M24 News

As per suggestions I am attempting to reach out beyond google reader and facebook in an attempt to remind people of challenges in an effort to increase participation for posts. I dont want to guilt trip anyone just a friendly suggestion. So i created a mailing list of all the people who are set to contribute. Check your emails and if you dont want to be on the list follow the insturctions there and I will promptly resolve it and send 1 additional email to confirm it.

Scroll down for the challenge!

Challenge: Bright

I was out of ideas so I asked my wonderful wife and she came up with something I dont find synonymous to fall at all. Bright seems like an interesting word to choose with photography and I hope it can push us all in what we think of or how we take pictures! Nothing better than to Bright-en things up a bit!

Lets post by Monday November 9th at 11:59 PST!

Autumn: Wind and leaves

I liked a lot of the photos I took for this challenge, and had a hard time choosing just one. My kind and loving husband didn't like any of them. He actually said this was his least favorite, but it was my most favorite. I was sitting on the couch inside my warm house, watching the wind blow the leaves outside. I grabbed a sweater, some shoes, and my camera, and ventured outside. I took some pictures, but the wind had died down. It was blowing the leaves around, but only close to the ground, which was not obvious enough for a photo. So I scooped some up, threw them into the air above me, and took this picture. I like it because it shows the colors of Autumn, but it also demonstrates wind (even if I faked it). My husband's comment was just that the leaves looked like they were falling vertically, not blowing aimlessly.

You can see the rest of my photos here, though my husband said "they're not [my] best crop of photos." (Wow, he's getting kind-of a bad rap here, huh? I'm just making fun of him.)

CC

Buried

One of my most favorite memories as a child was getting to jump into a big pile of leaves every autumn and I was so excited to capture my son's first experience.

He Loved it!

f/5.3

1/125 sec

ISO 280

no flash

CC always welcome!

Autumn

I'm back :) and so glad to be!
My son "raking" leaves with daddy, his rake didn't do much good but he felt "big"

f5.6

1/3200
ISO 2000
CC welcome!

Leaves of Change

I love, love, love this time of year!
I love the colors, the weather, the sights, the smells of comfort foods.
I, most of all, love my backyard during the Fall. It's nothing but a blanket of beautiful leaves, and acorns -- and those crazy little squirrels.

And it means Christmas is around the corner :)

Challenge Reminder: Autumn

Havent had any posts for the autumn yet. The deadline is midnight to night if you would like to post. Try and get something in the remainder of the day if you can! Thanks everyone sure hope you had a good halloween!!

Bloggers Unite!

Photoshop users- I need your help! I've been so excited about starting my own photography business and I've been working really hard on trying to edit my pictures just right and after hours and hours I noticed a strange trend. All of my RAW (actually they're NEF) are being automatically desaturated when I open them in photoshop. I took them in NEF because it allowed me to adjust the lighting (a skill I'm still working on SOOC) so I need to convert them to JPEG so that my client can view them on her computer. What do I do?!? I've already done about 150 pictures this way and so I also worry about switching. Will the client notice if she doesn't see the originals? Is the change a negative change or is it actually working to my benefit or is it bad enough I should RE-edit all of the past pictures. Here's an example for ya, not my favorite picture but just one that really shows what's happening.

Here's the one that was opened in photoshop - I didn't really do anything to it. I just opened it and then converted it to a JPG.

This is the original SOOC (my camera takes a smaller quality jpeg image with the RAW image)

Has anyone experienced this before? Does anyone know what to do about it or know where to go for answers? Help!!!

Challenge: Autumn

It is one of my favorite times of the year. Lets see what "Autumn" holds in store for us for this challenge. What does it look, sound, smell or taste like? How does it make you feel? What is something that is autumn to you.

Lets post by Thursday November 5th at 11:59PM PST!

*another great word chosen by Melinda - Thanks!!!

Pumpkin girl

My daughter was very interested in the pumpkin the other morning. I took this with auto settings and with flash (thus the harshness of the shadows).

Halloween: Edibles

I didn't get a very good picture of my daughter in her Halloween costume, so I'm opting for edibles for this photo. At our church Halloween party, she wouldn't stop. She was on the move the entire night. I made these brownie pops for a book group meeting, where we discussed -- wait for it -- Frankenstein. If you want more on that, click here.

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Happy Halloweenie!

I took a ton of pictures of my kids dressed up. One of things I love most about photography is sorting through the photos -- and seeing what you managed to capture.
This picture just some up a lot of things for me right now. I'm sentimental about my big girl being in kindergarten -- and all the changes that come with that. And I love the symbolism in the trees changing - it's a constant reminder to me that things change for a reason. And that change can be beautiful.
There was a little time in Photoshop with this one - just to desaturate everything other than the leaves & my oldest daughter's costume. These are the true colors, very vibrant and gorgeous!

Happy Halloween

BOO! This is my scary picture..sorry for submitting two photos.. My sister painted this pumpkin for me for our Ward Halloween party.

Since my kids are all grown up and my grandaughters are in Hawaii , I have to resort to taking pictures of other peoples babies... this is her first Halloween and she looked so cute I could not resist... she is a baby fairy. Taken at our Ward Halloween Party.

Sizing Up Halloween

We like halloween over at our house. It is easy to post pictures of my cute kids so I decided to resist that this time. Pumpkins definately mean halloween to me. So I decided to size it up with the county winners for biggest pumpkins! CC please!

Elphaba and Nessarose...as Children

I fell in love with our leaf-strewn streets and sidewalks and took my girls out in their similar witch-y costumes. My older one actually has a green face (like Elphaba), but it's quite obvious that my youngest isn't maimed.

Challenge Reminder

Just wanted to give everyone a reminder that we are gonna stick with the challenge HALLOWEEN till Sunday night! I know its crazy getting costumes and perhaps some of you want to submit trick or treating pictures so I wanted to accomedate that!

Keep up the good work people and remember the challenge!

Roar!

Hope I haven't posted too many pics but caught this and loved it!

Lady bug boy

My son Allston really wanted to be a lady bug for Halloween, he does look so stinkin cute in his costume if I say so myself.

Challenge: Halloween

Let's see what the ghouls, ghost and skeletons you all have in your closet this last weekend for the holiday. You can submit whatever it is that you think of for Halloween. You can show us costumes, trick or treat, candy, pumpkins, jack-o-lanters, the whole works!

Given that this is after the holiday previous pictures taken in October will be accepted! Let's have our photos submitted by Sunday November 1st by 11:59PM!

Fear or Scare: Troll

Several months ago, I told my husband that if we ever had a challenge that was "scary" or something like that, I was taking a picture of this face of his for it, because it just totally freaks me out. I'm not sure what freaks me out the most about it -- the expression itself (including the eyes), or his ability to hold it -- unfalteringly -- for several minutes at a time. It's creepy. It's his "troll face."

For comparison:

Tiny Piggies and Hands...

Our sons were born prematurely and I just remember how little they were...these pictures were taken a couple of months after our second son came home from the NICU.

Hi, I'm Skye :)

Howdy, ya'll. I'm Skye, from central NC.
I've been lurking here for a while, and finally decided to stop drooling over everyone's pictures & join!
Bio: I've been married to Chad since August 2001, and we have two little girls. They definitely keep me on my toes.
I have had a camera affixed to my face since my first daughter was born in 2003 - and my passion has just grown. I am very forgetful, so I joke that my pictures are the only way for me to remember what actually happened ;)
I'm a Work-At-Home-Mom, with a custom photo card, web design, and photography business.

Fave Subjects: I love to take pictures of kids -- and I like unposed shots; I find they best describe the kiddo's nature. It makes my body hurt when I take pictures of newborns. Seriously. I love them so much; and they are by far my favorite subject.
I also love weddings. Wedding days are full or little details and I love trying to capture the whole picture for the couple.

Camera: Canon 40D & Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8.

And here are my favorite 3 pictures, which were all taken with my old camera.


I look forward to growing in photography knowledge with all of you! I love comments, good or bad ;)
Stop by our family blog if you'd like to learn more about us.

Wedding Posted!

Well guys, my official wedding gig has come and gone and I would LOVE your feedback. I have a few pictures loaded onto my blog and more on photobucket HERE !

Oh, my blog is www.gundersenphotos.blogspot.com PLEASE come and visit. I'm really excited to share. (I only have 627 more photos to sift through, edit, etc... so there's more to come-LOL!)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Challenge: Fear or Scare

So many people love the idea of fear. Rollercoasters are designed to scare the pants of you. It plays off your fear. With Halloween coming up show us what you think of Fear or Scare. Varations of the words like scared, scary, fearful, etc are totally fine!

Let's remember to keep it legal people. I know how your creative minds work and with a "darkside" word such as this you can become over night criminals! :0)

Since everyone love scary stuff I will give you a whole week for this! Get these photos in by Sunday October 25th by 11:59PM PST!

Comment Challenge

I am foregoing the challenge for the rest of the week in order to give everyone a chance to comment on the last 2 challenges. There are quite sparse comments so please fill in where you can without the having the challenge! Lets give everyone some praise!

Centrifical Force

Not the greatest picture but it captures the active spirit of this child and perhaps most all children! Makes me dizzy if I stare at it long enough! CC always welcomed.

Kid at Heart

There's just something fun and exciting when Gramma climbs on the trampoline with her girls.

CC welcome!

Tiny

Hurray, I finally posted for a challenge! Anyway, I took this of my little girl and was struck by how incredibly tiny she still is in the big ol' world. Now, if only I could get her to realize that ;).

CC

Just SMILE would ya!

You know, kids are darn cute but they tend to kinda do thier own thing sometimes and no matter what you do they just will NOT cooperate.
I got to shoot my first paid wedding gig on Saturday and it was such a blast! I just thought these kids were hilarious. The only pictures I was ever able to get of them smiling was when they didn't know I was taking pictures. I still think this was my favorite one though. I just love the look on the little boy's face. "Get me outta here!"
I know this is a bit out of the challenge period. I didn't realize I had till Sunday and when I got home Saturday I was WAY too pooped to post. So, this was officially taken as a "SMILE" challenge but it kinda fits as a "child" one too. I hope you can all understand. I would still LOVE your imput.

SOOC!!!! (Hooray)
f/5.6
ISO200
Exp 1/60sec

Childs Play

My daughter got married this weekend in Hawaii so my husband and I were fortunate to go over for the wedding, this little girl is one of my favorite little people ( and her sister) , she is my grandaughter and I love love love taking her picture. So I missed the smile challenge but she does have a sweet smile too. ( playing in the sand on the beach in Maui)

Our sweet smiling boy...

Smiling Jacob...

Challenge: Child

Got a easy one if you can just get them to hold still. That is to say a child or children. It could be something childish even lets just see what child means to you all! So many things you can do with this from actions, to objects, people, memories, etc. The list is endless! Let's see it!

Given the holiday coming up this might be quite easy! Let's set the deadline as Thursday October 22th at 11:59PM PST!

*another great word chosen by Melinda - Thanks!!!

Small Smile

This is our neighbor Amough!  His family is from India and has been here 5 years now.  It is their festival of lights and so there are tons of lights around that makes me smile but he is a cute little boy as well though he himself doesnt smile a lot till you get to know him!

Experimented with flash trying to be far enough away to not wash out the subject.  Worked pretty well but the resolution isnt the quality I want.  Oh well practice makes perfect.  CC welcomed!

Smile: Still smiling

Recognizing that this is not a stellar picture, I still really like it, for a couple of reasons. If you look closely, you can see a pretty yucky scratch coming straight down from my daughter's right eye. I clocked her pretty badly yesterday morning. She had her finger stuck in something, and in my rush to help her free herself, I accidentally scratched her face with my ring. After that. she wanted Daddy to comfort her, not me. Yet later that afternoon, she was still smiling for me. She'd forgiven me. The other reason I like it is because after not taking hardly any pictures of her in the last two months, she still recognizes a camera, and still smiles for it. She poses and looks happy and makes me smile.

CC

Kiss: Rain-kissed Autumn

I took this picture during the "kiss" time frame, but had too much going on, so Blake said I could still post it.


I stepped out my back door to go somewhere, and saw this single bright red leaf next to a green spot of weeds poking up through my bricks. It needed its picture taken. If you click the picture to enlarge it, you'll be able to see the fresh raindrops barely kissing the leaf.

CC

Smile? Not Gonna Happen

In and of itself, this picture is unremarkable, I know. However, I'm proud of it because I always, ALWAYS have been taking my pictures on the same setting, in natural light with no flash. This one was on my ISO setting in a dark room, using flash and still turned out cute.

When you're....

smilin'..... The whole world smiles with yoooouuuuuuu...

Challenge Reminder: Smile

Just reminding everyone we have till just before midnight Sunday night to post! Hope you all enjoy the challenge!

Challenge: Smile

I must have not moved on from my oral stage or I have regressed. Let's see what you think of for SMILE. I think it is an interesting word. Easy submission to just send in any picture with a subject with a smile. Maybe you can be more adventurous and take a picture of some object(s) that form a smile, much like that commercial you can see on tv.

If you dont like the word just grin and bare it! :o) Lets post these pictures by Sunday October 18th by 11:59PM PST.

*another great word chosen by Melinda - Thanks!!!

Set Days, Best Days

The human condition...fighting change! Im sure we all want set days because we hate the changing days. I wanted to judge by posts made and also by the poll on the sidebar but it isnt quite steady to get an accurate idea of best days. So for now lets pick Thursday and Sunday nights to close challenges until we get a good consensus.

As always comment here, email m24photos@gmail.com, post on facebook for me or m24 page whatever! Give me the two best days for you, even if you think you can only post one, give me the two days you are most likely to post. As always any other word suggestions or any ideas on how you want m24 to function are MOST WELCOMED!

We'll keep this format till we figure out best days and then change. Sure hope that is cool with y'all! Look for new challenge later!