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photography Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Carolyn CAREs

Category: photography

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 8: Photography

CarolynCares Photography

I fell in love with taking photos when I purchased my very first digital camera. Before that, I would take the typical family snapshot at birthdays and on holidays, but wouldn’t really bother with photos of nature. Now, I keep looking for things to photograph.

The draw of photography for me, is trying to capture what I am seeing, to be able to share it with others. It is a very personal thing, really. I love putting on my winter gear to head outside and walk around the yard with my camera the morning after a blizzard. The patterns the wind and snow make are incredible. Trying to capture that beauty is a challenge. This fall, as I was getting out of the combine on night, I looked up and saw the Milky Way. That.Was.Awesome! Capturing the Milky Way with a camera is not easy. I have learned quite a few new things about night photography, but I still haven’t captured “the” photo yet. You’ll probably see it on my blog if I ever do!

There are times when I go through a dry spell, where my camera just sits in it’s bag. I find that I look at the world a little differently during those dry spells. I’m not noticing the little things. When I pick up the camera once again, I start thinking in terms of camera frames. I notice little details, and all sorts of patterns in nature. It fills me with awe when I look at tiny little flowers, or insects, or blades of grass. God made so many things uniquely beautiful. How can I say that He didn’t make me uniquely beautiful as well? I am so thankful for the gift of photography, and how it makes me look at the world, and at myself, with appreciation for the little things.

Want to follow along with other 30 Day Challenge bloggers? Head over to Holly Spangler’s blog for a current list of participating blogs.

Introduction to the 30 Day Challenge

 

30 Days of Thanksgiving – Day 6: Coffee

I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. I like to ease into my day. Part of my morning routine includes enjoying a mocha latte that I make using the espresso machine that the girls bought for me when I wore my other one out. I like the routine, the smells, the warmth. It makes it a pleasant way to begin any day.

What is your morning routine? Are you a morning person, or a night owl?

Holly Spangler laid down the 30 Day Challenge – check out her blog, and find links to other bloggers who have accepted the challenge.

Introduction to the 30 Day Blog Challenge

Day 1: Family

Day 2: Harvest

Day 3: Music

Day 4: Bacon

Day 5: Flowers

First Week in October

“In harvest time, harvest folk, servants and all
Should make, all together, good cheer in the hall
Once ended the harvest, let none be beguiled
Please such as did help thee, man, woman and child.”
–   Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry

Late September begins harvest on our farm. We typically start harvesting soybeans first, then move to corn when the soybeans are all in the bin. This year, we got started a little later than usual, due to the late spring and cool summer.

A few years ago, I started running the combine. This year, we have a new to us combine, so I needed to get used to new controls. Jonathan was also really patient with me when I was sick in bed on Monday, and baked for Cottonwood’s Central Park Market on Wednesday. I did run the combine for awhile on Tuesday, which made me feel a whole lot better.

We combine our soybeans at an angle to prevent dirt from building up on the platform. We don’t roll our soybean ground to make it flat, since we cultivate the beans a couple of times during the season. The cultivating created ridges, which can sometimes cause dirt to get scooped up when we combine straight down the rows. Since we use AutoSteer technology in our combine as well, we are able to program it to follow the angle we want.

Harvesting Soybeans

Wednesday evening, the predicted rain began to fall, and put to a halt our harvesting for this week. The guys worked quickly to move all of the equipment into sheds to keep the harvested soybeans dry.

Bringing the Soybeans In

This was the first evening thunderstorm that I can remember this year. Most of the storms we did get came during the day. I have always wanted to try taking photos of lightning, so I quick looked up a basic how-to for my type of camera, and started shooting. Now, I can’t wait for the next round of lightning!

My First Lightning Capture

The weather has been rainy and drizzly the past few days, and it looks like that pattern will hold until Sunday. It has been nice to be able to catch up on a few things in the house, and get a bit more rest at night.

Have a great week!

 

Photography Lesson – Learn From My Mistake!

I have been working on learning my Canon 60D since I received it for my birthday almost 2 years ago. I have asked photographer friends for advise, read blogs, and subscribed to a free online photography “school”. I know that I am improving, just by looking at some of my first ever photos from a DSLR camera.

Every once in awhile, I think I have it figured out…then I mess up big time, and am humbled once again. That’s what happened this weekend. I was getting ready for church, when a neighbor called to see if I was still at home. She let me know that two deer were in my front yard – a doe and her fawn.

I quickly peeked out my bedroom window, and saw them moving towards our apple tree. I ran into the kitchen, where I keep my camera, and snapped a couple of photos. I had my 17-50 mm lens on (my utility lens), and I wasn’t getting in close enough. I quick changed to my 55-250 mm lens, and snapped away. I looked at one photo and noticed that they were a little dark.

First photos were too dark

I quickly adjusted the ISO, and turned the dial to adjust the aperture. I continued to watch the deer move across the lawn, getting closer to the house. I kept shooting away after moving out to the living room where I have huge windows that are great for stealth photography. My heart jumped when the fawn got spooked and leaped into the air. I had gotten a great shot…so I thought. After they moved out of sight, I hurried over to the computer to download the photos. I wanted to cry.

A missed opportunity

What did I do wrong? I didn’t double check the creative modes that my camera was set on. I had forgotten to change the camera from manual mode, which I have set up for sunset photos. I typically change out of manual mode after I return to the house when I am done shooting a sunset so the camera is ready for whatever comes up. Taking the half second to look at the dial would have meant the difference between regret and really fun photos.

All was not lost. Fortunately, I was able to salvage some photos in Photoshop. To be honest, though, I hate editing photos. My goal is always to shoot well enough that editing is not necessary. Do you have any photography tips that you learned through mistakes? Leave them in the comments below!

Here is one I was able to salvage.

Doe and Fawn

 

 

 

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