Shoot & Edit: "Red" (SOOC)

So here's the photo I think I want to use in the Shoot & Edit challenge this week. It's of the garage at my parent's house that they turned into a studio apartment. It is made to look like an old barn. Orginaly it was used to hold my dad's old car and I remember "helping" him build it when I was little. I lived here for years after college.

It was so fun taking photos of red in this snowy New England winter that it was hard to decide which "red" photo to choose...so here are a few others I might play around with too. I took many of these at my parent's house.

This photo is of thier pellet stove with the red kettle on top of it and the red candles in the background. My parent's have a lot of red in their house and I love how it looks against all the wood. Cary and I bought my dad this kettle for Christmas one year because of how much they enjoy red, especially for the kitchen. You'll see why in the next photo.

Sony DSC-HX1: 1/40 f3.2 ISO160

My parent's have this amazing red, iron sink in thier kitchen. I have always loved it! It is so unique. This isn't the best photo of it which is why I might edit it. It is one of those things I will always remember about the house I grew up in but it is neglected in photos. I don't think I had ever thought to photograph it before. So here it is...


Sony DSC-HX1: 1/20 f2.8 ISO400

This last picture isn't great. I was playing around with manual mode on the camera this morning photographing a mini rose plant I bought at the grocery store yesterday. Not great but maybe worth practicing on.

Sony DSC-HX1: 1/3 f 8.0 ISO 200

That's it for now!

Happy Monday!

Shoot & Edit: Good Night (edited)



Good Night: DSC-HX1 1/25 f3.2 25.4mm ISO1600

Here is my edited version of my  photo for the Shoot & Edit Challenge. I am still just using Picasa and Picnik. I am planning on downloading a trial version of PS Elements based on fellow bloggers suggestions and advice which I really appreciate! I was not happy with the SOOC version of this photo. I used the auto setting on my camera which I usually like, but because this was taken in a darker room with no flash it set the ISO high. I am only just beginning to learn about those settings but I do know that an ISO that high is going to result in a grainy photo. And this one certainly is. So I decided in editing to use that and go with a black and white version. Those shots can be grainier and it adds to them. I also played around with a red-orange filter while setting it to black and white in Picnik. I am still not 100% sure what that means or how it effects the photo specifically but I like the effect. I'm following the editing tutorials only slightly on the challenges. I am learning all the possibilities but only applying a few things. Mostly I am playing around with settings right now and seeing what they do as more of an experiment. Then going back and reading the tutorials more carefully to learn more.

 

Today I took a few photos for the next challenge...Red. I'm excited about this one. A fun challenge during a very snowy, white, New England winter!

 

Happy Saturday!

Shoot & Edit: Good Night (SOOC)

Good Night: DSC-HX1 1/25 f3.2 25.4mm ISO1600

This is my photo for this week's Shoot & Edit challenge. The theme was what means "Good Night" to you. This is a terrible picture. I used the auto mode on the camera and the ISO is very high and so the photo is grainy. But in the interest of working with editing and learning some things I decided to stick with this photo.

I also decided to stick with this photo because of what it represents to me. My guy is away at an Army school. He has been gone for 2 1/2 months and will be gone for at least another 2 months. Every night we talk on the phone. That is so important to me. He finally caved and bought a cell phone before he left so we could keep in contact easier. That way if I need him even when he is at school I can at least leave him a message. It makes the distance a little easier to bear. So I decided to take a photo of my phone on my pillow. I miss him terribly and this chance to have him be the last person I talk to each night means everything. Also...incidentally....on Saturday I dropped my old phone in a puddle. May it RIP. It didn't recover. Since I don't have a landline and with everything going on with my family and my guy being gone I needed to get my hands on a new one ASAP. I splurged a little. I usually buy the cheap phones. But I got myself the nice one. A Sprint HTC Evo. I had some rebates so the phone itself was expensive but still do-able. I was nervous about signing up for a more expensive plan but I am eligible for a discount so it ended up only being $10 more a month. I have to admit...I love it :) So fun!

Happy Wednesday!

fair isle



Spotted Fair Isle Mittens for my sister

These are my sister's birthday present! I am so excited about them! In the past few weeks my mom quickly showed me how to do Fair Isle. Basically I wanted to know where to hold the yarn. Then on an on-line video I taught myself to use both my right and left hand to hold the yarn. I love these! The pattern was really simple and a great way to learn. It is out of a book that I love: 60 Quick Knits with Cascade 220 yarn. Easy patterns and very nice, reasonably priced yarn. I am pleased with the color combination I chose. Now I'm trying to finish up a simple hat that is using just the light blue color yarn. That may not be done in time! Her birthday is monday but we are having a family dinner tomorrow.

Off to finish knitting!

Happy Saturday!

Shoot & Edit: Good Morning (edited)

Good Morning: DSC-HX1 1/60 f4 25.4mm ISO400

So I have discovered editing! I might be addicted. I have never really done much with photo editing before but I am amazed! I am especially liking it on photos taken with my old camera that came out kind of dark. Lightening up the image a little makes such a difference and saves the pictures. Anyhow...this is my edited version of my first entry for the Shoot & Edit challenge "Good Morning." I'm just using Picasa and Picnik because I don't have PS or Elements yet. I am hoping to though. I'm thinking of going with Elements. What are your recommendations?

On my edit I played around with contrast, shadows & highlights, exposure and the white balance. The white balance tool is great! Why didn't I discover that sooner?! I kind of wanted a vintage-y feel with the photo. I am liking how it turned out.

So here in Massachusetts I am having a snow day. The two classes I teach this semester were cancelled. This was going to be the first day of each class. I'm teaching two back-to-back on Fridays so unfortunately this snow day puts us a bit behind. But I'm not gonna complain! It gives me a little time on campus Monday to really prepare. With everything going on with my dad I am truthfully a little behind. I am a virgo perfectionist and hate that feeling of not being completely ready for something.

I am hoping to use my day to relax. I want to finish knitting my sister's birthday present...I'll post the finished products this weekend. I am so excited about them! Tonight I am supposed to pick her up and bring her to my parent's for the weekend to visit with our dad...if I can get out. Tomorrow, after getting new tires put on my car, I have Girl's Night with my friends and Sunday we are celebrating my sister's birthday. I'm looking forward to a happy weekend.

Happy Friday!

wordless wednesday

Shoot & Edit: Good Morning



Good Morning: DSC-HX1 1/60 f4 25.4mm ISO400



Through Sarah C's blog I found out about:

forever never n always photography

This should be a perfect opportunity for me to practice with my new camera. My guy gave me a beautiful camera (Sony CyberShot DSC-HX1) for Christmas. I had my last camera for 10+ years and loved it. But it was a pretty basic digital. Over that time I have grown to love photography. This new camera isn't an SLR (too high of a learning curve for me right now and way to expensive) but it is an advanced point and shoot. So I have been playing around with the manual mode and aperature only mode. I love it! He knew I had been eyeing one for a long time so he did some research and had this one sent to me while he is at his military school.

So there is my photo for this week's challenge. I believe I just had the camera on auto mode for this picture. So I didn't do any of the settings myself.  I don't have photoshop so I'm not sure I will be able to do the "edit" portion of challenges right now. I have Picasa which can do some limited editing. So I'll do what I can with that for now. I am hoping to put aside a little money next month to get myself an inexpensive version of photoshop.
Happy Tuesday!