Disney Magic

Disney is a magical place and recently we had the opportunity to visit and capture some cool shots.  Here's one from Disney's All Star Music Resort.

To flash?

Or not to flash?

I think the flash has a little more magic, sparkle and bling.

My tween grabbed the camera and framed some cool shots.

He also captured the holiday decor.

Love the castle at night!

Living the magic and capturing the moment!

A Beautiful Evening in Florida

One beautiful evening in Florida I had some free time and my camera in tow so I spent some time wondering around McClay Gardens with my oldest son.  I enjoy taking pictures of people the most so this was a little bit of a different adventure for me.

Other People's Cameras

This past weekend a friend asked me to take some pictures of her grandson's 1st birthday.  I was so excited to do this because I love taking pictures and capturing special moments.  By no means of the word am I a professional, I just love taking pictures.  In two hours, 120 minutes, I took 465 pictures.  Let me whine for a minute and just say that I had a face ache because I kept one eye shut for that long.  I will say I captured some adorable moments!  The mom and dad are so photogenic and the baby, well, he is beyond cute!  Even so, I missed some really great shots.  Actually, I got them but I couldn't use them because of other people's flashes.  I'll continue on the rant here.  Not only were there flash issues, but no one knew where to look, even if I asked them, ever so nicely, to look at me.  Ugh!  I also felt like I was shoving people out of the way to get the best shot.  I definitely missed a few that I could have captured.  Honestly, phones will take nice pictures, but the Nikon 3200 will take a superb photo and really capture the moment.  Okay, enough ranting!!!!  It's time to get back to work, scaling back on the number of pics and cleaning them up.  

I would love to hear advice or thoughts on other people's cameras and yes, I am lumping phones into that category too!

Slices of Summer

We have had a wonderful summer and I am really enjoying this camera.  I'm still mostly on automatic, but I am signed up for a class and constantly learning more.  Here are some of my favorite shots from this summer.

 I've never had a camera that would take pictures of fireworks.  This makes me think of a flower....the kind I used to blow apart when I was a child.  Unfortunately, the fourth of July was rainy in our part of the world so the fireworks didn't go as high, but I really liked the way this one turned out.

For this one, I learned how to slow things down a little and keep the shutter open so I could capture the air circle this little boy made with his sparkler.

Along the way we found a few traveler's chapels.  This one was in the Wall Drug Store in South Dakota.

This train in the 1880 town had been turned into a dinner.  Loved the angle of this shot and the colors.  The horizontal lines pull you in.

This was at a rest area overlooking the Missouri river.  The shadows and the sun make it rather interesting.

Oh boy!  We were rather close to this guy in Custer State Park.  So close that we were on the same bridge.   

I didn't frame this one quite as well as I wish I had, but you get the idea that this tunnel up Iron Mountain Road can serve as a gorgeous frame for Mount Rushmore.  Sometimes I get in too much of a hurry when taking pictures.  I need to slow down and drink less caffeine.

The Lighting Ceremony at Mount Rushmore is so inspiring!  We really enjoyed the speech the ranger gave, the video and seeing all of the veterans being recognized on the stage.  Love the blue in this picture and again, I'm so impressed that this camera will automatically take these night shots.

Tractor seats in Murdo, SD at the Pioneer Auto Show.  What a neat bench and a fun place to sit!

Here's another one that caught my eye.  I love the shadows, the angles on this shed and the worn look.  I wonder what was the purpose of this little building.

Up close with a beauty and you can even see my reflection in his eye.  He has the pretty eyes and is such a sweet fellow.  I'm so impressed with all of the details that the Nikon 3200 captures.

Here the horses are patiently waiting for the people to spend time with them.  Love the way this one is framed. 

What a great summer!  That's just a dozen of the pictures of taken on our adventures!  More to learn and try with this camera.  Can't wait until the next adventure!

The Dog Days of Summer

Who says a dog can't tell you what he is thinking?  In this picture he is definitely saying "I am the king of the boat and lifeguard for my people".  "I see you in that water and I'm thinking about coming in, but I'll just stay right here for now and watch..."  These pictures were either taken with an Olympus Stylus Tough or with a Nikon 3200.

The next one is a combination of "are you coming" and "can I go now"?  

Not sure if he wants to come down and get in his bed or he is waiting on me to come back out...he is definitely the king of the boat!

Let's go for a swim...This picture was taking with my Olympus Stylus Tough.  The camera is a handy, dandy gadget that is great for playing in and around the water.  So, maybe it looks more like he is running on water than swimming but it's pretty cool to see him go all out after his toy!

And, finally, it looks like he is the one driving the boat!  

Gone Sailing!

Vacation this summer was a fun sailing trip cut short by the first tropical storm of the season.  Took some time to shot a few fun shots!

In this shot, I love, love, love the nautical flag and the way it is flying in the wind.  Those colors pop and this is with no after photo adjustments.

Here's more color that I can't resist!  The water color is amazing and I enjoyed framing this to catch the flag and the island along with the rails off the back of the boat.

There's nothing more inspiring than a sunset cruise even when it's just about motoring around the lake.  This was is particularly special to me because it's some of my family members who are enjoying the ride.  

To the Lake

Last night we went for a bike ride in our "big back yard".  We were just going to go to the lake, but we were pretty motivated and did a nice little loop.  I didn't take my camera because I knew we didn't have time, but here are some pics from last Saturday in the same location.

Yes, that is a train and not the lake!  We always hear the train from the house, but we never get to see it. 

 Here it is a little closer.  I like the way this one is framed.  Being so close to the train, made me feel like I was going to get pulled in.

I haven't been this close to a train in a long time.  This picture gives the sense of the speed and movement.

Finally, about the lake...I enjoyed the lily pads and the one that looks like a bowl in the bottom corner is pretty cool.

The flowers are starting to bloom so I need to take the camera back again soon.  

Here I was trying to frame the tree.  Next time I would like to get down a little lower and get the tree in focus.  Taking pictures is addictive!  Can't wait to play some more in our big back yard!

Celebrating Graduation!

This past weekend I took a bunch of pictures for a friend who is graduating!  We had a blast even though it started out with a down pour and thunder and lightening!  I really fell in love with the big lens 300mm (whatever that means...lots to learn, I know)!  It is the best!

Picasa is a great, free editing software.  I'm amazed at how user friendly it is.  Here's are my two favorite pics without giving too much away!

For this one, I played with the colors and brightened it a little after the fact.  I love the feel of celebration with the balloons in school colors and the "bridge" to the next step in life!

This one was just plain silly and fun!  Can't wait to find some more time to play with my camera!

Oh So Curious!

I found this site Tutorial by JFotography and I'm going through this "ebook".  The number 1 suggestion is to Stay Curious.  That's easy for me because I have lots to learn and I am having fun with my new camera...89 pictures today.  Here's two questions that JFotography suggests when looking at photos:

Do I like this photo because of the colors?

Do I like it because of the way it is arranged?

I'll answer both of those questions as yes and yes!  I love the blues, greens and grays in this pic.  I like that the bench is offset, just a little.  I took two other pictures of this just to play around with the arrangement and the layout.  

This shot is very similar to the first one, but I like the other one better, because the bench is just a little bit more to the right.  

The colors seem so different in this portrait shot because there is too much of the water.  I'm not sure if it's too over exposed or just missing the greenery.  I really do like the first one the best and I did have fun using the 300mm lens.  Wow!  Now, to find a good book and go relax on the bench!

THE Most Important Lesson

This week one of my sons had open house at school.  I was excited because I finally have a camera and a lens that can take some decent shots, inside, in low light and from a distance.  So, off I went with camera in tow and I learned THE most important lesson about photography....charge the battery!!!  I couldn't believe I messed this one up!  Oh well!  I didn't even get to take one measly little photo.  I have a backup battery on the way and I will make sure that I set a reminder to charge the battery!  

A few seconds of adventures

This weekend the weather was beautiful so we headed out for some bike riding adventures and I snagged some more photos.  At this point, I'm still on fully automatic.  I need a road trip where someone else is driving so I can loose myself in the manual and learn all the ins and outs of this sweet D3200.  For the time being, I'm just enjoying getting comfortable with the camera and snapping a few more slices of seconds.

Reflections of a Collection
My oldest son collects tags and signs.  With my other camera, this wasn't an easy shot, but the D3200 did a great job.

Flags at the Library
For this shot, I didn't want to get the pictures of the cars in the parking lot...just the flags and the arch.  I have a lot to learn.

The Big Oak by the Lake

I love the bit of blooming azaleas in this one.  What a gorgeous day!

Over the Tracks and Through the Woods

Part of our bike adventures took us over the railroad tracks.  Luckily, the train came a little later.  The views of the lake were amazing.

Moving on Down the Trail

Bye Bye Old Oak

This water oak is dying so it's coming down in a few days.  I will miss the shade from the tree and the view from the hammock.

First Sweet Slices of Seconds Weekend

This weekend, I took 141 pictures mostly on fully automatic. I love taking pictures of people and the places we visit.  I did watch the DVD that came in the box full of goodies which has lots of great tips.  I'll go back through that and my next step is to learn one area and then play with that.