Monday

To start the post off right...here is the sweetest baby ever. I was playing around with iso in our dark bedroom. I actually woke this baby up when I snapped a pic. But, he was happy to be awake, apparently, so I snapped these. He has been a terror at night, but you can't really tell from these pics, can ya? This past weekend was fun. We rented a big carpet cleaner from Lowes(that was not the fun part, just mentioning it). WOW. I cannot believe how dirty our carpets were. We also played in the leaves. I tried to take a family picture, setting the camera on timer. Worst picture ever. But, it is really funny, so maybe if I can steal some time, I will post it. I don't think we have had a family picture since...before Peter? Can that be right?!??!! Hey, funny, if you look real close you can see me in Jude's eye, lol. Joe made plans to go fishing for steelhead in Erie next weekend. He will take Joey. They have to sneak out without Paul freaking out. They should have a great time. We are having trouble finding waders that fit a 7 year old though...Hey, Eva, if you are reading this, Jude is wearing one of Danny's rompers, so thank you! ;) Jude is clapping! It is super cute. I volunteered to teach a lesson at boy scouts Wednesday, and I still don't know what I am going to do. I need to get on that. It is getting cold here. I sneaked over to McDonalds and got one of their fancy coffees. I got the kids hot coco. Shhh...don't tell Joe. And, I did this despite telling McDonalds that I would never ever patronize them again after they refused to honor my expired 'free coffee' card. he he he. Okay, to be honest, I am writing anything to fill this space. This picture looks good to the left, but I had all this dead space.   



Finished Jude's sweater. :)

Joe says, "hey, you should make these and sell them." He is always saying stuff like that. A real entreprenuer. I told him it takes too long. I have no time. He asks, how long did it take you to make this? I say, "I started it when Peter was a baby." End of discussion. Yes, that is a lens cap. No, he was not interested in the baby toys. You do what you gotta do to get the shot.

Some pictures are prettier in color...sweet baby hands...

and lips...

I love kimonos.

We read a book inbetween all of this.

I love how babies look from the back sitting up. See Pete too?

Then we read another book. This picture is for my mom(who I miss dearly and has been begging me to get in the frame) and for the kids who probably will want pictures of me, not them, when they get older.

And, I kid you not, this is a note I found Saturday night. Joe wrote it to Joey and Paul when Pete was around, I guess.

1. They did not clean the 3rd floor.

2. They did tell Pete about the corn maze.

Pumpkin patch!

Went to the pumpkin patch this last weekend. It was hot. It was crowded. But, we had so much fun. :)

The rule was that you had to be able to pick up and carry own pumpkin.

Pete needed help finding a pumpkin that was just the right size.

Perfect.

Paul is always pretending that he has found a 'nature bed.'

32 cents a pound.

Then, we picked some apples off the trees. I found my new favorite variety, 'Ida Red.'

Oh yeah, and here is some artwork from Joey he brought home on Friday. He says the guy on the left is him, and the guy on the right is his bff, Cameron. :)

More photographic adventures

In my on going quest to take better pictures of these boys, I got Don Marr's 'Available Light'...like 4 months ago. I have only skimmed it. Well, after taking some of the scariest pictures ever at the pumpkin patch this past weekend(Shadowed eyes, etc., oh, and I promise I will get those up soon), I decided to pull the book out. I know lotsa other gals like me have the book, and I figured it would be fun to read the book together, post pics with each other, and so forth...so, I started a little 'read along' at Clickimoms. Oh, yes, that link again. lol I am learning so much there. Anyhow, here is my project for this week. Paul was the best model ever. I first asked Pete to do it, but I got lotsa frowny faces!

Okay, this is part of the 'sunny day' project. This is a BAD sunny day pic. It is 12:00 noon. No clouds. The sun is high in the sky, to his left. See the harsh shadows? You cannot even see his eyes! And, the part of his face that you can see is just too light.  iso 100/1/4000/2.0

Okay, so to remedy this, I put his back to the sun. I spot metered the face for proper exposure. because the sun was so high in the sky, I had to get down below him, kind of using his head as a flag.

iso 100/1250/2.0

If you look real close, you can see me in his eyes snapping the pic. he he he.

See the sun just peeking out at the top right of his hair? So, this is better than above.

Okay, so these are my open shade projects. 

This is the open shade I was working in. Please note that the pink flowered tree was not a canopy. It was in the background, and not over Paul. Still, some of the rosy bounced light did make it into the scene. Will talk about that in a sec. This is like the 'tunnel of light' discussed in 2-14. Light is bounced off the wall. The wall is a tan color. The hedge is obviously green. I have taken pictures here before, because the light is nice. Now I know why. Anyhow, I have noticed in my past pictures that the skin tones have a yellow or green cast. I assume the hedge was to blame for some of that(like if they are facing the hedge, the bounced light is greenish).

Okay, so I have camera CWB set to shade setting. I took a picture of Paul at the very edge of this open shade(his tippy toes are in the sun). I am in the sun when taking pic.

1000/2.0/iso100

Light from the edge of open shade is nice and soft. I think this shows that. He is rosy though. I wonder if bounced light from the wall to the the pink flowers is causing this?

Okay, so I move him deeper in. I put his back to the bushes, so the wall is the reflector. By moving him further back into the shade, the light should have more contrast. I think I see more shadows on the face. Just a bit more.

400/2.0/iso100

Still not crazy about his color. Thinking about the colors of the wall, flowers, and bush...all of these things can bounce some hue onto his skin, making it a different color cast. Knowing this, I decide to try some custom white balance using my gray card.

I move Paul back to the edge of the open shade for some nice soft light.

I think the color is much better. Still a warm image, but not as orange/yellow. Now, looking at this, I think that if I had pivoted him just a hair to the right, the left side of his face would have more light.

800/2.0/iso100

 Oh, and I did not check my f. stop before snapping in the sun. I could have raised it(I took the sun pics after the shade pics). What a goof-I was at my max shutter speed in the first pic.

Okay, here are yet more...
This is at the edge of the shade, but I turned his back to the light. Used spot meter for exposure, and I had him back up to get a rim of light on head.

Here, I had him stand on the edge of the open shade, with his back to the shade. I used a fill flash set at -2.

One more in open shade, just working with comp. :)

I was not thrilled with my first edit, so here is a lighter one...

Flare fun at the park. I am such a dork. I was laying on my belly to get this shot. I am sure I looked like a total nut job. Not to mention I had a big gray card sticking outta my back pocket. If any moms were thinking about befriending me, I am sure they quickly did a 180...Anyhow, I have a few things to learn in re to flare...found some answers to my burning questions...will play again. Yeah, wonky composition, I know. I was trying to get the sun in the frame and went nuts.

ss200/2.8/iso200

Sweet baby Jude

After our day at the pumpkin patch(will post those pics later!), I took Jude out for some golden hour pics. He was watching daddy hit golf balls. And, he had the leaves to play with. So, he stayed still for a sec.

Some more photog fun...

Clickinmoms  are having a funny challenge...fork, knife, spoon. Here is my spoon. Just for kicks. Random political guy from the paper. he he he.

Finished project and stair climbing!

Jude is crazy fast. He has been crawling for a month or two. He has been cruising too. He is balancing now. ACK! This is all too much too fast. None of my babies have ever crawled or cruised this early. I keep telling him to stop it. Too much work for mama. I guess he wants to keep up with his brothers. *sigh* It is cute.

Here he is crawling stairs! EEEK!

I made him go on the other side cause he was making me nervous.

I finally finished Jude's bulky hat, and just in time. It is getting chilly here.

So...kinda finished. I hate that I do this with my knitting, but I cannot help myself. I obsess with how it looks, take it apart, change it. There is a pom on top, but I have changed my mind...I want a knot instead. So, I have the top undone right now. I will finish that knot today. Then, I have to(HAVE. TO.) finish his kimono sweater before he outgrows it.

So, I wanted to get a pic of him wearing it. Gosh, that is easier said than done. This kid is too fast. These are the types of pics I usually get of Jude...

Totally oof, rushing towards mama.

ay yi yi.

Okay, try again...he rushes towards me. I stand up to get away. He's too fast! He stands up and latches onto my shirt! 

Try again! Almost...Oh no! Here he comes!

Better distract him...okay, this is the best I can do.

Here is Jude in his new hat. :)

So, I have been meaning to post this. Isabelle Lafrance has a *free* PDF workshop for PS and/or PSE. It was great! She gives you one photo to use and walks you through the steps in editing it. Each PDF lesson takes just a sec. So helpful! I have been doing my own color pops ever since. Had to share. :)

This past weekend

So, Joe calls me at 5:00PM on Friday and says, "I am on the way home. Get the kids in their mud boots and a sweatshirt and tell them to go outside." I don't ask why anymore. So, he comes home, they meet him outside dressed as requested.

I go outside to witness this.

No, this is not a pond. It is our flooded backyard. Every time it rains, we have a foot or two of water. See, this is why I love Joe so much. I would have never thought of this. He thinks like a little boy would. And because of this, the kids are always having so much little boy fun. Why wouldn't you navigate your canoe through your flooded backyard? They had a blast. Now, if you think this is funny(neighbors came out and took pics, by the way), then just wait until you see our ice skating pictures...

This is a very cold Peter. Yet, he wanted to back in.

Joey brought this home from school Friday. So pretty.

They are working on perspective, which is why he made some leaves lighter. What a cutie pie.

Paul found his old Beatrix Potter book. Read a few stories to the kids.

 Now, my sister tells me she will never read Beatrix Potter again because one story was terribly sad(some cats died because of bad parenting or something like that). Now, I have not come across this story yet! But, yes, I have to admit, there are some harsh life lessons in some of these stories. After all, Peter's father became rabbit pie, for goodness sake! But, the kids love these things. You should see Paul's face.  The suspense and then relief when some silly animal cheats death.

And, today, thinking about candids, vowing to capture more of these silly boys in their 'natural habitat,'

I turned the corner and saw this today.

He cracked a smile under the dinosaur nose. Pretended he did not see me. Hey, did you also notice the Godzilla tail and sheriff badge?

Well, after one pic, he attacked.

I pretended to be very very scared.

The photog bug...

Joey got it right after I got it. He asked for a camera for his 7th birthday. 

Here is Joey taking a picture of mommy taking a picture of Joey. he he he.

 He loves taking pics as much as I do, and he takes pictures of everything(me too!). This is fun. I LOVE seeing what inspires a 7 year old.  He has taken pics of his brothers sleeping, his messy dad's closet(he admitted to partly staging it to get a 'messier' pic), street signs, etc. The other night, we went to a spaghetti dinner up at school. He looked out the window and saw a beautiful Autumn sunset. He turned to me and said, "AH man! I knew I should have brought my camera!" lol 

Last week, he asked if he could take his camera to the grocery store. Why not? This was the funniest grocery store trip ever. I giggled the whole time as he snapped away.

Here are some of the things he took pics of.

One added bonus of Joey taking pics is that I am in some of them. See?

Snap away Joey!

Cornbread and candids

I love cornbread. It is quick. It is rich. It is so very Southern. I tweaked this cornbread recipe till the boys gave me the thumbs up. :)

Ingredients

3 Tbs. butter

1 1/4 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
5 Tbs. sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 egg

Directions
Place butter in skillet. Place in oven. Preheat oven to 425.
Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
In separate bowl whisk egg and milk together.
Remove skillet. Swirl butter around pan, coating it. Pour remaining butter into wet mixture. Combine with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Pour in skillet. Bake at 425 for about 25 minutes or until top starts to crack and brown. Rub pat of butter over top. Enjoy. Try it with sour cream!

So, over at ClickinMoms, where I spend tooooo much time, there is a thread about candids...the accidental shots between the nice posed ones, you know? I know all too much about this, especially with Petey. :) Here are a few I had on hand.

Grandma sent us those foamy animals that grow when you drop them in water. As the boys patiently wait for them to grow, Pete's finger gun came out!

I am not really sure *what* Pete is doing here.

More fun with black and white. :) I used Everyday Elements New York B&W  action. I love this B&W!

Then, the other day, I noticed an amazing area of light in my yard. The sun was reflecting off the side of my garage, and a big bush was kind of capturing some and bouncing it back. It was almost a corridor. I grabbed my Pete. I told him that if we went outside and took a pic, I would let him watch some TV. he he he. Okay, so he was not cooperative at all. Would not smile, would not look at me, covered his hands with his face or leaves. And so on.

This is the pic I got for all my trouble.

Cross eyed! Oh my!

So, if you have kept up with my blog, you may have noticed that every once in a while, a pic may look different than it did before. Same pic but...different. No, you are not seeing things, it *is* different. I am not comfortable with my post processing skills(cause I really don't have any yet), so I will post a pic, not like how it looks, come back, edit it, repost it. *sigh* I do this with knitting too. Can't help myself. So, I decided to do something about it. I am taking Everyday Element's Intermediate Workshop. I am so excited! The materials I have gotten already are so so so helpful. I plan on ordering Erin Cobb's Clean Color too. I then might just take Everyday Element's Intermediate Advanced Workshop. :)