Macro Saturday

We began learning about exposure techniques in our photography class the other night. Part of each class is reserved for sharing (Sarah’s match photo and mine of the moon totally rocked the class!) As each photo is shared, our instructor takes the opportunity to teach us more about technique and composition. One of our classmates shared an awesome picture she had taken of a casserole and mentioned that she had found instructions online on how to build a $10 macro studio.

I found the instructions this morning and built my own studio for zero dollars this afternoon using: a box that I had in the garage; tissue paper from my wrapping supplies; shipping tape; and poster board I had on hand. I then proceeded to fool around with aperture and shutter speed settings—putting to use my new found knowledge on how to use the built-in light meter! The above photo is of my dad’s newly acquired Varley locomotive dating from the 1950s.

And here’s a picture of my very own macro studio:


Not the most esthetically pleasing creation, but it does the trick…

Link: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio

365:55 - Eric

Because he's the one I see the most and the one I feel most comforatble with, my sweet husband often becomes a guinea pig for portraits...I think he might like it.

365:54 - Grover Feet

When it's cold (as it has been a few days this past week), I wear these fuzzy socks to bed 'cause they keep my feet toasty warm. Eric says that when I wear them, he sometimes thinks Grover (from Sesame Street) is in bed with him.

The socks are actually red, but I played with the picture to make them blue so that they look a little like Grover's feet.

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365:53 - Boots

This shot is not inspiring, but it's the only one I took this day. Ha!

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This Old House

I went to my parents’ house for supper tonight. I brought my camera. This is a picture of the back door.

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I Saw the Light

Here’s another photo from my Saturday afternoon sojourn through the woods. One of the tips I picked up in the photography class we’re taking, is to leave the camera in the bag and just “be in the moment”—to look around, notice the surroundings, observe movement and lighting, etc. As I was doing this, I noticed an old light fixture jutting forth from a tree that I have walked past on regular basis for twenty years!

I’m looking forward to working on some more of the exercises our instructor has given us (especially the one dealing with exposure techniques.)

Take That Chuck Norris!

I had a meeting at Bingham’s Family Restaurant in Kingsley, Pennsylvania last night. They had a gumball machine that had a sign for glow sticks, but dispensed ninja figurines. I got a real kick out of the numchucks on this little guy. It was the perfect subject for me to tinker with the Aperture-priority setting on my camera. (By the way the Bingham Burger and Caramel Apple Crumb Pie were delicious.)

365:52 - Sheep

We helped Eric's brother (Doug) move yesterday. He's a dairy farmer, and now he'll be working at a farm where they have a bunch of dairy cows and also a few each of a bunch of other animals. Doug showed us around, and this sheep posed for me, exactly in the right light.

Good job, sheep.

Stopping by the Woods on a Sunny Afternoon

I spent some time yesterday afternoon strolling through the woods with my camera in tow. I liked how the light from the setting sun streamed through these trees.

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Hemlock

Interestingly, these cones on one of the many hemlock trees here at Sky Lake are about the same size as those of the gigantic redwoods I saw in California last month. The great thing about hemlocks is that they have branches (with cones) at eye level.

365:51 - Lighted Match

I got a tripod and a remote for Christmas. I love them.

[Thank you, Mom R. and Dad R. and Dad Y.]

365:50 - Love Post-Its

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365:49 - Snowy Day

It snowed!

365:48 - Chuck Taylors

I dug my chucks out of my shoe basket on Tuesday night. When I bought them my junior year of high school, they were blue--now they're a sort of weird grey color. These shoes provide no support and no real warmth, but they were my favorite shoes ever. I never had (and still haven't got) any sort of good fashion sense, but for whatever reason, these shoes made me feel great.

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365:47 - Ring and Stars

This is my engagement ring.

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365:46 - Plaid Man

This is my amazingly classy husband. I love him.

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365:45 - Walk in the Woods

The weather for our weekend at the cabin was awesome. There was light snow all day on Saturday, but the temperature was perfect for bundling up and going for a trek through the woods.

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365:44 - College Friends

Here are Janae and Katie and Jess, friends that I made while I was at college. These girls mean a whole lot to me.

Katie and Janae lived next door to me my freshman year and helped to keep me sane during my transition to living away from home. Jess and her roommate Heidi took me with them to Florida for spring break during the roughest semester of my entire college career.

But besides those things, I just always genuinely enjoyed spending time with them! They made me laugh and think and strengthen my faith. They are just fantastic women!

As I spent time with them (and with Beth and husbands) this weekend, it reminded me how lucky I am to know these people. I need to keep in better touch with them!!

PS - Janae deliberately made that face for the camera...I'm not trying to make her look bad!

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Ode to Ansel

My brother introduced me to the work of Ansel Adams when I was ten or eleven years old. I love the richness and depth that black and white photos can capture. I used the monochrome setting on my camera to capture this shot of my red bird feeder.

I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me

I love the glow of the late afternoon and couldn’t resist getting this shot of the rising moon in it.

Not in a Sharing Mood

Obviously the siskin did not want to share its side of the feeder with the nuthatch.

Center of Attention

Sarah and I begin a photography class tomorrow night at Broome Community College. They have an extensive community education program, which is pretty cool. I must admit that I’m kind of nervous about this taking this class. We were given a pre-class assignment of selecting a photo for critique. Like Sarah, I’ve narrowed it down to five… (Four of which I’m uploading tonight. See the entry “Radiance” for the fifth.)

One of my favorite subjects lately has been my yard—in particular the visitors to my feeders (which probably comes as a real shocker to all those who have been following my contributions!) There are at least three White-breasted Nuthatches that visit my feeders daily (they generally come to the feeders one at a time, but I did spot three all at once about a week ago.)

365:43 - Books

These are the books that are on Eric's nightstand. I'm pretty sure he's begun reading all four of them. I really admire his dedication to trying to make the world a better place, and I love that he seeks out ideas from so many different sources.

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365:42 - Time

Well, we've officially made it back into the lifestyle we had before we left for Kentucky....we're running around like crazy (or at least it feels that way to me). All of the things we're doing are good things (or at least necessary things), but there are so MANY things to do that I sometimes feel like we have very little time to ourselves.

I tend to be pretty possessive about free time, though, so it might just be in my head.

365:41 - Nerds

In honor of my sister's birthday, I took a picture of Nerds. No, she's not a nerd--she just likes to eat Nerds candy!

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365:40 - Random Things

In our apartment, there is a ledge above the stairs that's about two or three inches wide. The only thing that it's good for is holding little knick-knacks.

Here's what they are--left to right:
1. Shell from our friends Liz and Matthew's wedding--once held handmade soap, but we used it.
2. "Oh my goodness" rock--a gift from my friend Dan--one of the best guys in the world--I've had this rock for over ten years!
3. Card that Eric brought me from a trip to New York City--he liked the photo and knew I would, too.
4. Tree made of straw brought to me from Africa by my friend Liz.
5. Antique ice cream box with my last name--says "Reid's Special Ice Cream"--hmm...what made it so "special"?
6. Wooden giraffe also brought to me from Africa by my friend Liz.
7. Clay painted art given to me by a middle school friend named Amy--she brought it back from Columbia.

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Radiance

I took hundreds of photos with my new camera over the weekend. This is one of my favorites. Many thanks to our friend, Helenmae, for being so patient with me.

365:39 - Old Friends

Karyn, Eric, Scott, Mandy

On Sunday, we headed down toward Scranton because there was a benefit dinner for our friend Karyn's dad, who is very ill. We ended up staying and helping out a little with the bake sale, so we got to spend some time with some more old friends.

It's amazing to me that we can go so long without seeing or talking to someone and have no trouble fitting back into the same laughter and love as before. Well, maybe it's not the same--we've all been through our own struggles and joys--but we still admire and respect each other and get great joy from spending time together.

PS - Don't these people have fantastic smiles? Look at all of those beautiful teeth!

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365:38 - Japanese Chef

As a surprise for my birthday, Eric invited a few of my oldest friends to join us for dinner at a Japanese steakhouse--one of those restaurants where you sit around the grill and they cook the food in front of you. I love these things, so I really appreciated Eric doing this for me!

Our chef ("Will Smith") was fantastic. He cooked us an amazing dinner, of course, but he entertained us and kept us laughing the whole time. It was such fun!

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365:37 - Self-Portrait at Thirty

I'm thirty years old now. Somehow this birthday seemed as if it would be more significant than others, so I've been thinking about it for several weeks. It's a strange point in my life to turn thirty 'cause I'm not where I want to be physically and career-wise. I guess I kind of thought I'd be feeling pretty secure when I turned thirty, and I actually feel more like I'm floating.

It's good, though. I think I might like being thirty.

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365:36 - Crossword

I'm not a crossword puzzle fanatic, but I do like to do them sometimes before I go to sleep.

And yes, that is a pink erasable pen.

365:35 - Latte

My sister lives in Baltimore, and I live in Binghamton, so we don't get to see each other too often. I miss her a lot.

Yesterday I got a birthday package from her. I couldn't wait 'til my birthday to open it 'cause I knew it would be awesome. It turned out to be even more amazing than I anticipated...she picked out the most random assortment of fantastic items. Latte here was one of those gifts. Now he's sitting on my desk at work to remind me of how lucky I am to have such a great sister.

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365:34 - Shower Fish

I love orange.
The end.

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365:33 - Two Sets of Slippers

Eric came home from Florida late Sunday. This has been a crazy couple of weeks, with both of us going away and very little time at home. It's wonderful to have some time home together.

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365:32 - Television

I took a picture of the television because it's off. I am not watching the Super Bowl. I have problems with professional football--so much money is spent on an event that gives so little to the greater good of the world. It frustrates me.

Plus, I'm still a little bitter about the fact that the Super Bowl was on my birthday a few years back.

But I have to admit this: I am taping the game for my husband who enjoys the Super Bowl and is on a flight back home from Florida today.

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365:31 - Doorknob

Ok, I'm not thrilled with this shot, but I've been playing with it, and this is the best it's looked.

I spent the weekend at my parents' house this weekend (since Eric's away in sunny Florida), and I slept in my sister's old bedroom. She's got a lot of interesting things in her bedroom, but I found myself drawn to this doorknob, especially after seeing this photo of Meg's.

I love my parents' house. I love the mix of old farmhouse and new addition. I love that it's in the middle of the woods. I loved that when I climbed into bed, I could hear pretty much nothing. Plus, I love spending time with my parents.

Binghamton is fine, but sometimes I get nostalgic for the peacefulness of living in the country.

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RIP PowerShot A530

My new Canon Rebel XS arrived while I was in California. I gave the honor of the first few shots to my old camera, the PowerShot A530. I'm looking forward to the many adventures ahead with my first digital SLR.