Photography Leaning Take 2

This photo was experimenting with aperture once again, but I almost got it perfect.
The only adjustment to this photo was a slight increase in the brightness
I got the aperture right, as you can see from the very unfocused background!

This one only needed a slight crop as there was a corner of a blanket that got in the photo

This photo was taken by our living room window on a cloudy day
The light could have been better, but the photo turned out great,
only problem was she has all those mosquito bites! So....

With Photoshop I was able to easily fix those flaws
and you can't even tell that I fixed anything!

  

This was my attempt at motion blur in low lighting...cool effect, it looks like butterfly wings!

  

Each of these next three photos were taken with the exact same light, 

but I made different adjustments to the RAW image in Photoshop to correct the problems.

Poor lighting/cheap lens makes for needing lots of adjustments
But I shot in RAW for the first time so I was able to!

The graininess of this is due to my stock lens and low light.

This was also low light, so I had to mess with the colors as it was very yellow

I wasn't happy with the final coloring, so I really like this one in black and white!

When Carese first opens her eyes, she always has a big, sleepy grin...
today I captured it on film!

Below are photos taken by my sweet friend, Renee.

She started her own home business, Little Earthling Photography,

 of birth and newborn photography a few years back.

She has helped me with learning the ropes.
She also has a wonderful blog about her family, A Baker's Dozen and Apollo XIV

Here are the photos she took when Carese was about 2 weeks old.

Carese was not being cooperative, but in spite of that,

Renee managed to get some incredibly beautiful photos:

After what was to be the first part of the photo session,
Carese puked all over Renee
(Renee said she's had worse, but Carese got her pretty doused!)

 and would not stop crying,

 so the photo session was over just after it began.

Learning to Really Use my SLR and Photoshop!

I've had both for years, but have resorted to just point and shoot photographs.  Mostly I just didn't have the time to learn, and when I tried I just kept forgetting what I had learned!  My camera is a Canon Rebel with the stock lens (hoping to upgrade soon!)

Now I have time to get it right, since I'm so limited on what I can accomplish with my bum knee (yes, it's still not a happy knee in any way, shape or form).  Here's some of my learning photos:

experimenting with aperture (had left the flash on by accident),
 most of them turned out blurry or dark....or she was goofy
Don't you just love those argyle baby legs to go with that pretty cloth diaper???

The life jacket was all red, used Photoshop to change the color to blue

learned to change the image to black and white and then restore the color
This was also a photo where I was experimenting with aperture, only with a flash

same as above, but this was my first attempt

cool Photoshop filter!

still working on aperture, only I almost got it right - good lighting and a still model
I just had the focus a little off

Loved this photo with this filter!

Since these photos last week, I've learned about shutter speed, ISO and shooting in manual.  Today I took my first photos in RAW...I'll show off some of these later!

First Day of Summer Fun

First we met with friends at the park for fun and a picnic lunch....

 

Then we headed over to the Lynden Fire Department to meet up with other friends and have a tour!

First the firefighters talked to us about fire safety at home, and that every family should have a meeting place if there was a fire in the house. 

Then one of the fire fighters in training showed how the fire fighters get their gear on, and how it's so important that no skin is exposed when they go to fight a fire.  The kids asked all sorts of great questions, including how fast they can be leaving on a call, and they shared that they have to be rolling out the doors in under a minute, even if they are sleeping!

They got to climb all around the fire truck and talk with one of the fire fighters inside the ambulance!

Firefighter Williams took time to show the kids the different tools that they store in the firetrucks, explaining what they are used for.

At the end of the tour, the fire fighters handed out hats and workbooks to the children, and a nice book for the parents to use to help families be safe in a house fire or emergency!

Esther enjoyed most of the tour, but twice she tried to take off, wanting to go
outside and enjoy the sunshine!

After the tour, some of the families joined us at Edaleen Dairy for refreshing ice cream cones!

 

And just for fun (completely unrelated to our day out), here's Esther showing off her character - she loves to entertain us!  She found Jonathan's hat and sunglasses and acting up.  If she knows she has an audience she acts up all the more...

WhatEvah!

Carese's Dedication Day Photos

A couple of weeks ago, our entire family was present as we did our "Parent Dedication" for Carese.  

Our church puts the emphasis on parenting - that it is actually discipling our children.  So when a new baby is born, we celebrate this by having the parents prayed for by the pastor and the congregation.  It's a time to remember that parenting isn't just something you do because you had kids, but it is our highest calling in marriage - to raise up Godly seed for His glory.

Pastor Steve shared with the congregation that Carese's name means "grace", and her middle name is "Faith".  The definition in Strong's concordance is "The divine influence on the heart, as manifested in the life".  She is a manifestation of God's work in our lives.  He keeps pressing us to trust Him completely, in all areas of life.  He shared what a miracle she is - she survived through a high-rise pregnancy and an emergency, life-threatening birth, defying the odds so to speak!

Carese spent the entire time staring into Daryl's face...it was so sweet!

Carese was not exactly excited by all the commotion!
Check out that double chin!

Here's my mom and my girls, all ready to leave for church!

Daryl's parents and my mother came to the service, and my friend, Ruth, was kind enough to take some photos!

It's not easy getting a family photo where everyone looks good, but this one turned out great!

Here's my girls and me.

And here are my girls - we took this one to use for my "My Daughters" blog!