Thirty Days of Christmas: The Final Four

Day 27

A second chance to get some sweet photos of this baby girl:

Day 28

Family Quail Hunt at Agri B Plantation

Day 29

Dinner at Shambles for Christmas Eve.

 Our children and their grandparents.  Christmas Eve at Shambles 2017

Lights on the tree that James & Sandra are responsible for.  Hopeful Baptist Church is illuminated in the background.  I have misplaced my remote shutter control, so of course the lights on the tree show some movement. 

Day 30

And then this happened:

Merry Christmas!

Thirty Days of Christmas Joy: Week 4 Tackling Challenges

I'm continuing on my 30 day photographic challenge to master the controls on my camera.  These posts chronicle my learning journey.  The technical lingo is for helping me master what works and what doesn't.  Although I'm pulling the "best" from my shots each day, I recognize they are not "the best."

While I could put the camera in Auto Mode and take some good pictures, that's not my goal.  I'm trying to master the controls in Manual Mode so I can use them in a variety of settings to achieve artistic control over my images.  One day, this effort will pay off and I'll be able to produce professional quality artistic images.  Oh, how fun it will be to compare Then and Now photos!

Day 21
My father-in-law has restored this Chevrolet pickup, so it made for the perfect portrait prop for our family photo this year.

Photographing people is much more challenging than photographing still images.  Catching natural lighting at just the right time of day at just the right angle to provide adequate exposure is only part of the equation.  Add more than one person and the necessity to alter the aperture to get maximum focus plays an integral role in capturing family portraits.  Needless to say, I've still got a lot of work to do in this department!  A reshoot is in my future.

Prepare yourself for family photo overload:

Exposure ISO 100 f/8 1/100 at 34 mm

Exposure ISO 100 f/5.6 1/100 at 34mm

Exposure ISO 100 f/4.8 1/100 at 56mm 

Exposure ISO 100 f/4 1/100 at 32mm

Exposure ISO 100 f/5.6 1/100 at 27mm

Exposure ISO 100 f/5.3 1/100 at 105mm

Day 22
Night photography with long exposures has caught my fancy.  Glad some folks have lit up their homes for the holidays to give me a subject.

Exposure ISO 640 f/20 10 seconds at 105mm

Couldn't pass up this train track photograph since Jamie has reminded me that tracks have become so cliche in portrait photography these days.  This long exposure lit up the tracks!

Exposure ISO 640 f/6.3 20 seconds at 150mm

Exposure ISO 640 f/6.3 10 seconds at 24mm

Day 23

A UPS delivery has made me a happy girl!  I had forgotten the ease of auto-focus since my lens has been on total manual mode.  Today my new 50mm 1.4g arrived. 

What an incredible difference just playing around with the various settings.  I'm beginning to understand the term "fast glass" and just how important the ability to get more light into the camera at higher shutter speeds is for a photographer.

Here are some quickly made images that have me jumping for joy this afternoon.  

Exposure ISO 640 f/1.4 1/100 at 50mm

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.

Exposure ISO 640 f/1.4 1/100 at 50mm

I love close up images like this pinecone that is part of a wreath hanging on my back door.

Exposure ISO 400 f/1.4 1/125 at 50mm

Exposure ISO 250 f/2 1/125 at 50mm

I'm not a fan of pictures of myself, but I was quite happy with the sharp focus I achieved in this self-portrait.

Day 24
A few images captured at a family gathering tonight.  No flash!  Just pumping up the ISO and trying out this new 50mm lens.  Loving what it will do.  Slight editing in post-production to reduce some shadows and brighten subjects.

Exposure ISO 800 f/1.4 1/125 at 50mm 

Exposure ISO 1600 f/2.2 1/100 at 50mm

Very pleased with the low noise in the sock monkey photo, but the noise is starting to show at ISO 1600 in this photo of an heirloom Santa.

Early morning fog

Exposure ISO 500 f/1.4 1/320 at 50mm

And, likely the best photo of the day in terms of Exposure and Depth of Field:

Exposure ISO 1600 f/2 1/100 at 50mm

Sharply focused on her face!  This image is best when cropped to eliminate the distractions in the background, but I've included the full image here to see the bokeh effect created in the background using this f-stop.  Yes, this is what I'm trying to achieve!

Day 25
Just goofing around with lights from the Christmas tree.  Zoomed out during a long exposure to create these light paths.

Exposure ISO 100 f/6.3 3 seconds at 95mm

Day 26

This beautiful reminder of the reason for the season lights up U.S. 19.

Exposure ISO 100 f/14 10 seconds at 50mm

Thirty Days of Christmas Joy Week 3: Gaining Confidence

Really having fun with this 30 day challenge to develop my photographic skills.  Love the twinkling lights of the Christmas season.

Day 15

Exposure ISO 200 f/22 for 10 seconds at 18 mm

Day 16
New ornaments on the tree. Highlights from our Summer 2017 vacation: Niagara Falls, Hershey, Cooperstown & Gettysburg.

Exposure ISO 100 f/29 10 seconds at 32mm

A reflection of the Christmas tree

Exposure ISO 250 f/29 30 seconds at 38mm

Day 17
From our Mississippi River adventure in 2016 - Paul Bunyan and Babe, and our Peabody Hotel duck is hiding in the background

Exposure ISO 250 f/4.5 1/10  at 44 mm

 Day 18
The reason for the season glowing in a nearby yard

Exposure ISO 160 f/14 1 second at 75mm

Day 19
Meteor shower night - we rode out to the cotton patch to get a clear sky view to look for meteors.  We saw a few, but didn't catch any on film.  We got lots of stars and an airplane streaking through. Amazed by how much shows on film that we cannot see with the naked eye.  A lot of tricks still to learn about getting these types of images in focus.  Nevertheless, a win for getting my settings right before taking the first shot!  ISO 1600 worked great -- just didn't catch any meteors.  Then I played around by increasing ISO to 3200 and then 6400 to see how much noise and light would result.

So how does this fit into my Christmas themed 30 day challenge?  Stars -- the Wise Men followed the Star.

Exposure ISO 3200 f/3.5 for 30 seconds at 20mm resulted in an overexposed image, so exposure was reduced in post-processing

Day 20
Captured these gorgeous colors on the way out the door this morning.  The moon was still visible.

Exposure ISO 800 f/4.2 1/100 at 36 mm

Exposure ISO 160 f/22 for 30 seconds at 52mm

Love the colors in these church windows!

Exposure ISO 800 f/4.5 1/8 44mm

Feeling so much more confident setting up shots in manual mode.  I have reduced the number of shots it takes to get a keeper.  Doing a much better job of reading my gauges in the viewfinder.

Thirty Days of Christmas Joy: Week 2 Learning & Growing

An "Oh, Wow! How did I miss THAT?" moment.  For as long as I have used this camera model, I have overlooked the data details that flash across the bottom of the viewfinder.  Perhaps because I typically used to shoot in Auto Mode and because I didn't know what that information meant.

Until now.

Not only does all of my exposure information show up in the viewfinder, but in addition to the number line that shows whether my image will be under- or over- exposed, there also is a tiny green dot on the left that lights up when my focal point is in focus.

Really?  How have I missed this?  So, this week I have discovered - in one location - key details that alert me to the quality of my image before I take the photo.  This is quality enhancing learning that will serve me well.

I spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon reading my D7000 Digital Field Guide while twisting dials and snapping pictures of, well, nothing ... my messy kitchen table and window to the driveway.  But, I learned a lot!  Including: there is a setting that will not allow me to take a photo if it is not in focus.  Hellooo --- that's why my shutter release button refused to cooperate with me on the newborn photos.

These images are, again, straight out of the camera, with no Photoshop or Lightroom touchups.

Day 8

Resorted to flash with this outdoor handheld shot; cropped in camera; Exposure f/3.5 1/100 at 18mm

This shot reminds me why have I resorted to Auto Mode for so many years . . . I can't think quickly enough & set my dials efficiently enough to catch people in passing.  All those "fabulous" shots of people we see online and in media profiles are often carefully staged by highly experienced professionals.

Day 9

Exposure ISO 1000 f/4 2 seconds at 26mm with spot metering

Exposure ISO 100 f/5 1/250 at 48mm with spot metering

 My model had become slightly aggravated with me by this point, but his face is nicely lighted, although the window scene is blown out (which, really, is a good thing since the window needs a good washing!)

Day 10

Exposure ISO 200 f/25 30 seconds +3.7 EC at 27mm spot metering

Exposure ISO 200 f/25 30 seconds -3.7EC at 75mm; cropped in camera

Love this twinkle effect!

Day 11
My new computer arrived!  No picture taking . . . just loading up for edits.

Day 12
Love these long exposure lighting effects!  No edits on these ~ straight out of the camera!

Exposure ISO 200 f/29 for 10 seconds at 40mm

Exposure ISO 800 f/22 for 10 seconds at 38 mm

A parade just isn't a parade without firetrucks.  Stopped by the department ahead of the festivities and grabbed these shots.  Oughta make a fire chief happy!

Exposure ISO 200 f/20 for 10 seconds at 18mm 

Exposure ISO 200 f/20 for 10 seconds at 20mm

Exposure ISO 640 f/25 for 10 seconds at 24mm

Day 13
The generosity and compassion of students is evident in this roomful of toys purchased and bagged for less fortunate children.  Soon they'll be wrapped and delivered. I couldn't resist making a few photos of these Christmas gifts. I finished these images with a slight vignette, just because.

Exposure ISO 200 f/22for 2 seconds at 20mm

Exposure ISO 200 f/4.2 1/10 at 35mm; post production crop

Exposure ISO 200 f/5 1/10 at 65mm

Day 14

Exposure ISO 400 f/4.2 1/25 at 35mm

One more

Exposure ISO 400 f/4.5 1/25 at 40mm