long exposure (preferably in the sun)

high speed (not my forte…oh wait, we’re speaking of shutter speed….still not my forte)

I had a blast with the multiples shot, even if my daughter did not. She loves the outcome, however the conditions we shot in were less than favorable.

When your child is crying from the cold and incapable of climbing a tree due to the ice, one must wonder how far they will go for their art.

Obviously I went there.

This is, by the way, the most awesome climbing tree I’ve seen in many years…

As for the long exposure, I had minimal chances for star or moon gazing. Knowing I needed to take an exposure over 3 seconds long, I improvised.

My backyard neighbors have the tendency to leave on a back porch light that glares into our windows of an evening. However, with a heavy fog and the proper knowledge, it can turn into quite the creepy photo. I actually took several and combined them with my previously learned HDR techniques to achieve this perfect scene which will soon be featured in a home horror film (just kidding.)

For shits and giggles I also made it black and white. Because I love Alfred.

Hitchcock, of course.

The other long exposure I did prompted many questions from my daughter. “Mama, why are you in the closet without the lights on?” being one of them. I simply used my iPhone flashlight and tried to write with it. Apparently I don’t write light good…

The last was the opposite: high speed. Catching things in motion (there are a lot of things and people in my life constantly in motion) seemed to be an easy objective. “Seemed to be” being the operative phrase…

Who knew that SO MANY FACTORS are involved with photography?

Oh wait….I did. Thanks to my incredibly capable professor and his many slides and tutorials… and warnings. So I knew, but I didn’t know. Apparently there is a difference between classroom knowledge and practical application. Who’da thunk?

For all you high school seniors and college freshman, (I’m really over-guesstimating my followership right now); learning something in a classroom, written on a board or viewed on a screen, is not the same as putting it into action. I know this. I have known this. I simply wish to reiterate how difficult it is for everyone, no matter how ‘seasoned’ they may seem to be.

For every photo you see here on my blog, I shot 30-50…100…maybe more.

So, back to the high speed, or something in action. I knew that a future assignment required sports shots, or something that can’t easily be recreated and must be caught in that ‘perfect moment’, so I attempted things at home.

Needless to say, my chickens were not cooperative. And my six year old hardly more. Yet I succeeded in a few, although if I were more skilled with Photoshop I’d change the scenery.