Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Why I love B&W

There are so many  reasons why I love B&W, here's one of the main reasons why I love it so much!
I started out with this picture right below:

Yeah, not my best picture. I was about to throw it away, but first I tried it in a few different preset black and whites. 

Down below is my final draft. Looks much better, yes? It's not perfect, but it's usable, and it's one of the photos going into the CD that I will be giving the family. 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Day 333

I did not take any pictures today. I did have some pictures taken of me. Er, my teeth. And they were x-rays. Definitely not very cool. Looks like I'll be getting my wisdom teeth out sometime in the near future. Not fun.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Day 332

We went to the park today. We didn't last too long, since it wasn't super warm, and Asher only wanted to either play in the street or go play with the kids who were on recess at the playground next to ours. So, don't let his cute innocent smile fool you, he was actually probably thinking of some plan to get away from me and do something dangerous. No joke.
(f/5.6; 1/400s; ISO 200; 55 mm) 

Days 329-331

I have nothing for these days :)

Day 328

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!


We had some really delicious food. This would include three turkeys (1 smoked, and 2 fried). Both kinds were delicious in their own way.

Day 327

These boys love to come into my room and ask to play in the window well. I let them, because it keeps them busy :)
(f/3.5; 1/320s; ISO 1600; 18 mm)

Day 326

I've got nothing for ya today :(

Day 325

I promised him that I would get some pictures of him, his motorcycle, and his car. I finally did. I've decided that I am DEFINITELY a portrait photographer.... I really have a hard time capturing inanimate objects and making them look unique. 

(f/2.8; 1/800s; ISO 400; 50 mm lens) 

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Day 324

I have nothing for you today. It's surprising how hard it is to go out and take more pictures, when I have 100+ photos to edit still.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Day 323

I had ANOTHER photo shoot this weekend as well. I really enjoyed it. What a beautiful family :)


It was a WONDERFUL day for a photo shoot. It was really warm, and the sun made everything golden. The biggest issue we had was getting the older boys to focus.... and we never actually managed to get Asher to cooperate. He wanted to play with the dirt, so if his parents held him he screamed, but if he was on the ground he'd move away or look down.

Critiques are welcome :)

Sunday, November 20, 2011

322

I had a wonderful photo shoot this weekend. What made it even better was that it was a photo shoot of a beautiful family whom I love dearly.

I created a collage with a few of the pictures of the shoot. Enjoy! :)



In my opinion the lighting was BEAUTIFUL! The only problem is that it was FREEZING. None of us realized this until we had arrived at the park, and we had started setting up. The boys didn't understand why they were being forced to sit out in the cold. A few of the pictures have them wrapped in a blanket, which they seemed to be happy with. Towards the end my hands were so cold that it was hard to even take any pictures. Other than the cold it was a really enjoyable shoot!

Let me know what you think about the pictures, and let me know if there are any ways where I could have improved the photos. :)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Twilight

You may or may not be interested in reading this. It was pretty funny, mostly because it's right. I agree with it for the most part. Twilight (and books and movies like it) give females a false expectation of romance. 


If you don't read the whole thing, then read this: 


And in the middle we have Bella, our everywoman. Actually, that’s not true. If Stephenie Meyer intended Bella to be the embodiment of femininity, she has done a poor job of presenting her as such, because just about every woman I know has more going for her than Bella does. Miss Swan is homely, insecure, stubborn, clumsy, shy, prone to obsessive behavior and completely lacking in self-awareness. In short, she is not an especially desirable heroine, and yet she is being furiously pursued by not one but two Prince Charmings. 
What follows is an unrealistic and mostly unhealthy love triangle in which two emotionally unstable and supernaturally powerful alpha males duke it out for the affection of an awkward young woman whose only apparent ambition in life is to be married before she turns 19. 
That is what I laughed at. I've read all the books, and I've seen three of the movies. I think the story line was pretty brilliant. The writing.... not so much. In the movies the acting is pretty horrible. I really can't stand Kristin Stewart, who plays Bella.

There are many people who like Twilight, and I'm not judging those people. I'm glad I read the books. I now understand what the hype is about. It was just interesting to read that post and think about it in a different light. They may be able to argue that the romance in Twilight is unrealistic, but Twilight does have some good qualities. Meyers portrays both Edward and Bella with some good morals. They waited until marriage to sleep with each other. There are not many teenage based romance novels that will do that in this day. Meyer's also shows that love is tough. It's not all happy go lucky. Love is something you have to work on. Love is patient, and love is kind. It is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrong. Throughout the books you can see the characters working on this. Although it seems pretty dreamy to have two attractive guys after you, Meyer's still presents the struggles that come with love. 



* Also, if you read the article, read some of the comments. A few people said that, yes, you could find flaws in the book, but you can also find some great things about it. 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Nutrition

A couple years ago I took a nutrition class for early childhood education. I really, REALLY enjoyed that class. I also learned a lot! It was very basic, but informative. Since then I've become much more aware about what children are eating.  I love finding new ways of incorporating fruits and vegetables into a meal, and it's even better when the kids enjoy it. My boys love almost any fruit, but when it comes to vegetables they will usually avoid it. (So, if anyone knows of good ways to serve vegetables for kids, let me know! :))

Today I stumbled across an article, and I thought it was a joke. I read the title and I laughed. Out loud. I then looked it up on Google to see how legit it was, and I found many posts on it. Here's one that I found. Supposedly the U.S. Congress considers pizza a vegetable. Well, now I know exactly what I will feed the boys every day of their life. They'll love it! ;)

 Furthermore, I'm not a huge fan of canned foods, because they really add nothing to your diet. Therefore, there must not be much nutrition in tomato sauce.

When I was little I used to make pizza sauce, and my sister would make pizza crust, while my brother prepared cheese. When all was said and done we would take our items to the staff meeting that HCJB had every week and we would sell it to the missionaries so that they could go home, put the sauce and cheese on the pizza, and then bake it. This created a very simple and delicious meal for them. I don't remember making much money, but it's good to know that *I* was adding so much nutrition to their diet. ;)

*This is all my opinion. I didn't research much, so please don't go and take my opinion as completely factual. Not everything on the internet is pure truth. This did make me laugh though :) 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Day 321

I have nothing for you today, but these next couple of days should be good. I have TWO photo shoots this weekend!
It shall be good.

Day 320

We went to focus on the family today and got some energy out. It was too cold to really spend much time outside, and so I decided to go to focus. It was the perfect way to keep the boys entertained. They loved it! And it's free :)

(f/5.0; 1/100s; ISO 3200; 42 mm) 
(f/3.5; 1/125s; ISO 1600; 20mm) 

Day 319

Cutie patootie with food on his face :) He's not sick this week, which means he is MUCH happier. This makes me much happier too. I love him :)

(f/5.6; 1/100s; ISO 1600; 55mm)

Day 318

We love our apple products :)

(f/3.5; 1/100s; ISO 3200; 18mm ) 

Day 317

This little guy loved playing with his cousin this past weekend.

(f/3.5; 1/100s; ISO 1600; 50 mm) 
Look at those blue eyes!

Day 316

A little cutie playing with her toys.

(f/3.5; 1/125s; ISO 1600; 50mm) 

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Day 315

I was just playing around with bokeh :) These are street lights that we can see from the house.
(f/4.5; 1/25s; ISO 3200; 135 mm) 

Day 314

Today I must have been still reeling from yesterday. Although Maxwell was much calmer today, I had a huge headache that I couldn't seem to get rid of. So I let him watch Tom and Jerry, and that gave both of us a little break :)
(f/3.5; 1/60s; ISO 800; 21 mm) 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Day 313

So, today was one of those days. You know, the kind where the kids just wear you out. They are hyper, don't listen to anything you say/ ask, and they scream a lot. A day like today really makes me appreciate the 30 minutes of relief I got when the boys quietly did a puzzle together. Such a sweet moment.
(f/3.5; 1/80s; ISO 3200; 18 mm) 

Day 312

I've got nothing for ya :(

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Day 311

This is day 311, right?!!!?? I think I'm finally caught up! I haven't been completely caught up in weeks! Hopefully I can stay this way :)

I love these two :)

(f/5.6; 1/25s; ISO 800; 55 mm) 
Woah, look how insanely slow my shutter speed is.

Day 310

Boys are so sweet. :)

(f/4.0; 1/125; ISO 6400; 28 mm) 

Monday, November 7, 2011

Day 309

This was actually taken a couple weeks ago, but I liked it :)

(f/1.8; 1/160s; ISO 100; 50mm lens) 

Day 308

(f/1.8; 1/160s; ISO 100; 50 mm) 

Day 307

Some delicious cookies about to go in the oven :) 

(f/4.0; 1/60s; ISO 800; 28 mm) 

Day 306

(f/5.6; 1/80s; ISO 800; 55 mm) 
Kitchen stuffs.

Day 305

Okay, so I failed the 30 day photography challenge. But I have been taking pictures. In my book that's good enough :)

(f/4.0; 1/125s; ISO 800; 27 mm) 
We went to the library and Asher just LOVED walking around tearing books off the shelves :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Day 304- from a distance

This is day 27 in my 30 day challenge.

(f/5.6; 1/80s; ISO 1600; 55 mm) 
I have had no motivation to take pictures lately. Sad.

Day 303 - close up

This is day 26 in the 30 day photography challenge that I'm doing.

Halloween candy...

(f/5.6; 1/20s; ISO 1600; 55 mm) 

Day 302 - something pink

I've got nothing for ya... :/

Day 301 - animal

This is day 24 in my 30 day project.

I wasn't sure where I would find an animal for this picture, but I think this will do :) It's a monkey if you couldn't tell.

(f/4.0; 1/50s; ISO 1600; 27 mm) 

Day 300 - sunflare

Is it really day 300 already?!?!
This is day 23 in my 30 day project.

(f/3.4; 1/4000s; ISO 100; 50 mm lens)