Typical Saturday

I am not really a beach person, but we live about 45 minutes from the Gulf so its hard not to spend a few days on the sand. There will probably be a lot of pics of the beach b/c its really the only thing worth doing around here.

For some reason, the pics don't show up the same on here as they do in Aperture. Oh well. School has gotten a little out of hand so this is the best I could do for new.

Self-portrait

I don't often take pictures of myself, but I started to get frustrated that what I see in the mirror is not what I see in photos. So here is my attempt at a self portrait. I am also LOVING learning about the editing features of aperture. I finally understand white balance and how/why to fix the colors. I am also in love with the skin smoothing feature...it makes it look like I have perfect skin which I have never had.

The last two are the same shot, but I loved it so much I put it up twice. Not too bad for a quick project before school. 

dinner last night

In my attempt at becoming a better photographer, I am trying to just take more pictures. So since I don't live a wild and crazy life, I have to take pictures of ordinary things like dinner. Food photography has its own following and I guess I would like to get better at it too.

Here are some of the shots of our delicious dinner last night. It was Warm asparagus salad with bacon and shallots. YUM!

I have using the aperture priority setting lately. I love having the short (?) depth of field. It makes the pics so much more interesting. But I discovered the downside.

This picture just looks out of focus. The focal point so small that its hard to even find it. I need to get better about changing the settings up from shot to shot. I wish this one had come out better b/c I feel like it represents my life. This is what I love, eating really amazing, fresh food outside on the patio in the amazing weather that is spring. Ahhhh. Oh well, there will be more dinners...a girl's gotta eat. I have a long way to go on perfecting my food photography, but I have to keep trying. 

Also, I watched several tutorials last night on Aperture. Its amazing how much this program has to offer. 

My favorite thing

One of my favorite things in the whole world is to hear Stephen laugh, I mean like a real belly laugh, the kind of laughter where his shoulders shake and he makes this sound...well, anyway, it makes my heart happy. And he doesn't laugh easily, so it makes it all the more special when he does. I was lucky enough to catch a true smile in the midst of a belly laugh.

Lesson in Light

I took some shots of this paper mache elephant from India. I am trying to get a feel for how light affects a picture. The elephant stayed in the same spot and I worked around it, and each pic looks completely different. 

 I love the way the light affected the lens.

Goals

My goals are simple for this blog.

1. Recognize the beauty around me.

2. Record what I am learning about photography and photo editing.

3. Create an outlet because med school is hard and stressful.

Here are the usual players: 

Ella, my sweet dog. She will be featured on here a lot, mostly because she is the closest thing to a kid that I have.

Stephen, my amazingly talented husband. He doesn't cooperate when I am trying to take pictures so he will be on here less often. (This pic is from Jan, 2009, but its hard to get a good one of him.)

And me. As I don't really enjoy taking pictures of myself, I probably won't be featured very much.

I don't lead a very exciting life, mainly because I don't have time, but I will do the best I can to see the world around me.