Portraits - M

Today I got to do some portrait photography for work. M gave me permission to show you some of my favorites from our little photo session. She was nice and great to work with. So was the winter sun--it has been raining on and off today, so we really lucked out with a little window of nice weather this afternoon. Oh and I love her hair!












I think I love this one best. I've been wanting to work with more backlighting and flare, so it was fun to do something a little different (for me).


I'll end with an unrelated photo, but I took it a few minutes before I met up with M and I don't know where else to post it, so here you go.

Yay for tomorrow being Thursday! I love Thursdays and I haven't been feeling great, so here's to an amazing turn around for the end of my week. *clink*

Photography: Long Exposure

My sister commented with the following request:

...your moving water photos are so awesome. Feel free to explain how you did that.

Since I enjoy training and explaining, I'll use her question as my first blog photo lesson. Let me know if you enjoy this because I wouldn't mind doing more of it, but only if I know it's helpful and not boring or annoying.

[DISCLAIMER: I am an amateur and don't always know the terms or best ways to approach different photos. There are plenty of more qualified people online who can explain these things, I'm just offering up my personal experiences and thoughts in case it is helpful for you.]

It's popular to take moving water photos with a long exposure time in order to give the water a smooth, soft appearance. When I say "long exposure time," I am referring to the shutter speed, which is the length of time the shutter is open. The long exposure allows the camera to capture the motion of the water from one point to another, which translates to a silky, matte appearance in many cases.

One thing about long exposure times is that there's more opportunity for shaking the camera and making the entire photo out of focus. This is why a tripod, or at least a level and steady surface, is useful (and often essential) for these types of photos.

You might also know that the longer the shutter stays open, the more light is allowed in. If you slow down your shutter speed without changing other settings on your camera, your resulting photo may become overexposed. To compensate, you will probably need to adjust the ISO and the aperture.

For starters, I always put the ISO (light sensitivity) down to the lowest setting (100 on my camera). Lower ISOs are more desirable anyway, so this is a perfect opportunity to use one. Then I adjust the aperture (by setting the f-stop to a higher number, meaning a smaller opening) to what works best with the shutter speed for correct exposure. Take some practice shots and see how it goes.


Here's an example. The above photo's settings are as follows:

ISO = 100
Aperture/F-stop = f/22
Shutter speed = 1 second

You can use this technique to soften moving water of any kind. I'd like to try it on the ocean sometime, but haven't had the opportunity.


The settings for the above photo are:

ISO = 100
Aperture/F-stop = f/11 (it had gotten darker by now so I didn't need it as high)
Shutter speed = 3.2 seconds

If it's too bright outside, sometimes it's just not possible to use a very slow shutter speed, even when the other two settings are adjusted. It's better to take waterfall photos in the shade or while it's dim outside. Low light was on my side on this trip to Silver Falls since it's winter and was approaching sunset.

Okay, I hope this wasn't too boring and maybe even helpful. Let me know if you try it!

Silver Falls

I finally redesigned my blog, though it's probably just temporary. You can come look at it here if you are seeing this through a reader.

Now for the main point of this post. My friend D is visiting from California. She and I have been friends since fifth grade, and it's great to have her here. Today it was actually sunny, so we decided to go over to Silver Falls since she has never been. I have been a few times and was figuring I'd not want to take many pictures, but I've never seen it at this time of year. It was very full and the fall/winter colors gave everything a different look. I had a great time walking around in all the mist and taking pictures, even though it was pretty cold and it gets dark so dang early. Oh Oregon...why?


A standard shot of South Falls. It's the only waterfall we visited while there. Oh and I didn't bring a tripod, so for all of these the camera was either hand-held or set on a fence post or something.


For those of you who haven't been here, you can walk behind the waterfall on a trail. We actually didn't because it was too wet. This photo isn't fabulous, but it gives you an idea of the size.


Another unfab photo just to show you the area.


I'm competing for the world's record of Most Photos of a Fuzzy White Line in One Blog Post.


The plants growing out of the rock wall were all misty, but it was hard to capture them in photos.


Of course I have to take pictures of ferns. And here's a trail in the park around the falls.




I'm still into photographing mushrooms, so D was alerting me whenever she came across some.




I didn't even notice this cute curled grass until I looked at this photo on my computer. It's like a grass swan!






There were a few mini waterfalls on the sides of the cliff.


I was all into photographing the moving water, as you can tell. Next time I really need to bring the tripod for all the long exposures, but I really hate using tripods.


Which do you prefer? With or without dead leaves in front?


Speaking of leaves.






This little guy was just growing out of the end of a log.

Okay, thanks for looking!

December

Happy December! It's not my favorite month, but I have some happy plans, so I feel okay about it. :)

I know it's been awhile since I blogged. It's partly because life has been busy with friends and obligations, but the other factor is that you might remember I am missing my camera's battery charger. I haven't found it, but my dad so generously sent me an Amazon gift certificate so I could order a new one, and it just arrived today! My sister--not realizing what my dad had done--was also planning to send me a new charger. Isn't my family the best? I realize that now I'll probably find the old charger since I have a new one, but it seems like having a second one is a fine idea if that happens.

Anyway, here are a few updates:

I had a good Thanksgiving spent with friends. I made Eggnog Pie (my first pie ever!) and was worried about how it might turn out, but I liked it. Here's a shadowy and ungreat photo from my point-and-shoot:



Yes, I messed up on the whipped cream application! I used this recipe. I wish it had been a little more specific on timing and what to expect, but I guess it assumes the cook is Amish or experienced with this sort of pie-making. My pie turned out a bit lumpy due in part to the gelatin being overly solid by the time it was added to the mix, so keep that in mind.

I'm not sure why, but I only finished one book in November. I guess I've been busy and distracted, plus too lazy to get to the library.

The Ivy Tree - Mary Stewart (Audio - 12.5 hours)
Mary Grey is approached by a man named Connor who mistakes her for his cousin, Annabel, who disappeared 8 years before. The striking resemblance prompts Connor to devise a plan to which Mary eventually agrees due to her desperate financial circumstances. Mary is to impersonate Annabel and help manipulate Con's dying, rich uncle to leave Con what he feels he deserves. This story has mystery, interesting characters, light romance and lots of pretty English scenery. I liked it! (Books read in 2010 so far: 30)

While I'm talking about books, I feel like complaining about something. Some of my friends know that I HATE spoilers and I can barely even read the back of a book since so many of them reveal too much about the plot. There have been times when the back of the book revealed scenes that happen in the last few pages! It's ridiculous. But the worst place to go if you don't want any spoilers is to the Amazon reviews of said book. People spoil books all the time without warning. There was an Ivy Tree review that gave away a big part of the mystery that isn't revealed until the last third of the book. For that reason, I tend to put off reading them until I've finished a book. I mean, Amazon reviews shouldn't even include a plot summary in the first place (another pet peeve) because the summary is already provided on the product page. The last thing I need is to read through 100 more summaries. Okay, rant over, even though I could go on and on about that and even provide examples. Criticism is my forte, after all.

Well, now my camera is freshly charged and I'm hoping to get some good wintry photos this year. It's always difficult since winter = rain and cameras don't seem to like rain, for some reason.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tis the season for lots of recipe posts! (Also, I lost my battery charger and my camera is about to die, so I can't go on any major photo shoots.) I shouldn't be baking so much, but at least I have plenty of people to take the results off my hands. (But not before I sample too many, of course.)

I got this recipe from a friend years ago. (His name was Steve, but now I don't even remember his last name!) He said it was the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, and he was right. I've made it several times and passed it on to many people because it makes cookies exactly as I want them: soft, thick and dense. Not hard, flat, gooey or crispy.

The full recipe is pretty large so I tend to just do half at a time, but sometimes I'll make all of it and use different types of baking chips in portions of the dough. One of my favorite candies to use is butterscotch baking chips. I also like M&Ms. This time I used the chocolate chunks because I thought it would seem homey.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. butter
2 c. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 c. white sugar
2 T vanilla
3 eggs
6 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking soda
2-4 c. semi sweet chocolate chips (or whatever chips you want)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375º. Mix butter, sugars and vanilla. Add eggs and mix well. Mix in flour, salt and soda. Finally, add baking chips to your liking. (As much as I like chocolate, I think the dough is so good on its own that it doesn't need an overwhelming amount of chocolate chips.)

The resulting mixture will be a bit dry and pretty firm. (Once I broke my parents' expensive mixer on it!) Scoop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size of cookies. I find that it's best to take them out when they're barely getting golden brown on the edges and let them sit on the cookie sheet outside of the oven for a few minutes to cook/set. This keeps them moist for longer.

I know many people prefer their cookies warm from the oven, but I find these are best when they've cooled completely. You can eat them however you want, though, since I'm not a cop.

Okay, who wants more cookie photos? Can't just let them go to waste.