Day 125

I tried some stuff in my studio again this evening. I put another light in my studio to light the backdrop. It's just a clamp light with a CFL in it (I'm using compact fluorescent because the other light in the room is fluorescent), but it really helped eliminate the shadows I had on the background previously. Fancy was quite willing to pose for me. Notice the cool burl stool she's leaning on - that was one of a pair I bought at the auction the other night. Got an awesome deal on very cool props!!

Day 124

I didn't take many pictures today. It was too busy. But I did get a couple shots of this grumpy raven. I tried to get some shots of him with the treasure he'd found on the ground, but he took off when I put my window down. Then he got on the light pole and told me off for quite some time!

Day 123

Lest we enjoy the warm, sunny days too much...

We obviously needed a reminder that it is still winter...

Day 122

I decided to try using my flash off camera outdoors again. This time it was at dusk with my flash mounted on a lightstand, and shot through and umbrella. Three of my boys were quite willing to sit for me! Yay!

By the time I got to this shot it was getting really dark.

Day 121

It's a rainy, rainy, rainy day here today. I tried to get some photos of a robin that stayed out in the rain, but the photos just didn't come out because it was raining so much - they just looked blurry because of the rain between me and the robin.

Caleb and I made peanut butter cookies for an after school snack, so instead of a spring-y robin, you get photos of our cookie-making...

In case you can't tell, that's Tigger's face imprinted on our cookies. You can't really tell that once they're baked, but Caleb doesn't care. They're yummy! If you need a very easy cookie recipe, these were made with 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 egg, then baked at 350 for about 13-15 minutes. Doesn't get any easier than that!

Here are a couple bonus shots I took later this afternoon. Caleb really wanted his picture taken with Molly...

Molly wasn't quite as "into it"...

(she was looking at Ken - I think her expression says, "Daddy, save me.")

Day 120

I have an icky cold. Blech. So I spent most of the day on the couch doing nothing. While I was on the couch though, I played with light a bit. This was shot with just the direct (very, very bright) sunlight coming in the window. My aperture was at f/10 to cut out light except for the stream shining right on Dale.

Day 119

Jenny and family left today. Waaaaaahhh!!! I miss them already!

I did finally get a couple shots of Kate's face though! I'm headed off for Praise Team practice, so I'll just post these photos and quit jabbering...

(I know composition isn't correct on this one, but I wanted to make sure I got her adorable tennies with her beautiful dress, and I didn't want any more crowd clutter than I absolutely had to have. I should have entered this in the "broken rules" contest!)

Day 118

Once more - quick post. I took this photo of Fancy using only a reflector to direct the light. I liked the look of this...

Day 117

Quick post tonight...I waited way too late to post. Here are a few shots from our family walk at the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge...

Here are some shots of Jenn and her family...

Day 116

Still not many shots of those Culps!! I have more than I had yesterday, but they're still snapshots, not quality photos.

Good morning, Aidan and Philip!

Ethan - this shot was taken with natural light from a window.

Kate can put on her shoes! I was impressed!

My blog would not be complete without a shot of Caleb! (And his handsome daddy.) This was taken in my studio.

The kids are all getting along well...Ethan, Aidan, and Caleb spent hours out in the backyard today. It was great! This visit is just going by too quickly!

Day 115

Okay...I know I should be posting shots of Jenn and her family, but I didn't really get any to post today. Most of the photos I took were shot while her family was off visiting other people. Sorry to those of you who are waiting for those photos...tomorrow?

I tried something different today. I bounced my flash off a window. I'd never done that before, but I liked the results.

For this one I bounced the flash off the window behind the flowers.

Here I bounced off a window to camera left. This one also had window light coming from directly behind the camera.

Day 114

I got just a few shots of just a few kids in my studio. Here are the ones that are worth sharing...

(My oldest grandson, Ethan.)

(I cut off too much of Caleb, but his expression was just too cute, so I kept it anyway.)

Why does it seem like only one of these kids is feelin' the love?

for someone who wanted her picture taken, Kristi sure wasn't very cooperative!   

Day 113

They're here! Our oldest daughter Jenn and her family arrived today! Yay! It took them three days to get here from Indiana. We are so glad they're here!! This snapshot was taken when Jenn first got out of the van. Her husband was mobbed on the other side in similar fashion. lol.

Day 112

I didn't pick up my camera today. Well, that's not true. I picked it up to put it in my beautiful camera bag. I took the bag to church...but I never pulled it back out of the bag...all day. So now that I've been working all day, I just don't feel like it. Instead of taking a picture, I played with one of my older photos with Picnik. I really like the vignette that Picnik does! Here's my photo of the day that was actually taken on Sept 29, 2008.

Day 111

We had a great birthday party for Dale today. I didn't have any time for well-thought-out photos, but I took some snaps of the party. There were only two of us big people, so I wasn't able to get photos or video of the games. Here's a little slideshow of the party..

Day 110

Wow! Time is really flying! I can't believe it's been 110 days since I started this. I'm really having fun with it, and I've already learned some great things from this exercise.

Mom had an appointment in Hamilton today, and we had a few extra minutes after, so I took the scenic route home. I stopped to try to get some shots for a panorama - I've done a couple, but not since I got my DSLR. Wilky has inspired me to try it more often. Here's a pano of the Bitterroot Mountains in Ravalli County, Montana. (click it for a better view)

We also got to see/watch some eagles while we were out on the back roads. I liked the triangle of branches framing this guy, but I don't think I captured it quite the way I wanted...

Day 109

Amanda, I want you to know that YOU are the reason I'm posting today. It has been a crazy, busy, whirlwind, exhausting day, and I was just going to make an excuse and put it off. But I saw your comment on my Facebook status, and decided I couldn't possibly let you down. :-)

So here is Fancy...we were going for a cute shot of Fancy and Molly, but Molly licked Fancy's tongue, and Fancy wouldn't pose with her anymore. ROFL!!!

This was pre-lick...

This was after Molly was banished...

I didn't take the time to make sure my lights were just right, or even use my reflector. Fancy wasn't really into posing, and I was too tired to try to get it done in the time I had. I can see all sorts of things I would fix if I did it again. Oh well...that's a task for another day. 

Day 108

Mom, Felice and I went and did "nothing" for a while this morning/early afternoon. Well, not quite nothing, but we got the serious business out of the way early, and then moved on to brunch, puttering, and shopping. I took them into the Bitterroot Mountains to see Blodgett Canyon - it was a narrow, icy road for part of the trip, but it's such a great area. When the weather is better we'll take the road that goes to the lookout - but it was too icy for that today.

Another late addition... my mom bought this wonderful apple cookie jar for me today. I love it!!

Day 107

Another fairly late post for me, but one that made me think about creative lighting. One of the things my husband enjoys collecting is oil lamps. They are wonderful when the power goes out, and we occasionally just sit and enjoy the mellow lighting for the fun of it.

Day 106

I got a new treasure in the mail today! Thank you, Goblet Fairy! This was taken on my dining room table with high-tech gear - the dining room lights overhead, two sheets of printer paper taped together to be my backdrop, and the paper towel holder as my backdrop stand. I did my normal photo processing on this, and then I put a screen layer on top at 100% to get the brightness.

 

I just had to show off my set up. lol. Here's a view of the high-tech studio...

Day 105

I took a few shots at church his morning, but that's about all I've done today. I almost forgot to post them too!

In these photos I used my flash off camera (hand held) to bounce it and put a nicer light on my subject. My flash was at 1/16th, and held at camera left, pointing straight up.

 
(A member of our Worship Team.)

(Our pastor's wife, pianist, and also a member of the Worship Team.)

Day 104

Potty Party!!!

Whoohoo! "What is a potty party" you ask? It's a celebration of no more diapers! No more pullups, no more stinky pants, no more "somebody needs Mama for a change!"

My youngest child, Caleb (I think you may have seen him before... LOL!) is now dry all the time! Good job, Caleb! Nana, Papa, Grandma, Felice, the twins, and our whole family are going to rejoice in the dawn of a new era in Scrivnerburg...

The Age of Underwear!

(Some may not realize just how great this is - I've been changing diapers multiple times a day for over 10 years. I'm ready to be done.)

A kids' party wouldn't be complete without party games. Here's Musical Potties...

We played a preschool version of Musical Potties - instead of someone being "out", they just got to pile on the remaining chairs. It was actually pretty funny to see them trying to pile on fewer and fewer chairs, although a couple of kids were a little tired and overstimulated by this time.
 

And how can you celebrate without a cake?

It was a fun, loud, tiring, exciting afternoon. Now it's time for baths and bed.Whew!

Day 103

I'm so so so so so so so tired today. I haven't done anything at all...I had to force myself to go downstairs and take a few pictures. Unfortunately, my brain is so sleepy today that I didn't remember to lower my ISO when I used my lights, so my shots were all blown. Oh well...tomorrow is another photo day. Here is one shot from today... I think I'm off to bed.