life : the birds, again!

I love Sweet Peas, but they just won't grow in our tiny garden.

Hi Everyone -

I hope you all had a nice weekend! It was kind of gray and chilly here, but ok. We took Charlie to Wave Hill on Saturday and he was, well, bored to death! He didn't complain, but at one point, he's like 'it sure is quiet here'. Apparently, he had been golfing, to Atlantic City, and bingo last week. We need to do a better job with the entertainment so he'll continue to make play dates with us.

On the way home, we stopped at the video store with the cute parakeets I mentioned on Friday. We chose a movie, thank goodness The Reader was not available because it's just another movie where Kate Winslet takes off her clothes. While Scott was paying for the movie (RocknRolla, although I wanted Twilight), I was watching the parakeets like I usually do. There were two who seemed to be playing together. Then, all of a sudden, it turned into parakeet-porno! They starting having bird sex! It was broad daylight and the cage was on top of the rack with the Disney movies! After the incident with the hawk, I couldn't believe it. At first I thought it was because it's springtime. Then I realized I was wrong. Obviously, those parakeets saw The Reader ;).

See you later in the week with flowers & stone, plus the last step in our our digital lab - exposure. But, no worries, I don't have anything x-rated planned, yet. Happy Monday!

xo, Cindy

fun : tag, i'm it!

Evening Peonies.

Hi Everyone -

Oh man, I am a Libra and instantaneous decisions are really not my forte. In class the other day, we had to quickly narrow down the photos we took for an assignment about light to 3. I had about 30 pics and I don't think I picked the 'best' ones. I chose the second photo above, but maybe it really needs the first one because I like things in pairs. I'm also not one to take up a lot of the teacher's time or ask many questions. After all these years, I'm still really shy in school.

Sweet Candace and Courtney tagged little 'ol me with some questions that are kind of similar, so I'm going to do one list and complete it quickly, since I usually obsess about these things. I hope I get it right ;). Here goes -

1. My current obsession: 35mm prime lense gets me off my keyster since it has no zoom. Who thought photography could be such good exercise and lead me to cool things like this?

2. One item from my wardrobe I wear most often: Gap Favorite Tees.

3. The last thing I bought: Patchwork Camera Strap from Erin.

4. I’m listening to: Anberlin, especially Unwinding Cable Car when I feel discouraged.

5. Any Pets? Why or why not: We have an imaginary dog named, Lucy. We don't actually own a dog because we don't want to leave her home alone when we go to work. If we ever do get Lucy it will be after I go on 'pet-urnity' leave. The video store has the cutest parakeets. I'm thinking they might be sweet pets.

6. My favorite holiday spot: Any beach town.

7. 4 words to describe me: Curious, Sentimental, Caring, Worrier.

8. Guilty Pleasure: Store bought flowers in more than one room.

9. The best thing I’ve had to eat or drink lately: Iced Green Tea Latte. I ordered something else and didn't like it. I was going to throw it out. Scott exchanged it for me. Nice!

10. Favorite film: Currently, Everlasting Moments & The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

11. Favorite song: If I try to do this, I'll never finish this list. But, no offense to Chris who sang an awesome version of Heartless, I do think Adam and Allison should be in the finals on American Idol.

12. Favorite Flower: Old-fashioned pink roses.

13. Who makes me laugh: We love the show Rob & Big. The Scottster also makes me laugh when he's not even trying.

14. First sign of spring: The green buds on the hedges outside our building that run almost the entire block.

Ok, now more decisions - I'm going to tag these gals : Erin, Grace, Joyce and Lizzy. Have a very nice weekend!

xo, Cindy

PS Does anyone know how I can include a download to a pdf in Blogger? I'd like to make a summary of the guidelines from our digital lab so we can print it.

digital lab : shutter speed

Spinning - Fast Shutter : ISO 400 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/500


Spinning - Slow Shutter : ISO 400 | Aperture f/22 | Shutter 1/3

Hi Everyone -

We are on to shutter speed in our digital lab and almost ready to switch the dial to 'M' (manual), but not quite. To recap, here are the four elements to consider when taking a photo, which I call the Power of How -

Step 1 : ISO - How is your light?
Step 2 : Aperture - How is the focus?
Step 3 : Shutter Speed - How long is light allowed into the camera?
Step 4 : Light Meter - How is the exposure to be adjusted?

Shutter speed is important if you want to photograph action (sports) and in very low light situations (night). If you want to blur or freeze motion, setting the shutter speed will be your first priority vs. aperture so you can switch the steps.

Step 3 : Shutter Speed - How long is light allowed into the camera?
Do you want to blur or freeze motion?

Shutter speed controls the length of time the camera's sensor is exposed to light passing through the lens. A fast shutter will freeze motion while a slow one will blur it. It is represented in fractions of a second and will double as you increase/decrease the setting. Although these charts are in fractions, you might only see the denominator (bottom number) on your camera. Here are some guidelines -

Blur motion = the lower the bottom number the slower the shutter. You are more likely to capture camera shake using these settings, so a tripod is strongly encouraged.

• 1
• 1/2
• 1/4
• 1/8
• 1/15
• 1/30

Freeze motion = the higher the bottom number the faster the shutter.

• 1/60
• 1/125
• 1/250+
  

Here are some examples meant to illustrate the technique. Notice the freeze in the motion of the pencils as they fall. Also notice the shallow depth of field and blur of the background from the aperture setting.


Falling - Fast Shutter : ISO 400 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/800

Notice the blur of the pencils and the long depth of field from the aperture.


Falling - Slow Shutter : ISO 200 | Aperture f/22 | Shutter 1/10

Notice your ability to see a little bit of definition of each blade as the fan spins and the clarity of the text in the center.


Fast Shutter : ISO 400 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/800

Notice the blur of the blades.


Slow Shutter : ISO 400 | Aperture f/22 | Shutter 1/6

Notice the overall clarity and the individual water droplets.


Fast Shutter : ISO 200 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/2500

Notice the overall blur of the water spray.


Slow Shutter : ISO 200 | Aperture f/13 | Shutter 1/20

At this point, you can turn your dial to 'S' (shutter) on your dslr and adjust the shutter speed up or down to get the different effects. Your camera will automatically choose the correct aperture as they go hand in hand. On your point & shoot, try switching to the runner or night icons for a faster shutter speed.


ISO 400 | Aperture f/5 | Shutter 1/400

Next time, we'll cover the light meter, which deals with adjusting the exposure. Although it is easy enough to do, this is the step that takes the most discipline. I've lost many photos to over or under exposures because I forgot to check and adjust the light meter. Ugh!

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll try to answer them. If I've gotten something wrong, let me know and I'll correct it.

xo, Cindy

Source : Keisha Scarville

garden : lilacs

Hi Everyone -

I'm so happy you guys liked the pink cherry blossoms and hope you had a very nice weekend. One of the nicest surprises we found during our visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was the lilac collection and the little cutie above who was enjoying their wonderful fragrance. Happy Monday!

xo, Cindy

PS Do you see a heart in the last photo or is it wishful thinking on my part because lilac's were Helen's favorite flower?

PPS There's something neat here.

garden : cherry blossoms

Hi Everyone -

On our first free day last week, we visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the cherry blossoms or Sakura in Japanese. They have an incredible display and we found some other beautiful collections of flowering trees, lilacs and tulips. The garden architecture there is really amazing. It was a lovely day with a lot of energy from bus loads of kids, tourists and the elderly. Photographically, I felt quite overwhelmed because there was so much to see.

{Warning: If you cover your eyes during certain parts of animal shows like Nature (I do), this part might be scary.}

After lunch, we walked down a relatively quiet path trying to live in the moment. We stopped to look at a field and this rather large bird landed and I started to take a photo. Before you knew it, the bird took off and was carrying something. Did that just happen? No WAY! Come ON! This is Brooklyn! What was it? A squirrel, chipmunk. I did get a picture (I won't show you) and it turned out to be a red tailed hawk with a rabbit. We could NOT believe it. So, to make our lives even more complicated, we are now members of the animal witness protection program.

I really hope you all have a nice weekend and a Happy Mother's Day. And, if anyone asks, you haven't seen neither hide nor hair of us.

xo, Cindy

PS More springtime blossoms here. Lilacs & tulips next week.

digital lab : aperture

Shallow : ISO 200 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/25


Long : ISO 200 | Aperture f/10 | Shutter 1

Hi Everyone -

As previously mentioned, I'm sharing some of the things we're learning in my digital photography course. My goal is to focus on the bottom line, so we can remember these steps in the field. To recap, there are four elements to consider when taking a photo, which I call the Power of How -

Step 1 : ISO - How is your light?
Step 2 : Aperture - How is the focus?
Step 3 : Shutter Speed - How long is light allowed into the camera?
Step 4 : Light Meter - How is the exposure to be adjusted?

Last time, we learned about Step 1 : Setting the ISO and today we'll address aperture -

Step 2 : Aperture - How is the focus?
Do you want a shallow or long depth of field?

Aperture refers to controlling the light that passes through the lens and is measured in f-stops. A lens set to its maximum aperture allows the most light to pass through and is considered to be wide open. One that is set to a smaller aperture limits the light and is considered to be stopped-down. Here are some guidelines -

Shallow depth of field = less area in focus, softness.
Limited focus = low number.

• f /1.4
• f /2
• f /2.8
• f /4
• f /5.6

Long depth of field = more area in focus, clarity.
Expanded focus = high number.

• f /8
• f /11
• f /16
• f /22

Here are some examples meant to illustrate the technique. Notice the blur in the background.


Shallow : ISO 200 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/800

Notice the clarity in the background.


Long : ISO 200 | Aperture f/22 | Shutter 1/5

Notice the focus on the word 'create' and how everything else gets softer as you reach the edges of the photo.


Shallow : ISO 800 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/1250

Notice the overall clarity and your ability to read the text.


Long : ISO 800 | Aperture f/22 | Shutter 1/8

Notice the softness of the white background.


Shallow : ISO 400 | Aperture f/1.8 | Shutter 1/320

Notice the detail in the white background, which is actually lace.


Long : ISO 400 | Aperture f/22 | Shutter .4

At this point, you can turn your dial to 'A' (aperture) on your dslr and adjust the depth of field up or down to get the different effects. Your camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed. On your point & shoot, try switching to the flower icon for a more shallow depth of field.


ISO 200 | Aperture f/5.6 | Shutter 1/1600

Next time, we'll cover choosing your shutter speed or how long light is allowed into your camera, which will blur or stop motion. Depending on the subject matter you're photographing, you might want to select this first, but more on that next week. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll try to answer them. If I've gotten something wrong, let me know and I'll correct it.

xo, Cindy

Source : Keisha Scarville