366 Project Day 8

If all else fails, take a picture of my husband’s food.  My husband (I call him “Yes! Chef”) is one of the best cooks I know.  He studied under a local chef (John Evans of Zack Jack’s) for a year or so working in his restaurant.  He also does some catering for some of the local wineries.  Cooking is his hobby and passion, not his vocation.  One of the reasons I took a couple of food photography courses over at ppsop.com is because I wanted to photograph my husband’s food.  So, as I go thru this daily challenge of taking a meaningful photo every day, more than a few of them will undoubtedly be of my husband’s food.  The above shot is of some Bangers and Mash that he made with some sausages he got from my brother as a Christmas present.

Yes! Chef's Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh!  What’s this?  Another shot of Yes! Chef’s food.  Anybody that knows our family, knows that if it’s Sunday, my husband makes Roast Chicken.  We call it Roast chicken Sunday and I look forward to it every week.  The day after Roast Chicken Sunday, we roast the leftover bones and make stock.  Then we frequently make Roast Chicken Sunday soup. It was most tasty!

She will float away if you don't hold on to her...

My daughter called me on Day10 and asked if I would do a quick photo shoot with her and her boyfriend because she was getting ready to leave for a Mission in Africa and they wanted some pictures of themselves while they were apart (5 months).  I’m always happy to take photos of my family and especially happy to take photos of people that are happy…especially with each other.  This is just one of the photos I captured that I especially liked.  If you would like to see a little slideshow I made of the event, go here:  The Adventures of Aly and Brian.

Day 11...editing

I wish I could show a more creative and exciting photo for Day 11, but I spent the whole day delightedly editing my daughter’s photo session.

Day 12

The point of this daily challenge is not to take snapshots (see Day 11), but to think about the photo that you will take each day.  In the end, my photography should improve.  Here is a set up I used earlier in the year and I wanted to try out my snoot on my flash. It didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted, but this is a learning experiment.

Day 13...what the heck?

After my celebration experiment on Day 12, I gathered up the confetti (really some of our shredded paperwork) and placed it on some black shiny plexiglass next to our window.  I liked the colorful reflection and I thought the confetti would add some interest.  Maybe not.  As I said, this is a photographic journey…so back off.

Day 14: Sunset in Old Town Sac Town

I had the opportunity to do a little photo shoot in Sacramento on day 14. Around sunset we headed down to the river and I caught this shot.  I love to use this building as a backdrop for some of my portraits.  It is a pretty building all by itself.

Well (dusts off her hands)…another week done.

Want a fun photo shoot for a Valentine’s Day present?  You and your honey can have a quick photoshoot like I did for my daughter and her boyfriend along with a quick slide show.  The photoshoot took less than an hour. Contact me at schmautzhaus@sbcglobal.net for the details.

I think I might have mentioned that I decided to try the 365 Challenge:  Take one Meaningful Photo per day.  I think the key word here is “meaningful”.  I can click the shutter all day long at any shiny, pretty, colorful thing I see.  I call it Crow Photography.  (I have coined the phrase, so if you use it be sure and give me credit!).  Meaningful is a whole ‘nother topic.  “They” say that if I take a photo every day that has some thought put behind it, my photography will improve. “They” must know because “they” write books about it and show off their amazing photos.  As far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out and will be until I can place my photos taken at the beginning of this year next to the, hopefully, eye-popping ones that will be presented at the end of the year.  Stay tuned.

I’ve also joined a group that has a weekly challenge.  The photographers that participate in this group are the judges.  It is a little scary to put your work out to other photographers that you know and admire.  At any rate, this week’s challenge is “Creative Motion” and I submitted the above photo.  Voting starts tomorrow.  There are some very creative entries so far. My photo was taken of a still subject and I zoomed the lens as I was pushing the shutter. I was so enamored with the process, that I spent a good hour just finding subjects and zooming my lens in and out.  Most of the photos didn’t turn out, but it was hecka fun playing around.

As I was contemplating how to be creative with motion on Sunday, it began to snow…the first snow of the season.  So, I did snap a couple of snow photos to “try out” for the competition.

This photo reminded me of a tree running from the storm with her long “hair” flowing behind her.  I like this photo, but it doesn’t really fit the “Creative Motion” category.  If there were a “Tree that looks like body parts” category, I would probably win.  Not likely to happen.

This one has more “motion” with the falling snowflakes, but it’s not very creative.  I wish there were a bird on the flower pot.  It still wouldn’t really fit the category, but the photo would be way more interesting.  Hmmm…a little photoshop maybe?

I shot this one out my back door yesterday (the snow had already melted) by turning the camera as I pushed the shutter.  While this kind of thing is fun to do and sometimes makes for an interesting photo…there is not much skill involved.

Today is another day and time to think about a new “meaningful” photo.  Where’s my dog…Obie!

Mini photo shoots are lots of fun.  Contact me for an appointment.  I promise I won’t spin the camera. (Although it might be an interesting shot…) schmautzhaus@sbcglobal.net

By the Light of the Moon

Now, 4 years later I find I am drawn to this area over and over again.  The vegetation is returning and there is a certain beauty in the burn.

These photos were taken by me during my walks with the dog over the summer in the burn area.  I hope you see as much beauty as I have seen in the recovery of this area.

My little friend came by to help me make some Mexican Chicken soup last night and he brought a school friend of his…Freddy the Frog.  He was Freddy’s caretaker for a week.  At the end of the week he returns the frog and turns in a one page story about his time with the frog.  So, I took a couple of pictures to help him tell the story.

Sadly, while my little friend was making the soup, the frog apparently got tired of reading the recipe to him and began to slide down the counter.  He’s apparently a rather lazy frog.

Alas, I wore out my little friend with all the cooking and picture taking, so he was a touch grumpy when I suggested he read a quick story to Freddy so I could take the last picture.  It was a tough day of going to school, caring for Freddy and visiting me.  It wears me out just thinking about it.

Our first lesson involved the different types of light and how they effect our subject. In this first session, the model was placed in direct sunlight with an interesting shadow pattern against a patterned wall. Although the light pattern was interesting, it was not kind to our female model. (Below) I changed the photo to black and white in order to focus attention on the contrast rather than the model. Not the most flattering light, but I like the photo for the hard shadow lines.

In this second photo, a reflector was brought in to show us that we could soften hard light by lightening shadows on her face using a reflector. In this case, although she has an interesting look on her face, the shadows are much softer on her and much more flattering. (Below)

In this last photo, we placed the model under a large tree with no dappled sunlight. The light is very flattering and she looks quite a bit younger and softer. I think all these types of light have a place in photography, but light definitely changes the mood and feel of a photo. The workshop was wonderful and I’m looking forward to the one that will be held in Sacramento in September.