a day in the crowd....

thousands of people. fresh onions and radishes. tomatoes and spinach.

we filled our bag with flowers. kettle corn and cheese curds.

we drank fresh pineapple smoothies.

i took photos of everyone. even my hubby standing in line. do you see him.

it was like we were on date. with everyone watching.

~~

i have more photos. lots more.

they're over here

*

dull moments.....yeah right....

my sister has two cats. two dogs. three kids. a hubby. and now five baby chicks.

did you know she's a saint. well in my book she is.

actually my book of crazies was filled to the max. otherwise i would have found a place for her there. right next to the page i'm saving for myself.

*

happy weekend

everyone

i hope you jump....

by now

most of you know my love of capturing

"the jump"

and

while i was down by the lake earlier this week

these sweet young girls

~complete strangers~

were more than cooperative

to make me happy

i loved this photo so much

that it's getting my

2010

best and favorite jump

~so far~

award

can you believe the first photo is

sooc

~shot on manual~

and

since it got an award and i loved it so much

i had to play around with it just a little bit

~

the

black and white version

and

the

vintage thru the view finder look

ended up being my favorites

to share with you

*

i hope this memorial day weekend

is filled with memories and laughs while you relax

and

i really hope

you take the time

to

jump

~at least a little~

*

aperture instead of auto....well, it's a start

this photo is just fun

which is what i needed when a few people who i adore said

"are you crazy"

"teaching aperture is hard when everyone has a different camera and multiple lenses"

and

i banged my head against the wall

~

but

if you know me

i kind of like challenges

so here goes

~

in order to get everyone on the same play ground and not talk about or get confused about focal length and iso and exposure and shutter speed and spot metering {today}....everything i'm suggesting you do is based on you being outside on a beautiful sunny day, so that light is not a factor and all we're going to do is take our cameras off of auto and put them on aperture priority instead. that will be an A or an AV on your camera. if you have a point and shoot, your lower numbered aperture is your portrait setting and your higher number aperture is your landscape setting....so i've been told.

~

aperture refers to the opening in the camera through which light passes into the lens

~simple right, until you read the definition below which is opposite to our thinking~

~

the smaller your aperture number, the more light you'll have to work with

the larger your aperture number, the less light you'll have to work with

or

as my hubby likes to say....if you squint your eyes, one thing is in focus and the background is blurry, which is how he remembers that that means you need a little number if that is the effect you are trying to get. if you want everything in focus, open your eyes wide and that represents a larger aperture number.

~

most aperture numbers will look something like this

1~1.4~2.8~4~5.6~8

and

on up

~

now today, on our bright and sunny play ground, the reason for playing with your aperture is to get your subject in focus and to blur out your background. this is called "depth of field" or "dof".......if your aperture is set at it's lowest, let's say 2.8 and you have a flower right in front of you, you will have a narrow depth of field, since the area in focus is relatively narrow and your background will be blurry.

~

let's look at my examples below

aperture 2.8

aperture 11.0

aperture 2.8

~i only wanted to concentrate on the purple irises~

aperture 13.0

aperture 2.8

~see the difference in the sky, overall color and blurred house~

aperture 11.0

aperture 5.6

~i switched to auto for this shot just to see what it would take my aperture to and it took it to 5.6 which is what the camera wanted and that's fine, but i prefer a blurrier background~

aperture 2.8

aperture 10.0

~~~

most of these photos were at a focal length of 30-50 mm and since those of you with a d-slr have your kit lens, you should be able to get something similar, photo wise. beware though, that you might have lenses that don't go as low as 1.4 or 2.8...they may only be a 4.6 aperture lens, in which you will have lots of experimenting to do.

~~

one thing you might notice when playing with aperture, is the change in coloring in your photos...more of a washed out look....and some of you might not like that and others will be playing with their photos in photoshop, so that doesn't really matter then.

~

i think one of the most important times to know how your aperture works is when you are shooting portraits. it's really nice to be able to eliminate an ugly background when you have a cutie patootie in front of you. also, if you are in a low light situation and you don't want to use your flash {which is always me} you need to set your aperture at it's lowest setting. granted there are some other things you'll also need to change, but remember we are just at the beginning of learning something new and this is a good start.

~~~

like i said earlier, there are so many other components to your camera to go along with aperture and beautiful photos, but if this can be a start for you to stop shooting on auto and makes you feel like you have a bit of control over your camera, then it's certainly worth playing around a bit. it took me learning aperture to feel confident to shoot on manual and all i can suggest is to photograph something everyday. don't leave your house without your camera. take too many photos of everything. if you're not driving, yell "pull over" when you see something fantastic and most of all, don't be afraid to play. you can always go back to auto if you get frustrated, but if you have a nice d-slr which many of you do, play...play...play and learn to love what you're holding in your hands.

~~

by the way

i'm not a teacher at all

seriously

not one little bit

so

if any of you have suggestions you want to add...or corrections or questions....throw them this way. let's have a party.

~

i'll bring the mike's hard lemonade

*

are you up for a challenge ?

i want to see you

now that you're seeing me

~

it doesn't have to be a self portrait. hand your camera over to your spouse. or one of your kids. or your neighbor. or your sister

~

i don't want to see your feet. or your hand holding your favorite coffee cup. i want to see you. your eyes. your smile. your laugh.

be brave

be bold

be fun

~

you don't have to be a dork like me standing on your porch. show me you. dancing. or writing. or eating. or whatever it is you do.

and

don't make it blurry

~unless you give your 3 year old the camera, then blurry is adorable~

~

love yourself and share you with me and the rest of the blogging loves

who will get to see you. and appreciate you for you.

~

come on

if i can do it

you can do it

~

so

today

go ahead

get on the other side of your camera

~

you just might surprise yourself and like it there

*

be sure to let me know if you take my challenge

so i can come visit you

and

my best attempt at "aperture explained" will be posted tomorrow

i was bored during the bachelorette.....

and

ended up making a couple of banners

while some gross men drooled all over ali

~sheesh~

she's too cute and sweet for that show

~

so

anyhow

i'm selling these

~

send me an email if you're interested

oh

and

aperture 101

vanilla pudding style

should be thursday if i get my act together

~

thanks for being patient

*

my glamorous life where i swear...

this weekend we drove around looking at land. abandoned properties. old barns.

we trespassed. because we're bad asses like that.

i got close to the cows

close enough that the cluster flies on them

attacked me

and

the gigantic wild thistles in the brush i was standing in

scratched my legs

~

but

i like cows

so it was worth it

i went to my first real derby bout saturday night

my friend's girlfriend is in the white and blue helmet. she's a bad ass too. they won first place. the whole thing made me laugh and cheer

while i kept thinking to myself

" i could totally do that"

perfectly tender

grilled teriyaki chicken and garlic naan was our dinner last night

and

we smiled when bret michaels won celebrity apprentice

actually we smiled because he's alive

and

the world needs more people in it like him

he's a bad ass

too

~

you know

the more i think about it

this life of mine

really

is

glamorous

and

actually the more i think about it

i don't think

bad ass

is really swearing

is it

*

because....

it's just as hot as they said it was going to be. and the humidity is heavy and sticking to me like a coat of paint that isn't drying fast enough. and the ceiling fans aren't enough so i had to do what i hate to do and turn on the air conditioning. and the idea of eating anything makes me a bit nauseous while lemonade makes me feel all sparkly inside.

~

let's just laugh about it

~

the kind of laugh where your eyes get all crinkly and you snort

because

it's wisconsin

and

it's not snow

and

this is how we roll

*

i really don't sweat.....

the weather forecast for the next 7 days is warm. really warm. record high warm.

my hair will be frizzy. the humidity thick enough to bottle. ceiling fans on high.

and

i will be very happy

~

this is one of my florida photos from seaside/watercolor taken in january

i think i need a turquoise colored bike

and

a diamond patterned sidewalk to ride on

~

just a thought

*

happy saturday

when you're two and three....

your eyes are spectacularly blue

flowers tickle your nose

you can make silly faces just because

blowing bubbles is the hardest thing you have to do all day

your best friend gets to come over and play

you can scowl and nobody takes you seriously

hugs are tight enough to squish your head and you like it like that

and

a day running around in the backyard

barefoot

followed by chicken nuggets for dinner

makes for a perfect day

~

guess who's going to act like a two or three year old today

*

oh you beautiful thing, you !

you've always had them

your wings. you know.

they were there the day you were born. untouched. perfect.

~

are you waiting for the perfect dream to use them. wings don't need dreams

did you know that other people see our wings long before we ever do

~

i saw wings on a foster mom at the grocery store yesterday. she doesn't know how their brightness almost blinded me.

i have wings. they're kind of green and sparkly according to my friend diana. they really got a workout when i lived in indiana and worked with children who lived in group homes. lately they feel a bit dried up and crusty. my fault.

~

do you help out in a food pantry. a homeless shelter. watch your neighbor's children for her when she can't find a sitter. shovel the driveway next to yours just because. maybe you deliver meals on wheels. or talk and gently pat the hand of your elderly neighbor whose family doesn't visit often enough.

~

tell me

who is it lately that's been talking about the wings they saw you wearing

when you thought the only thing they were pointing at was your new haircut.

come on. don't be shy.

i just know you've been doing something good

*

like coloring without a box of crayons...

by now

we've all been hit with the texture bug

and

i thought i'd show you what happened when i mixed a little of this with a little of that

this is a fantastic texture

but

not the easiest to use on just any photo

due to the coloring in it

but

when i rotated it and mixed it with this old wagon wheel

ummm

what's the old saying

"everything old is new again"

~~

and

WOW

you all blew me away with your request for

a "simple as vanilla pudding" aperture tutorial

which my sweet and adorable hubby with a great big smile on his face

informed me there really isn't such a thing

but

i promise next week to prove him wrong

by

doing my absolute best to teach

an aperture 101 class

~

did you know that i'm a dental assistant

~

oh

this is going to be so interesting

*

and

real quick

for those of you seriously interested in aperture learning

please tell me what camera you have and what lens/lenses you use

~

thanks a bunch

sweet things and aperture.....

this barn is totally sweet

well

only if you're like me and love old barns

my girlfriend's new puppy is sweeter than sweet

well

only if you're like me and love babies

his name is jude

he's 10 weeks old

his feet are huge and he's terribly uncoordinated

his baby teeth are sharp and he chews on everything

and

oh my sweet lord

he's precious

and

now some

aperture talk

~

top photo vs bottom photo

see the difference

top photo

vs

bottom photo

~

big difference

right

anyhow

many of you

maybe

most of you

who come here to read about my not so glamourous life

~snort~

already know all about aperture

so i'm not going into detail today about it

other than showing you the above photos captured from using two different settings

BUT

seriously

if you don't have a clue about aperture and only shoot on auto

~that little green button~

and

want to learn about aperture

raise your hand high and wave it all silly like

dance around

and

shout

me yes me please me

and

then leave me a note here to let me know if you want me to write a tutorial

in words

that i promise to be as simple as vanilla pudding

~

i won't throw in shutter speed or iso or exposure or anything else with it

because baby steps are essential when it comes to loving what your camera can do

*

happy monday

silly life....

sometimes

all you need in order to get through your day

is a paint brush, a wrench and a tape measure

~

of course things turn out even better if

you're wearing your dad's old coonskin cap from when he was a little boy

along with your favorite baseball cap

~

and

heck

why even fasten your shoes

~

really

is it even necessary

~

i think i could learn something from

this little guy

~

how about you

*

sometimes life is really scary...

and

you know that you should be stronger

and

standing on your own two feet without toppling over

but

it's hard

and

you get all turned around

heading in a direction you think is right

only to get turned around

again

but

you're determined

and

brave

and

beautiful

and

you know the wings you've been blessed with

will take you where you dream to be

and

then suddenly just like that

everything feels right

and

your head is lifted high

and

finally

you're exactly where you were meant to be in the first place

*

meet my baby flicker or red bellied woodpecker

{thanks hillary for the information}

who lives outside our cottage

who couldn't figure out what to do at the feeder

and

whose parents have pecked huge holes into our cedar siding

~

isn't she adorable

*

oh

and

for those who asked

the picture below is the original photo from yesterday's post