Monday, September 20, 2010

Access

#1 is in an EV school to learn to be a better Evidence Technician for his department. He was enrolled in the school and attended one day back in the spring...but it was the day before Rosebud was born. He was really disappointed because he'd waited a long time to get into this particular school. They let him reschedule, and the past couple of weeks he has been attending. Along with attending, he gets to use some of their equipment...which includes a Nikon SLR digital camera...that is awesome.

So, while I have access...I am taking FULL advantage! Along with a fantastic camera, I also unearthed my laptop that does Photoshop Elements. That is about all that is loaded on that computer, and it is O L D...but wow has it been fun to play with!
I didn't use Photoshop with this picture...I might later. I love her eyes in it.
We went to an apple orchard today. My goal was to have the kids (and the Draycare kids) pick apples with which to make applesauce and take some pictures.

I found what appeared to be a great orchard online...only about 30 minutes from us and they advertised "pick your own".

Well, 30 minutes turned into closer to an hour with all of the construction traffic.

When we got there, they are no longer doing "pick your own". This past weekend was the last time for it...and apparently they only do it on the weekends...which they failed to put online.

We were not allowed to "see" any trees, but they did allow me to take as many photographs as I wanted right by the small store.

The kids were pretty disappointed, so we got back in the van and headed to a localish State park.

We had a picnic with us and I took some more photos of the kids individually as the rest of the kids enjoyed the playground.
I had purchased a bag of apples back at the orchard and each of the kids enjoyed one while I finished up with Rosebud's pictures.
All in all, not a bad day!

10 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVE THEM ALL!!!! So so cute. Glad you were able to make the best out of the situation.

Jenilee said...

GORGEOUS!!! what awesome pictures!! they turned out great... totally jealous of the camera! :)

make the picture size wayyyyyy smaller and it will fit better in your header. probably resize it to 700 or 800 pixels in width. let me know if you need help!

MamaBear said...

Isn't it FUN to have new equipment to play with? I think you did GREAT right out of the shoot!

As you requested, my technical thoughts....

You did GREAT getting down to their level. It makes a huge difference in the quality and you nailed it!

See how in the second to last picture there aren't any shadows? That's what you want to aim for in all your photos. Obviously this isn't always possible but even on a sunny day I put my subjects in the shade and shoot.

Put the setting on AV and you can control how much light is let into the shutter (smaller the number the bigger the opening which you use for lower lighting conditions. Bigger the number the LESS light that comes in so your bright sunny day shots don't get overexposed)

My favorite thing to do in photoshop elements is to go under
the FILTER heading,
find SHARPEN, then click on the option under that subheading for UNSHARPEN MASK
(this will take any haze off of digital photos) You MIGHT have to put a dotted line around the whole image first to select it, but I'm not sure how it works in Elements anymore)

Good luck and keep up the GREAT work!

CM said...

Oh my goodness, those shots are AMAZING!!! What setting did you use?

Just look at those adorable kiddos! They could be in a magazine!

CrysRich said...

Wow, those pictures are AMAZING! Rosebud is looking so much like her brothers, especially in the last shot! Love you guys and miss you!

Anonymous said...

ADROBLE pics, Jenney! I LOVE the one you chose for your header! There is no doubt your "subjects" are siblings!! :) I'm just lovin' each of their cheeks!

Kim M said...

love the new look and the photo on the header

All Things Family For Us said...

love them, and I'm so impressed with your header pic of all 3 looking at the camera!

Anonymous said...

Love the new header!! :)
Your pictures are beautiful!

Esther said...

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! I love those pictures! And your header! Love! Love! Love!