Day 98 - Bokeh/Selina

Well, wouldn't you know that I had a heck of a time with this shot.  I waited too long so I couldn't get the blurry background as good as I normally do.  So, I tried a few different things and ended up taking a shot of the window that has some of the fall window clings in it.  Through the window is also a really large bass-wood tree.  I was able to get this cool effect of what little light was left outside coming through the tree giving it an odd blurry-light look.

 (F1.8, 1/50 second, ISO 100, 50mm)

Day 98: Bokeh/Heather

This challenge was not easy. The point was to have a sharp object in the foreground and a blurry background. I put my camera on aperture mode and set it to the lowest setting, which was f3.5 with one lens and f4.5 with the other. (At least I learned something). I got a lot of pictures that were the opposite of what was intended, and a couple of good shots of the dogs' ears. I think this would have worked better if I had been able to take pictures outside when it was still light out. But on Wednesdays, I volunteer right after work until 7:00 and by the time I got home, it was already dark so that wasn't an option.

This is the best of my bunch. For some reason, I had the best luck with my mixer as the subject.

f4.5, Exp. 1/8, 70 mm

Day 97: Spice/Heather

For today's challenge, I took the easy road. I opened up the spice cupboard and snapped several shots-after I made sure everything was facing front. I'm kind of surprised by how full the cupboard is. These are the spices I don't use that often and I have no idea what all I have in the cupboard. (And thanks to this challenge, I have Spice Girls songs running through my head).

f4.2, Exp. 1/60, 34mm

Day 97 - Spice/Selina

When we moved into this house last summer, there's a little nook in the kitchen that we were told was the old cubby for the ironing board.  Well, Jeff was inspired to turn it into a spice rack and turns out it was an awesome idea.  I took several shots of this one, but then decided to try a different perspective.  :)  So, I opened several kinds of spices and poured them on a plate.  This is what I came up with.

(F5, 1/40 seconds, ISO 800, 34mm)

Day 96 - Cake/Selina

Happy birthday to my beautiful little girl, Victoria!  I can't believe she turns 10 today and in celebration, I wanted to do a picture of cake.  I didn't do a cake though, so cupcakes is what I took my photo of.  Nothing fancy, but the kids all loved them today.

 (F4.5, 1/60 second, ISO 400, 34mm)

Day 96: Cake/Heather

Fred Meyer has really pretty single serve pieces of cake in their bakery. Except, of course, on the day I needed to take a picture of cake. They had very slim pickings today and since I don't really need an entire cake I finally chose the tiramisu layer cake. It's actually not too bad-I don't like coffee and the coffee taste is pretty light. I couldn't just take a picture without tasting it; today is Victoria's birthday after all. Happy Birthday Victoria!

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 95: Church/Heather

One thing I have noticed is that today's churches are very modern and some don't even really look like anything other than a regular business, which I find to be sad. Growing up in a small town, we had the traditional small, small-town America churches and to me, that is what I think a church should look like. The old churches feel so much more communal to me as well than the "mega churches" of today. So I was excited when I passed this church on my way to Leavenworth and made a mental note of where it is so I could stop on my way back home and get a picture of it as it is more inline of what I was hoping to find. This is located in the small town of Startup, WA and I don't think is currently in use.

f6.3, Exp. 1/160, 24mm

Day 95 - Church/Selina

Can we just say that I need to pay attention to what I am doing and get back on top of things?  I can't believe I forgot about this one until it was too late to go back outside.  I can't wait until I am feeling better and things come together again.  Until then, I had to wing it for my church shot.  So, I took a picture of my Bible and my Bible study workbook because I take those with me to church.  :)  It's really too bad that I didn't make it out to do this photo though, there are so many beautiful churches around, I could have taken a good shot, I am sure; well, when it wasn't raining that is.

(F4, 1/60 second, ISO 400, 18mm)

Day 94: Mask/Heather

I was hoping to find someone wearing a cool mask today while we were exploring Leavenworth. I saw a lot of German costumes and some fun and funky hats, but no masks. We took my nephews and cousin to a toy store and I did find one there that I took a picture of, which is what I was planning to use. But as I started this post I remembered I got a few shots of a clown that was entertaining the crowd just prior to the parade and realized his clown face counts as a mask. (He is juggling while riding a unicycle).

f4.5, Exp. 1/160, 70mm

Day 94 - Masks/Selina

Victoria's birthday is 10/4 and because it's a Monday, I knew I'd be doing her birthday party today.  Her theme this year was masquerade, so I thought it'd be great to get a shot of the masks we were going to give the girls.  Sadly, the masks I ordered didn't make it here in time, so I had to improvise.  I went to the store with Victoria and we picked out one special mask for her and all the supplies we would need for the girls to make their own masks for the party.  These masks the girls made were so cute.  Most of the kids left before we could get a picture of all of them together, but here are few. 

(F5, 1/200 second,  ISO 100, 21mm)

Day 93: Dessert/Heather

For our reunion, we are staying in a cabin outside of Leavenworth. When my aunt, brother and I did a grocery run, I made sure to grab a cheesecake platter so I would have a dessert to shoot-not to mention everyone in the family loves cheesecake so it was a must anyway.

The reunion was also a celebration of my cousin and his wife's 10th anniversary and tonight we had a catered dinner provided by the owners of the cabin which included dessert. Dessert was shortcake filled with strawberry ice cream, with whipped cream frosting, strawberries, chocolate covered strawberries and the happy couples' initials in chocolate. It was much prettier than the cheesecake and my cousin's wife seemed to have fun helping me try to get the best light and angle for my shot. (This shot is of an individual serving).

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 48mm

Day 93 - Desserts/Selina

I had grand plans for this photo shoot, hoping for getting a great shot of all 13 desserts.  But it wasn't as light where my desserts were, so it didn't go quite as well as expected, but I love this photos.  These cupcakes look so very yummy.  I was at a fundraiser for Mobius Kids and I was helping with the dessert auction.  We had some beautiful desserts donated, but this was the best of my shots.

 (F4.5, 1/60 second, ISO 400, 33mm)

Day 92: Screw/Heather

My family is having a reunion this weekend in Leavenworth (WA-not the prison in KS). My original plan was to drive over tomorrow morning but my aunt flew into Seattle today and I decided to drive up after work to spend some extra time with her. I was going to grab a couple of screws from the garage before I left for work but I was running late and forgot. Luckily, I had a few random screws in my desk at work so I grabbed those.

f4.5, Exp. 1/60, 70mm

Day 92 - Screw/Selina

Hah!  Screw should have been easy, I am sure there must be some screws somewhere in the house.  But alas, my foot is not well and moving is painful.  So, I went with my surroundings yet again.  This time, my Sizzix Big Shot was handy and, thankfully, is held together with screws!  I turned it over and took this photo, not a great shot, but it'll do in a pinch.

 (F4.5, 1/20 second, ISO 1600, 30mm)

Day 91: Mirror/Heather

I decided for this challenge I wanted to get a picture of a mirror without me in it. That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. This shot wasn't my favorite by far, but my favorite shot doesn't really show the mirror as well as I would like and I don't have time to mess with the settings tonight.

This is a shot of the mirror in my downstairs bathroom. I like this mirror because it isn't rectangular like the others are.

f3.8, Exp. 1/30, 25mm

Day 91 - Mirror/Selina

Mirror - well, I have a large mirror that's not hung on the wall yet, some smaller mirrors and those in the bathroom. But, I got my cast off today, so I wasn't feeling very crafty - it hurts MORE to walk now than it did before, but it'll get better.   So, because I'm not feeling well, I decided to do what I could.  I did have Morgan bring out the larger mirror so I could try some pics, but no go.  I ended up taking a picture in the bathroom mirrors, I'm not impressed with this shot, but it'll have to do.

(F4, 1/20 second,  ISO 1600, 28mm)

Day 90: Rectangle/Heather

It was not hard to find rectangles today but I was being pretty picky and eliminated most of them right away. When I got home from work, I was straightening the rug and noticed it is not only rectangular but has rectangles within rectangles so I decided to use it for today's theme.

Day 90 - Rectangle/Selina

I'm still not getting around well, but that should change tomorrow since I'll be getting my cast off.  In the meantime, I have been working hard to get some cards made for a craft fair at the end of October for work.  So, I have all sorts of rectangles sitting on my makeshift desk.  Here are a few.

 (F5, 1/500 second, ISO 100, 37mm)

Day 89 - Starts with N/Selina

Hmmm....I was at the park today with the kids after school for their cross country meet.  I still have the cast on, so I'm limited in where I can go.  Right in front of where I decided to watch for the kids was a pine tree.  So my picture is full of "needles" - pine needles.  

 (F5.6, 1/125 second, ISO 400, 300mm)

Day 89: Starts with "N"/Heather

I spent this morning trying to think of things that start with "N." Newspaper and nectarines kept coming to mind, followed by nozzle. Then I got "nachos" stuck in my head. And once I got that thought in mind, I couldn't shake it. I had to run errands today at lunch and Taco Bell is right next to my bank, so I got nachos for lunch. (So much for eating better!) It was purely on a whim that I grabbed my camera this morning and the guys from the warehouse weren't quite sure what to think of me taking pictures of my lunch.

f5.6, Exp. 1/125, 70mm

Day 88 - In the Kitchen/Selina

I was excited to do this shot because Morgan was going to cook dinner.  Do you think I remembered the camera at that point?  Nope, but here's a nice shot of the kitchen after Jeff had almost finished cleaning up after dinner.

 (F4.5, 1/40 second, ISO 1600, 110mm)

Day 88: In the Kitchen/Heather

Hurricane Heather has definitely struck my kitchen! So I took pictures of random items in which the mess couldn't be seen. I decided to go with one of the fun pictures for this post: the boys looking for their treats, which are kept in the turkey roasting pan (bottom left). This is a very common sight in my kitchen, so it definitely qualifies for today's theme.

f4.2, Exp. 1/60, 38mm

Day 87: Moon/Heather

We tried for moon during last month's full moon phase but the weather here was not cooperative. So we decided to try again this month. I got some great shots last night and some really horrible shots tonight. Basically, I have a lot of shots of white spheres with a black background. Some of the shots I took when the clouds rolled in are kind of cool, however. Selina texted me some settings to try and while I lost the clouds, those settings gave definition to the moon. Thanks Selina!!

f5.6, Exp. 1/160, ISO 200, 300mm

Day 87 - Moon/Selina

I took some great shots using the same settings that I offered to Heather, but this one was unique.  From the angle that I was at, there's a tree in my way.  I really wanted to show the leaves covering the moon, but it was difficult to do.  I had to switch the camera to manual mode and focus in on the leaves, unfortunately what that did was make the moon a bright light and didn't show the different shades of the moon.  But it's a unique shot, so here's the one I used.

 (F5.6, 1/160 second, ISO 100, 270mm)

Day 86: Feet/Heather

After work, I headed over to my friends' for an impromptu BBQ and game night. My friend watches her 6-month-old niece for her sister and the baby was still there when I arrived. Since she had the cutest feet of anyone there, I used her for my subject.

I have several shots where both feet can be seen, but this was my favorite.

f5.6, Exp. 1/125, 46mm