Sunday Stills Challenge – Bokeh

This week’s Sunday Still’s challenge is bokeh.  My first time authoring a challenge, I’m very excited to see what everyone came up with!  A big thank you to Linda and Ed for the opportunity to submit our ideas for future challenges.  I recently became obsessed interested in bokeh once I realized  how much depth of field really effected a photo, and how much better the SX20 handled shallow depth of field than my previous camera.  Now I could pretty much consistently get the blurred background when I wanted, not just occasionally.  Push the limits of your equipment, you might be surprised at what you learn and what your camera can do!

For an added mini challenge, the next time you’re watching your favorite TV show, especially if the characters are outside, see if you can spot the bokeh in the background.

Barn cat “helping” by walking into the frame is optional…

Some moss on the rock pillar at the bottom of the shop stairs.

One from the archives (yikes, I cut off part of the left flower!), when I didn’t quite understand bokeh and how to create it.

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Sunday Stills Challenge: In the Dark

This week’s challenge was to shoot in the dark.  Too many things to trip over outside so I decided to do a slightly different spin on the challenge and try my hand a long exposures in the house…

I used the desk as a tripod – please excuse the dust and boring subject matter – and set the exposure as long as it would go (15 sec).  I forgot the change the white balance so it’s a little warm, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I gotten the star effect.

Kind of cheated, but…

Sunday Stills Challenge – Currency

“I’m afraid currency is the currency.” – Lord Cutler Beckett, Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End

ISO: 64, f/stop: 4.8,  Shutter speed: 1/250

As soon as I got the challenge, I immediately thought of the $1 gold coins.  The one on left is the older version, and the one with Andrew Jackson on the front is the new version, from either this year, or 2008.

The all-seeing eye… ($1 bill)

I love this eagle!

How do they make the 100 in green look so bumpy??

I think this is a really cool idea!  Got every quarter except for Montana.

Home state…

 

 

Sunday Stills – Happiness

I didn’t really have much time to take any pictures this week because I was buried a mountain of school work, but I did find some time to go through the archives.

I love country music with a passion.  While some may argue that the new country isn’t country anymore, I love my Johnny, Hank, and Waylon along with the newer artists.

(L to R:  Joe Don, Gary, and Jay)  My favorite band, Rascal Flatts.  This was back before we figured out how to take the date stamp off….  When you’re in the 300 level, the 12x zoom really makes a difference.

My all-time favorite singer, Keith Urban.  He puts on a truly amazing show!  Never seen anything like it.

Brad, Jerry, Keith, Chris, and Brian

Keith and his opening act, Little Big Town. (Jimi, Kimberly, Karen, and Phillip)

Absolutely no zoom at all!  We were in the 100 level, just off the floor and 11 rows back.  I though it was kind of cool that the shutter went off the same as the other camera and caught the flash.

I’m going to take a minute to brag about the camera…  I must say I was very impressed with the camera.  I only used the complete manual setting, where it lets you set the ISO, shutter speed and the aperature, and didn’t use the flash even once.  I was a little worried that all my pictures would be blurry because Keith moves around so much.  Even though I had semi good results with the automatic settings at the Rascal Flatts concert, I didn’t want to take a chance and have grainy photos.  I had the camera set on Landscape, the aperature set on 2.8, and the shutter speed ranged anywhere from 1/8 to 1/30 when there was more light.  Sure, there’s motion-blurred ones, but that’s to be expected.  This camera is a amazing!!  I must have gotten a really good battery because I took nine hundred plus pictures at the concert, and Mom and I had taken like thirty or so pictures earlier in day of canning or whatever and I was too lazy to load them before we left, and it never showed low battery once.  I kept waiting for it to come up and have to put a new battery in.  It even lasted the twenty some minutes it took to load the pictures on the computer and still go the rest of the day.  I wish all the batteries were like that!

Mom said on the way home that I would be too advanced for my digital photography class!  Which is probably true, it will still be fun.

A beautiful sunset will make almost anyone happy.

Skywatch Friday and Digital Photography

f 4.8
ISO: 64
Shutter: 1/30

You know the digital photography class that I’m taking as an elective this year in school?  Well, I just discovered yesterday on my first day of school, that it’s only a one semester class, and it starts in the spring, not fall.  As you can imagine, I was upset.  I already waited almost three months, and now I have to wait another four months!

Sunday Stills Challenge – High and Low

This weeks challenge was to shoot something from up high and/or down low.  My shots:

Up high. Took this in SCN, museum.  The museum setting uses no flash and the camera is silent, good for distances in between close up and landscape.

Same setting, I only used a timer for this picture, as the light was kind of low. 2 seconds, if I remember right.

Down low! Museum again, zoomed all the way out