Hi, after visiting other blogging website’s I noticed there is a common theme of Wordless Wednesday. Today will be my word less post!
Just this past weekend, I had gone to my local library. There was a new structure close to the entrance. It caught my eye and I had to walk around the structure to figure out what it was supposed to be. After the walk around, I still had no idea. No door, no opening, the structure did not move. Does anyone have an idea? I would sure like to know what purpose this ‘thing‘ will have!
Hi, have you ever had a day where you just feel real good? Today was such a day for me. Nothing spectacular happened, just several nice things. First was my Weight Watchers meeting. I am truly enjoying this more with each passing week. Meeting new people. Now that I am working from home, I miss the socialization I once had. WW has given me a much needed outlet.
My blog has also been a blessing. While creating mine, I have found new blogging friends. One such friend is Dee with GrammysGrid.com. I say she is a friend because she has been a tremendous resource. She just makes me feel good by making me feel important, always answering any questions I may have about my website, software and such. Not to mention her prompt replies to the comments I add to her posts, that in itself makes me feel important.
As I have mentioned in prior posts, I had taken many senior portraits, family session, engagement pictures and weddings for 20 some years. I have since slowed down, only doing an occasional shoot here and there. This weekend was one of those here and there’s.
What lead up to this weekend was when I was on Facebook and saw a high school friend had just gotten engaged to another high school friend (Cris and Todd). Well, one of my 101 in 1001 goals (#99) is to be a wedding crasher. No bashfulness, I asked them when and where they were getting married. Does inviting yourself count as a wedding crasher? 🙂 I was flattered when they asked me if I would take their wedding pictures. Of course I said yes! We took a few engagement pictures this weekend.
Then I met my son, we filled his medicine pillbox, had lunch and then did grocery shopping. Our usual Saturday stuff. Always have a nice time with him. Then I drove home. As I was getting close to home, I had to pull the car over and take this picture.
“Home is not a place….it’s a feeling.”
Standing on the gravel road, looking at my husband’s and my home, I felt good. Still do when I look at this picture. My whole day was a feel good day. Driving down the road and seeing this, just made my day even better.
I have so much to be grateful for, and by the Grace of God, I can enjoy this for many more years with my husband. Amen!
Hi, have you ever thought about the position of the sun when you take your picture? Should the subject be facing the sun or looking away from the sun? This is a question I have been asked more than once. I have taken a few ‘selfies’ to demonstrate the different positions of the sun.
Let’s begin with the sun behind the subject.
The image on the left is straight out of the phone’s camera. No edits. The image on the right was edited. As you can see the image was lightened so that my facial features are more visible.
The next set of pictures, the sun is in the West. The left picture I have turned my face so the sun is shining on the left side of my face. The right picture I turned my face to the right.
Both of these images were right out the phone’s camera. No edits were made to the pictures.
This next picture I was facing the sun.
It’s important to know that when these series of images was taken, it was in the golden hour; approximately 45 minutes before sunset. As you can see all the images look nice with little to no editing needing to be done. Another prime outdoor photography time is in the morning the first hour of sunrise. The sun is softer in the morning and just before the sun sets. If I need to shoot in the middle of the day I look for shaded areas. This next set of pictures was taken in the shaded area of my yard.
Silly pictures in the shade.
There is no correct way to take an image. Photography is an art. Trying to make the image look nice is the main point to focus on. How to make your image look its best. As long as you are pleased with the result, it is a good picture!
Hi, I just had a rough day at work. Are you familiar with tough work days? Now I need to have some fun. I am now on a mission to find a way to create slideshow video’s. My selfie folder makes me smile when I look at these images. Needing a pick me up, I have decided to create a slideshow for my week’s post.
It has taken me a bit of time to figure out which software program would be best. Then I had to conquer how to use said software! The software I have chosen is Movavi. It is available for either Windows or Mac.
There are several different programs available for making slideshows. Some are free, with limits and options to upgrade to a paid version without limits. I selected the personal license for Movavi which comes with plenty of basic elements, transitions and such. Comment if you have any questions about my selected slideshow maker.
The pictures were taken by not only myself, but family and friends have shared with me some they took. Please enjoy the show!!
MacBook viewers: If the video does not appear, switch from Safari browser to Google. The video will then appear.
In my prior post, ‘Selfies, Take Part in Pictures, I had mentioned we are our own self critics. Practicing taking our own pictures give us the opportunity to see what angle our head needs to be at, where to look when taking the photo and just getting used to seeing ourself in pictures. The more you see yourself, the more comfortable you will be each time seeing yourself in your selfies!
Briella took this selfie!
Slideshows are wonderful for special occasion celebrations- graduation, weddings, birthday, anniversaries and even end of life services. Slideshows add life to photo’s! My goal is to provide different formats when I share my photo’s.
Hi, a friend asked me, “how to take a good picture? Where should the main subject be placed in the image?” These are good questions. Using the rule of thirds will be your go to resource. The rule of thirds is a tool to create visual pleasing images.
As I have said before, taking better phone pictures begin with taking the shot. Once you have taken the shot, take it again. When you take it again, play with the composition. Change where the main subject is placed.
To enable the rule of thirds grid on your phone, open settings. Scroll down and select camera. Open camera and scroll down to composition and turn on the grid.
When taking landscape photography an example would be placing the horizon not in the middle but instead align on the bottom horizontal line or the top. Giving either the sky or land more space in the composition.
The next two images have special meaning to me. The first, is when I joined my daughter and her family to Florida. Briella was sitting on the beach as the waves were coming in. I just really like this image.
My next example is while me, my mom and daughter went back to Illinois to my Great Aunt’s funeral.
A powerful image. My Great Aunt driving off into heaven. With the leading lines in the road and on the side rail, they draw your eyes into the field of clouds. Very special image for me.
A single object like a person or pet, place one of their eyes on one of the intersecting lines.
One of our usual weekend routine is eating breakfast out and getting groceries. This weekend we went to the Waffle House. While waiting for our breakfast I took the opportunity of taking a picture of the salt and pepper shakers!
Salt & Pepper Shakers Centered
Looks good. But then I applied the rule of thirds.
Rule of ThirdsThere is no one right way or wrong. It is what you like and what is visual appealing.
Waffle House
The two waffle signs look nice. For the collage I prefer the left image with the sign centered. But if I was just taking the picture of sign by itself with no other images to go with it, I like this shot.
This is why I recommend taking the shot and take it again. It’s much easier to take the image the way you want to start, but there is post editing. In the post editing the image can be cropped, applying the rule of thirds. The post editing can be another post!
Practicing my selfie!
Think of the rule of thirds while taking your picture. Consequently, this will become second nature, automatic. You won’t even be thinking of the rule, you’ll just do it.
Most importantly, have fun taking pictures, and taking them again!
Hi, I found a new accessory for the iPhone camera. It’s a remote shutter. Originally I discovered a selfie stick that had a remote included. I liked it so much I found one independent of the stick.
The AB Shutter3 was simple to pair to the phone. When I was searching Amazon, the description was vague. With the price less than 10 bucks, I decided to give it a try. Typically I do not write reviews, I did for this. I included my image above for others in case they had some of the same questions I had. I’m pleased Amazon approved my review!
Of course after the pairing was completed, I had to practice! The first picture I had met this young lady on a previous library visit. There was someone sitting at each table. She asked if she could sit at the table I was occupying. I was happy to share the table with her. It was a Saturday several weeks ago. In the times I have been to the library, I have not seen a same person a second time. Well today, I happened to look around and there she was! I asked her if I could take a picture of her and me, pleased she said yes.
The middle two I took a break from writing for the blog. And the last picture was while I was picking my grocery order up. Told the young lady I just got my remote and wanted to practice. She was a good sport and smiled with me.
The iPhone 14 ProMax is a large phone. Trying to hold and touch the shutter on the phone screen is quite awkward; almost dropping the phone on more than one occasion. The remote will definitely be handy in taking better pictures, especially selfies.
