Long time no see...

Well, long time no see. That's thanks to me though, so I will take full responsibility! I have gotten warm fuzzies inside due to the several emails and comments asking when I am going to update again. So, here I am! It's not that I didn't want to, truly. But when you have 3 small children, a childlike hubby {love you honey!}, homeschooling, and just life in general, things tend to get busy! But, I'm here now and that's what matters right? Right?

I have taken several photos this summer, fall, and winter that I love but I'll try to span them out a bit.

Since my last post I have gotten a Canon EF 100mm 2.8 Macro USM lens, and to say that I love this lens would be such an understatement! It is my baby! I wanted this lens as soon as I got my camera but at $450 it wasn't attainable then. But, since I am so loved by my hubby and his parents, I got it for my birthday. The photos I wanted to share with you today are nowhere to be found on my computer. I am getting a little worried! I checked my Compact Flash cards, this computer, and my laptop and they are nowhere. Agh! Hopefully I find them and when I do I will post here.

This is one of my all time favorites! I am actually getting this picture as a skin for my laptop.


Just a little orange bug on Queen Anne's Lace.


My adorable newborn niece Chloe! Of course that was 4 months ago!


Well, I will be updating at least once a week and hopefully more from now on. I'm glad you all like to check out my work and I hope that you'll keep coming back!

Have a Sweet Life!

-Heidi

Aaaahhhh!

Okay, so the Miami County fair is coming up in 9 days and I have to have all of my photography entries in. I have to print out all of my selections in 8x10 and matt them all. Well, technically you don't HAVE this is my first time to enter and I want to do it right and make it look nice. So there are 8 categories and so far I know 2 for sure pictures I am entering. Crazy aren't I? Hey, I work better under pressure, or at least that's what I tell myself! Here are the categories:

1. People/Places

2. Places or Landscapes

3. Humor

4. Animals

5. Flowers

6. Miami County Landscape

7. Black and White

8. Misc.

Wow, where do I start!?! I know what I am going to do for humor and flowers. I don't have the humor one on this computer but I'll come back later to post it.

This will be my flower entry. This is one of my very first pictures I took with my Rebel and it's still one of my favorites! It's a Narcissus.

I have a few pictures in mind for the some of the categories but the hardest part is choosing! I better get a move on huh?! Well, thanks for stopping by!

Have a Sweet Life!

-Heidi

Lots to share today!

Good morning! I have lots of pictures to share today to catch up on all of the ones I haven't posted {blush}. I'm going to start with my favorite. I was watering my flowers and I have a Bleeding Heart bush right in the middle. Once I was done watering I notice how the sun was perfectly shining on the leaves. So, off to grab the camera and this is one of the ones I got. I just love it! It makes me calm and serene. Which I really need most days!

*18-55 mm lens
*Taken in AV setting with aperture set at F5.6 (lowest it would go). When you have it in AV mode you set the aperture and it automatically sets the shutter speed for you. If you use TV mode it does the same thing but opposite. You set the shutter speed in TV.

*Tip* The lower your F stop (aperture) the more blurry the background will be. This is good when you want the focus to be on something close without having all of the background drown it out.


*18-55 mm lens
*Taken in Manual with Manual Focus

This is one of our 5 squirrels we have running around our side yard all the time. We have had one living here for the last 3 years (Goliath we named him) but this past spring he had 3 babies with his girlfriend. So, now there are 5 of them and I can't really tell them apart. Other than the young ones play a lot more. I just love the look on this ones face though because he knew I was there taking pictures of him.
"You lookin' at me!?"

*75-300 mm lens


*18-55 mm lens
*Converted to black and white

The next two photos are of one of our pine trees. We trimmed the lower branches off last spring so now the sap drips out of where we cut them. I think the picture looks neat because it looks like water dripping off. But I'm so not that talented!



*18-55 mm lens
*Taken in AV mode with lowest F stop

I wanted to point something out to you guys too. Ever notice how some of the things we see all the time or a lot of we don't tend to notice? I am very guilty of that! Like with this Tiger Lilly for instance. These flowers grow in such abundance around here that it's easy to ignore their beauty. But once I photographed it I really noticed how gorgeous this flower really is! The color is so vibrant and bold! So, the next time you're out, stop a second and look at something you normally pass right by. You just might find something beautiful!

*18-55 mm lens
*Taken in AV mode with lowest F stop

I don't know what kind of fly this is hangin' out on the side of this weed but I know it's teeny!!

*18-55 mm lens
*Taken in AV mode with the lowest F stop

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I am learning so much about my camera! My niece just got a horse a few days ago and I can't wait to take a trip down there (about an hour away) and get some photos of Oreo and Sarah together. Oreo is the horse by the way, not my niece. {wink}

Have a Sweet Life!

-Heidi

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Hello all! I'm just gonna get right to the pictures today! We had a pretty good thunderstorm a few days ago and this is what the outcome was. A double rainbow! I would have never seen it if it hadn't been for my MIL who called me and asked if we knew it was there and if I had taken a picture of it yet. Isn't she sweet?! I'm super glad she called! Plus a I got a pretty neat one of the good clouds moving in as the yucky ones were moving out.

*All were taken with 18-55 mm lens






For this next set of pictures I wanted to show you how you can start with a good picture but make it even better. I took this one just earlier of my oh so photogenic daughter.

I love the way she looks in this pic but didn't like the houses in the background. So, I cropped out the houses and the next thing I did was to blur the picture by 20. You can find your blur option right by the sharpen option on your editing program. It gives it that soft, hazy feel that you sometimes get with the portraits from Sears or JCPenney.



And then I took it one step further and converted it to black and white. When you convert a soft picture to black and white it makes it even more stunning.



So, next time you have that picture that is awesome, play around with it, you might be able to make it even better!

Have a Sweet Life!

-Heidi

My swingin' Angel

Oh my have I been busy this past week! Joe was off work on Monday for Memorial day and we stayed up late watching movies with the kids. Then I finally got my house totally clean and organized (which I have been working on for a long while) except for a few piles to take to the Salvation Army. Anyway, I am back and will be posting more frequently!

This is one I took on Memorial Day of Ava. We were all talking and doing our own thing so she decided to twist herself up this time. And she and Jolee also insisted on wearing angel and butterfly wings outside to play.

*75-300 mm lens
*Changed hue slightly to brighten up the grass and swing

This was taken on Monday also. Clinton and daddy just taking a walk.

*75-300 mm lens
*changed to black and white

Here are another set of before and after pictures. The before picture is a Peony that was in my MIL's garden. I loved the bright pink and how you could really see the veins of color in it.


And this is what it looked like after I changed the hue. It dulled the colors more but I really think it's as equally attractive as the first one, just in a different way.


I had to throw just one in of hubby's 2nd cousin Owen. Isn't he just the sweetest thing? That boy is all smiles! Ah, if I ever get to the point (wait, shouldn't I say WHEN) where I can make money from this I can't wait to take pics of all those little babies! I am so ready for my sister to have her baby (she is due in July) so I can photograph those tiny little toes!!!!!

Doggie Modification

Okay, first off, taking pictures of Jack Russell dogs is practically impossible. They are the most hyper dogs in the world! My in laws have 2, courtesy of my husband (before we were together) and they are not my most favorite creatures. My kids are energetic enough for me! I don't really need 2 hounds jumping up and down, and up and down, and up and....well you get the picture. Anyway, I wanted to try and get a few shots of them. I ended up taking about 60 pictures with less than a handfull actually looking decent. Did I mention they don't sit still!?

This is Jordin, she likes long walks down the sidewalk, steak, and is afraid of thunderstorms. Please call if you would like to get together. Sike!

I wanted to show the color tricks that you can do with your photo editing programs. I have a very basic program that I use. It is called Microsoft Picture It! Photo Preium 9. I think it actually came with the Windows XP. In other words, you probably have something equal, if not better than that on your computer at home so don't be afraid to try new things!

This is the before picture. I didn't need to modify it all.

*75-300 mm lens

Now this is the after version after I changed the hue to blue tones. You can change the hue to any color in the spectrum so if you wanted to make a silly card or scrapbook page for St. Patrick's Day, you could change the hue to green. It is very easy.


I did the same thing with this picture I took of an Iris. Here is the normal un-edited version.

*75-300 mm lens

And here is the version with the hue in turquoise (now that's my kind of flower!).


So, go pick out a photo that is waiting to be manipulated and see what you can come up with!

For good measure I just had to throw one in of my son when he was playing in the mud last week! He was covered from head to toe! You should have seen the bath water afterwards!

*75-300 mm lens

Have a Sweet Life!

-Heidi

Welcome!

Alright, so here I am, my first post on my brand new photography blog. I am going to have to much fun on here! I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I will! So here we go! Thanks for joining me for the ride!

I just recently got a Canon Digital Rebel XTi and am completely in love. It is crazy how a good camera can make you look at life so differently. And I have such a *Sweet Life*!

What you can expect on this blog is pictures from my life, the things around me, and things that I just find beautiful! I will also be telling as much as I can on what mode I took the picture in, what lenses I use, and how I edited the picture if there was any. I will try and pass on as many tips as possible to help you use your camera the best of your ability but the key to that is.......I have to learn too! This is all new to me so there is a lot I still have to learn!

If you just like to look at the pics then skip on by all of the details and just enjoy the view!

I do want to point out though that at the current time the only place I am really able to take photos are either at home or at MIL's house! It's a little difficult to venture off on a photography excursion when you have 3 rugrats pulling on your legs or running off when you have your back turned for a brief second! So, bare with me and my country life until I am able to venture out a little more (hopefully next month I'll get a free 'me' day).

***
Now on to my first picture post. I posted this one on my 'Sweet Somethings' blog but I wanted this to be the first one I posted here. I just absolutely love this picture! It is of my 3 kids sitting on a cement wall by our barn.

*Standard 18-55 mm lens.
*Cropped in Photostudio (yes, I know can you believe I don't have Adobe?! Soon!)

***
Both of the following photographs are from the Peony bush beside my porch. Normally they are full of several flowers but right before they bloomed my 3 year old picked every bud off but three! Ahhh! I look forward to those so much every spring! Oh well, at least I got 3, right?

*75-300 mm lens


*75-300 mm lens
*Close-up mode

***
This was taken in my MIL's garden. My husband picked out that stone cat for her as a present when he was little. It's special to her. I liked the weathered wood behind it.

*Standard 18-55 mm lens
*Converted to black and white
*Increased the contrast in Photostudio to enhance the darker sections

Well, hope you enjoyed these! I'll be seeing you soon! I still have to add all of the goodies to my sidebars and whatnot but everything will get done eventually!

Have a Sweet Life!

-Heidi