Joy of Love: Day One

What they do….

This is Joe in his work shirt.  He’s a sales manager at a car dealership. 

This is what he does in his spare time…..hog the remote.  :)  Thankfully I don’t watch TV but it is an ongoing battle between him and the twins. 

 

Because You Can Never Have Enough Macro

I kid, I’m sure you’re tired of it but I must practice, practice, practice.  :)

More Macro

Macro Photography

Macro photography isn’t as easy as it looks.  This is my first foray into it with an actual macro (100mm)  lens.  I just finished reading the manual and it’s more than just popping the lens on and shooting.  Don’t believe me? Just take a look at one of my first photos.  I had my ISO set at 800.  The f/stop was 2.8 and it was only 5:30 so there should have been plenty of light.  According to my meter reading not so.  (I adjusted the exposure in camera raw and sharpened.)

Happy Friday!  Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend!

Amber

Run, McKenna, Run!

Hello, folks!  It’s been a couple of crazy days!  Sorry, I’ve been MIA.  Lots going on some good, some bad.  (I’ve taken photos just not had the time to download ‘em) First the bad, the sister of a good friend lost her home on Saturday morning.  It burned down.  Everyone made it out alive, but her husband was badly burned.  Now for the good, Monday night was a meeting for all the parents of the boys who made their HS baseball team.  Both the twins made it!  Woo-hooooo!  :)  Yesterday the weather was horrible and filled with tornado warnings so, no photos or much computer time.  Now today was a very good day.  I found out Devon, one of my twins is TWELVETH in his class of 513 (We told him  top 10 sounds better.  He rolled his eyes!)  and McKenna just ran in her first cross country meet!  She did awesome!!  We won’t know where she placed in her division and group until later in the week.  Here are a couple of photos I took.  I’m up in the air on the edit of the full body shot.  I like it and I don’t like it.  :)  I used PW’s Heartland action with the opacity set in the 80’s.  What do you think?

Just Hanging Around

McKenna looks like she has eyeliner on but she doesn’t.  I guess it’s the angle.  It got even worse when I sharpened her eyes and lashes.  I tried evening out her teeth color but it just made the front two even whiter.  Guess I just need to work with her on brushing those teeth then I won’t have to mess with it. :)

Jeter

Jorgie Porgie

This sweet little guy is my neighbor’s son and Amber’s brother.

Soooooooo, whadaya think?  Let me know, good or bad.  :)

Jeter & McKenna

To say that she loves that dog is an understatement!

What do you think of the edit?  Too much?  Not enough?  It’s a fine line.  I hope you guys will tell me when I’ve crossed it.  And for those of you that encourage the bumping of the ISO and embracing the noise, you’ll be happy to know I did.  It still bugs me.  Does it detract from the photo?  As always thanks for your input!

Can I have a Moment of Silence?

Here is a picture of the cake that was but wasn’t.  I baked this beauty on Sunday but ran out of light before I could photograph it.  Normally I would use my Lowell Ego light and play around until I captured a few decent photos.  Not this time.  She was a beauty and deserved to have her photos taken in natural light.  Even knowing in my heart that this cake was going to be amazing taste wise (I could have eaten the batter straight from the bowl!) I forced myself and the kids to wait until the following evening after I took my photos.  My children bugged me ALL day while I was at work about having a piece.  They tried bribery, trickery, and even offered money but I held firm.  No cake!

Turns out waiting was for naught as it was a bleak and rainy day.  No way could we wait another day.  I went ahead and broke out my EGO light and after taking what I thought were some decent photos.  I decided it was time to cut into it and take some shots of the interior.  I grab my knife and start to slice.  Imagine my dismay to find that the reason my cake kept sinking in the middle was because it was TOTALLY raw in the middle.  I’m not talking undercooked,  I mean not cooked.  The darn thing was in the oven for an hour and fifteen minutes!  When I first took it out it looked okay.  It had all the signs of being done.  :(  Despite it not being fully cooked I took a bite or two and it was even better than I thought it would be.  I can’t begin to imagine how much better it would be when it was fully cooked!

The kids and I have been depressed on all day.   Anybody know if they sell frozen cranberries?  I’m on mission. Once I find cranberries I’ll make it again and link up to the recipe for any of you that might be interested.

Hitting the Open Road

or going for a bike ride.  :)

Here’s a fine example of me not paying attention to where my light was coming from.  I’d like to say I was distracted by my Honey’s pretty blue eyes, which you can not see here, and the fact that he was being silly.  :)

Shopping

Yes, Daddy still pushes her around in the cart.  Someone’s a little spoilt!  :)

McKenna’s Eyes

McKenna’s BFF

AH!  I’m late…I almost forgot!

Friends

This is actually a photo I took yesterday.  I like the angle a lot but that’s about it.  I have the very bad habit of shooting wide open, ALL the time.  It isn’t a really a bad thing when shooting one person but it doesn’t work so well when shooting a group. 

I used my on camera flash for fill light.  I definitely need to practice (&help)!  Anybody know anything about adjusting their exposure for the flash?

Friends

I just spent two hours messing around with this photo in Adobe Camera Raw (I just found it!).  Pretty cool stuff.  I ended with PW’s Seventies action.

I’ve got a question for ya.  In this photo my meter said I was underexposing it but when I took the photo and my flash fired (for fill light) the photo was actually a little overexposed.  How do I adjust for  the flash?  Help?! 

Btw, thanks for the feedback on my last photo!

McKenna’s Eye

I like this photo but I think I should have bumped my aperture so I had both eyes sharply focused.  What do you think?

Since When?

I’ve worked at the same car dealership for 9 years and this is the first time I’ve seen this sign walking through the detailer’s bay. 

Got Milk?

Catching Air

 

The boys playing basketball with my brother.

Two For One

My twin boys.  They aren’t as cooperative  as my daughter especially when we’re in public and they’re trying to eat.  :)

My Sweet Girl

Intro….

Hello and welcome!  My name is Ingrid and for the past two and a half years I’ve blogged at 3B’s….Baseball, Baking, & Books. 
I’ve always been a bit envious of the wonderful photos on my fellow foodie’s blogs but thought they were unattainable.  I had only a point & shoot and no real desire to improve.  All that changed this past summer when I got a nod of approval from my honey to  buy myself a dslr.  A Canon EOS T1i to be exact and I love it.  I didn’t delude myself into thinking that my photos would magically improve.  I knew I had a lot to learn but with the knowledge that I spent waaay more than I should have on camera I pushed myself .  I searched the internet, read my camera manual, and bought myself “how to” books.  I’ve spent many hours reading and shooting.  I’ve definitely improved. I still have a waaays to go but I am shooting on manual and getting more comfortable with it. 
It’s already 5 days into the year so, I’m already behind on doing a Project 365 but I’m going to try.  Perhaps it will be more of a Project 52?  I’m not sure but here’s my first photo. It's actually one of the first I took with my camera. My three kiddos.

I should also tell you that I am trying to learning to use Photoshop Elements, which in my opinion is MUCH more difficult than learning to shoot manual. 
~ingrid