AUTOmatic driving

The first thing that came to my mind with this challenge was a car. I know that's not genius or anything, but it's what I thought about all day.
So, instead of doing a different topic, I just tried to make driving in my automatic car more interesting...

I took this by tilting the mirror as far out as it would go so I wouldn't get my car in the picture, and then scrunching down in my seat to get the words "objects in the mirror are closer than they appear" so that everything else would blur as we were driving.
ISO 200, f16, 1/25 second)
Color pop in Lightroom with DANCE preset.

And I always forget to put this, but CC.

My Kind of Gardening

f5.6 1/15 iso200

My kind of gardening is the AUTOMATIC kind... these babies come up all by themselves. Oh, if only the tomatoes could do the same! ;)

Wishing for Automatic Upgrade

Isn't there a faster way to move from diapers to this??

Taken on my 'p' setting, no flash, near a window. Cropped only. I would have loved to have hilighted just the red, but my free program doesn't do that.

CC

Automatic Transportation

Sunny day means automatic bike rides for my family. I've always thought gears made for an interesting subject. I just wish I had a bit more time to spend trying different angles and focus areas. My hubby was just really excited to get started. I was disappointed- blogger keeps rotating the picture on me. I thought it was much more interesting twisted the other way- ah well- use your imagination.

f-5.6, ISO 200, Sutter 1/320 on an D40X

CC

Automatic-drug test

I work in a Drug Testing Lab and we do random drug testing, clients are responsible for calling in every day and listening for the group numbers of that day, if they do not show up when their number is called it is then an AUTOMATIC "No Show", if they show up and cannot provide a sample then it is reported as "Refusal" Which also means and AUTOMATIC "positive" result. Just my little take on the word Automatic.

Automatic : Car Radio

When I get in my car I automatically turn the radio station to one that is cohesive to my mood. Usually it is preset button 1 or2.
no flash used. macro focus.

Automatic Stress Relief

(D70, ISO 1000, f3.8, 1/50, shot in indirect sunlight, slightly sharpened)

With our 5 1/2 month old twins, we don't go ANYWHERE for longer than 10 minutes without our ridiculously huge diaper bag, which we pack with two bottles, bottled water, two sectioned formula containers, tons of diapers, toys, extra binkies, six burp clothes, six bibs, wipes, two extra outfits in case of explosions, the changing pad, and mommy's wallet and cell phone. The bag was sitting on the ottoman in our living room after a trip to the doctor today, and as soon as I saw the subject, I thought of the bag because it's become so automatic to pack that while we're getting ready to go anywhere that we barely have to even think about it anymore. Like the title states, just knowing that we have all those supplies at hand also automatically lowers the stress level...the only thing we can't fit in there is their swings! No real editing done, just a slight sharpen and resizing. CC

CHALLENGE: Automatic

Now this doesn't mean to SHOOT in automatic!! This means to push yourself to find what it means to you!!

How do YOU interpret the word??

CHALLENGE: Automatic (hopefully with manual settings!!)

Let's see what you've got and have a great weekend!
As always, pictures in by Sunday at midnight!

Livin' on the Edge

This isn't the photo I wanted. In my head it looked SO MUCH cuter. But here it is. My almost 1 year old likes to cuddle on my bed, and when I get up to do something (tidy up, get dressed for the day, get ready for bed...) she follows me as far as she can, to the very edge of the bed. Sadly, in trying to get her to be on the edge, she got shy on me and left a foot of space. But she does usually get right there on the end. My flash and I were having a disagreement. I took this with my 'P' setting, zoomed more than I usually would, ended up cropping even a little more, took it to Picasa, fixed a red eye and present it now.

CC

Cutting EDGE

This is my new paper cutter. I love how I got the front blurry and the end clear. I had to turn off my flash for this picture and used a manual focus and the normal lighting in my living room.

Rough around the edges

My poor saw had a terrible encounter with bleach. This was the result. I loved the jagged edge and the contrast of the rust spots.

Definitely tough around the edges!

Beloved Coffee Table

This coffee table was already old and worn when we purchased it at a thrift store. We were newly married, feathering our tiny one-bedroom nest with used furniture. I loved this weather-beaten little table from the moment I saw it, and have insisted that we keep it, no matter how many times we move. One of my favorite things about it is that the EDGES are so worn - I love the old look, plus it means that my kids won't be able to make it look any worse!


I had trouble with this one, I think it's hard to take a picture of the edge of something! I tried to get pictures at the library and just couldn't get anything to look quite like I wanted. I'm still not convinced that I got this picture to look just the way I want, but all my batteries are used up and I'm photographed out!

CC

Edge of the door

A cute little door holder.
I just really liked the colors, the wear, and the fact that it was an iron.
An excellent use for an iron if I must say so myself. :)

Party Pooper

Saturday was my uncle's wedding. My two girls were the flower girls. My youngest just so happened to fall asleep on the way to the church. She slept throughout the whole ceremony, and 3/4 of the reception. I guess she just partied to hard the whole day and couldn't do it anymore.
On the bright side... there was no fussing out of her during the ceremony :)

Colorful

Sorry this is so late. I will be posting my celebration late also, I was in Virginia and I forgot my camera's cord to upload photos on the computer. oops :)

This is a picture of a jar of straws. I just liked the look of it with all of the vivid colors.

More than One Edge

Let me just say three days of sick kids, I'm on edge. Two days of flu symptoms I'm on edge keeping things down. Believe it or not I got my idea from the only thing I could eat for 2 days now which was on the edge of popping up! Toast!

I tried to fill the frame and tried to zoom in but the heat just made it too blury for my taste of a picture. Just enhanced the colors a little to get the glow for the reflection of the heat strips.

Sharp Edge

nikonD90 f4.8 1/8 iso200 no flash

No, not very inspired, but an edge, nonetheless! I love big knives. ;)

On the Edge of Bankruptcy

No I am not on the edge of bankruptcy but with the way the Economy is these days I know some families that are. Times are tough but we are blessed, I am thankful for tithing! Anyways this was a good topic, made me really think about what I wanted to do.

The Edge of Sleep

I know I've been really bad about posting as of late. Would you believe I've been worse at actually taking pictures? I'm Sorry! But I'm back so here goes...
My in laws came to visit and grandma took my little boy for a stroll around our living room. Around and around and around... grandma loves to spoil. This is what I found when I came home. Another couple rounds ought to do it.

This is SOOC, but I want to try some photoshop on it to make it more dreamy. Any ideas?

Nikon D40x, f/5.6, ISO200, Shutter 1/60sec

CC

Razor's Edge

A Razors Edge

This is a shoot I did today- I have never used a rozor in a photo shoot, but this was the idea I had. This little girl is my neighbors 3 year old.

On the edge

This is my son Allston who is right on the "Edge" of being potty trained. He just turned 2 last week, and potty trainig sucks. But he starts private school soon and has to be all the way potty trained to go. This was taken today at the park and the snow is starting to melt which reminds me that we are on the "Edge" of spring.

Manual camera settings and adjusted on photoshop

Intro and Edge

(D70, f5.6, 1/50s, ISO 200)

Hi all! My name is Lindy and I heard about this blog from my amazingly talented friend, Carly Carlson. The above photos was taken in my kitchen at about 7:30 am after having been up all night. I had just gotten Rachel's invite and a request for a self-portrait after getting out of the shower, so here I am in all my wet-haired, un-make up'd glory! Which is why it's in black and white, to mask the horrid red blotchiness that is my bare skin.

I've always had a love for photography, but that love went on a brief hiatus after college...a three year hiatus, to be exact. My senior year was, for me, a very discouraging year, photographically. I had, what I thought, a great photography professor, and yet my photo skills were not increasing. I've just started to realize that all of my frustrations have stemmed from one simple problem: I never bothered to learn how to take my camera off of automatic and actually BE the photographer. I always relied on my automatic settings, never forcing myself to learn how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO all go together. It made for a sad, bleak world.

But then the other night at work, at approximately 3 am when absolutely NOTHING was going on, I 'snuck' onto Pioneer Woman's photography site and read through her tutorials. Sge managed to teach the basics of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO without being too overwhelmingly technical, yet without sounding like she was teaching a 5 year old. So tonight I dug out my Nikon D70 digital SLR and spent a good hour just fiddling with the controls. Oh my heck, it's like a whole new world has opened to me.

Other than that, I've been married to my husband, who is a professional photographer, for almost three years. We live in Oregon, in the town I grew up in. I'm a mom to 5 1/2 month old twin boys, who absolutely rock my world, which would be why you see the bottles in the background of my self portrait. I'm a 911 dispatcher and am currently on graveyard shift, 6 pm-6 am, which is why I was up all night.

And now the assignment. Keep in mind that this was taken at around 3 am, as a series of photos I took while fiddling with the aperture and shutter speeds. I honestly don't remember what shutter speed I used, but I was in ISO 200 and I believe f6.3. I didn't do "Edge" literally, it more symbolizes me regaining my photographic edge, as I love how the depth of field turned out after trying several other f-stops.


I used gradient map in Photoshop to make it black and white, and then backed off on the opacity to give it a little more warmth, which makes it look like it almost has a sepia tone to it. Which was always my favorite tone in the darkroom. CC

CHALLENGE: Edge

This should bring a good variety of pictures! I think there was a slump in picture posting last week, so I am hoping we can all recommit to getting out there and doing great things this week!

The challenge this week is: EDGE

So many meanings!

What does this mean to you? How does it make you feel?

Let's see it in action!!

Question for all you Photoshop users

I have photoshop elements. I love it, but am wanting to recreate some of the actions you guys are using on your photos. Do any of you know how to do it? I would love it if you guys could tell me how to do so. Maybe a feature Friday???? 

Okay, pictures are up

For those of you who are on google reader, I have now re-posted my Sunday entry with pictures here.

Here's your chance to get all sorts of photography questions answered!

A fellow Mission 24 Member, Carly, is celebrating her 1 year having her photography business up and running by having a big Q&A on her blog!

If you have had questions, now would be a great time to ask them. She is super talented and could really point you in the right direction. No question is too silly! Head on over there and ask away!

And while you are at it, enter to WIN a 1-2 hour photography and Photoshop class via Skype/ICHAT--SO everyone can enter.

Go. NOW! :) She is only taking questions until Friday the 13th.... :) Click here to get on board.

...and have a great day!

Older...and hopefully wiser

Of all people, I thought I would have so many opportunities for this challenge! But I didn't--we spent the weekend cleaning up after some very sick kids. The few celebration things we did, I just wasn't pleased with anything I took...so, I am late. Very late. But I am posting this anyway--we're all allowed to break the rule once in a while, right? :)

Natural light. ISO 720, f5.6, 1/30

Color and Celebration

This was not a good photography week for me. I was slammed and these challenges were hard! It didn't help, either, that I misread the second challenge. I thought we were doing Birthday. Anyway, here goes:

True Colors

Nikon D90, 200 mm, 1/3 sec., F 5.6

Sydney in her party dress.

Nikon D90, 24mm, 1/25 sec., F4.5

I cropped the picture and tried to blur the background to make it less distracting, but I don't think it worked.
CC

aftermath

This photo is a twist on an idea my husband had. I played with different angles and different lighting. I actually liked the lighting in some of my other attempts better, but I liked the depth of field in this one better. My biggest disappointment is that when I shrunk it for the web, I lost the detail that was in focus and it looks blurry. My full size file looks much better. I went with this one because it didn't look at forced as my other attempts and it captured for me the "aftermath" of a celebratory evening...

Celebration: Party Dress

I took several shots of one of my daughter's dresses that I absolutely love. It looks like the perfect little party dress. I took a couple of close up shots of the fabric and pattern, as well as a beautifully tied bow on the front of it. I ended up using Picasa to stack two of them again, and I just really like it. The dress looks like a party dress to me, and a party is cause for celebration. Other than the stacked style collage, I haven't done anything else to these photos.

What a celebration!!

Tonight, we celebrated with my favorite dessert. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. What were we celebrating you ask? Daddy didn't have to work tonight. I work every other Sunday, and this was my night off. We had some ice cream in the freezer and lounged by watching a movie. It was so much fun. I tried so hard to make this picture 'not blurry', but I'm still learning. Any tips or tricks to teach me would be very helpful!!!

Celebrating our big girls birthday

This was a perfect topic for Saturday because it was our number 3 childs 25th birthday, (it's actually tomorrow) but we had a big family birthday dinner for her tonight. She really wanted a bike and after many discussions with her husband about what he was going to get her, we ( the parents) got her the bike and hubby got her a spa package. So here is Steph celebrating over her new bike.

Party Animals

(I know I shouldn't post two, but I just had to include this one!)

These pictures are full of what every good birthday celebration consists of: cake, balloons, party hats, and good friends!

(Pictures taken with a Nikon D-40 camera on automatic setting.) CC

Celebration Time!

There was no real celebration here, just a little thing that Grandma and Grandpa like to do with their granddaughters: dance to 60's, 70's, and 80's music. I took this picture on my P setting with extra color in the settings. I took it to Picasa and cropped, sharpened and made it grainier, since the lighting made for a not-so-perfect picture anyway. I just loved the moment, even if I'm not hot about the picture!

CC

Celebration of my senses

There is just something about a warm shower with good water pressure and a nice shower head to make you feel better. I like to take a warm shower when my kids are starting to make me go a little crazy and when I just need to escape. It helps clear your mind and it feels good on your skin.

I was experimenting with more settings on my camera and also trying to get it to take pictures at a faster speed. I decided to take pictures of moving water like this i need a camera with a better shutter speed. I tried different effects in photo editors but nothing by auto color helped bring out the water drops better.

Nature

Celebrating Nature-

This is my grandson Allston- he just turned two on the 5th

Almost a Cause for Celebration (and Color)

When both of my children are asleep at the same time, to me that is a cause for celebration. It's a rarity because my little girl doesn't usually take naps. So when she started nodding off this afternoon, I started quietly rejoicing - peace and quiet! Hooray!


Except that her brother woke up about two seconds after I took the picture. Sigh. I took this picture in natural light from the window, then made it black and white because the colors from the pillow and the dress were distracting from the peacefulness of the scene.



And here is my Color picture - the colors of Spring and Easter. This is the kids' little Easter basket that they like to play with.


I liked the idea of using this as a subject because right now the colors of Spring are so cheerful - a welcome break from the dreary browns and grays of winter. We don't have much color outside yet so I had to search for inspiration inside. Again, natural light from the window, crouched down on the ground and used the floor to steady the camera.

CC

"Celebrate" Beautiful Weather

Today it was 80 degrees, and we all went to the beach. The first beach day of the year! Although I took several pictures, when I got home I was rather unimpressed with any of them. These two I was torn beteween. I had a hard time getting the contrast I wanted in the one with two kids, so I made it blk and wht. CC

Anniversary

Well today My husband and I are Celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary!! Yea us! So I took this picture paying extra attention to the tips and tricks that were given this Friday!  Thanks!  I took it on a low aperture and quick shutter, no flash.   I tried this shot from tons of angles! And had some fun in photoshop!   CC!!