Foto Friday - Unexpected

Taken with Nikon D40 on Alcatraz, California on January 26, 2008. Aperture Exposure Mode, 55mm, 1/80 sec f/5.6, ISO 200, Nikon Raw Format. Edited in Lightroom 2.0.

Quick post for you today.  This photo is appropriate for a quick post because really did very little to prepare the print.  I shot this photo at dusk in San Francisco Bay while heading up the hill to visit the penitentiary known as Alcatraz.  I was very taken aback by all the beauty (plants and wildlife) on the island and by the beautiful San Francisco Bay. I took this shot at dusk and I was really loving the amazing light that was just filling up the bay!  I must say that I was not expecting to take many pretty photographs on our visit to Alcatraz.

I got this silhouette shot just right by exposing for the background and not using a flash.  In post-processing I simple adjusted the black point of the photo using the curves adjustment in Lightroom 2 (it's out of beta now by the way) and ever so gently tweaking the blues to make it look like it did back on the island. 

After adding our logo and a border I exported the image as an sRBG jpeg file at a resolution of 360ppi (optimal for printing). Hope you enjoyed this quick post and be sure to enjoy yourself behind the lens!

Rob

The Dreaded "Raff"

I'm beginning to hate giraffes. For the last two weeks Nathan has developed a giraffe obsession. Why giraffes? No idea. Here's what my days have consisted of for the last 14.

1-Building dada giraffes, mama giraffes, Nathan giraffes, and Madeleine giraffes out of Legos.
2-Coloring with crayons dada giraffes, mama giraffes, Nathan giraffes, and Madeleine giraffes.
3-Drawing with colored pencils dada giraffes, mama giraffes, Nathan giraffes, and Madeleine giraffes.
4-Coloring with markers dada giraffes, mama giraffes, Nathan giraffes, and Madeleine giraffes.
5-Drawing with pens dada giraffes, mama giraffes, Nathan giraffes, and Madeleine giraffes.
6-Looking at pictures on Google Images of dada giraffes, mama giraffes, Nathan giraffes, and Madeleine giraffes.

I literally draw and color at least 30 giraffes a day. Yeah, it's starting to get a little old.

Foto Friday - Mid-Morning on Main Street

Last Sunday morning Rob kicked me out of the house to get some alone time and take some new photographs. I decided to go to Main Street in Farmington, Utah to try and get some shots. I drove through there on accident a couple of months ago and thought it was such a cute area! Mature trees, brick homes, white picket fences, very Americana. I took a few shots but had a hard time capturing the feeling that I wanted.

This photo came about by looking up into the branches of some of the trees and enjoying the sunlight shining through. I really wasn't expecting to use the shot at all. I almost deleted it because I didn't feel it looked like what I saw (you know how sometimes it's said that the picture doesn't do it justice?). Well since I didn't really get any other shots that I loved, I started playing with the colors and lighting of this until I got it to look how I saw it in my mind. It's was so peaceful and summery.

Mid-morning light can be hard to work with since it tends to look hazy, but by adjusting colors, light, and contrast I was able to achieve what I felt the scene originally had.

By-the-way, all of our Foto Friday photos are copyrighted, but if you ever want a print or to use one as a wallpaper, etc. just ask.

Seriously, One Of the Funniest Ever!

I stumbled upon this article this morning and laughed SO HARD!! Here's the link to "20 Baby Products Great For Traumatizing Infants". These are real products!

Just so you're aware, there are maybe 2 or 3 sentences that are inappropriate, but I couldn't figure out how to edit them out. But it's so funny, I guarantee you're gonna want to forward it on.

Mark, Cammie, & Racheal

Rob and I took pictures of my brother Mark, his girlfriend Cammie, and their little daughter Racheal. Isn't she beautiful?

The evening we took these ended up being very windy and stormy, so we're lucky we got some outside shots.

This makes four baby cousins born within 4 months of each other. Joseph, Madeleine, Jordin, and Racheal will have so much fun growing up together.

The Big 27

My birthday was the week before last and Rob went all out. On Thursday night he gave me my gift...a new 2GB iPod Shuffle. I lost my old one and have been missing it, especially at the gym. So that was great. He also got me an I-Tunes gift card and an ice cream cake. He made an appointment for me to get my hair cut and colored (thanks to my parents for that gift) on Friday afternoon and then met me at the mall afterwards for a little date. Last Sunday he totally surprised me with a party at my mom and dad's house with the entire family there! AND he serenaded me with the song "Angel" by Jack Johnson. He played it on the guitar and did the whole thing in front of everyone! It was SO DANG ROMANTIC!! What a precious memory to have in my bank of hundreds of precious memories he has given me. I love you, Rob!

30 Bands Ago

Here are some pictures I took of the widely acclaimed band "30 Bands Ago". It was so much fun to hear Brooks, Denise, Jason, Rob, Rob, and Debbie share their talents. You guys ROCK!!

I wanted to give the pictures a bit of an edgy feel, as any church band should have, right?

Enjoy!

Foto Friday - Train

Taken with Nikon D40 in North Platte, Nebraska on October 27, 2007. Manual Exposure Mode, 30mm, 1/320 sec f/9, ISO 200, Nikon Raw Format. Edited in Lightroom 2.0 Beta.

There are not many beautiful things on Interstate 80 between Salt Lake and Pennsylvania; however, we found a little quaint gem called Fort Cody in North Platte, Nebraska (see our original post here).  So if you're ever passing through North Platte, give this novelty gift-shop and museum a try.   

As I was setting up this photo, Nate was hiding behind the wheels and shouting at me which was very cute.  Because I made this exposure so long ago I can't remember much of what I was thinking at the time. 

After import and backup I kicked up the blue and red saturation a little.  The exposure came out a little flat so I notched up the contrast a little which really brought out the darks and made the colors pop. I wanted to emphasize the sky so I selected a square crop, I just love those clouds!  After adding the stroke border and our logo I exported the photo as a high quality sRGB jpeg file. 

A quick post this week so I hope you enjoy it and remember to enjoy yourself behind the lens.

Foto Friday - Millions of Moments

This week I chose to feature "Millions of Moments." I took this shot in May of 2007 in St. George, Utah at Sand Dunes Trail in Snow Canyon. We went there to explore and it was so much fun to play in the soft, red sand. Here is an old post about that trip.

Anyway, I like this shot because in the hands (Rob's) you can see teeny, individual sand grains...or moments. As they fall, the grains stream together creating a lifetime. When the lifetime seems to end, it actually becomes part of a huge sand dune, or eternity. I also love seeing Rob's wedding ring in the shot, as that is a symbol of an eternal covenant that we have made.

Each of us is on a journey created by millions of seemingly unimportant, miniscule moments. But just as there would be no dune without grains, our eternal life would be non-existent without each moment.

It's Official

I just received a very cool email from the University of Utah stating that I have completed all requirements for graduation and that I have been awarded a Master's of Science in Civil Engineering. My diploma has been mailed. I'm completely, and officially done with school. WoooHoooo!!!!!

Things That Bum Me Out...And Things That Don't

Things that bum me out:

1. Student Loans coming due in a couple of months.


2. Having to wrestle my 2-yr-old and hold him down in order to give him his nightly shot while he screams "No Ow! No Ow!"


3. My little girl trying to sit up. This means she's already growing up and I still want my baby!!


4. People assuming (including us back in the day) that engineers made lots of money. They only do if they're workaholics.


5. Our neighbor who lets her little kids play outside on the driveway at 10pm while Nate's 2 hours overdue for bedtime. He actually falls asleep against his bedroom window while watching them play and they laugh at him.


6. I've been craving Chicken Enchilada Soup for almost a month and finally got around to making it tonight. I bought the wrong enchilada sauce and the soup just tasted like corn flour.


7. The alcove where the computer sits never feels the effect of air conditioning. I always feel like I'm baking when I'm here.


8. My knees hurt when I crouch down. I think it's from the extra weight during pregnancy, but Rob told me it's because I'm getting old.


9. My stomach still looking like a raisin.


10. A friend at church asked me today where Rob and I are planning on going next on a trip. I had to answer that we don't have any plans and don't know when we will have any.


11. My hair. I have inch-long roots, my bangs are always in my eyes, I hate fixing it so it's always in a ponytail except when I want to be extra cool and put it in a bun. Also, since having my baby it's falling out in droves and I am constantly picking stray hairs off of me.


12. All the time and effort it's taken me to plan day camp for cub scouts. It's just a few hours long, yet I've spent days and days working on it.

Things that don't:

1. All four of us got a Sunday afternoon nap today.


2. Nate pronounces "black" like "BLLEEAAHH!" It sounds like he's throwing up.


3. I've had a lot of fun the last few months with playdates, girls'-nights out with friends, and sister times.


4. I get to go shopping for a cute new shirt to wear to Rob's 10-year high school reunion.


5. All the nice comments we get from people (both in person and emailed) regarding our blog and photographs.


6. Madeleine being such a happy, smiley baby who takes her naps and goes to bed like a perfect little angel.


7. Nathan finally learning more and more words. He averages about 2 new words a day now.


8. Rob's company is now offering the UTA Eco Pass for $45 a year. This will save us about $150 a month in gas!


9. Rob did the "slip 'n slide" the other day. See them big: Nate, Rob, Nate & Rob.


10. Somehow Nate knowing the difference between a duck and a goose. I have no idea where he learned it, but he did.


11. Being able to talk to Rob for hours at night if I want to. His homework is finally over and I don't have to stress about keeping him from it.


12. I have the most wonderful little family ever. We are all healthy, happy, and grateful for all the precious time we get to spend together.

Foto Friday - Jordin Taylor

Taken with Nikon D40 in Salt Lake City on July 6, 2008. Aperture Priority Exposure, 55mm, 1/30 sec f/5.6 (shot of foot), 1/25 sec f/5.6 (shot of hand), ISO 200, Nikon Raw Format. Edited in Lightroom 2.0 Beta.

See Jordin Taylor on a black background and before and after

A few weeks ago Julie and I did a mini photo shoot of Jordin Taylor (the daughter of Julie's sister). The goal was to get some shots of Jordin with her dad (Jake) playing with her toes and some other cute baby pictures (hands, feet, skin). Jordin was very good and we had a fun time taking these pictures. See the rest of the photos here.

After importing the photos into Lightroom and backing up the originals on a second hard drive, I removed all the color from the photos with the grayscale conversion tool in Lightroom. I really love the feel of black and white photos for baby skin and for other tender and intimate photos so it was an obvious choice here. For the photo of Jordin's foot I increased the exposure about 1/3 stop and increased the contrast by 40%. The photo of Jordin's hand needed about 1/4 stop of exposure and about 5% increase in the blacks.

I decreased the red and orange tones to soften the skin texture. In the black and white world of Lightroom the saturation sliders work by adjusting the colors of the original color photo effectively changing the contrast, lighting, and density of specific color. This is similar to using a color filter while shooting black and white film - except that I have complete control in post to feed my creative drive! Because red and orange are very common skin tones (usually showing up as splotches and blemishes), slightly decreasing the saturation of those colors provides a softening effect on the skin tones in the black and white photo; conversely, increasing the saturation of those colors creates very hard and rough skin tones.

I put the two photos on a mat and overlaid Jordin's name in the Print module of Lightroom and exported the photo as a high quality sRGB jpeg file. I hope you enjoy this photo and please remember to enjoy yourself behind the lens. You are in control so be creative. I'd love to hear what you think about this post so please leave me some feedback. Cheers.