Easton is going to be 5!

So, today I got the priveledge of taking Easton's 5 year old pictures. Stef (his mother and my sister-in-law) and Jeff (his father and my brother-in-law) brought him to Standing Bear Lake at around 10:00 this morning.  It was blazing hot and not a cloud in the sky.  We started with a few family poses so we could get them out of the way before the adults melted in the heat. And trust me...they melted fast..we all did!

Easton was a great sport and didn't complain about the heat at all.  He did need to rest a few times, as he was up late last night cutting a rug at a wedding reception.  Isn't he handsome!? Oh, and if you could only meet him...he's so super smart.  Which, somehow, makes him extremely funny too.  It was a great morning.

I finally was able to use the chair that I purchased at the junk store several weeks ago on an expedition with Shanda.  I painted  it red, cut a new seat and recovered it. It's not exactly professional quality refinishing, but not bad for my first attemp.  Okay, it's not even close to professional refinishing, but I'm still proud. Ha! For this shoot, I used  my new 50mm  macro lens - yes I broke down and bought one - and I was even able to use the old metal bucket I bought (at an entirely different junk store) with Shanda.

For those of you learning to use your DSLR - I tried to use my flash for fill light under a tree today.  The sun shining through the leaves was giving crazy shadows all over their faces.  I was  shooting in Manual, and my meter kept blowing up as over-exposed.  I hope to find a solution to share with you.  If anyone else has an explanation, I'm open to hearing your advice.  Otherwise, I plan to make a trip to see my friends at Rockbrook Camera next weekend to see if they can help clear things up for me. More to come...

Easton is turning 5 next weekend and I can't wait to celebrate his birthday with him.  Stay tuned for next week's post which should include some shots from his birthday party at Pump It Up. 

So - this one probably won't make it in a frame, but I had to put it out here for Easton.  He was so proud of how well he could kick the soccer ball! He kept asking me to take pictures of him as he was kicking, so I know he'll be happy to know that this "Beckham" pose made it on the blog. Happy Birthday E!

Cooper

My favorite little guy, Cooper, is a little over 6 weeks old now.  So, Angela invited me over to take some 4th of July themed pics.  I used a 50 mm macro lens (thanks Rockbrook for letting me exchange).  I was super excited to try out all of the new things I had learned last week in the Canon EOS Discovery Day workshop.  However, I took so much away from that class, that I didn't even know what to try first.  I shot all of these pictures in "Manual" mode which was a first for me.  (thanks to Shanda for that inspiration)  All of my other recent ones were shot in "Aperature Priority" mode.  Here are a few of my favories.
Angela worked as a great assistant keeping Coop content and calm for his pictures. 

Cooper loved laying in this bucket for the most part. 

I got several great shots, so it's hard to pick just a couple. 

- Taking a short break -

Macro Fun

A few weeks later, Shanda and I went on another photowalk.  For this one, I rented a 50 mm macro lens from Rockbrook Camera.  For those of you who didn't know - they rent cameras and lenses for very reasonable prices, so you can try them out before you buy them. There's a whole other tiny world out there that you can capture with macro lenses.  Macro lenses are also very good for portraits because you get very sharp images and they typically have some wider aperatures.  Shanda and I had so much fun that day.  We laughed, rolled around on the ground, and tried as hard as we could to find some bugs.  We didn't have luck with the bugs and secretly I was relieved.

My "PhotoWalk" with Shanda

Okay, so let me introduce you to Shanda - no picture, because she would hate me if I posted one - but Shanda really deserves the credit for my camera purchase.  She is the one who showed me how accessible photography could be.  And the person who was very honest with me about how much work goes into learning how to properly take a photo.  About a year ago, she told me I should buy a DSLR camera and I just wasn't ready, for too many reasons to mention.  Anyway, she is my "Photography Myagi", Sensei, mentor, or whatever you want to call her.  She really has helped teach me a lot, point me to the right resources, etc.  I wouldn't have learned half of what I have, if she hadn't been so willing to share with me.  You will read her name frequently in my blogs. 

Now that you've been formally introduced, this photo was taken on my first "photo walk" with Shanda. (May 2, 2010) We walked around the Old Market and she let me learn on her camera.  We took pictures of fences, and buildings, and cars, and really everything that grabbed us.  The biggest lesson I learned that day was how to switch my focus points from automatic to manual selection.  That little button on the back of my camera changed the look of my pictures going forward.  If you have a Canon Rebel camera and want to learn more, just let me know. I'd be happy to tell you how to find your button.  :)