Hanging in there!!!

Okay seriously I need some new models. I have had to use myself way too much in the last few challenges. So if any of my neighbors want think it would be fun to model for me let me know. Mostly my ideas are a bit goofy so I always feel bad asking people. The one above was for a challenge called Horizontal/Vertical the idea was to photograph something usually photographed Horizontal or Vertical and photograph it the other way. I came up with this goofy idea and to my surprise it actually tricks the eye pretty well. I only had to lay on that stupid rock about 20 different times before I got a decent pose. It ended up in the top 10 of the challenge.

This one was for a challenge called "Home" the idea was to photograph something that is about home. It didn't necessarily have to be your own home, but when I saw Sydnie blowing bubbles on the deck and those cool clouds behind her I decided to grab my camera and see what I could come up with. My editing was a bit sloppy on this one but I still did fairly well and scored in the top 10 of the challenge.

This one was for a challenge called "Stripes". This one I really wish I had another model for. Kaylee and I had to stand in the middle of the road while Brianne watched for cars. Luckily it's not a super busy road. But we did have a few people pass and wonder what in the world we were doing.

This one I had fun with. I borrowed some of my moms old things and then did my hair in a 1940's hairdo and posed for this one. The challenge was called "Film Noir" it was a style of movie made in the 1940's and 1950's the idea was to capture the moody lighting and film subject. This is what I cam up with:

This was for the abandoned building challenge. I actually visited several abandoned buildings on my way home to Idaho a couple weekends ago. This one was one of my favorites and what I ended up entering for the challenge.

Here is another one I stopped at on the way home. My kids were getting really annoyed with me making all the stops. Usually I have My Husband with me and he doesn't like to stop. He wasn't able to come on this trip so I was having a field day being able to stop as often as I liked.

I want to say this was one of my favorites too but I will end up saying that on all of these abandoned building shots. I guess abandoned buildings are just so fun to shoot, they have so much character.

This one really was my favorite photo, not building though. The one I entered was my favorite building. But this one had such a cool sky behind it, I can't help liking the overall scene of this one a bit more. I may still end up entering this in a challenge, the monthly free study is coming up and you can enter anything you took during the month of August.

And finally this one. I entered it in a challenge called "Time" you were suppose to convey time in some manner. I must have missed the mark I didn't score well on this one. My idea was to show how sometimes we wish time could just stand still.

This last one I did not enter in anything it's an out take for another challenge currently in judging. I just threw this one in for fun.

Back into it

So the holidays sort of threw me. I had a hard time with everything going on to do much with photography. I've had a few weeks to settle back into regular life, and finally I've had some time to catch back up on my photography.

I will start with my non-challenge entries first. These are ones I've taken and like but they don't fit into any of the challenge themes.

This one I took while I was in Idaho over the holiday's. I liked the shot and have been meaning to do something with it. I finally got some time and worked on it, and I really like the results. I have to say it is one of my favorites:


This next set is for an upcoming challenge. I took a trip to the Salt Lake City Temple to get some shots for a challenge called 100 years. For this challenge you must take a picture of something 100 years or older. I chose the Salt Lake City Temple. I have taken a lot of pictures of this temple and I wanted to do something different, so I went at dusk Friday night and shot a few just as the sun went down, and the lights on the temple came on. I think they turned out really nice. The first one is my favorite and the one I will be entering for the challenge.

Title:
The Salt Lake City Temple Dedicated 1853

Another good one:


I loved the sky in the background for this one:

This one was for a challenge called "bits and pieces. I filled a paint drawer we had with different spices. I like the colors in it.

Title:

Kitchen Pantry

This one was for a challenge called "Out of Balance". This one was tricky because as photographers a balanced photo is a good photo, so it was hard to take a photo that disregarded those rules but still looked good. The concept behind this photo was to not only have an unbalanced photo by having a large strong color on the right, and a smaller muted color on the left. I also wanted to show unbalance in the focus made on one girl over the other. The title also shows this, and no she is not, daddy's favorite. I was also using the title to convey an imbalance.

Title:

Daddy's Favorite



This next one was for a challenge entitled "work" I wanted to try and copy the Rosie the Riveter posters from World War II. I think I did a pretty good job but the focus is a bit off. This was one of my most frustrating challenges to date. It was really hard to take a photo of myself I seriously tried almost 200 times. Either the lighting wasn't right, the pose wasn't right or I wasn't even fully in frame. Finally I got this one, like I said the focus was not in the right place (it was on my shirt not on my face) But the pose was good and the lighting was decent so I gave up and just went with it.

Title:

Women at Work "Rosie the Riveter" circa 1943

Here is one of the original posters for comparison:

This final one is one of my favorites. It was for a challenge called Rubber Ducky. It was kind of a silly challenge. Here are the specifics:

In the photo you must include the following: Exactly 1 rubber ducky, a piece of rope or string, one or more vegetables, and something red. This is what I came up with.

Title:

Ducky, having much success during the annual run of Swedish fish.

Brianne's Turn

Both Kaylee and Sydnie have both had turns being featured on this blog, as well as had a picture featuring them in one of my entries for the photo contests I enter. I think Brianne was feeling a little left out. Brianne is a good sport about letting me take pictures of her, but she is not always the most photogenic. Of course I think she is a beautiful little girl, but she is really extremely camera shy. She has a hard time smiling naturally when the camera is in front of her. This week was a different story. I think it was because she really wanted to be in one of my photo contests. Whatever it was, she did a great job, and you can hardly tell she is afraid of the camera.

This is the one I am using for my next photo contest. It wasn't necessarily my favorite of the ones I took of her, but it was the one that met the requirements of the contest best. The name of the contest is Mid Day Sun. Taking pictures in the middle of the day is a challenge for any photographer. We are suppose to take a photo of whatever we like, but it has to be with mid-day sun, and show how you overcame the challenge of harsh sunlight. I decided to back light Brianne with the sun, and use my flash to even out the dark shadow that it cast on her face. I think it turned out really well, I have high hopes for this one. It is titled

"Mid Day Dreams"

This one is my personal favorite of her. I was saying silly things to try and get her to smile. It worked, but she sort of moved when she laughed, so the focus is a little off. I don't mind it, but it would get ripped apart in a photo contest. Also we were in the shade at this point and while this a good way to deal with mid day sun, I think it would loose points for not actually being out in the sun.

Almost a smile....


I liked this one too. I think the composition is nice with the brick in the background.

Love her eyes in this one....

So I tried to take pictures of Sydnie earlier that day for the same contest, but Sydnie would not cooperate. I got her all dressed up, and she would not even look at the camera. Oh well, I couldn't get the lighting to work anyway. I managed to get a few cute snapshots of her but nothing photo contest worthy. I digital scrapbooked my favorite ones together just for fun.

This week I went to take some photo's of the Salt Lake City Temple before the weather turned bad. I wanted to get a few more shots for my craft show. My favorite one actually ended up being a reflection. I took it from the large reflecting pool in the front of the temple. I cropped it down to just show the reflection, then flipped it. I think it turned out really cool.

This is one I took for another photo contest I am entering. The contest is titled "Dreams". When I was buying Halloween candy I was inspired by this idea. I had to borrow candy from two of my neighbors to get enough to fill in. Now I have the tedious job of sorting it all out and giving it back to them. All I can say is I better get a good score. Thanks to my neighbor Taylee for being my model. The title of this photo is....

"Every Kids Dream!"

This is another photo for a contest I have already entered. It is a little silly, and the photography is not the best. Besides the fact that the monster looks like a child did it. I tried and tried to get Shaun to make a monster for me, because I know he would have done 10 times better than me, but he would not give in to my pleas for help. Despite all its shortcomings, most people seem to like it, and am getting one of the higher scores that I have gotten in a challenge. This contest theme was Halloween song titles, we were suppose to depict a Halloween song in a photo or series of photos. The title of this photo is...

"The Monster Mash"

I was going to have a foot mash the monster, Kaylee came up with the idea to use rolling pin. I think it turned out even cuter this way!