33/365

I really thought I wanted to see this in color but I just couldn't resist seeing it in b&w:

She was leaning over so her hair was all hanging down funny but a 11 x 14 crop seems to have helped that. I do like the color too:

32/365

You know the family shoot from a while back? I wasn't pleased with it but mom totally loves the shots and she loves this really dark b&w shot. She's using it on their cards and wants prints of it. I'm so happy that she's happy but wow. Just wow.
No new pic today, just the fruit of my labors in working like crazy to get this light enough to use:

31/365

Oh the toenails! I'm not sure who makes a bigger deal about the painting toenails, the kid or the dad. I've chastised him out of praising her for wearing nightgowns (instead of jammies) and dresses (instead of pants) but I'll let him have the toenails.

Makes me think a little of Elli's Sharpie incident though ;)
I know there's a cast; is it red or yellow or both?

30/365

Back to the golden arches for a shot of the other kid. She just wasn't feeling well, had to take the sippy cup in, had to have milk in it. Sipping and twiddling the hair. Still pretty cute:




29/365
Attended a wonderful singing performance at the mall of the 4 y/o day care class. No decent shots of the star and one very flashy and over-burned shot of daddy and daughter. I think my favorite thing here is my over-burning led to a significant reversal in the hair-loss process:

28/365

I got my hair cut today and for the first time in months it looked so cute! So I tried to snap a few in my new found love of unconventional natural light but it turns out either my car is too little or my arms are too short; maybe both.

27/365

11.18.2008
I realized that my tendency to take my kids out to eat out of convenience actually affords the opportunity for good natural light! My buddy here earned the right to choose where we ate lunch after swimming lessons today by helping me clean baseboards. I had to explain it to him but I think we'll be able to get the rest of the house done with me just supervising. He loves to clean and he loves to have control so it was a win-win for him!

25/365

and 26/365
I tried snapping a few of a spontaneous hug last night before we left for dinner but there just wasn't enough light but I couldn't just let it go. No editing. It was more the moment than the image:

So right before bed, I had to snap another one as I realized when I went to get my vitamin that my toes are disappearing:

Goodbye toes, see you in February.
So nothing today. First day without a shot. So I'm counting this post as two days because I'm not ready to skip a day just yet!

24/365

11.15.2008
Looking around, uninspired, husband's away for the night, on my own with the kids...very thankful for their recent rekindled interest in everything Little People. This bus offers up to an hour of entertainment for either kid (but never at the same time of course). Sometimes the kids get dispersed throughout the first floor and carefully picked up at their homes, greeted warmly by the bus driver, "Good afternoon, Myra!" then dropped back off after a busy day (we say day but hello, it's 2 1/2 hours) at preschool. Love the bus, especially since it can't honk or sing now that the batteries are dead:

23/365

Friday's post. The 'actual' PB shoot for my friend! Not only did I shoot in RAW and like it but it was a great learning experience overall; good and bad. This is one of my favorites of the little girl:

I know what you're thinking. "Mm-hmm, what's the 'story' behind this not-so-great shot?" Well I'll tell you. I shot in RAW! I wanted to try it before I attempted it with the family pictures tomorrow. I kind of dig how it opens in photoshop and I was quite relieved to see that picasa will view the RAW files. And I can officially add 'indoor swimming pool' to my list of Worst Places To Attempt Taking Photos list. Wowza.

22/365

My goal for February: Two kids that can dress themselves.
It happened today, that's for sure!

21/365

Really just a terrible image but mostly a comment on winter setting in.
Rain and ice all day. Snow tonight. Up to 4 inches.
This is the first year I've used the fireplace and it seems like I have it on all the time. Now that both kids are old enough to stay away from it (unless I make them sit by it for a picture), I can really enjoy it.

20/365

NMK.
Not my kid!
I'm doing a PB family shoot (really my first ever...ack!) on Friday and my friend let me come over to scope things out today. It would have been better to go in cold, I'm so worried about it now! So the best thing about this shot? It's NOT MY KID!

19/365

And 18/365 and 17/365

Friday:
Took a few as I was pulling out of the driveway with Ellie as she was in full Diva Mode. As soon as I drop Bradyn off, she wants to be in his seat, she wants to choose a new DVD, it's all about her and she knows it! Friday she just had to had to had to have a cookie!


Saturday:
The snow. The boots. Kids too cold to stand still!


Sunday:
I tried using a 'paper diffuser' over my on-board flash and wasn't impressed at all with the results. And for some reason, had a harder time with focus when using it. That was my objective today, to see how the paper used but when I opened this image, I tried the "over expose vintagy wow" from Itty Bitty Actions and just had to post it without further messing.

16/365

The end of fall. The end of color. The end of even considering opening the door to snap a shot!
It's supposed to snow the next few days. I keep thinking I should take some shots of our 'view' here in Iowa since there's a chance we'll end up being transferred soon or at least in the next year. So that's what I see out my back door. Iowa. There are windmills you can't really distinguish but they're there. We see them out every window in our house. Brian has a 20 minute drive to work and I bet there's not an inch of his trip that he doesn't have a view of a field full of them either!

15/365

11.5.2008
The 4 y/o photographer in action. There are lots of technical issues with this picture but I'm looking at it in this positive light:
1)the graininess is a good thing for the b&w
2)me being the only thing in focus is good for this purpose
3)I'd have never had him take pics of just the two of us otherwise
He shot this at ISO200, f2.0 (which I'd have increased but oh well) in Av mode.

14/365

11.4.2008
Election Day!

The Harvest Yule Log. I bought this candle last year. I burn it when Brian's working long hours during harvest. We've had a decent day but I usually want to turn myself off around 6pm so that's when it gets hard around here when I'm home alone with the kids night after night. Then the evening drags on and on.
Someday this candle will burn out and someday harvest will end!

13/365

11.3.2008
If I had realized this was the 13th picture, that would have been the perfect excuse to skip it tonight. What a long day. Out about about. Working. Picking up. Dropping off. Groceries. Oy.
So at 11pm I was really grasping for an excuse to just skip it. Everyone's in bed asleep. So I decided to do a sleepy shot. I've been wanting to see what settings I needed to change to get my ISO above 1600 and I think I got it based on a thread on OPS. I had to delve back into the world of manual shooting which has previously made me feel like a bumbling fool (so I've been in Av for over a month) including manual focus (er, so the back slats of the crib are nice and crisp) so there are positives here! So I feel like I got a crappy shot but I did move forward a little bit!

12/365

I think for now that it's occurring to me that forcing myself to take a few shots every day, even when I'm not feeling in the mood is really turning out to be a good thing.
On days like today when I don't get any shots worth getting excited about, I can play around with and get to know the actions I have saved. This is OTSS's Perfect B&W. I like the Sweet Conversion so much that this is a nice little change with the tint.

11/365

Aha! Caught up!
Took the little Tiger fan for a walk today. We've walked this trail to take pics a few times so I wanted to try something different. This isn't the greatest ever but I laid down on my back and shot up at him. He thought it was bizarre but it's something I'll totally try it again!

10/365

Happy Halloween!
We were on the run all day and I barely took any pictures. But here's one of Willy Wonka!