day 47: Sher

testing out a new hair-do!

Ok people! I am guessing I'm the only one doing this......so I'm wondering now If I should continue posting or not...Let me know if you all are still doing this or not. Thanks

day 46: Sher

...just enjoying his nestle crunch bar

day 45: Sher

He like to eat M&M

day 44: Sher

The first 100 days of school celebration.......

day 43: Sher

Hannah Mania continues...

day 42: Sher

FEB 11th..........Happy BDay Ezelle!

day 41: Sher

....I'm Always coping Music Cds or downloading music from the net

day 40: Sher

the new singing the Thomas toothbrush!

day 39: Sher

just a pic.....and Sayde did lost his Shark Tale DVD. He insisted on taking it out with him..........

day 38: Sher

....turn my back for like 5 secs and he is up on the window sill

day 36:Sher

Ezelle was willing to help Sayde get those boggers out!

day 34:Sherikia

....Sayde is having a bad hair day

day 33: Sher

....it's a girly shirt, but he dont care! He just want Hannah on!

day 32: Sher

one of his favorite book......checked out from the library a couple of times...I'm going to buy him his own copy.

day 31: Sherikia

I love to window shop outside, and on the net!! I love gapkids clothes......for girls!

day 30: Sherikia

....he really wanted his Spongebob blanket!

DAY 29: Sherikia

......just a hugh stuff dragon at FAO toy store

day 28: helen

I promise this is the last snow photo at least for this month. We just don't normally get this much snow and if we do it's melts first thing in the morning! We are due 5 more inches tonight (who knows if it will really happen). 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 100 - f22 - ss 1/50

day 28: Sherikia

...just one of our hang out spot! The Disney Store(Mini Mouse store to Sayde) here in NYC.

day 27: Sherikia

I surely love coke........taste better than pepsi and mountain dew(yuk)!

day 27: helen

We got LOTS of snow today and it's still coming down!! Sorry to outdo your snow photos Lisa and April ;) Mwwwwah!! 

I took this photo from my car right before I came into the building for my shift. 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 100 - f22 - ss 1/30

day 26: helen

Peek a boo! LOL. 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 250 - f2.8 - ss 1/100

Day 26: april

Okay, granted the view out of my front window sucks, but today it sucked a tiny bit less because there was SNOW on the mountains in the distance! You can just barely see them in between the telephone poles, electrical wires and street signs, but they're there.

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/160
Av( Aperture Value ) 16
ISO Speed 400

day 26: Sherikia

just one of Thomas the train friend, Mavis. She was just bought yesterday to join the others.....also one of Sayde's obsession! Thomas and Friends!

day 25: lisa

eems like i am getting lots of photos of carter lately.

day 25: helen

Totally boring photo right?? For me it's VERY exciting. Today we tested for an open position we've had in dispatch since September. We have more testing and some interviews to do but we are one step closer to more coverage on the desk :D 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 400 - f10 - ss 1/13

day 25: Sherikia

The NemoIpod .....as Sayde would call it when he want to use the ipod to watch Finding Nemo and other shows on there. I have to download stuff for me, him and Ezelle! They both need to put an ipod on their Christmas List!

Day 24: april

"Shoot this, woman."



Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/125
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.0
ISO Speed 500
Camera Model Canon EOS 5D
Lens EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Focal Length 67.0 mm
Flash Off


What is it that compels us to take pictures of our children when the obviously don't want their picture taken? Poor Aiden is sick as a dog and while we were waiting for Sophie to finish school I couldn't help taking shots until he finally put his hand up. Point taken, Aiden, your mama has a problem!

Okay, and I have to show you this sad, sick little man. :( Bronchitis, pink eye and what seems to be 5ths Disease? Any which way you slice it, he's a mess. We went to see Dr. Sears that day though and got some meds so he's feeling a bit better today.


Don't you just want to put him in jammies and tuck him in bed?

day24: lisa

iso1600, 1/40sec, f/2.8, focal length 68mm

day 24: helen

I bought these shoes while I was in Texas in October. I love them but I just can't bring myself to teeter around in them. :) So... for now they live in my closet, never having been worn. 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 400 - f2.8 - ss 1/20

day 24: Sherikia

I bought this magazine to read about the 'unimportant' news about celebrity lives, but Hannah

was all up in the magazine. Therefore; Sayde took over my magazine just to stare into her eyes...He did mention 'Tanna' eyes. He sound so cute calling her 'Tanna'. He is so into her!

day 23: lisa

we are still getting wet here in socal.
i decided not to be lazy this time and give helen what she wanted: ISO 200, 1/125 sec, f/3.5 focal length was 75mm.

day 23: helen

My new home. I've never been prouder to be a part of the beginning stages of anything. It does not get any better then this my friends! Be there or be square.... Feb 14th.....

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 250 - f22 (ooops!) - ss 1/6

day 23: Sherikia

Hannah Montana!!! Ezelle's favorite girl, well besides Sharpay and the High School Musical gang.
And yes, we are going to the 3D concert!! .....

day 22: Sher

Here is Sayde enjoying a nice bowl of 'Sharpay' Cereal. This is really HoneyComb Cereal, but
the gang from High School was all over the box, and he was yelling for us to buy...........Sharpay Cereal. He is a big High School Musical Fan! So, when he wants some cereal he just say Sharpay Cereal!

day 22: lisa

ok i'm jumping back in, picking up where i can.
welcome sher!

day 22: helen

Just a shot of my favorite scents... some new and some old that I don't really wear anymore... 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 800 - f11 - ss 1/10 - flash with fong dong bounced off a window 

Day 22: april

I had dropped off the face of the earth as well! Between a wicked chest cold and being up to my eyeballs in Quick Pages I've been a bit frazzled.

Okay, guess what my little Mister learned how to do today....



Please excuse the crappy old linoleum. Yes, my husband designs and builds kitchens for a living, but not ours. Not yet, anyways. ;)

Settings~
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/30
Av( Aperture Value ) 6.3

I had dropped off the face of the earth as well, girl. Between a wicked chest cold and being up to my eyeballs in Quick Pages I've been a bit frazzled.

Okay, guess what my little Mister learned how to do today....



Please excuse the crappy old linoleum. Yes, my husband designs and builds kitchens for a living, but not ours. Not yet, anyways. ;)

Settings~
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/30
Av( Aperture Value ) 6.3

day 19 : val

did i mention that i have an obsession w/ this fragrance (note i have the air freshner AND the candle!!). theres just something about this scent. its so calming and relaxing for me!!

day 18 : val

i have returned from falling off the face of the earth (i see lisa might have fallen off too, might have to go back and get her). i have though, been keeping up w/ my pics. this picture actually wasnt taken by me, but by my friends sonya husband caley. he brought my ehd back to life!! he did have to break out a hacksaw in order to cut the case off to get to the ehd, BUT he saved all the info on there! its been said over and over - but, BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP! and then backup the backup!

day 21: helen

Hoofin' it! I might be alone but I think the look of a clydesdale hoof it so neat... even if it is all dirty from the repeated snow and rain we've had this winter. This hoof belongs to Jimmy's horse Titus. Sometime I'll post a complete photo of him... most likely in the summer when he's all clean :) 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 100 - f3.5 - ss 1/50 

day 21: Sherikia

Bags? Yeah.....well these bags were supposed to be mailed out like ......let say 3 yrs. ago! Pitiful!
From under the bed to the closet.....next step....the post office..........I hope!!

day 19: Sherikia

She's a High School Musical Fanatic! She drives me nuts singing the songs. Her favorite is Sharpay! ....and as you all can see she loves the blonde hair! I am sure she will get her 'own' when she grows up!

day 20: helen

You lookin' at ME??? LOL. Not the greatest photo but hey, it's a photo and that's more then I can say for the rest of the group!!! :P

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 320 - f11 - ss 1/100 - flash

day 19: helen

Two of my favorite people in this world :D Aren't they cute??

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 320 - f11 - ss 1/100 - flash

day 18: lisa

another look into my everyday. wrigley's 5. fire (red), colbalt (blue), and rain (green). as you can see, today is rain and look! i match!

Day 17: april

A day late, and a dollar short...story of my life. Or in this case I'm actually 2 days late and broke! I just spent the last hour updating my software and debugging my computer so I could post a pic truly SOOC. I seem to have had a color palette problem where the files I had in Zoombrowser were not the same color as what went in to Adobe PSCS3 or Lightroom. It bugged me. :) So now, for you viewing pleasure, I present to you Vegetables~SOOC:


I used a custom white balance here and got an exposure reading from the Exposure Target
that Katy turned me on too. Thanks Katy!

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/60
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 1000
Camera Model Canon EOS 5D
Lens EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM

I'm really just so tickled with this image! Okay, yeah, it's vegetables, but I'm really working on getting things to look right SOOC. I would love to get to a point where I can shoot a job and just send the client the thumbnails SOOC so they can pic which ones they want. As it stands now, I spend way too much time "polishing" my jpgs and I hate wasting time. I'd rather just get it right SOOC.

day 18: helen

Okay like last week (was it?) was drink week and apparently this week is night shot week LOL. Me and my dispatch partner took turns taking some night photos outside and even though I had a yummy bowl of fresh guacamole to post for todays photo I HAD to change it to this one. We have such a gorgeous courthouse in our town and it happens to be right next door to the PD :D

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 250 - f18 - ss 6 sec

day 17: lisa

our disney trip is a little over a week away and it can't get here fast enough! i get asked this question everyday, several times a day!!

day 17: helen

I'm learning so much reading the Understanding Exposure book. I'm not quite sure if I'm doing everything right but I love that I am taking more creative photos. This is my house as it appears at night. I LOVE how this one turned out and can't wait to take more photos like this in the future!! (if you look in front of the house on the ground you can see the ice that covers the ground in places)

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 160 - f20 - ss 30 

day 17: val

this just cracked me up today! while we were sitting at dinner, we were all asking kenzie what color different things were that were on the table. all of a sudden takia pops up and asks, "kenzie, what color am i??". of course kenzie (who only knows one color anyways, lol) doesnt know. so takia smiles really big and says " LIGHT BLACK"!! LOL! you had to be there, it was hilarious. i told her that i didnt think that was a real color, mikayla said - i think that color would actually be brown!!


canon 20d : iso 800 : ss 160: ap 1.8 : flash bounced

day 16: val

although they were wanting me to take their pic. the really do have the greatest relationship. i love seeing it. mikayla's like a little mother hen to kenz. she's quick to kick her out of her room too though if she starts messing with stuff but kenz is quick to "tell on her" other sisters to (to mikayla) if they are messing with her, lol.

canon 20d : 50mm 1.8 : ss 200 : f1.8 : iso 400 : flash bounced

day 16: helen

Meet Jacko. I could have a whole slew of photos of this little guy if I so desired! He LOVES to have his photo taken and if there is a flash on board then even better!! I have to admit though that he's a great little model ;) 

Settings: 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 200 - f11 - ss 1/20 - flash with Gary Fong Lightsphere (Cloud)

day 15: val

bad mama day today. ky was wanting a snack so i put her in her highchair to eat. she fell asleep in her chair waiting on me :( . i felt so bad.

so i thought i'd be like you guys, april and helen and post my tech info.

ap 4.5 : shutter 250 : iso 100 : camera - always canon 20d : lens 50mm 1.8

day 15: lisa

it's our anniversary. lucky number 13.

day 15: helen

Today was ballet day. So while Cheyenne was dancing away I went outside and walked around to see if there was anything interesting to practice my photography skills out on. Around the corner from the dance studio there is a planned parenting place that has this gorgeous windmill at it. I really love the fact the blades of the windmill are different colors too. 

Settings: 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 100 - f8 - ss 1/500

Day 15: april

Still playing around with the "dragging the shutter" technique. In this photo, the room was very, very dark and I used a slow shutter speed to gather light, a lower ISO to reduce noise and an aperture of f8 to try and get deepen the DOF. I used my speedlight with the Gary Fong cloud light sphere attached and bounced it behind me to really try and soften any shadows. Camera settings were~
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/5 Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0 ISO Speed 400 Flash On Flash Type External E-TTL
Metering Mode Spot Metering

Camera used was the 5D and lens was 24-105L f4 shot at 84mm


Okay, technical mumbo jumbo aside, how cute are my men, huh? Absolutely no family resemblance, right? I saw them sitting on the couch watching TV late this afternoon and had to get out the camera. It being so dark was great because I got to practice dragging the shutter.

day 14: val

this is on my mind right now - and i spend WAY too much time online looking at them. lol.just a little obsessed, the way i always get when i'm getting something new, especially something techy. not sure what i want to get yet. lisa and helen having me wanting a mac. that leopard os has me drooling really. i still have a few months to make up my mind though, so....

day 12: val

i know i know, we're barely a week in and i'm already slacking. this weekend has just been CRAZY BUSY! i didnt slack however on taking the pics, which is the whole mission, just sharing! here is my day no. 12. this was taken at a wedding (one of my first) on saturday! i was way out of my element. i am use to shooting children and babies and doing more the one on one thing. this was definitely an experience for me. what helped so much was that the bride and groom were FANTASTIC people - couldnt get them any better if i tried!!

day 14: lisa

no one said it had to be pretty, right?
this is my thorn in my side this month. i may never see the light at the end of the tunnel. my goal is to get this room organized. :0 !

day 14: helen

I was inspired by April's dragging the shutter photo she posted yesterday and Val and I have been talking about trying to do some type of challenges for our photography skills along the way so here is my first "challenge" type photo. This dragging the shutter thing sure does make your head spin (to look at) and I'm not sure how often I would use it but it sure it fun to do!! 

Settings: 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 100 - f7.1 - ss 1/30

Day 14: april

I took my little man out for a raspberry and cheese danish this morning after dropping my daughter off at school. He has a bit of a cold so I didn't let him go to preschool and he was really upset about that. The danish was intended to cheer him up a bit and it seemed to work just fine. It's nice to spend time with just the two of us as well. :) After we left he said, "Mama, you know why you're beautiful? You gave me cake!"



Settings~
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/80
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
ISO Speed 200
Lens 24.0 - 105.0 mm
Flash Off

I also ran a few actions on it to brighten up the right eye and define the edges.

day 13: lisa

oooops! i was so busy that i didn't get around to taking a photo. i'll jump back in later!

Day 13: april

My first post! I'm so excited to be joining Helen, Lisa and Val in this photography blog! I really hope to learn a lot and find tons of inspiration from these amazing photographers. Without further gushing, here's my first photo.



What I'm trying to do here is a technique called "dragging the shutter" while simultaneously zooming my lens to add movement to the background.

Camera settings are~
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/5
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.0
ISO Speed 800
Flash On

Camera used is a Canon 5D, lens is the Canon 24-105L f4
No post processing was done other than a little noise reduction and turning it into jpg.

day 13: helen

Since I spend a lot of time at work, my surrounding there are a big part of my daily life. This is my hubby and one of our county deputies "shootin' the breeze" about a vehicle pursuit that occurred last week. Settings: 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 800 - f5.6 - ss 1/25

I'm going to try and start focusing on using my flash in the house and at work to get away from these long shutter speeds!! April, hold me to it LOL! 

day 12: lisa

let the tournament begin!
my daughter devyn is playing on a tournament team for soccer. two games, one won, one tied.
we get to do it all over gain tomorrow.

day 12: helen

I'm so excited to dive into this book. I'm really hoping I have a better understanding of photography after going through this book. And just for Lisa I got part of my *bux cup in the shot :) 

Settings: 

5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 640 - f4.0 - ss 1/100

day 11: lisa

whew! i cut it close for this one! too busy to take a photo during the day so i had to find something with a little interest in it in the dark. i did not have to look very far.
here, i found my two children, one lying on top of the other, each leaning towards a different direction.

day 11 : val

so you had a bad day??

day 11:helen

I guess is must be drink week for my photos of the day LOL. Is this not the COOLEST Pepsi can ever?! This one's for Val, I know she loves her Pepsi!

Settings: 5D - 24-70L f2.8 lens - ISO 800 - f2.8 - ss 1/80

day 10: lisa

our furry friends.

val- i do live at my computer. ask anyone in my family.
trish- that website is a blog called the smitten kitchen. lots of yumminess going on there!

day 10: val

i am just slightly obsessesd w/ this scent (and similar ones) : clean linen by glade. in my house somewhere, at all times, you can find a can of it (air freshener), a candle w/ that scent, some potpourri, something. :)

day 10: helen

I was pretty impressed with how this photo turned out. 

day 9: val

she said it. she said mama. she called my name. i have been waiting so long for her to do it! she's 17.5 months and had yet to say it - until today. unprovoked, not mimicking something she heard - she just came up to me and said "mama". ok, now she did want one of the crackers that i was feeding her, lol, but thats really besides the point. i cant believe she finally said mama! this makes the third word in her vocabulary. daddy (about 2 months ago), hot (just here in the past week or so), and now MAMA!!!! i took this photo right after she said it - cracker crumbs on mouth, sippy cup in hands, lips all twisted to say it again - MAMA!!

day 9: lisa

day 9: helen

Just me and my camera ;) 

day 8 : lisa

i love my new nano. it's small, and not big and bulky like my video ipod and it matches my mac book. very cool.

day 8 : helen

My photo skills need MUCH improvement today. I took some photos of the kids outside during the day and never noticed that I had the ISO set to 800 when it was light outside and we were blanketed in snow... oh well, tomorrow is always another day right?  This photo was taken in the pitch dark though and I actually thought the grain on it added to the photo. Crazy kids!

day 8 : val

nothing particularly "special" about this picture. i happened to be sitting on the floor this morning looking up. i saw kenz sitting on the top of her slide holding her snack (marshmallows). just chillaxin. i dont know, it was just something about her that i wanted to capture. i think its that she's looking (and acting) so much more grown up than i want her to :(

she's only 2.

day 7 : val

we're starting a week late, but the point is we're starting right?

this pic is the corner of my desk. lately i've had to keep snacks (hence the sippy cup and cheese crackers) for kya. she is on a huge eating spree (growth spurt, i'm guessing) - and its inevitable - if i sit to work or play she wants to eat!!

its on and poppin - get to postin!

day 7 - Helen

Okay so here is my photo of the day for Jan 7th. Thanks Val for setting this up for us! Mwwah! 

*Edit - I'm revamping on my photos to focus more on... well... the photo! 

This is our crazy dog Oreo guarding the new saddles that are still sitting in our living room from Christmas. She will absolutely NOT let the other dog go near then and she's not real thrilled with the kids or I going near them either. Such a weird thing! 

day 7 : lisa

here's mine 7 days late. this is the view from our local library. we have never taken the kids to the snow and they would love it if we went someday so i better break down and take them. but today is not that day.

Is this thing on???

:D