this and that

I did my first photography session of kids other than my own a couple weeks ago!  My friend mentioned to me {not knowing that I am looking for photography practice} that she still hadn't taken her son in to get his pictures done since he turned 4.  I offered to take a few for her, since I need the practice.

We got out of the house early, hoping to get some nice light {it is usually overcast in the mornings, it figures the sun was nice and bright the day we chose!}, so some of the photos were more washed out than I had wanted.  But, overall, I think they turned out pretty good for a first-time.  This is one of my favorites!

I also designed this button after some of the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks for a blogging friend of mine's new series: Farmer's Wife in Your Life  Once I looked more closely at the blocks, I realized how easy they would be to turn into graphics!

And, I've been behind in posting the results of the giveaway, but the winner is:

Alison of Little Bunny Quilts!  I will be designing a new blog for her {and I may draw another winner or two in the next couple of weeks...we'll see how busy I am!}, how fun!

Catch the Waves

50mm AF-S f/1.8 Lens; f/4.5; 1/80s; ISO 100

How often does one get to live near the ocean?  Well, this is a once-in-a-lifetime for us.  So, I want to get some great wave photos while we're here.  These are some I took the other night while at the beach.

50mm AF-S f/1.8 Lens; f/4.5; 1/80s; ISO 100

I hardly ever remember to bring my camera {figures, right?}, so I've missed a lot of great waves.  These did need a bit of editing {I used the auto tuning in Picasa and cropped...impressed!}.  And, I took these with my camera on Manuel too.

50mm AF-S f/1.8 Lens; f/4.5; 1/80s; ISO 100

Which reminds me, if you don't have the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, you must pick it up {I will post a more detailed review when I finish reading it}.  I didn't really understand manual until I started reading it...and now I hardly use anything else!

Blog Design {Life is a Breeze}

Here's the new blog I designed for my sister! She love cute things and this made me think of cupcakes. We started with this as a color palette and then went forward from here:

Design Stats:

Template: My Basic Template
Fonts: Pea Hanna Chocolate Swirls & Lucida Bright Semi-Bold
Colors: See above
Graphics: Doodle Tag & Heart Overlay

Blog Design {Bacon Then Eggs}

Here is the latest blog design I've finished for Duff of Bacon Then Eggs.  She came up with the heart idea and I designed the graphics from there.

Design Stats:

Template:  My Basic Template
Fonts: Pea Hart & Garmond
Colors: Red (#c61212) & Black (#000000)
Graphics: Heart & the rest my own design

Next, my sister's blog makeover!

My Camera & Lenses

Well, if I'm going to blog about photography, let me start by telling you about my camera.  I have a Nikon D3000 {which, unfortunately for me, has been upgraded to the even better D3100}.  For any out-and-about photography, I usually take my camera equipped with the 18-55mm kit lens, which is fabulous.

55-200mm VR Lens; 105mm; f/5.0; 1/125s; ISO 100

In addition, I have a Nikon 55-200mm VR Zoom Lens that I use for far-away pictures. This lens is perfect for trips to the zoo, or Mt. Rushmore, etc.  However, I find I don't use it that often, as I am then committed to not getting a shot wider than 55mm, and I really like my wide angle shots!

My most recent lens purchase was Nikon's 50mm f/1.8 and it has been love!  All of Norah's photos were taken with this lens, and so many other photos you'll see around here too.

Well, that about covers it for now, but I'll be back later with more details on some of my other equipment {although, I'm a really simple kind of girl, so I don't have tons!}