day 29...

clouds.

Our living room is two stories, the ceiling is twenty feet tall. In Texas your family room/game room is up stairs, there are no basements. Our family room has a balcony that over looks the living room, from that balcony you can look out the second story windows that are in the living room. This is the view from there, complete with big fluffy clouds.

days 26-28...

day 26 ...playing with shadows.

I decided to skip this one. The temps have been near or over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and it is too darn hot to sit outside and play with shadows



day 27... using sun as your lighting.

 

I prefer natural lighting and almost never use flash. I chose this photo because I loved the angle of the light, that Lilly is shielding her eyes from the sun and the light on Chloe's face. Plus, I don't get much opportunity to photograph my girls anymore. I love the beautiful lighting we have at sunset. In the evenings the breeze sweeps in and blows most of the humidity away and the sunsets are to die for. If the winds had not been so strong we would have used the paper parasols I had bought during this photo shoot.

day 28... incorporates motion.

I knew this one was coming so when I got this photo of Spencer diving into the hammock I knew I would use it for this. I shot this before he agreed to let me take his photo.

days 16-25...

this is going to be a long post...



day 16...experimenting with light trails.

Taken from the balcony of our hotel in Ocean City. Traffic wasn't very heavy.



day 17...street lights.

I grabbed this one before we left on vacation.




days 18... depicting emotion

Kate and Matt... he is still looking a little surprised and bewildered. When I showed them this shot Matt said ... "Did I do that?" in a great deadpanned Erkle voice.


day 19...involves landscape.

I love the little stretch of prairie between Mom's section of our neighborhood and ours.




day 20...what ever you please.

One happy little guy. He is getting so big.


day 21...sunset.

These are always easy shots here in our new neighborhood. Almost every evening Patrick and I watch a beautiful sunset while we walk the trails.


day 22...a person you love.

Patrick.


day 23... makes you think of childhood.

Sisters sharing secrets.



day 24... has a color scheme

I again forgot to replace the memory card in the camera when we went to Assateague, so the above is a cell phone photo.



day 25... what ever you please.

My nephew, Spencer, does not usually let me take his picture. While we were in Maryland he allowed me a few shots. This is my favorite, and since he let me take more than one I have another that I like...

Whew... now I am only one day behind!

pardon the interruption....

The last 10 days have been a whirlwind. I have been taking photos for the corresponding days but we have been on vacation in Maryland visiting family and friends. I have not had time to post. I will hopefully be all caught up by the end of the weekend. Stay tuned!

day 15...

what ever you please.

Loving my time with the girls. Chloe is getting so big. Here she is trying to learn to hula hoop.

day 14...

focusing on eyes.

 

Lilly and Chloe have come to Texas for a visit. As anyone who has followed my blogging/photography knows I love to use Lil and Chloe as my models. We spent today at the pool and their goggles reminded me to grab a photo of eyes for today's challenge. ( it is an unusual expression for Lilly... her mouth was full of goldfish )

day 13...

a photo edit that you like.

I will be honest this is a simple photo edit. I lacked the time to do a difficult one for today's post. This is a photo I took more that a year ago. The bright colors made it a good way to show the difference a little editing can make. The first photo is straight out of the camera. The white background looks a little dingy with a blue gray hue and the colors look a bit dull. There are also come crayon marks on the background. In the second photo the background is crisp and white, the colors pop and the marks are gone.

 

My old blog had an example of a much more difficult edit here. I was trying to repair the damage to an old photograph of my father in law.

day 12...

experimenting with bokeh.

yesterday morning I loaded my camera, my Bokeh Masters Kit and a water bottle into my bike basket and Patrick and I set out for a long Sunday Morning ride. We usually find our way to the neighborhood nature trail during a bike ride. I knew the diffused sunlight in the canopy of tree branches would provide the perfect opportunity to create bokeh. 5-6 miles into the ride I found my perfect spot. I parked my bike grabbed the camera chose the bokeh disc with a bird on it and positioned myself in a spot with beautiful morning light streaming through the tree branches. I tried to click and nothing! just the little glowing red icon on the screen screaming at me.... You idiot you forgot to put the card back in the camera!!!!  UGH! The day got busy and I did not make it back out to take the picture.

I do however have an example from my files.

day 11...

a black and white photo

 Sophie has always been camera shy. I get my camera out and she turns away or gets up and leaves the room.  When I laid down on the floor to grab the shot of her she was sleeping with her paws curled up under her cheek. Absolutely adorable. Then she saw the camera, she was instantly alert and looking uncomfortable with the situation. I love her even if she hates to have her picture taken.

Just because I can I turned yesterday's photo to black and white too. Which do you like better?

day 10...

what ever you please.

 Most evenings, once it has started to cool down a bit, Patrick and I walk. Our neighborhood has miles and miles of trails, most bordering water. Inevitably we come to a bridge. I have adjusted to crossing these low bridges though I am not sure how I will feel if I ever see the rumored alligator under one.

day 9...

something from a distance.

I was really not in the mood to play with my camera yesterday. I was sitting out back reading my third book this week and suddenly thought... the moon is "at a distance" I grabbed the camera and snapped. This is straight out of the camera. I probably should have done a little editing or possibly cropping but I just didn't feel like it yesterday.

day 8...

 something close-up

 

Patrick had to work late tonight so I made myself a simple dinner. Orzo, fresh spinach, a little butter, freshly grated parmesan and a little salt and pepper. Yummo!

day 7...

a silhouette.

 

Me curled up with my Kindle after a long day.

day 6...

 from a low angle.

 

Patrick's new toy...an upright bass. I had to lay on the floor under it to get this shot.

day 5...

 what ever you please.

 

 A weekend spent at the pool (cell phone picture).

day 4...

 from a high angle...

Today's photography challenge gives me a chance to show a little bit of what we have done with our house in the past 5 weeks.  When we moved to Houston we left most of our furniture with Kate. We moved into our new home with just a few of our favorite things from Maryland and some items we picked up at Ikea to hold us over until we found a house. This is the view from the bridge hallway at the top of the stairs looking down into the living room before our new furniture arrived. Below is a photo of that room taken from the hallway outside of the master bedroom.

 The photo over the mantel is part of the new living room furnishings. We hung it the night before so it would be in place when the delivery men arrive to set up the new things.


These are my after shots.....

  We still have to buy a new kitchen table, counter stools and wall hangings. I also need to make curtains and figure out the lighting but it is coming along.