Momtographie Week Two-Movement

This week our assignment was to work on two of our ingredients to capturing the photos we want.  We worked on two ingredients, shutter speed and ISO.  Our assignment was to observe the relationship between these to ingredients and try to capture an action photos.  I experimented with outside photos but it was an overcast day.  My daughter was practicing cartwheels in the front yard.  My first shots below were very blurry

This was at 1/125 Shutter Speed and ISO 400.

 

I needed to move my ISO up in order to capture and freeze the movement.  I also changed positions in the yard to utilize more sun.  The ISO was 640 and the shutter speed was 1/320.  I still have a little blur on the jump rope though.

 

 
 

I think my favorite out of the bunch is below catching both girls in the air. 

 

I shot a few detail photos to round off the jump rope play story. 

 

 

 

 I know I still have a lot more practice before I get the grasp on how ISO and shutter speed go together but, I learned a lot this week.

 

 

 

Momtographie Week One-Let There Be Light

This week it was all about finding light.  It sounds all nice and easy until you go out and actually try to capture light in your photographs.  I did not change anything on my camera except I was shooting in Aperture Priority Mode and I occasionally adjusted that by scrolling the dial on my camera.  I did try a few of the other elements but since light was most important I spent most of my week on that.

One of the assignments was to find light and grade light in your house.  I have determined that I need to move because for the most part my house is way too dark.  The one room that has decent light is my bedroom.  I like the photos from there but they might be a little to cool.  I don't yet know what to do to fix that.  My daughters were facing the window in my bedroom and I was in front of the window shooting toward them.  Here are a few:

 

I don't know what I did on the next one to make the color better but the location was pretty much the same. 

 

Next I tried outdoor light.  This was in the shade in our front yard.  I tried to use the element of lines in this one.

 

We went to the park about an hour before sunset to try to utilize the golden hour and see what kind of light I could catch.  Here are a few from that attempt using front light:

 

 

 

A couple with the sun to their back:

 

Last using the ingredient of play.  I captured the girls climbing on the tree:

 

I don't know where this one falls but I like it.  Maybe composition.

 

 

I learned a lot and can't wait for the next class.  I can't believe how much I have learned in one week.  I am addicted to finding lot.  I just never expected it to be so very hard.  I would love for you to leave a comment if you have any suggestions.

 

 

 Danielle

 

Dreams

Losing Joseph has made me realize that time is precious.  I can't sit around and wait for life to hand me my wishes and dreams.  I have to pursue those things.  My camera has been an outlet to help in my grief.  I have used it to capture moments of beauty.  Whether those moments are the smiles of my girls, basketball with the boys, or the craziness of family night, I love to capture each moment of our story. It is precious to me. This made me realize my dream. 

If I could do anything I would be a photographer.  I love photography but have absolutely no idea what I am doing. 

I have my  beloved DSLR camera and thought if I just had the expensive camera I would capture those great photos I see others do. There are many times I get lucky and get that perfect shot.  Unfortunately I have no idea how I got it or what I did.  I really can not repeat my successes because they have all been sheer luck.  Plus I never really shoot outside of Auto mode on my camera. 

I decided that I will never achieve my dream if I don't start somewhere.  So I have decided to take a photography class.  I figure you have to start somewhere.  Right?  So for the next six weeks I am going to participate in an online photography class called Momtographie by Beryl A. Young.  Here website is here: http://www.berylaynyoung.com/ 

Apparently, there is a lot more to taking great pictures then I thought.  I can't wait to continue pursuing my dreams.  It feels so good to step out and try something new that I want to get better it.   I will be posting my progress in the class for the next six weeks.

A Beauful Sunrise

Today is October 1 and the start of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.  I would have loved to never know such a month existed.  Unfortunately, I know because my son Joseph Parker Nelson was born still on January 30, 2012.  It has been eight long months since I started on this roller coaster called grief.  There have been many dark spots and tunnels along the way.  At times I didn't even know if I would ever see the light again.  I have had many highs because as much as I wanted to stop it life still went on.  I have had many lows because there are some days that I am so sad I just can't bear to face the day.   There are days when I am angry and days when I am understanding.  There are days when I want to scream "Why" at the top of my lungs and days that my acceptance amazes even me.  The crazy thing is I don't know from moment to moment what my emotions are going to be.  But during this month I am going to focus on capturing those emotions and embracing them.  I am by far not a morning person.  But I got up early today.  Michael and I went out to Lake Ray Hubbard to catch a Sunrise photo that would honor our son Joseph.  I brought my camera, tripod, and a cup of coffee.  We had already scoped out the perfect spot.  Today was a beautiful day.  The sunrise was amazing.  It was hard not to look at it and see the Gory of God. I took over 100 beautiful photos.  They all had their own unique beauty.  We packed up the tripod to leave.  As we were leaving a flock of birds flew across the sky.  I flipped my camera around to try to capture the moment.  That is when we got the perfect photo.  It just spoke to us.  It had all the elements we were looking for.  It had the son coming up with the beautiful golden color, the water with the reflection of the son, the beauty of the grass, and the birds flying across the sky.  I can just imagine the glorious things Joseph is experiencing in heaven simply by looking at this photo.  It made us remember Matthew 6:26. 

 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

We are all valuable to God and he will take care of all our needs.  It was nice to be out there doing something out of the ordinary.  Even though I miss Joseph with every breath I breathe, instead of being sad today, I was happy.