.

Forgotten Beauty

2008-12-24T09:28:00.003-07:00

I make the 2.5 hour trip to my parents across the plains of Wyoming a few times a year. I've lived here so long that the plains are, well quite plain to me. I often forget how beautiful they are to others that don't have to see them endlessly all the time.

I took this photo about a year ago because there was a rainbow covering the sky. By the time I decided to actually pull over and add a few minutes to the already long trip for the kids, the rainbow had faded a little bit.

As I was searching my archived pictures a few days ago, I came across this one. I remembered reading in so many other blogs about how wonderful the clouds are out on the plains and it hit me that other people find great beauty in the plains of Wyoming. So here it is, one of my hundreds of trips across the plains.

Winter on My Mind

2008-12-21T19:24:00.003-07:00

With the cold weather and Christmas a few days away (I've been reminded that it's 4 days no less than 100 times today), the only pictures that I can bring myself to write about contain winter landscape.

I have to admit, I cheated a little on this winter scene. It's actually a spring storm, which is why the bright red road is warm enough to have the snow melted off of it.

I took so many pictures on this trip. There was just so much many scenes that looked amazing. The fog removing so much of the color and the snow doing the same thing. The whole area just looked amazing.

Test Pictures

2008-12-19T23:04:00.002-07:00

We bought my daughter a pretty nice camera for Christmas. I was testing it tonight on the animals to see how it works. It is 10 mega pixels which is pretty amazing. Just few snap shots of the cat and dog and then I wrapped it up and put it under the tree.

I'm excited for her to get it. She mentioned she wanted her own camera earlier this year, but didn't ask for one for Christmas. She should be pretty surprised.

I made sure that it had some basic functionality (ability to set her own shutter speed along with aperture setting.) I doubt she'll use them at first, but I wanted to find a camera she could grow in to a little bit. I'm hoping to get someone to go out on photo shoots with me . It's be really nice to get her into my hobby as well. I know she'd be good at it and might even inspire me a little bit. Now I'm getting excited for Christmas too.

Blue

2008-12-17T07:08:00.003-07:00

My sister-in-law had her wedding outside in the mountains. There was a gorgeous little pond that she said her vows by. While the reception was going I went over with my camera to get some pictures.

I decide to set the white balance to see what kind of colors I could get from the outdoor pictures. Setting the white balance to an indoor setting changed the pond to a deep blue. The raindrops on it just completely finished the effect.

Spring Surprises

2008-12-13T16:00:00.002-07:00

When moved in to our current house in the fall. That spring was amazing. It was so awesome to see what flowers would come up in the yard. These yellow tulips were my favorite.

They were located under a bush; long forgotten my the previous owners I'm sure. The weren't like the tulips I'm used to seeing. I love their pointed edges.

The first spring we were in the house, I went out with my camera in the rain to get a picture of all the beautiful flowers I had inherited. Since it was hard to grow much of any thing at my old house, I loved photographing all the beautiful spring colors. The bright green that is spring along with the yellows and the pinks made for interesting compositions.

Awesome Concert

2008-12-10T19:04:00.003-07:00

I have music on my mind right now. Between all the holiday music and last night's viola concert. My daughter did awesome; as did all the other kids. It's been tough keeping her interested in practicing all the time, but she keeps improving and the concert was great last night.

I thought it'd would be fun to photograph her viola and over expose the the picture and work with changing the lighting. I really like this picture and how it turned out. I used my purple curtains as a backdrop for the picture. The viola is sitting on two kitchen chairs.

I hope you're enjoying all the concerts of the season.

I'd Rather Be Shopping in Paris

2008-12-06T15:31:00.002-07:00

My son had a birthday party to go to today, so we needed to go toy shopping. It's so exhausting to be out this time of year. So I'll think about walking the streets of Paris in the summer instead.

Paris has such great architecture. The beautiful pink flowers, or the flowers all over the city, make it so beautiful.

With such gorgeous surroundings there's nothing really hard about taking this picture. It was so amazing taking photos in Europe. I want to go back and take more photos (and avoid holiday shopping.)

Purple Flowers

2008-12-03T20:19:00.003-07:00

Enough talk and pictures about snow. We've got at least 6 inches of snow. Instead of posted pictures of Christmas and snow, I'll post pictures of camping this summer. We went camping in Colorado this summer. I wanted to get pictures of moose. There weren't any moose to be found, but I didn't get some really awesome nature shots.

I enjoy changing the aperture setting to change blur the non-focal point. It's amazing what the background will become create when it's out of focus.

It was really cold when we went camping this year. I'm looking forward to going camping this next summer when it's warmer and I can go out and take pictures. I'm usually the first one up when we're camping and I can spend some time by myself doing some photography.

This photo can be found on a great ornament on my Cafepress site.

Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-01T19:32:00.002-07:00

It's definitely Christmas at my house. I've just stuffed my Christmas cards. (I'm usually not this good at cards, but I moved two years ago and a coworker is still having to bring my mail in to me. It's about time I let people know I moved.) We also have the tree put up, lights outside, and kids that know to the minute when Santa is coming. I'm tired already.

The first year we were in this house (two years ago now...) we put these lights up outside.. It snowed on them and the effect was just amazing. Once again having the camera at the right time paid off. I think the hardest part of taking the picture was holding the camera still while I got the correct exposure. My husband got me a tripod for Christmas that year that would have come in handy. Besides the lights shining through the snow, I love how the icicles are hanging down as well. Enjoy the holidays and take wonderful pictures.

Waiting for Santa

2008-11-29T14:16:00.004-07:00

As many Christmas trees as I've helped put up, ginger bread houses I've made, and boxes of seasonal decorations around the house tells me that it's definitely Christmas time.

I was working on over exposing the scene to get the Christmas lights to reflect and to get the outdoor lights as well. As luck would have it our devoted dog was waiting for my husband to get home. Since she wasn't moving at all, it was really easy to get the shot overexposed with her in it.

This is the picture I picked for our Christmas card this year. The cards I should probably be doing instead of writing this entry.

Game of Tic-Tac-Toe

2008-11-27T06:19:00.005-07:00

Although he's not that in to winter at all, this is one of my husband favorite pictures. His fondness of the photo is from the composition of the piece. Typically this game would be photographed n the summer, but choosing to do it with the snow on the ground made it much more interesting to him.

I've had this picture for a few years now, and I never really though much of about it. It's definitely grown on me and made me explore composition a little bit more. It's the one of the great aspects of owning a digital camera is that there's not limit of how much film is used. Taking 20 shots to see if any of them work out is a reasonable possibility.

Fall in the Black Hills

2008-11-24T20:00:00.002-07:00

One of my husband favorite parts of the Black Hills is going through them in the fall. The dark evergreens along with the bright yellow leaves changing colors is just amazing.

We went through the Black Hills on a hike recently. It was absolutely amazing. For awhile we were walking around a huge rock formation. There were so many trees that were just beginning to change colors. I got some really great shots of the family and some really neat fall colors.

Winter Scene

2008-11-22T07:29:00.004-07:00

It's interesting what turning around can do for a scene as well. One of my favorite winter pictures is one of the first ones I posted. This is the other side of the parking lot.

Although obviously still snow covered, it's amazing how different these two scenes are to me. The interesting part of this landscape to me is that the snow is only sticking to one side of the trees. I really like the trees in this picture.

Now that everyone is "better" in the house I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get out and take more pictures soon.

Motion

2008-11-20T07:28:00.003-07:00

Another technique that I learned from the book Understanding Shutter Speed by Bryan Peterson was keeping one thing in focus while there is motion all around it. I placed the camera on my arm and took the picture while moving my arm and the camera at the same time.

I love the yellow leaves against the bright green grass in this picture. With all the sickness in our family these days, I haven't had a lot of time to actually take any pictures. I do have a gorilla tripod that I can put on my camera and have something other than my hand in focus while the other things are out of focus. In the book, Bryan used a broom for a really neat effect.

Flower Fairies

2008-11-18T19:17:00.003-07:00

These lovely flowers were in my front yard this summer. Although it's not snowing here or anything, it seems like a day that needs a little more sunshine. When we were picking flowers out this summer, my son picked these completely based on the book The Spiderwick Chronicles.

There's nothing really to talk about the actually photography of this picture; except that I like taking pictures of flowers. Sometimes even just point and shoot photography is fun and the pictures turn out nice. Here's to just a few more months of winter.

Popo Agie Falls

2008-11-16T09:13:00.003-07:00

I've come to the conclusion that I really should get my kids hiking boots. I love hiking, but I really didn't realize how many miles we put in every summer until I started this blog.

This summer when we went to my nephew's graduation, we went for a 3 mile (round trip) hike to the Popo Agie falls. My sister has lived by them since she was 5 and had never been.

The falls are magnificent, and I loved taking pictures of them. I love the motion of the water and capturing it with a high shutter speed that stops ever drop in the rushing water so that it's frozen in time. I like the slow shutter speed (although harder with my current camera) and how it makes the water misty and the motion is still showing in the picture.

Morning Hike

2008-11-15T06:25:00.003-07:00

When we went camping on time this summer, I got the pleasure of waking up before everyone else. It was pretty obvious that I had some free time on my hands, so I grabbed my camera and went for a hike around the lake.

It was such a beautiful morning and with the sun just rising, I got some really amazing shots of the lake and the surroundings. Bonus points for using the tree to frame the mountains!

The hardest part of finding great shots was working around the bark beetles. So many of the trees were brown and dead and ruined my pictures. It was sad to see what a tiny little bug, well millions of tiny little bugs, can do to a tree.

I talk a lot about landscape photography on my squidoo site.

Hiking in Germany

2008-11-13T17:54:00.002-07:00

Antibiotics still aren't kicking in yet. I'm wanting to get better so that I can actually take some photos.

When we went to Germany, we went on a wonderful walk through the country side. This house was just so amazing to me, so I took a picture of it. It's so simple yet I really like it. I like it so much that it's actually hanging in my living room.

I enjoy taking pictures of architecture quite a bit. I wouldn't say it's something I do a lot of, but it's fun when I find a really good scene like this one to enjoy.

Misty River

2008-11-11T19:10:00.001-07:00

One summer we took the kids to Estes Park, Colorado. We went on a great hike to some falls in the National Park. I think it was about 5 1/2 miles round trip. The kids were troupers, and we had a really good time.

With all the water around, I spent quite a bit of time over exposing the river to get the motion of the moving water. Since my camera is a little older, I do have trouble not over exposing my pictures. I am learning quite a bit about that though. One thing I've noticed about the pictures I take when I'm out hiking is that I fall in love with them more after a few weeks. At first being right there or having a vivid memory does the picture no justice. After a few weeks I really get to liking them quite a bit.

This one turned out well. The river is very misty from the over exposure, yet the rocks and the nice green trees are so crisp and clear. Over all it was an amazing hike, and I got some really good pictures.

Juxtaposed

2008-11-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

I went out early one day for a walk with my camera. I usually go alone, but my daughter begged to go. It had just snowed and the wind was blowing so hard that the snow was drifting in places on the sidewalk.

As we walked along, we came across footprints on the side walk. It was the perfect illusion. Even seeing them for real, for a split second on that cold morning I wondered how the footprints had appeared in the cold. I felt kind of silly the next second when I realized they're even a bit yellow and match the house paint of the home we were standing in front of at the time. My daughter agreed that it looked interesting as I snapped away at them.

My husband went to a library sale a few weekends ago. I told if he found any photography books I wanted them. When he came home he had found a few old photography books. I was reading through one called Creating Special Effects; The Kodak Library of Creative Photography. As I was looking through the book they talk about illusions that you can do with your camera. Basically, two things coming into a frame that creates something completely different. It made me think of my snowy footprints. It's not often that I find these perfect shots that come together to create a magnificent illusions.

Fun Still Life

2008-11-09T20:20:00.002-07:00

I did get in some photography this weekend. As unbelievable as it sounds, I'm still really sick. I wasn't feeling very artistic while I was doing it. However my son had fun with it. He was taking pictures behind or using my still life set up while I was thinking through my next set. He had a good time, and my pictures weren't horrible.

When I was flipping through a photography magazine, I read an interesting article about the use of light. Basically, over exposing the photo will allow for the light source to be moved around. My camera is not overly robust, so I have 16 seconds to move the list around.

I few weeks ago, I took two of the champagne glasses sitting on a shelf. I thought filling them with red colored water might look interesting with moving the light source around. They didn't quite turn out how I expected, but I like them. I wasn't going to do just red. It really wasn't my intent to make it look like wine. I was going to do other colors later, but never felt motivated to do all the set up again.

What I really like about the content of this picture is how much orange is coming through with the reflection from the light. I'm going to feel better soon (I'm calling the doctor first thing in the morning), and when I do I may pull these glasses back down and try another color. Green might be neat. Blue might be a good effect too.

Reflecting

2008-11-08T12:31:00.004-07:00

I got already to take some pictures earlier today, but there's too much light. I'm going to try again later once the sun isn't so high in the sky. I have some fun ideas that I was trying. Hopefully they'll work out.

Since I can't do any photography yet today, and I'd rather not argue with my daughter about cleaning her room, I thought I'd stop in for a quick post.

My sister-in-law got married last year at an outdoor wedding. While the reception was going on, I started taking photographs of the surroundings. While I was taking this shot, this dog wandered into the shot. At first I was going to wait until he found something better to do, but then I realized how great of picture it would make. I messed with the lighting to try to give it more of a blue hue. I really like how it turned out.

Having Fun

2008-11-07T17:44:00.003-07:00

I've been sick most of the week. Day time TV wasn't that appealing so I've been surfing the internet. I found a really great website to post my pictures to that I can get feed back from other users and join groups with people with similar interests in photography. My gallery is here.

As I said before, I've been sick most of the week. I did get to go to work today. (oh right... Yeah!) Anyway, I'm looking forward to this weekend. I'm finally feeling better, and I'm itching to go take some new pictures. I haven't taken very many lately. When the kids first start school and it gets a little cooler here, I tend to slow down on the pictures. I haven't decided if I'll go to landscape, but I'm thinking about trying some of the new lighting techniques I've been reading about or doing more abstract pieces. It feels good to be excited about something again.

Snowflakes

2008-11-05T12:44:00.003-07:00

One morning I awoke to a beautiful winter morning outside. I love being able to get great photographs in my front yard. Sometimes the hardest part of photography is finding something amazing to photograph. The snow covered world outside was so amazing. The snowflakes were so big that you could even see them individually on the tree.

I had to work fast to get the pictures. There wasn't a cloud in the sky so the snow was going to melt fast. As I was out taking my pictures, a lady stopped her car and took a picture of our weeping birch in the front yard.

I'm not much for the cold weather, but I love winter landscape. The pictures from this day turned out amazing.

edited to add: It was snowing just a few minutes ago. I guess writing about snow makes it happen here. Now I see blue skies, but I'm wondering how much we're going to get tonight.

Hiking the Trails

2008-11-03T11:49:00.005-07:00

In August, my husband and I convinced the kids to go on a five mile hike up in the mountains outside of town. Admittedly, we didn't mention it was going to be five miles. There was a little bit of complaining early on, but as the trail wound through the hills the settled in for the walk.

I of course brought my camera along with me. My favorite picture is this one. As far as photography trees, I like aspen trees with their contrast of green leaves and white trunks. When I'm in a forest like this I'll often take bracketed pictures so that I end up with three with different light settings. That way the trees would not get washed out with too much color. I've got my eyes on a polarizer for Christmas as well. From what I've read, they really help with the natural light not over taking the picture.

It was an amazing hike. Not only was it a lot of fun, but I took some really good pictures too.

Speaking of Rainbows

2008-11-02T07:05:00.005-07:00

One day when I went home for lunch there this rainbow was just lingering over the tree in the neighbors yard. Sometimes photography is just about opportunity; having your camera ready at the right time.

I've tried to photograph rainbows a few times. They seem so vibrant in the sky and then when I get the results back they seem a little dull. When I went to Hawaii years ago I remember taking a picture of a rainbow. When I got the pictures back, I could barely see the rainbow. I was even kind of wondering why I would have taken the shot at all. It's the great thing about being digital. The first being able to see it right away and then of course taking as many shot with as many different settings as time allows.

2008-10-31T18:10:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite subject matters to photograph is flowers. Since it's Halloween, I've found an orange marigold to post. It's been nice since I've moved to the new house. The flowers do so well here. I guess it was the soil at the old place, but it's absolutely fun to garden at this house. This past summer, the marigolds reseeded and I had so many I actually had to thin them out. My daughter is already taking the seeds and spreading them around the yard this fall. I can't even imagine what next year will bring.

When I photograph flowers, I like to zoom in a close as possible. I like to get the texture of the flower in the shot. I also find it so interesting how many of my photography session take place in my front yard. It's fun to go on location and find landscape scenes, but it's also great to be able to through in a load of laundry and go out the front door and enjoy my garden.

A Day in the Park

2008-10-30T21:22:00.000-06:00

After a short day at the Louvre in Paris, we ended up at Les Tuileries. We would have stayed longer at the museum, but my son was not interested in any of it. We saw a few things and traumatized him as little as possible before moving on to the next thing. He was only four at the time, so I guess it shouldn’t have surprised us too much. Anyway, after all the art gazing, we were off to Les Tuileries which is a park in Paris that has a well known place to sail boats. Before we got to the boats, there was this walkway that was just amazing. I was taking pictures as we went. We just happened across this since we thought we'd be at the museum most of the day. My daughter just happened to be wearing blue that day when I was talking these pictures. I have this picture hanging in my office. Often my coworkers don’t realize that it’s my daughter in the picture at first because it seems more staged since she’s matching her surrounding so well. I love the colors in the walk way. The contrast makes for a dramatic effect in the picture. After the enjoying the scenery for awhile, we went off to sail boats which the kids really enjoyed.

Scenic Wyoming

2008-10-30T05:42:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite pictures. We were out for a drive and I made my husband pull over to see what I could get. I've given this picture away as a gift and quite often they'll tell me that it's neat that I left the fence in color and made the rest black and white. This picture is in full color. The fog of the day and the soft covering of snow creates the effect all on it's own.

Abtract Photography

2008-10-29T15:16:00.001-06:00

When ever the family goes to the bookstore, which seems to be quite often these days, I'll always end up in the photography section thumbing through the books looking for new techniques to try or just looking at amazing pictures from other photographers. A few months ago I found a book on shutter speed called Understanding Shutter speed by Bryan Peterson. Like many people love photography, I'm always interested in figuring out night shots or interesting ways to catch action in a still shot. After reading some of the book I went out and took some great photos of flowers. It took me awhile to get the right shutter speed and aperture setting so I wasn't letting too much light come through. If was a really fun photo shoot. One of my favorites is this one I call spinning daisies.