i am trying to become re-familiarized with my camera after such a long hiatus from photography. the good part is that photography is somewhat like riding a bike, once you learn to ride you can pretty much can pick up where you left off and still know how to ride. the bad part is that photography is much, MUCH more complex than riding a bike… like a hundred times over. this is why i am excited about doing this project right now… the improvement will be like night and day, at least i hope it will!! haha
a couple of years ago my sister, malia, who, by the way, is an amazing destination wedding photographer in fiji, told me briefly (very briefly) about how she learned how to take the white balance off of auto to use kelvin/temperature to set white balance. back then i was busy with a new baby and wasn’t able to try it out and, frankly, it seemed way too complicated, not to mention intimidating, at the time (i already had too much to adjust with aperture/shutter speed/light meter/etc.). but now i am finally ready to look it square in the face and conquer it! i have decided that i want to learn to use kelvin to set white balance and take myself out of the auto wb setting. i know that my photos will be so much richer and the colors more true to what they truly are.
this means that much of my photos may be off for awhile, as i figure it out so bear that in mind as i learn by trial and error! i’ve been told and have read everywhere, and totally agree, that to become a better photographer the best thing to do is to take pictures… and that is what i am doing!
jan 1 (sunday)
f/2.8, shutter 1/30, iso 320, lens 24-70 f/2.8, exposure manual
on sunday, we left in such a hurry to church that no one grabbed the church bag which contained the cups, snacks, and toys. so, after sacrament meeting we had to go home and grab the food and cups for the boys because they NEVER would have lasted through church without those things. however, we are in that stage in the boys life when i can’t stay in relief society because they are way too busy. on top of that, mitch was teaching in his deacons class that day …which meant i had both boys for the last hour… which meant i wasn’t going to actually be able to stay in class. don’t judge, but we decided since we had to go home anyway, that i might as well stay home and put the boys down for their nap (the joys of 11 o’clock church). so, that is exactly what we did!
kaio and maui were looking so sharp and adorable in their cute blazers and ties (thank you barbmom and darbie), that i wanted to get a picture. it was impossible to get both of them in the same shot (i know because i tried), but i got this cute one of kaio.
i opened the shutters in our family room to let in the natural light.
jan 2 (monday)
f/2.8, shutter 1/25, iso 320, lens 24-70 f/2.8, exposure manual
monday, mitch went to work and came home at lunchtime (after going to the gym) and decided to stay home. we played a game of ticket to ride with nani and kale’a. phoenix was the hot spot of the game and just happens to be where we live. so, i snapped a shot of the game board. mitch won this game!
today has two pictures:
f/2.8, shutter 1/25, iso 320, lens 24-70 f/2.8, exposure manual
nani taught our family home evening lesson. she gave each of us a new piece of foil and told us to crumpled it into to a loose ball… mine is the one on the left, kawena’s is the one on the right. i don’t think she listened very well to the instructions!! haha! then, nani told us the story of saul who had been persecuting the church of God until he repented and instead, began to serve God. though he repented and changed his ways the damage he did to the church was hard to repair, if not impossible.
nani asked us to straighten out our foil balls and return them to what they looked like before we crumpled them. of course it was impossible to get them to look as perfect as they did when she first gave them to us.
she reminded us that we need to be careful about what we do and say because we can’t always repair the damage we can do by our actions and words! ii thought it was a great object lesson and a great reminder for our family.
jan 3 (tuesday)
f/2.8, shutter 1/400, iso 320, lens 24-70 f/2.8, manual
i should have paid attention to the iso
this girl is a candy hog! if anyone leaves candy within her sight, she will get to it and eat it! it has been the source of many tears of lost candy on her sisters part and on mae mae’s part because we will take away whatever she hasn’t already ingested!
the girls were outside riding their bikes. when i got outside mae mae was riding her bike while holding this bag of reese’s and sour straws! she asked me to open it for her. i told her no because she had already had her piece of candy.
i went to take a shower. before i got in she came to me with this same bag of reese’s and asked me to open it for her. again i told her no because she had already had her candy. she bursts into tears and runs out of the bathroom. the second i turn the shower off, she is right outside the shower with the same bag of reese’s in her hand and says, “are you done? can you open this for me?” again, i tell her no and she bursts into tears and runs out of the bathroom!!
she IS persistent, i will give her that much! i know that some day that persistence will be a great asset for her to have!!
jan 4 (wednesday)
f/2.8, shutter, shutter 1/10, iso 320, lens 24-70 f/2.8, manual
again, i should have paid attention to iso
ok, this was my, “oh crap i forgot to take a picture” day. kale’a wanted me to take a picture of her with kaio because they “matched”. she asked me earlier in the day, but i was doing something else and totally forgot to take the picture until it was bedtime and the sun was long gone. my indoor/nighttime photography stinks! so, this is what i got! i am embarrassed to post it, but it’s all i got…
let’s move on!!
jan 5 (thursday)
f/2.8, shutter, 1/1000, iso 100, lens 24-70 f/2.8, manual
this day i got up early and exercised before the kids were up so we could get out of the house and have some fun. there is this awesome park a block away from our house, right next to the elementary school. the girls hoped on their bikes and i put the boys in the bob jogger and we headed to the park. parks are great places for photo ops. i snapped away as the kids played and monkeyed around.
nani and kale’a had brought a beach ball so we could play volleyball at the sand court. the only problem was that there was a light breeze! the ball had a mind of its own and the game was anything but predictable, but we had fun just the same!
as nani was letting the air out of the ball, just before we headed home, i got this photo.
jan 6 (friday)
f/2.8, shutter 1/10, iso 400, lens 24-70 f/2.8, manual
we had so much fun at the park the day before, so i planned to take the girls again the next day. unfortunately, kaio woke up in the middle of the night with the croupe. so, we hunkered down and had a house day.
for Christmas, we got our very first tv in our 12 years of marriage! wow! it’s a pretty big deal around here! friday morning a package arrived and it was the just dance kids for the wii! we were excited to try it out. we had a ton of fun and got a good workout! i was breathing heavy and sweating from dancing! it was a blast!
i had to get a picture of how cute the girls looked doing the dance! they were doing great! look how in sync they are!! our girls are so much fun!!
jan 7 (saturday)
f/2.8, shutter 1/1250, iso 400, lens 24-70 f/2.8, manual
not the most exciting picture, but this pretty much threw a wrench in our whole day, so i had to use this picture! i took many more pictures that were more fun, cute, and not nearly as dull, but this is the one that says so much more about this day! i will post the other ones, as i said i would, but tomorrow.
so, there you have it! my first week of my project 365!
