Photo Assignment

I have been reading my book and have come to the picture assignments. 

The first one is to Photograph a Flower Close-up

 I found these sunflowers on a walk the other day. 

• Set your camera to MACRO setting or use a Macro lens. I use my macro setting.
• If your camera won't shoot you may be TOO close.
• Take pictures from different angles.  Move around and look through the viewfinder for various positions.
• Make sure there isn't a disstracting background.
• Afterwards study the picturse to see which shows off your subject best.

Happy Shooting!

Pin It

While this is a very nice camera strap, I thought I could make a cover that would feel better around my neck and look cute!
I followed the directions from this post.

 

I dug through my fabric drawer and found these three fabrics.

I measure the width of my strap and added an inch for the sleeve. Then I measured the length I want the strap. Mine was 36 x 2 ½ I cut two pieces.

Next for the ruffle I made each strip ¼ inch smaller.  I made the ruffle twice as long as the strap sleeve.  Mine came out a bit bunchy so you could do less. 

Iron the ends down and make sure the two sleeve pieces are the same length.  Sew the ends.  Lay the two sleeve part right sides together and sew a ¼ seam down one side.

 Iron down a ¼ inch seam on both sides of the ruffle strips. Then stitch each side down. I did a zigzag stitch.


Sew a basting stitch down the middle of each ruffle strip. Tie one end of the threads and pin to on side of the sleeve. Pull your thread from the other end of the ruffle piece and spread the gathers out over the sleeve. Do this for both ruffles.

I made mine a bit bunchy.  Try a little less ruffle.

Pin down the ruffles ever few inches.

Sew the ruffle down the middle onto the sleeve  

Then tuck in your ruffles and pin down the sleeve.  Make sure you tuck in the ruffle so you won’t sew it the seam.  I pushed it in as I sewed it.  Turn sleeve right side in and put on strap. 



Tuck tuck tuck



I am not thrilled with the color combos of mine, but they were in my fabric drawer so I made them work.  The ruffled sleeve reminds me of a Hawaiian lei. I used a soft flannel and It feels real nice on my neck! 

Thanks for stopping by.......................

Pin It

New Site & Book

To understand my camera better I

 bought some books to read. 

This is a great one for a beginner/intermediate photographers.

~ forty+ tips on how you can instantly

improve your picture taking.

~ Gives you 20 photo assignments to practice.

Plus much more. 

As I go through the book I will share my pictures.

Next I found this photography site called Adorama They have good videos about photography (techniques, technical, equipment...)

Check it out!

Pin It

How Did I Get Started?

It all started with this:

My first camera was given to me as a birthday present at the age of 10? Not really sure if that is the exact year but close. You remember the old film cameras with the cube flash. Each picture precious because it cost MONEY to find out what it looked like.

Then came the POLAROID.


I loved this baby because you could see your picture in five minutes. The film was expensive so this camera went to the wayside quickly. Although I wish I had kept it for the retro affect.

 Then the 110 Camera:







This is the camera I had during my teen years. This camera took trips to family gatherings, vacations, friends, school trips, and my honeymoon. It was stolen during a cruise in 1984. Sad day!


 
 

I went through a few more point and shoot cameras before the age of DIGITAL! Then I lost all control and took pictures of everything. My poor family puts up with my obsession with taking just the right shot. Hopefully I will get better and won’t have them “hold” that pose forever…..



My inspiration comes from the world around me. I see beauty in the simple things, such as backyard nature, family times, travel adventures, architecture, and art. I enjoy art museums, books on photography and reading creative blogs.


I am not sure where my obsession with photography will take me, but for now I enjoy sharing my pictures with family and friends. Thanks for stopping by………….

 

Pin It

New Toy

I have recently upgraded my point and shoot to a Nikon.  I am taking my photography to the next level. 



Tuffted Titmouse



I enjoy shooting all the little critters in my backyard.  Here are shots of some backyard birds.  They are kind of blurry due to the fact I am shooting from my dining room table. 

 I have ordered some books and plan to learn the more technical side of photography.

Pin It

Little Friend

Michael pointed out this little guy while we were walking the trail.  He stuck around to let me take a few pictures.

Little Picasa Magic!

Pin It

Florida Flowers

On our recent trip to Florida I took some flower pictures.  Hibiscus are all over the place down there.

I love the colors of this one!

Not sure what this is but, snap, snap..... 

 I can never have to many plant or flower pictures.

Pin It

Florida Shells

On our trip to Florida we visited Sanibel Island.  It is one of the best places to collect shells.  They are up to 6 inches deep at low tide.

When you dig on the shore you bring up handfulls of shells.

Here is a sample of the shells we collected.

This is what they call the Sanibel Stoop.  All the people are stooped over looking for shells.  

Pin It

Luna Moth

Here at our new house there are a tons of bugs.  This one welcomed us on the day we moved in. 

It is a Luna Moth. 

You can read about them HERE

The most interesting fact to me was that they only live to breed and die in a week.  So I guess we were pretty privileged to see this beautiful moth. 

Pin It

Photography Web Site

I have been away from taking pictures since the big move here to Virginia. So I thought I would share a site that I like. It is DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL. I liked them on Facebook and get updates every few days about photography topics, challenges and reviews.

This week they had an article on How to photograph a spider's web. So I thought I would share my attempt at doing just that.

Pin It

Good day for.....

a kayak trip around our local lake!

Pin It