Day 13: Shadowy Silhouettes/Heather

The first part of today's challenge for me was figuring out what exactly "shadowy silhouettes" even means. I decided that to me, it means something that has a shadow so clear you can tell what the object giving off the shadow is. I have spent the last several days looking at things I pass by for something to fit this description. It is amazing how many things give off boxy, non-descript shadows!

The second challenge for me is that it has been cloudy most of the day today, which meant no shadows. Fortunately, it cleared up enough this afternoon that I was able to go out and take some pictures. I'm not happy with most of them-and I went out twice. I narrowed it down to two and ultimately decided to go with this one:

f8, Exp. 1/400, ISO 200, 18 mm

Day 12: Purple/Heather

Ah, purple. My favorite color and what I thought would be an easy challenge as I keep seeing all these pretty purple wildflowers along the side of the road. I found a spot where I could safely park and take photos only to discover what looks purple from a distance is more of a pink up close and was captured as pink by the camera. So that was disappointing. Luckily, I also snapped a shot of a huge basket of petunias (with some other flowers)-they are definitely purple!

f8, Exp. 1/160, ISO 200, 18mm

Day 12 - Purple/Selina

Oh my goodness!!!  My favorite color...and a total by accident shot.  I really wanted to go to Manito Park to see what I could do today, but the wind is crazy here so I decided that it would probably be more dusty up there and not the best environment.  So, Toria and I took off to see what we could come up with.  I found a beautiful large butterfly, that I LOVED my picture of.  Then...I went through the rest of my shots and caught this little bee, in mid-air.  I love how you can see his eye and his legs just before he lands on these purple flowers.  If you click on the picture, you will see it enlarged.

And to see some of my other favorite shots (albeit not the best shots always) you can click on this link: Favorite Flickr Shots

(F 6.3, Exposure, 1/320 second, ISO 100, 150mm)

Patterns & Shapes/Heather

I am a crafty person so when I think of "patterns and shapes" the first thing to come to mind is puzzles and cross-stitching. I have plenty of both in the disaster area also known as my craft room and as I was trying to decide what to do, I realized I could do something of sentimental value. This picture is of the patterns for the cross-stitch samplers I did for Selina's kids when they were born:

f3.5, Exp. 1/30, ISO 360, 18mm

Day 11 - Patterns & Shapes/Selina

It was another walk around and drive around the town to find the best pattern that I liked.  I had so many choices again.  The Greek Orthodox Church held lots of inspiration for me.  I chose this picture because it was unique, but not my favorite photo.  Do you see the angel pattern in the window?

(F 4, Exposure 1/250 sec, ISO 400, 90mm)

Day 10: Water/Heather

I asked for today's theme to be "water" due to my weekend at the beach. I don't get there too often and wanted to take advantage of being able to take pictures of the ocean. This was taken in Newport, OR shortly after noon. I have some with one of the lighthouses in the distance, but this is the one that really caught my eye. Luckily, I took pictures early in the day as it became really foggy as the day went on!

f10, Exp. 1/400, ISO 200, 70mm

Day 10 - Water/Selina

I wanted to take one of the kids to the fountain downtown, but they weren't interested today.  So, I had to improvise since I didn't want to do the river today.  After watering the lawn, this picture is what I ended up with.  There was a puddle under the trampoline.

(F 5.6, Exposure 1/80 sec, ISO 1600, 300mm)

Day 9: Shoes/Heather

Last month I spent a weekend at the coast with some friends and took (what I thought was) a really great shot of all our shoes in the sand. But since I'm the one who made the rule we can't use pictures we already have, I needed something else for today. I asked if we could do shoes for today because I'm back at the beach. I didn't get any shots that I like as much as the one in June, but this is my favorite from what I took this time around. (My friend Joanne thought the flower would be a nice touch).

f9, Exp. 1/320, ISO 200, 70mm

Day 9 - Shoes

OK with four of us in one house, there are plenty of shoes around, especially with two of us being girls!  Not sure what I was going on for on this one, but here's what I came up with.  Victoria tried to rearrange them into a neat row, but I didn't like that one as much.  :)  And if she had her way, I am sure all the shoes would have been put out here and that would have taken way too much time and space!

(F/4.5, 1/80 sec, ISO 200, 100mm)

Day 8 - Nature/Selina

I knew we were taking the kids to the lake for a picnic today so I wanted to do nature for our theme.  This lake usually has turtles and frogs that the kids catch, so I was hoping to catch a picture of that.  No such luck - figures!  So I had to wander around the lake and see what I could come up with.  Turns out my best picture was a flower I saw on the side of the road on the way home. 

(F-3.2, 1/80 sec, ISO 400, 50mm)

Day 8: Nature/Heather

For today's challenge, I wanted to head out to one of our little local lakes. It is 100 degrees outside, however, and not much cooler inside. So I decided to take refuge at the $3 theater-and post it as a last minute event for my Meetup group. This meant I would no longer have time to get to the lake and back.

I have a ravine across the street from my house and was able to get a shot of nature in action: a bee pollinating wild blackberries:

f4.5, Exp. 1/50, ISO 200, 70mm

Day 7 - Power of Three

What I really wanted to take a picture of was a cross.  The Trinity...that's the ideal three to me.  But, I couldn't get one to turn out well (would have helped if I had been home for more than 30 minutes tonight)...  So, I tried a few other things and wasn't happy with any of them.  I finally took this picture of Victoria.  Every good cheerleader needs a sweet girl with a sweet smile, a set of pom-poms, and a megaphone.   This would have been a better picture though if she hadn't gotten tired of me trying to get the lighting right.  Next time...don't wait until after 9:00 pm to get the picture done!

(F-20, Exp. 1/100 sec, ISO 800, 50mm)

Day 7: Power of Three/Heather

I interpreted "power of three" to mean something in multiples of three. I knew what I wanted to do for this. I'm hosting bunco tonight and would love to roll lots of multiples of three of a kind! The advantage of being the hostess is I bought the prizes so I know I would be happy with any of them.

I played with the dice in groups of 3 and 9 in various positions and ultimately liked a scattered pattern of all nine the best. (Also figured out if I use the landscape setting I get rid of the glare on the table. Yea!)

f3.5, Exp. 1/30, 18mm

Day 6 - Summer/Selina

I had so many ideas for today.  I wanted to everything from popsicles/ice cream cones, to watermelon, to water play and even bare feet.  I tried all of those and had the most success with this photo.  It was tough to get pictures of kids who were extremely moody today.  Kids!

F 4.5, exp. 1/160 sec, ISO 100, 50mm

Day 6: Summer/Heather

My original idea for today was to set up my hammock in the backyard with a book, hat, sunglasses and a bottle of iced tea. Then the other day I got another idea and knew I really wanted to use it, but had no control over being able to. At 7:00, I gave up and started getting everything together for my original idea and was in the garage when I heard the sound I had been waiting for: the ice cream truck. I had already set the camera on the table with a $5 bill in the camera bag so I could get myself a Choco Taco if he had one.

I raced back into the house, grabbed the camera and got outside just as he was starting to pass my neighbor's house. I told him I was in a photo contest and asked if I could take a picture of his truck. He was a good sport about it (and had Choco Tacos, yea!)-even suggesting pictures for me to take and giving me his card in case I got any good ones. A family from down the street was also appreciative as my stalling the driver gave them the chance to get some cold treats too. While not the most "fun" of the batch, below is my favorite:

f9, Exp 1/500, ISO 200, 18mm

Day 5 - Books/Selina

Here I thought this would be SOOOO easy.  I really didn't want to just shoot a picture of the bookshelf; that seemed too simplistic.  So...I asked the kids to gather some of their books and bring them up.  I gathered some of mine and Jeff's as well and started stacking them on the table.   Who knew that it would take me so long to find the perfect shot?  I probably shot pictures for 30 minutes. 

(F 1.8, Exposure 1/50 sec, ISO 200, 50mm)

 Quite the variety of books, but just a few of what we have in the house.

Day 5: Books/Heather

This could have been so easy for me. I love to read and have several authors I collect. I very easily could have just walked into my office, picked up the camera, turned around and shot any one of my bookcases. But where's the fun in that?

I'm not sure how my mind made the leap to the phone book. Or rather, phone books. As a child, I lived in a small town in which the entire phone book was 1/4"-if that. When I moved here in 1996, I was amazed that there were two thick volumes for just the white pages! Now I get white pages and yellow pages in varying sizes. Every time I come home and see one on the doorstep, I think "How many phone books does one person really need?" I then use the little code number on the spine to see which book it replaces and toss the old version in the recycling bin.

For today's photo, I decided to take my phone books outside and make a trail of them leading to the recycling bin. (In the process, I discovered 3 (of the 7) were outdated so now I'm down to only four books). I took some standing and some sitting on the driveway. This is one of the shots I took sitting:

f10, Exp: 1/400, ISO 200, 18mm

Day 4 - Fireworks/Selina

This is a challenge I have been anxious to try.  I don't know how to play with most of the settings on my camera yet, so I hoped on-line tonight to see what I needed to know before heading out.  Armed with a brand-new tripod and my camera, I headed out to capture what I hope are my best-ever fireworks photos.

 (F8, Exposure time 1 second, ISO 100, 50mm -- bulb setting)

I don't know that this one is my absolute favorite, but considering it's the one that had both April and Jeff's votes, it's the one I went with.  I'll post the rest on my facebook page.   

Day 4: Fireworks/Heather

I knew this one was definitely going to be challenging for me. I tried to get a good firework shot last year and was unsuccessful. My camera doesn't have a firework setting and I was too shaky to get a good one.

This year I set up the tripod and Googled the best setting for fireworks for my camera. My results weren't much better. I had several factors working against me: unpredictability of where the bursts were going to be, most of the fireworks popping instead of bursting, my camera taking too long to focus (despite being in "bulb" mode) and two freaked out dogs-one of whom would not leave my side.

The fireworks are still being set off in full force but due to my dogs and my mounting frustration, I have decided to call it a night. Below is the best of my shots:

f16, Shutter Speed: 8, ISO 200, 70mm

Day 3 - History/Selina

Today's challenge led me to explore parts of Spokane.  I knew what I wanted, but had a tough time capturing it.  I came home not happy with the pics I took the first time around and headed out again, bribing Jeff to go with my by offering dinner (and a beer).  This picture is the best I could come up with.

F/10, Exp. 1/200, ISO 1600, 95mm

(The Spokane County Courthouse built in 1894-1895 by David Fotheringham. The dry-pressed brick used for the building was the first to be produced in the area; previously such brick had to be shipped from the East Coast. The building has housed Spokane County government since 1895.)

I love being able to play with the settings on my camera.  I can't wait to learn more!

Day 3: History/Heather

When we decided on "history" for today's challenge, I knew where I wanted to go for my picture: Fort Vancouver. This morning I was happy to see that it had stopped raining and more importantly, I felt well enough to leave the house.

The Fort Vancouver Historical Site is my favorite part of town. It is also the site of the annual fireworks show so parts of it were blocked off as preparations have already started for tomorrow's festivities. But I was bound and determined to get a shot at the actual fort and was not about to let a barricade (or three) get in my way! This is from inside Fort Vancouver:

f8, 1/250, ISO 200, 40mm

Day 2: Red, White and Blue/Heather

Unfortunately, deciding you have a 24-hour flu bug and having a 24-hour flu bug are not the same thing, so once again I was limited to what I could find around the house.

When I think "red, white and blue," the first thing I think of is a flag, which then of course leads to thoughts of America. I found my subject for today's picture when I walked by my laundry room this morning. I am a big fan of the Atlanta Braves and last year for my birthday two of my co-workers went in together to get me an Atlanta Braves throw blanket. So instead of America, my subject became America's past time. (That is dark blue, not black).

f3.5, Exposure 1/60, ISO 200, 18mm

Day 2 - Red White & Blue/Selina

Well, here we go.  I had many ideas for this one, but had to narrow it down.  Heather texted me a note about how many things around the house had red, white and blue and that got me to thinking.  I'm a crafty mom, so I must have something else besides a flag to take a picture of.  My youngest loves to craft too and I remembered her playing with some buttons the other day and wanting to make me something for the 4th, so I raided her stash.  Here's what I came up with.

F4, 1/60, ISO 1600, 50mm

What do you think?  Did I capture the theme?

Challenge Day 1 -Bright Idea/Heather

The challenge for me today was something we didn't consider: one of our rules is the pictures have to be taken the day of the challenge. But what if one of us is sick? I came down with the flu last night and cannot remember the last time I was this sick! So I had to find something that fit the theme without having to travel very far.

Luckily, my initial thought of "a bright idea" is what you see in cartoons-someone gets an idea and a light bulb appears over their head. That is what I went with. I took the shade off the lamp on my coffee table. This is a picture of the compact fluorescent bulb in the lamp:

Night Scene, F/9, Exposure 1/320, ISO 200, 18mm

Challenge - Day 1 - Bright Idea/Selina

Well, here goes.  This really was a challenge for me as the sun is just now coming out and I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with an idea.  This first challenge is a "bright idea" challenge.  Could go so very many ways, but this is what I have come up with so far.  I think that God had such a "bright idea" when He created the sun that this fits the challenge.  :)

These really are going to be great for getting me out of my comfort zone and hopefully learning more about my camera.  I don't particularly like the way the tree looks in this, but LOVE how the sun came through as a sunburst.  Anyone know how I could have gotten the sunburst to stay AND get the tree to be a bit brighter?  I don't know a lot about my manual settings, so I'd love some feedback.

(f-22, Exposure 1/200, ISO 1600, 80mm)

Heather, I can't wait to see what you came up with!