Homeschool Diva

Why use a flash if you can work the camera manually to where you get enough light to pull off the shot?  Well, simply because good photographers need to know how to hit all elements, and knowing how light works, will give you great images all the time.  Not only that, but if you want to work on your craft while the kids are in bed, you will need to work at night, therefore you need to work with a flash.

That being said, I hardly ever use a flash, even though I have one.  Now that I am pushing farther to learn a few new things….I super heart my flash especially right at dusk.  It gives you crazy definition and color, that a low f stop and high ISO alone will not give you. It will allow you to have your shutter speed set so that you don’t get that blur that happens when hand holding your camera to capture an image. Everything I have learned with photography has been self taught.  I am in good company. Some of the best photographers in the world are self taught.  I read, I study, I experiment, I read, I study, I experiment…..it is one of my favorite things to do.  So, I have been reading and studying about off camera lighting and strobe work.  Wow what a cool look you can pull off with all of that info.

if you only have an on board flash, one of the things you can do to diminish that hot spot glare, is to put a piece of wax paper, tracing paper, parchment paper or a coffee filter over your flash to diffuse the light.   So go play around with your flash and show me what you got!

Grace and Peace to all those who love learning~

I LOVE what I do .  I really find it such an honor to capture peoples memories for them.  This weekend I had the chance to document new and growing life. We had a providental break in all the rain, and we were able to get some great images. 

Arn’t they the cutest young Mama and Papa you all have ever seen?  I knew her when she was 12.  Kind of trippy to photograph her married with child.  These two will make great parents and are full of all the joy and expectation that envelopes this season in life.

These are just a few of the MANY gourgous images I grabbed of these three. Thanks Kyle and Bethany for giving me the honor of capturing this very special season.  Enjoy every messy minute as life moves on.  Look back at these images fondly remembering all the love and joy that kicked this whole thing off. 

Many blessings to you three~

a

I’ve been gone for a week, recovering from moving.  We are now settled into my parents home waiting to move (again) into our new home.  Can I be honest without you thinking I have a bad attitude?  I HATE moving, but it is good for weeding out and reorganizing. I schooled this week, and organized our room here, so blogging wasn’t even close to happening.  My computer is still in pieces, my camera has seen little use, and I pulled a hamstring that the move really “jacked” up.  Thanks to Epsom salt soaks, deep tissue massage, no running and cross training with the swim and the bike, I am almost back to normal.

So for today, show me something pretty.  These are pretty to me, but I am a bit funny.  My new bike shoes.

My tri training is going well, other than the hamstring thing.   I ran after not being able to sleep early one morning.  I was kind of stressed from the move, and hit it hard and wasn’t as warmed up as I thought.  I strained it then.  Then, I babied it during the move but obviously tweaked it more, and now I am paying for it.  Take it from me….don’t do that.

I am working out with my brother who has done iron mans in the past and is now training for one in May.  He is a foot taller than me, and an ex Navy guy so you can imagine what that is like.  I guess I kicked him around when I was little being the “big sister” and he is now kicking me around as adults.

I will be away on family vacation next week, so I don’t think I will be posting anything.  I will microblog through twitter via my phone so if you are not already, follow me on twitter.  See you back here in a week or so. I am limping along, physically, mentally, well in most ways.

Grace and peace to all those walking with a limp~

I have missed our kids, but have gotten a ton of packing done.  Our garage is full of boxes waiting for a POD, Mike and I had a date without having to pay for a babysitter, and I had the opportunity to do this.

Such sweet friends.  It is always a wondrous moment seeing a new Mom with her first pregnant belly.  I got to shoot her downtown, which is one of my favorite environments for a photo shoot.  With all of this moving hustle, I haven’t played with my camera for a a few days, and my training has been sidetracked due to sickness.  This weekend, I finally felt back to my old self.  I am embracing the next few weeks, of homeschooling.  I can’t wait to have the kids back, and start Huckleberry Finn.  They have been asking for weeks. I just haven’t wanted to start something new until we tie up all of our other loose ends, and got this move in the can, or POD so to speak.

This week, is full of joyous adventure, wondering moments, love of learning, and embracing change in all its forms.  I will specifically learning how to pack a POD.  One of the little aha moments I had yesterday was this. I am with my kids for 90% if their day to day lives.  I see daily how fast they are growing and how big they are.  BUT, yesterday I spoke with them on the phone, after being away from them for 3 days, and they all sounded so  little, innocent and joyful.  I realized I have such a sweet gift of being able to be with them, and learn with them.

Grace and Peace to all those thankful for every season, even the ones full of change~

Thanks Sarah for the idea this week.  Here it is a bit of whimsy.  Song to listen to while viewing.  Crank it up Peeps!

Show me your whimsy~  Have a great Friday~

The other night I went out with a friend for coffee, and the light glancing off of her shiny nails just caught my eye.  Finding something pretty in the smallest of details.

We had fun doing some low light work downtown.  It is always good to practice in challenging situations.  I am hoping to upload the rest of the images from that night on my flikcr.  The day is just flying away…but I hope to get it up there soon.

What tiny little thing have you found beauty in lately?

Peace to all~

Ever met someone that just got your mind to thinking?  Engaged you in a way that made you want to be better and when you left being with them, you felt empowered to go out and do something amazing?  Ya, me too.  That is just how I felt when I got to document this super woman’s blooming form.  Her first 3 children are GAW-JUS and I have no doubt the 4th will follow suit.  You can’t imagine how special it is for photographic artists to capture natural beauty.

Women go through many seasons and I see strength in so many ways peek through my lens.  Pregnancy is just one of those seasons but not the only one. Think about what season you are in today, and how you are able to be strong in it.

Give me your best super woman shot today. Come on… you know you want to play.

So I am a little late to actually posting within the flickr community. I noticed my amazing artistic husband’s flickr page is rockin’ and I thought I better get going. He always does that to me. Spurs me on in all the good and appropriate ways. So, next month I am upgrading to the pro account, so I am not limited to how many images I upload.

I’ve kind of thought, well, I post my favorites here on this blog, so why should I upload there. Well, I just figured out why. I was wrong to not participate and am happy to admit it. The more people critiquing your work, the better you get! So I am now psoting to some of my favorite groups. So go get your own flickr page and get posting:-)

My stream

Mikes stream

Enjoy!

People really do keep their lights up year round.

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