A Caution...

...to those who do not believe that beauty is fleeting...

(Nikon D70, 50mm, f22, 1/80 sec, ISO 800)

I saw this abandoned Sunflower along side the road today, on my way to my final day of EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatch) training. It looked beautiful this morning, like it had just been picked. Not having enough time to stop right then, I prayed that it would still be there on my return journey and sure enough, nine hours later, there it was. When I got close to it, however, I could see the day's wear and tear on it. Beauty is fleeting...enjoy it while it lasts.

CYC: Inspiration...I'm BAAAAAAACK!

Hey everyone! Wow, I've missed you guys! We're finally settled into our new home in McMinnville and my new job as a 911 dispatcher for the county. Whew! And now my first photo in a couple of months.


My husband and I took our twins on a hike to Silver Creek Falls, a place I've never been but have always wanted to visit. As we were walking along the creek at the bottom of the falls, I saw this leaf and it inspired the photographic side of my brain as nothing has for the past few months. As soon as I threw the "Super Fun Happy" action (from Totally Rad Actions) on it, I was in love.

Sorry, no photo specs included tonight, the hubby is "patiently" waiting for me to post this so we can watch a movie now that the twins are down for the night.

Isn't There An Express Way to Move?

Miracle of miracles, wonder of wonders, I was actually able to sneak a post in before moving day, which is day after tomorrow.

(D70, 50mm, f22, 1/80 sec, ISO 1250)

Here's our gigantic uhaul truck (27 ft total), which is currently taking up all of our driveway and part of the alley way that runs next to our driveway. Yikes. To look at our upstairs, you wouldn't even know we've been packing like mad people, but we're getting there. But seriously. Isn't there a quick and easy way to move across the state?

See you all on the flip side!

Portrait of Puppy Happiness

I'm on the road right now, so this is about as good as it got in terms of getting a "portrait". My friends got this Mastif and St. Bernard mix...this adorable puppy is someday going to be almost two hundred pounds!!! This was his second day with his new parents and he was finally relaxing enough to play.


Sorry about being a bit MIA these days, our twins were sick for almost two weeks and now I'm on an 8 day trip through Oregon and Washington for job interviews and testing...which finally ends tomorrow. SO really to be home.

It's Been a Rough Year

Ok, I promise I'll stop using photos from my unfortunate neighbor's place....or maybe not. I feel really bad for them because it truly has been a rough year for them, but their property is just ripe with photog fodder! Anyway, I was getting done with my run tonight when I noticed (for the first time - how observant of me) their mail box laying in the grass in front of their burned down house. The lighting was a-ma-zing because the sun was just going down.

(D70, 42mm, f9.0, 1/25 sec, ISO 320)

Fluid Knowledge

Just when I start getting comfortable with the knowledge that I've gleaned on photography, something else comes from left field, smacks me on the side of the head, and rocks my world, which just teaches me that all knowledge is fluid and changes from day to day. This time it was my husband showing me this amazing type of editing called the Orton Effect, which takes certain photos (only select photos work with this) from hum-drum to WOW!!! Plant photos are especially great for this. I put a tutorial on my photo blog if you want to know how to do the this. Unfortunately, I am posting this from work (I made my hubby email it to me) so I don't have the photo exposure info. When I get home, I'll post the SOOC of this photo on this same post so you can see the difference.



As promised, here's the SOOC.

Off-Balance

(D70, 50mm, 800 ISO, f10, 1/50 sec)

This car is in my neighbor's driveway. This would be the neighbor whose house burned down and so the property is basically abandoned. When we drove by it yesterday, I noticed the car for the first time and immediately said, "I need to get photos of that car!" The tire in the photo is flat, so the car itself is decidedly "off-balance".

Because it was rainy and dark out, I lightened and warmed the photo using PW's actions and then stylized it using TRA's Super Fun Happy action. More photos of this car (because old rusted cars kinda rock) are on my photo blog. :)

The Other Lindy

(D70, 50mm, f7.1, 1/80 sec, 800 ISO)

Pretty self explanitory, I think. All I did was crop it, use gradient map to make it even more black & white, and then used a Level Adjustment Layer to make the blacks & whites really pop. Then I added the border and my watermark, actions provided by MCP Actions. CC

Wisdom Missed

(Nikon D70, 50mm, 1/15 sec, f8, 800 ISO)

This was my first go at a challenge with my 50mm lens...ok, my husband's 50mm that I stole. I'm still learning, but I have to say that I l.o.v.e this lens.

The photo is of my wedding bouquet (in the background), but more importantly, of Marla's corsage that she wore at Nathan and my wedding. Marla was my mom's best friend and a second mom to me. Only 7 months after our wedding, Marla lost her year and half long battle with ovarian cancer. The house we live in now is the one she left to us. I miss her so much, that over two years later it still hurts when I think of her, and I would give just about anything to see her hold our boys just once...she was a twin and I can only imagine how much she would love Levi and Asher.

This photo represents wisdom to me in so many ways. First, I can't even explain how much I miss being able to call Marla up and ask for her advice. It was always straight forward and to the point, she didn't pull any punches, and most of the time that's exactly what I needed. I know my words aren't doing her justice, but I'm trying. Also, it amazes me to think back to the day that these flowers represent and realize just how much wisdom Nathan and I have gained since saying our vows. I would say that I wish we had that wisdom back then, but that's the fun of growing together, right?

PS. I've missed you all in the past couple of weeks!

A Promise

(Canon PowerShot A470, ISO 400, 1/125 sec, f3.0, 6.3mm)

I was considering the talk I am giving at Young Life club tomorrow night, mulling over what it is God wants me to say these teenagers on the day after we celebrate His resurrection. On every social website (such as Facebook and MySpace) that I've logged onto tonight, I've seen people posting "He is Risen!" Amen! That made me thing about the thing that has set Jesus apart from any other founder of a religion; He said He was going to die and rise again. And then He did it.

What an amazing promise. If you think beyond the fact that in a single moment Jesus took our sins upon Him on the cross, here are the bare facts. He died. Everyone dies. If He had left it at that, He would have been what many claim Him to be...a really amazing teacher. But He didn't leave it at that. He promised us that He would rise again, and rise He did! He conquered death, hallelujah!

I thought about taking a photo of the words "He is risen!" from the bible, and actually ended up doing so, but those weren't the words that touched me tonight. Rather, it was Jesus talking about himself, saying "he will rise". It was His promise that death will not win. What a promise. It's a promise I rest in.

Old Fashioned Black & White...Kinda

(D70, ISO 500, 1/60 sec, f13.0, 120mm)

I managed to sneak out this morning after I got off work and spend a good hour just lurking around town looking for fun photo ops. There are several photos that I really like out of this set, but this one was the one that made me really feel something. It was actually on private property so my zoom came in handy.

I cropped it a bit to make it more square, used PW's Boost and Definte & Sharpen actions, made it black and white using gradient map, and then made the blacks and whites more true using a Level Adjustment Layer. Good times. I pushed the black and white level adjustment a bit to make it more stylized.

Just a heads up, I'm probably going to be MIA for a while. My job is getting cut at my dispatch center, so starting July 1st I'll be out of a job. As a result, I am in the midst of finding another job, putting our house on the market, paring down our MOUNDS of stuff to make it easier to move, taking care of babies, and working full time. So I'll be back, as soon as this tornado that has hit our life settles a bit.

Stop-Motion

Canon Powershot A470, ISO 200, 1/60 sec, f/3.0, 6.3mm)

Here's the obligatory kiddo shot. I haven't posted one yet, so I figured it's time. These two little guys (Levi on the left, Asher on the right) represent motion to me in so many different ways. First of all, they never stop, even in their sleep. No kidding. I go in their room after getting off work in the morning and they're sound asleep yet constantly moving; it's pretty rare to get a blur-free photo of both of them. They stop my heart with every smile and then start it racing again. They keep me moving forward even when I just want to crawl under a rock and hide, make me want to provide the best that I possibly can for them. Have I gushed enough?

I took this with our point and shoot yesterday morning after the boys woke up and I put Levi in Asher's crib. I cropped it a tiny bit, and adjust the curve a little bit to lighten it and get rid of a little bit of redness out of their faces, and then ran the Hot Cocoa action from the CoffeeShop Actions blog (more free action goodness) to give it a slightly dreamy quality. But trust me, I eased up on the opacity A LOT; the original setting made it so you could barely even see their faces.

I tried uploading the size of photo that I usually upload and it seems like the blog got squished in size a bit because the photo is cut off on the right side. Bummer. :( But I kept it that size because the next size down is just too small.

Sweet Addiction

(Canon Powershot A470, 6.3mm, f3.0, 0.4 sec, ISO 200)

When I was pregnant with our twin boys, I was highly addicted to Jolly Ranchers....more specifically, Watermelon Jolly Ranchers, which always magically disappeared faster than the other flavors. Why don't they make bags of Jolly Ranchers with just individual flavors for those of us who aren't big fans of blue raspberry. I liked that this was the only red candy left in a sea of blue and purple, thanks to my dad who always stole the cherry ones whenever he came over to visit.

I used my trusty point and shoot for this super macro shot, since I'm still pining away for a macro lens for my D70. I then tweaked it a bit using a level adjustment layer and a curve adjustment layer. Simple overhead light, no flash.

Abstract

(D70, 38mm, f14, 1/25, ISO 400)

This morning at about 8 am, I went outside to our neighbor's burned down house. They have a really old, rusty horse trailer next to our garage, which is great photo fodder, especially for the macro that I seem to have a love affair with. I love macro because it makes every shot abstract and interesting. Looking at this photo, you wouldn't see old, rusted horse trailer...ok, you'd see old and rusted, but not horse trailer. If you were to zoom out and take a photo of the entire trailer, it'd just be, well, boring. They have these random chains hanging from the side and this leaf was just sitting balanced like that. CC

Feature

Hey guys, I know I'm late on this one, I'm SOOOOO sorry. I been working 12 hour graveyard shifts all weekend, and this morning was literally the first time I've had an opportunity to even touch a camera all weekend. So here it is.

(D70, 38mm, ISO 1250, 1/1600, f14)

I got off work this morning at 7 am and walked outside to see a b-e-a-u-tiful day, complete with clear blue skies. I couldn't resist. I sped home, grabbed my camera and my dog, and drove up to our Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, which is definitely a huge "feature" of our town. The Oregon Trail runs right through our valley, and the interpretive center sits up on a hill and has trails down to the wagon ruts. I admit, I've been to the center at least 20 times in my life but have never walked to the ruts. There's also a "wagon circle" sitting on the top of the hill. One of them was painted these great colors, and I couldn't resist laying down on the ground to play with all kinds of angles. With this one, I used PW's "Fresh & Colorful" and "Boost".

Found In Your Arms

This statue was a present from my husband's mom when we got married, and I just love it. Every time I see it, it reminds me that we need to always support each other and put our little family first. My husband is amazing because he has given up so much to stay home with our twin boys while I work full time to provide for our family. Not many guys could handle staying home with twins! And true to the post day before yesterday, this photo was taken with my Canon point and shoot because I don't have a macro lens for my Nikon D70 yet...YET! I love love love my Canon PowerShot A470 for its super macro setting! I used PW's Heartland action and Boost action, because I'm in love with her actions. Go here to download her Photoshop action sets!

Someday I'll get outside to take photos of something besides things inside of my house, but it's hard to get that done while on graveyard shift!

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

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