Photo 52 Project - Week 2 (What makes me smile)

Week 2 is What Makes Me Smile.

Last weekend we took our nieces to the local carousel.  I was dying to play with my new 50mm/f1.8 lens, and I think I got some nice shots.

These pictures make me smile for two reasons:  we always have so much fun when we go on, and it reminds me of my childhood.  (I think the carousel from my childhood is better though - http://www.forestparkcarousel.com/ - Mainly because it's not just horses.)  This is Nunley's Carousel.  It's been moved a few times, but its current home is by the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Museum Row.

I also went to Old Westbury Gardens last week while I was on vacation.  I plan to post a few of those pictures soon.  I wasn't entirely happy with them, because I feel that some of them are too bright.  It was a cloudy but bright out, and I think that I should have played with the white balance a little.  I'm still learning about that, though.  I want to experiment with shooting in RAW, since I'm learning that it would make adjustments like white balance easier.    I was happy with the way most of the flower pictures came out, though, so that's probably what I'll post here.

Photo 52 Project - Week 1 (Pets)

 After some research, I've come up with 52 (plus a few) ideas for my project.  I don't plan to number them, because I don't feel that forcing myself to come up with a picture is going to help me stick with it.  This offers me a little more flexibility with my plans.  My goal is to use my Canon Rebel most of the time, in order to learn the features better.  Sometimes that might not be possible, but I'm going to do my best.

So the topic for Week 1 is Pet(s).  This is my cat, Felix.

  As I was having my lunch yesterday, working on my list, my cat was napping in his bed, as usual.  He got up to stretch and decided that napping on his scratching box looked better.  To get my shots, I got down on the floor near him and started shooting.  I think I disturbed him, but  he was posing for me after a minute.  I even got some pictures of  him in his "cute mode," where he shows us his belly before he got bored and went back to napping.

The second picture I took with my Canon PowerShot.  One of my topics for the project is "sun flare," and I decided to fool around with the PowerShot in Manual mode.  I took a few shots of flowers back-lit by the sun, and when I was reframing the shot, my camera focused on the reflection of my neighbor's skylight.  I thought the effect was pretty cool.  

New Beginnings

I've been doing research for my 52 Week Photo Project, and I think I'm going to compile my own list.  This way I can tailor it to suit my own interests and problem areas.

Since the weather has been so cool for June, I've taken advantage and done a lot of gardening.  It's amazing how quickly weeds can grow, while the things I've planted take so long to fill out.  I was able to trim most of my rose bushes this year, except for a few in a back area that needed major weeding.  I'm still not done back there.  I call that area the "Grandma Garden," because it seems to have mostly flowers that kids give their grandmothers on holidays, like Easter and Mother's Day.  There are some hyacinth and lilies, along with some irises.  The irises are in dire need of transplanting, which will have to wait until I decide where to move them.  The roses in that area are English roses, and they haven't been in great shape since I inherited them when we moved in.

I took a general DSLR 101 class with my friend Jean at a local camera store.  They're also having a Canon class in July, which I am considering.  While I know the basics of photography, this time around I would really like to learn what all the dials and options on my camera can do.

I took this picture of the roses in my front yard after it rained the day before my class.  Unfortunately, it's been raining here for most of the week, and I haven't been able to get outside and practice.  This week I plan on going to a local botanical garden with Jean to get in some camera time.  I should be sharing that experience at the end of the week.

Unintentional Hiatus

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in three years!  It's not that I've stopped taking pictures, because I haven't.  I guess I needed a break from any kind of writing, in general.

On and off I've thought about posting something, maybe combining the two blogs I have to make it easier, which I still might do.  Not sure if there's an easy way to go about it, or if I have to do it manually.  *sigh*

Anyway, I've recently purchased a new DSLR.  It's a Canon Rebel T3i.  I am so in love with my PowerShot that I took the leap away from my Sony.  I did find a good home for my Sony: I gave it to my mom.  :D

Since I received the Canon, I've been itching to get out there and play around with it.  This afternoon after dinner, my husband and I drove up to St. John's Church, up in Cold Spring Harbor.  It's kind of in the back of the Fish Hatchery, kind of hidden.  Here's a picture of the actual church:

I'm not sure if it looks familiar to any of you, but it's the church from the movie In and Out.  In looking for a picture or a link to the scene, I found this cool blog with all the info I wanted to share.  It's called Clyde's Guides & Other Stuff.  It's been renovated in the last year or so, but it's mostly the same on the outside.

We were looking for the preserve that's in the area, but we parked in the wrong place.  If we would have parked above the church, we would've found it.  In looking for it, we took a walk around the church by the water.  That's where I took a picture of this guy pictured above.

I'd like to do a 52 week photo project and post some pictures here.  This means that I'll have to actually post at least once a week, so hopefully I can keep up with it.  As of now I'm researching themes to photograph every week, so I hope to start soon. 

Full Moon

I was looking through my picture folder tonight for something to post on this blog, when I turned my head and looked out the window.  The moon looked so awesome, I just had to take a picture.  The pictures didn't quite capture what I saw, but it comes close.

I never got to finish looking through my pictures, but I'll post again soon as I find some interesting pictures.  I took a few pictures of the birds that have been visiting my feeder lately.  I need to move the feeder, though, because the squirrel can reach it where it is now, and he makes a pig of himself.  If he didn't spill half the seed on the ground trying to get at the feeder, the birds would have nothing to eat.

Winter tree

I hadn't intended on going so long without updating this blog.  It's been a busy few months.  We moved into our first home Christmas week.  We're still unpacking, but we've only been home two weekends so far, so the progress is going a  little slowly.

We went to visit my family in Pennsylvania on New Year's weekend.  My mom and I went to a local park to take some pictures.  I took this picture with my Sony DSLR A300.  I take it out as much as I'd like, since it's not a small camera, and a lot of times I like that my Canon Power Shot can just fit in my purse.  I took quite a few pictures that day, so I'll probably post another few sometime soon.  I took some shots of reflections in the icy water that came out pretty nice.  It's something I'd like to experiment with more in the future.

It's been awhile...

So I haven't updated in awhile, but we've been busy house-hunting...and packing.  We didn't intend on buying a house right now, but it just kind of snowballed since we looked at a house close to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.  This is a picture of part of the backyard.  We have a gazebo and a solar green house!  How cool is that?!  Hopefully we'll be in the house before Christmas.