Contest Entry: "Bright Drops"

My first photography trophy!  I got 3rd place with this photo out of the entries from the 10 people who made it through the 31-day challenge and entered the final competition.  Woohoo!

Final: "Collage:

Thank you for visiting.  I hope you enjoyed my photos.  :)

Day 31: "Spooky"

Last day.... congrats to all!

I started by emulating the Phantom of the Opera album cover, but I didn't have a rose, and the little pumpkin I was using instead didn't work out.  Instead, I turned it into a nice holiday greeting.  :)  I wanted to use Chiller font, but that wasn't available.  I have no idea how to make the text different, so it will just stay bright and cheery.

Day 30: "Colorful Caterpillars"

I am loving these colors!  :)

Day 29: "Harvest Season"

I had fun with the frame.  Too much fun!  I was a little bit late posting because of it.  :P  I made the background from the pumpkin in the picture.

Day 28: "Me want cookie!"

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut cookies, fresh out of the oven

Day 27: "My Town"

It's landscapes day!  

This is a view of downtown from outside the city.  It was an extremely clear day, and the sky was not very blue.  I like the nice autumn colors, and the way the same colors are in the buildings.  The pointy-top building is the one in the view from my office window.

Looking in another direction, we see the hills in the distance and the main water tower.

 

Headed back toward downtown, we see this pastoral scene.  :)

Day 26: "A Starry, Cloudy Night in the Neighborhood"

I tried again to capture the stars, but it was just too cloudy and bright out.  I needed to pack up and go out in the country, but I find it creepy to be out there by myself, so my neighborhood will have to do.  I was trying to get the right exposure, but it came out way overexposed.  I'm still amazed that it can come out looking like the brightest daylight when I can barely see where I'm walking and or where I was aiming the camera.  My old camera could not do that.  This was taken close to midnight, after all!  I'm also amazed at how many stars I could pick up on such a cloudy night.  I'm going to have to try this again when it's clear. 

So... not the most exciting composition, but it was good night practice.

Day 25: "Yo!"

I needed a photo for work so figured this was a good time to try shooting a portrait without the lights flashing.  I had to use the modeling lamps, a longer shutter speed, and bumped up the exposure in post.  Worked out fairly well!  I would have moved the lights a little more, but ran out of time.  Still, it's as good as anything I've had done in a cheap studio, so I'm very happy.  :)

I forgot to adjust the colors the first time around.  I went back and lightened up the reds, which had the effect of removing a lot of the shadow on the right side of the photo.  My face maybe got a little bit pasty, but overall, I think it's an improvement.  The original is the little one.

 

Day 24: "Nora Belle's Drop Cakes"

When I got married, my grandmother gave me some old family cookie recipes.  I never tried them because they're too vague, but I like to think of these ladies baking in their old wood stoves, and everyone gathering around to eat a freshly-baked treat.

Here's what the recipe card says, typed on my grandmother's manual typewriter:

DROP CAKES - Nora Belle Kernahan Turner's recipe, probably gotten from a friend - or Aunt Gayle

1 tb. butter
1 tb. lard
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
2 t. baking powder (It woul be 1 t. now, I suppose.)
Flavor to taste.

Enough flour to make thin batter.  Bake in quick oven.

Day 23: "Girl with Bonnet"

I took a photo and thought the lighting was wrong, so I adjusted it.  Over and over and over.  I finally got what I thought was right, but it turned out my favorite was the first one, but the focus was off.  So then I tried another zillion shots trying to get the light back to the way it was in the first shot.  I never quite managed to do that.  Out of time!  And now I wish I had gotten more creative with the camera, maybe shot from lower down looking her in the eyes.  Either that, or put something in the photo for her to be looking at, like a little dog.  :)

That said, this is probably my favorite piece of pottery.  I've never tried planting anything in the basket.

Day 22: "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!"

After parking my car at work this morning, I happened to glance east and saw this beautiful morning sky.  Too bad the parking garage and those other building things are in there, and that I had to crop so much after correcting the perspective, and that all I had with me was my cell phone.

While I'm at it, too bad this wasn't at some sandy beach with waves lapping at the shore and terns running to and fro snatching up yummy seafood tidbits dropped by the receding waters, while a young couple strolls along the water's edge hand-in-hand with their laughing, wild-haired little girl, who wants nothing more than to chase her yellow lab puppy as he splashes, barking, into the waves.

Yeah, too bad....