That's Better

Unlike the last entry shows, our dog Izzy usually does a really good job posing for me when I've got my camera. It's harder for her to pose with the family, but when she's by herself she can sit patiently while I change lenses, angles, and lighting.

This night was actually hysterical at how much she wanted to by the subject matter (or at least get all my attention.) When I'd change subjects, she'd actually get between the camera and the other person or animal and get in the picture.

I really like this picture. It shows so much emotion. Her ears show so much of her feelings.

Say Cheese

I'm more of a nature and landscape photographer, but I sometimes try to see what I can do with people and animals.

My son and my husband were having a really nice moment, and I thought it would make a nice family picture and be really sweet. I started taking them and was checking out the lighting. Then the dog realized I had the camera. It's amazing to me how much she likes to be in the picture. I asked my husband to make her go away. He assured me that it would be good practice to have her in the picture. I assured him that it's really hard to get good pictures of people and animals.

So, here's the proof that it's really hard to take pictures of animals and people at the same time. The very first picture the dog appears doing the fake school smile thing. It was a great laugh to see her like that after the discussion my husband and I had.

Busy Times

It seems that my daughter's birthday was just yesterday. Time seems to be flying by with school and work back in full swing.

I had a really great photography trip planned in the Black Hills this weekend, but my husband's family is too sick to have company. I was excited to take some winter photos of the Black Hills, but it looks like it'll have to wait until February.

We're trying to figure out where to go now since we have everything set up to have the weekend off. The kids like to go to a city so they can go to museums and stay in a motel. I'm not against a weekend like that, but I'm anxious to get out and take some landscapes photos. It would be good practice for me to try to get some city pictures in as well. At least we're getting away from it all for some great family time.

Winter Hike

Over the break, I took a short hike by myself. It was really peaceful on the trail all by myself and so beautiful. It was early in the morning, so the sun hadn't been able to warm the snow off the branches yet. There was about an inch of snow that had fallen that night.

The way the snow laid across the branches looks skeletal creating a really interesting composition.

Over all, it was an amazing winter hike. My family is trying to spend more time enjoying the outdoors than we have in the past. I think we're planning to go out again this weekend and spend more time out having fun. I have lots of new lenses to try out too.

New Skills

My husband bought me lenses for Christmas. The step up ring came in the mail on Friday, so I got to try them out today. One of the lenses he bought me was a polarizing lens. Since I was anxious to try them out, I didn't do too much reading before we left this morning. Of all the reading that I have done, I know that they make the sky stand out more.

After sledding a little while with my family, I wondered off to test my new lens. I can definitely say that it does make the sky much bluer and the clouds stand out a lot more.

It was a great time to go out and take some pictures. We left pretty early in the morning and there was about an inch of snow covering everything. The sun hadn't melted any of the snow off the trees yet.

Tomorrow I'm going to read all the books that came with the lenses and go from there.

Worked Like a Charm

We got my daughter a camera for Christmas. Besides all kids needing good hobbies, I wanted her to enjoy going out for photos a little more. I needed a partner is crime. In fact, on her birthday we allowed her to pick the activity for the day. She picked going up to Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo) to go take some pictures. It was pretty cold, but we did take some pictures.

We ran into a frozen stream and went out on it. There were layers of bubbles that were trapped inside. It was an awesome effect. My step-up ring didn't make it to me yesterday, so I'm still waiting to use my Christmas present. Hopefully it'll be here tomorrow, and I can go out this weekend to use it.

Back to work tomorrow. At least it's a one day week.