Perspective

When I set out on my lunch break to hike through the park I was attempting to come up with a photography assignment for myself.  Here is western New York, the rain has been pretty scarce this summer, leading to slim pickings when it comes to wild flowers.  Looking around, all I saw was Queen Ann's Lace.... every where.  It was going to be rough to get any amount of  interesting photos.  That is when my personal assignment came to me.  I challenged myself to find different ways to photograph my only subject.

At first, I had trouble thinking outside the box.  While nice, it is straight forward and there are a million pictures just like it.

Well, since I am in the medical profession, my mind went to the orthogonal view.  This is the result, an image taken directly from the side.  Again, nice as it shows off the intricate greenery associated with this plant.  But it still lacks something.

The next step was to create some dimentionality to the picture.  By avoiding "straight on" in either direction, you can start to imagine that the object is less flat. 

Last but not least, I decided to photograph from under the plant upwards.  At first, I wasn't that excited about the result.

 
In the end, my favorite image of the day was way out of my comfort zone.  Very pleased with myself. Hope you like it too.

If you like these images, check out my facebook page.  I posted more there...

Seneca Park Zoo

Since I have a toddler, we have a membership to the Seneca Park Zoo.  It is a great place to take the little man for education and entertainment.  He seems to never tire of watching the animals do what they do on a daily basis!

After a recent visit, it came to my attention that they are looking for photos for creating the 2013 calendar.  Here are my submissions...

 Do you have a favorite?  I got some great shots of the Sea Lions and Rhinos, but they were not on the list!

Focal Point

Today I learned that I can set my camera to focus in the center instead of having many points and it has to decide where to focus.  Very helpful!

Unfortunately, I was not paying attention to the world around me, just the world through my camera.  Looking down, I suddenly realized what I was seeing.  Do you feel itchy, or is it just me?

Last April I ended up in the hospital for a week because of this silly little plant.  Not to worry.  I came home and put everything that was on me in the wash, including my shoes.  Then promptly took a shower with Technu.  I don't mess around!

Before I figured out how to set the focus point, this little picture happened.  It was not what I planned to focus on (the fence post), but I think it is a happy little accident.

Owen's Birthday

Today is my baby boy's 2nd birthday.  He brings joy to my life on a daily basis.  Since I like lists, here is a list of reasons that he rocks...

1. One of his favorite things is to feed animals.  Even if we are at someone elses house, all he wants to do is find the food and give it to the animals.  We went to Brown's Berry Patch today for his birthday and they have a set up to feed the goats.  It was Owen's favorite part of his birthday.

2. The way he tilts his head down when he says, "Please," there is no choice but to give in.  And, if you don't, he follows it up with, "Magic word," just to remind you.

3. This ice cream was his birthday dessert.  He is so great that he was willing to share it!

4.  He is totally supportive of my photography.  As soon as the camera comes out, he stops what he is doing and says cheese!

5. Everyone is special in Owen's book but his Uncle Todd and Auntie are some of his favorites.

6. He can make anything look cool.

This picture taught me a lesson of beauty. 

I was walking around a dirty old pond, looking for ways to practice with different depths of field.  The dragonflies were buzzing around, landing here and there for a break.  This picture works for me because the background is not in focus.  In fact, the wings are not completely in focus, but that helps add dimensionality to avoid the "subject plopped on a blurry background" aspect.  

It was great to realize I could get such a striking photo in a location that was so suboptimal. 

This is a gorgeous 12-spotted skimmer.

Happy Father's Day!

A tribute to the best dad in the world....

1. He is the hardest worker I know.  Today was his first day off in about 3 weeks because he is busy providing for his family!

2. Owen can't even let him sleep in on his day off because he loves his daddy so much!

3. His "impulse buys" at the grocery store are always nutrition foods for Owen, blueberries being a huge favorite.

4. He feels bad that he spent part of his day off playing golf instead of hanging out with his family.  It was Father's Day, he was supposed to do what he would enjoy!

5. He is teaching our son how a great father and husband conducts himself.

Thank you for all that you are.  We love you to the moon and back!

Do you ever feel like your being watched?

This photograph does not follow any of the rules, but I love it anyway.  The problem with taking pictures of the horses at Do Over Acres is that they are are so friendly.  It is difficult to get a full body shot because they just won't stay that far away.

Today has not really worked out as planned.  I enjoy rolling with the punches so here is a little wild daisy to help brighten up your day.

Thank goodness for narrow depths of field.  This flower was growing out of some "fertilizer" at Do Over Acres!

Beginnings

It all started back in high school.  I was one of those annoying students that never had a study hall.  It seemed like a waste of time to me.  In an effort to fill out my schedule, I signed up for photography class.  My grandfather let me borrow his SLR.  There was no "d" at that point, at least not that anyone in my community could afford.  I carried that thing everywhere, in a Cinderella lunchbox.  That is where the love affair began.

Ever since then, I have carried a camera with me at all times.  It is wonderful to see the world through the eyes of a photographer.  Even the simplest of things are beautiful!

Today marks an important day in my adventure.  While I have had the good fortune to use a dSLR for several weeks, it is today that I received my very own to start on this new chapter of my journey.

The plan is to share photos here and get some feedback.  Hopefully, I can share things I learn along the way as well!

This is a picture from my first session with my new camera.  Apollo is a Tennessee Walking Horse.  He is a great sport for posing for me. :-)