Learning to “manually” light objects is quite a challenge. It has been a steep learning curve so far, but it has been exhilarating when we get it right! (We do get it wrong more often though!)
The latest lesson was about lighting glass. Its curves and physical properties made this the hardest challenge so far. Lots to learn, but we made a start.
Little sore after the doctor’s visit so just a short note. (New cast and I have to exercise my fingers)
Original
As you can see, I did quite a bit. My son stood in for my left hand
It is a while still before we have beach weather again. I remembered this photo of my daughter that I love from last summer. It was the end of a glorious day, bright skies promised a night full of stars.
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It is such an enormous feeling I experience when new parents ask me to share in the first precious days when the have been blessed with a new little one to love. The morning spent with this little princess was no exception. She was just too adorable! And so calm and relaxed, giving her parents much deserved rest.
I know she will bring joy and delight into every aspect of her parent’s lives!
Thank you for letting me share in your joy! It was so special to be in a home so filled with love.
*I am going to be short on words the next few weeks. One-handed typing is a bit too frustrating. The operation went well though and I am still taking photos, as you can see!
I got my son to help me make chocolate blocks last night while his brother was at soccer. (Well, I directed and he did the manual work!)
These two had so much fun smashing the biscuits.
He cut some butter to melt
and then came the messy part where they sifted the icing sugar…
After adding some eggs and microwaving it all for a bit, the chocolate mix got poured into a dish to set.
And thee got to lick out the bowl (which is what the did all this for!)
I’ll type out the recipe when Ican use both hands again. Everything is slow-going at the moment
Last night I had a little bit of an accident. I ran up the stairs, tripped and hit the wall with my fingers outstretched…. Heard a snap… Tried to immediately take my rings off, but it was already too late. And then the pain hit. (Curled up in a little ball and wailed like a baby I’m afraid!)
Quite a few hours between emergency rooms and x-rays showed a gorgeous little break inside my hand on the ring finger. Spent the whole morning back in emergency for a new cast (They had to cut off my rings!). And now I am already bored… All my projects I started this weekend are staring at me. I can’t finish any of them one-handed!
Well, for the next few weeks I guess I will have to practice the Joe McNally camera hold: bracing the camera on one shoulder. And my house is going to be absolute chaos!
This week’s photo is of the cutest little boy! He has a twin. Just as well the photo is just of one of them, those eyes are mesmerising! This is the original photo.
I first did a basic edit with some sharpening and a blur to soften noise and smooth his skin. I also cloned out the blue shirt and blond hair. I added a screen capture of the layers I used, including a photo filter to warm up his skin tone. The Hue/Saturation layer just made his red shirt and lips a bit warmer and brighter.
I then added a crop. The photo is great on its own, I think, but I do like the crop as well. His eyes are just such a big part of the image, I wanted less distraction.
Playing around with a black and white version, I came up with something I really like.
These are just some experiments with Pioneer Woman’s actions.
Old West | Soft & Faded  |
Sunshine | Vintage |
Amazing what we can do with technology!
To see more edits of this image, be sure to visit the website by clicking on the link above.
Lately we have had quite a busy schedule going, with my classes starting, hubby’s work pressure increasing a little and a lot of other small things. Last night it was especially hard to motivate myself to go to class. Being tired seems to make me gloomy! Well, looks like I was meant to take a break. After waiting for the train, which came into the station really slow, everyone jumped on board for a (VERY) slow trip to the next station. A three minute trip took forty minutes. Then the dreaded announcement: Power lines got tangled at Dandenong station, so no trains are available into the city. The train was going back. A three minute trip and I was back where I started. (At least I wasn’t in the city when this happened! Imagine trying to get home!)
Well, since there was quite a stunning sunset, I decided to use the evening to relax and take some photos for no reason other than I liked what I saw.
Today’s routine is also out of the window. My younger son has developed a fever, so I am being forced to relax at home. Hope you find a natural way to relax this weekend and don’t need to be forced, kicking and screaming like me!
My nice little to do list got lost yesterday. I started well, sweeping and cleaning up, then I got a call from the school that my son had forgotten his lunch money. Rather than drive, my youngest and I walked to the school. On the way back, we made use of the rare bit of winter sunshine to play in the park a bit. She just loves swinging!
She is growing up so fast. It is hard to keep up!
Watching the girls train is amazing. They are so strong and supple! No complaints or slacking, just determination.
Could you do twenty leg lifts like this? She did!
Thank you so much to this little one’s mom for inviting me to spend time with the girls during their training. It is a phenomenal experience. (To say I love what I do, would be an understatement!)
Our latest assignment was to try to capture the colour and feeling of early morning. So everyone had sheets of cellophane hanging on c-stands to create coloured light. My props were quite heavy to carry through the city, but I think it was worth it in the end. I had a lot of fun and definitely learnt a few new techniques.
The first one is with blue and yellow light, the blue adding to the shadows and the yellow to the highlights.
Then we tried some red and blue
I couldn’t resist trying some gold and magenta light on this little girl set up.
Have you noticed some of the colours the light creates early in the morning? It is amazing how the light’s colour can affect our mood.
My son absolutely loves playing soccer. He had been begging for ages to play, but with my evening classes, we just couldn’t find a place that fit in with our schedule. Thankfully things worked out and with my new schedule, we found somewhere for him to play. Those long legs of his really help!
I think his footwork is quite impressive, though he sometimes gets a bit carried away and steals the ball from his own teammates (he is only 8!)
By the end of the game he is usually quite exhausted. But the fitness will come I think. We are just glad he found something he loves doing.
(PS these were shot at night indoors, so at super high ISO, which explains the graininess. Flash doesn’t help over long distances)
This semester we have to hand in two portfolios. For the first one, I am trying something that takes me completely out of my comfort zone (I guess I have been reading Seth’s Blog too often). One of my friends kindly organised that I can photograph her daughter at gymnastics practice.
Last night was my first try at capturing the action. I had so much fun with all the girls, but I think I am going to have to learn a lot about gymnastics!
(These images are all straight out of the camera, no editing)
Capturing really fast moving kids in low light is going to be an amazing challenge! So hopefully this monster will just be shadow and no substance…
My son and I walked past the op shop recently and saw a box of videos outside marked $10 for the lot. Well, for the whole series, I figured it a good deal (recently been introducing the kids to Star Trek Next Generation). So we bought the huge box and brought it home. But the video machine hasn’t been used in quite a while, so I had to get that up and running again. Lost cause… Seems it couldn’t survive being filled with coins, raisins, crayons and other sundry bits! (I blame the toddler years) Frantic search for a new VCR, but thankfully everyone seems to be getting rid of theirs! I managed to pick up a second-hand one last night.
So my kids can now watch the whole series of Voyager, from 1.1 to 7.13!
At this stage, this is how our Sundays go: Early morning (between 8am and 9am) we rush out the door to church. During the sermon, I am downstairs teaching the little ones (younger than preschool) Bible stories. Then, after church, I jump on the tram into the city while (poor ever-suffering) hubby takes our three kids home. I then spend the afternoon in class learning studio lighting.
When you have to travel on public transport with your props, you have to be economical, so I wear them!
