Waiting for grandchild # 10

Well I have not had internet access for a few months, so I haven't been able to post much lately.  But today I am at the hospital awaiting the birth of grandchild number ten.  This is the day I have waited for since my little girl was born twenty six years ago.  She is my youngest and this is her first.  I can not wait till Samuel Paul is in my arms.  I really have enjoyed holding the others and but now it is time, almost, for me to hold this little man. 

She is not the best patient in the world.  She is scared and does not handle pain well, with that said though she is funny especially when the pain meds start to work.  Every little thing is new and different, she has lots of questions. 

After he arrives, I will post all the stats.

Aden - Newest Family Member

Introducing Aden Mark Potter.  This little fellow enter the world on March 25, 2012.  He is perfect and we are all greatful that he made it a little early without any problems.  He was supposed to be here around the the 5th or 6th of April but to mom's and our delight arrived a little early.

He is welcomed by a big sister Marlee, who is a little jeaulous of the attention he gets from momma, especially when she is sleepy.  Other than that all is well and good. 

Little man got tired of being photographed and has gotten hungry. 

Thanks Aunt Annie, you are the BEST.

A First (photographing someone not family)

Well I did it, I got the courage to ask someone other than family to allow me to photograph them.  Mrs. Glenda and her daughter Shelby met me at a park outside of town and let me practice  a little; it was great fun.  Glenda is a natural and quickly put me at ease.  I know the deal is for me to put the subject at ease to get the best pictures.  That is actually the hardest part of portrait photography for me, the ability to make everyone feel at ease.  I am naturally shy and quite so for me make small talk is hard, although giving directions comes naturally.  All and all it was a good shoot.  Yes there where things that I would have done different and poses I would have tried if I had not been so terrified. I will not beat myself up though and try them next time.  What's the old saying....with practice comes perfection.  Don't know if that is true or not but with practice comes comfort and that is what I want.  I so enjoy the art of photography and look forward to the next shoot.

Now for a few of the pics:

Can not wait for the next shoot.  I really had a great time, thanks again Glenda and Shelby.

To the Farm

Wednesday we went to my sister's to deliver a baby gift for her soon to be grandson and took a big sister gift for beautiful little Marlee.  Of course we had a great visit and I had an chance to take a couple of photos.  They have some beautiful horses and although it had just rained as Granny would say "cats and dogs", after the rain stopped I went out to see and photograph the horses.   

Molly, Aunt Annie and Marlee opening her big sister gift:

Cowgirl Marlee:

and now the horses:

One last note, I spooked the horses while taking pictures and they covered Marlee and Momma with mud and mirk, we all had a good laugh and went inside to clean everyone up.

Every one had a great time.

Disappointed

Well I bit the bullet and order a binder for my project life stuff.  I was following another blogger and she was using a binder from an scrapbook project.  It was too cute and thought one of my binders would work.  My luck follows me as always none of my binders fit.  I will just enjoy my binder from the collection, although I was trying to save money. 
Now the hard part waiting to the binder and other supplies arrive.  I was given a date of  between  March 22-24 it will seem like forever.  Any way I am starting the project and putting the completed pages back into the box till the binder arrives.  Will post pics soon.

They have arrived

Been waiting for at least 15 days for these supplies to get here.  I plan on doing a 52 week project live project.  I am going to start it in Feburary even  though it is March because I want to document the new phase of my life, starting a blog and an on-line photography class are pretty big deals for this country girl.  I will post pics as soon as I can and each week after. 

Another Pinterest inspired project

Just finished a series of scrap-book wall prints for my niece's baby shower Saturday.  Though they look pretty simple it took three different layouts to get one of them acceptable.   It actually is my favorite.  I hope she likes them.

Now my FAVORITE

Facing my Fears

I just do not like birds.  This began when I was expecting my daughter Connie.  My mother-in-law, Margaret, had bought a parrot for her children and named him Big Bird.  This bird hated me and proved it by latching on my arm while I was visiting.  I mean really latched on, Scottie my brother-in-law had to thump him on his beak to get him to release.  He was just hanging by his beak on my arm and it hurt.
I know everyone laughed but me, I was afraid Connie would be scared but she wasn't; me on the other hand has never forgot or come to grips with the attack. I think I have a good reason to fear and not like birds.  Any way, today at the farmer's market one of the vendors had her bird with her and I decided to take a few pictures of him.  He is a beautiful bird and very well behaved.  To make a long story short, she and her husband insisted that I hold him.  I did and below is the proof.

When he nibbed on my shirt I thought I have a heart attack but I survived.  Believe me the bird looks a lot better than I did.  When I look at this I still can't believe I held him.

The lady recycles the feathers he sheds into jewelry, which I think is pretty cool.

More pictures of Alfred

Alfred was playing in the yard and I was able to snap a couple more pictures of Him.  This little man has brought momma and I much enjoyment.  Connie has decided that her mother has lost her mind.  She says that I can't tell the difference between Alfred and the others here in the yard.  The thing is Alfred has a different personality, he is alot more friendly than the others and not quite as scared of us.   Besides he is a challenge to photograph.

Assignment #2 update

Got the remarks back from my instructor on Assignment #2, while they were not all bad I was a little disappointed even if I did score a 90.  I know that I still have a lot to learn and I am not complaining, it is I so want to get it right.  I have posted the comments here so that I will be able to have a record.  Guess all I can do is try try try again. 

Hi Latina, Thanks for you Lesson 4 submission.

DoF is a very powerful tool in photography as it allows you to isolate the subject completely from its environment. You can make great looking portraits even with un-attractive backgrounds. On the other hand it gives you perfectly sharp landscapes. The key is to learn how to control it.

Nice work making the aperture adjustments on both sides of the spectrum. Your shallow depth of field shot at f/4.5 was the stronger of the two, as it really worked well to isolate the flowers from the background of the frame. The direct light hitting the petals may be over-exposing a bit, but I do like the interesting shadows it made through the frame. Consider diffusing the light a bit.

The shot at f/16 did bring more of the middle and backgrounds into the field of focus. I recommend that you shoot more wide-open landscapes and architecture with these smaller aperture settings for that deeper depth of field.

! Important. When in Aperture priority (Av mode) and shooting at small apertures, make sure there is plenty of light available. If there isn't, camera might select too slow a shutter speed for a hand-held shot resulting in blurry photo (camera shake). So keep an eye on the shutter speed in this mode. If it's too slow, you can increase ISO, add additional light, use smaller focal length or simply - use a tripod.

Use shallow DoF for portraits and large DoF for landscapes and you'll see how greatly it'll improve your photos.

Shallow depth of field is also great for macro and detail shots. Of course, breaking the rules and being creative sometimes helps too!

Keep up the good work Latina, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images!

Josh

Assignment #2

Below are copies of the photos that I have submitted to class for grading or marking as they call it.  The photos are very similar one is shot using an AV of 4.5 and the other with an AV of 16.0.  The challenge was to have a blurred background in the first and a clear field of view in the second.  They were shot within seconds of each other and from the same distance. 

I truly enjoy taking the macro shots.  I do hope they will be acceptable.

Momma's Wildlife

Today Momma was cleaning up decided to clean out the nut bin, when one of Moon's squirrels ran across the yard.  She decides to give them a few pecans.  Here are a few of the pics that I took of one as he played and ate in the yard.  Momma has named him Alferd.

Completed Pinterest Project -- Diaper Babies

I completed a pinterest project for the upcoming baby shower of Whitney.  Diaper Babies, they were very simple to make and turned out pretty good.  I hope she likes them. One project down and two more to go, will post pics when completed.

Feb. 2012 pics

The above are pictures taken while I was traveling from Florida to Ms.  I really love the beach and while I took more pics they were not up to the level that I would normally post.  Any ways these were taken in Feb. 2012.  Maybe on the next trip I will get a few more that are some better.  I am studying new techniques trying to become a better photographer.

Lift up mine eye

One of my favorite pics, I have it as the background on my computer.  It reminds me that in everything if I keep my eyes up then I will have the strength to go forward.  I want to be the best I can be for the Lord.  To make a difference in the lives of my family and friends.  I so miss be at home to be with the group at church, but I so enjoy the extra time that I have with my mom.  Soon though I hope I can have it both, time with mom and the family and friends that I love at home.  Till then I will count it all good; that I am doing for me what I fill is what I am suppose to do and fulfilling my promise to Poppa Moon.

Back in Florida

Glad to be back in Macclenny, I have internet service here and in Philly I am without it.  It is great to be able to check e-mails and work on my photo class stuff again.  I missed being able to keep up with my friends and work on my projects.  I in all modesty should say I do miss my friends and family in Philly.  I wish things were different and that I could be home more often.

Problems

Now I can not get the gallery that is with the course to allow me to up-load any pictures.  I guess I am just not very computor savy.  Maybe I can get my beautiful daughter to help me figure what I am doing wrong.

I truly need to learn how to work this stupid computor.

I did it ---- up-date

Well the wait is over, I have gotten the feed back on the pictures that I sent to the instructor at the class that I am taking on photography.  It is not as bad as it could of been but not as good as I had hoped.  To be quite honest I have taken better pictures but could not get them to up-load to the school site.  Can't wait to put the in use some of the things that I have learned so far. 

Just for a record, I am posting a copy of the feed back here.  Don't want to loose. 

Thank you Latina for your first set of photos!

They certainly show how passionate you are about photography. I hope you don't mind a couple of comments. This submission's purpose is certainly not to criticize your work before you get started on our course. Its goal is to assess individual student photography skills right from the start so that we can address the issues directly if needed. This will help both you and I get to know what areas we should concentrate on more.

Photo 1 - landscape
You were able to capture a shallow depth of field with this shot of the pink flower. By zooming in and being fairly close to your subject, you were able to isolate the flower in the foreground. You might try shooting this with a vertical frame and composing the flower near the top of that frame. This would allow the stem of the flower to move up through the bottom and offer a stronger balance.

You'll find an excellent landscape and travel photography section in our course that will show you how to take breathtaking landscapes, the specific settings to use, special filters to use, and what to look for in composing landscapes. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Photo2 - portrait
You have quite a bit of grain/noise in this portrait of your grandson. I recommend that you try to find more light which will allow your ISO to be lower. This will help create stronger sharpness in your frame.

Our portrait section has been designed to teach you what makes great portraits - candid and posed, why built-in flash is not recommended by pros as the main source of light, how to get rid of distracting backgrounds and much more.

Photo 3
Zooming in with this candid portrait worked well to isolate your subject from the waves in the background. This helped to create depth in your frame. Nice work composing this shot.

Latina, you're well on the way to becoming a better photographer. I look forward to assisting you in your further studies. If you need any help, just drop me a message. Good luck!
~ Josh
My understanding of the written text has been well.  I am scoring 100% on the quizzes.  Not bragging just want to keep a record.  At present have completed the first two lessons.

I did it !!!

I bit the bullet and started an on-line class today.  I was able to up-load the first assignment and scored 100% on the first chapter test.  Pretty good for an old gal.  Sent the following pictures to serve as a baseline or starting point.  The first is suppose to represent a landscape or nature, the second a portrait, and the third is sender's choice.  I can see several problems in each of these but maybe, they will help me improve my work. 

The flowers were taken at the hospital where mom has her eyes checked here in Jacksonville.  I thought the colors and the slight blurring of the leaves were cool.  I also love the shadow that are cast in this picture.

The picture of my grandson Blake truly captures his personally.  He is all boy and you can tell that by just looking in his eyes.  You can see the mischief  and you naturally wonder; what's next.

The last picture is of my grandson Tanner.  It captures not only him trying to out run the waves but the fun that was had.  This was taken when Arron and Hope brought the boys over for a visit on Jax's Beach.  It was so wonderful to spend time with them and to watch the boys explore.  As far as I am concerned the things represented in this picture is why we take pictures.  To capture those moments in time one does not want to forget.

I posted these here and will post each of the assignments as I complete them so I will have a record of the progression or lack there of during the time it takes me to complete the course. 

Wish me luck.

Now what ?

Recieved a e-mail from the instructor of the photography course I want to take and I was instructed to save my photos as a JPEG file.  Come to find out they are already saved as a JPEG.  So for the question of the day, What now?   I don't want to purchase a class I can not upload picture as the assignment request.  Any suggestions?

Progression slow

I began my learning adventure by taking a demo class from a on-line photography school and although I aced the written lesson when it comes to up-loading the requested pictures I received an error message.  I have e-mailed the instructor and am awaiting his suggestions.  I really hope that I can get this process working, I really would like to take the course.  The problem is that it is taking to much time to up-load the pics.  Needless to say I am at wits end.  Maybe soon I will receive an reply and will be able to complete the assignment.  Below are the three pics that I tried to load.  The first is a land-scape, the second is a person, and the third is sender's choice.  What do you think?

On another note, I must say I am looking forward to getting out and about and shooting some new stuff, hopefully it will not be to long.   Waiting to see.