More Photography

These days, I am photographing my DH more than anyone else. He is my most cooperative, not to mention supportive, model. :)
For this photo, I used Michelle Pearson's Color Pop Action #1. :)

And last night, I had DH set up my Savage Port-A-Stand with the 107" wide Savage Seamless Paper in Thunder Gray. The unfortunate part is, he had to cut the width down to 89" in order for it to fit in our kitchen, and that width pushes it. Not much room here in my house for a studio, but I will do my best to make it work. It is my dream after all. :)

Here is a photo I shot of Chloe in front of the setup. I can't wait to get my Calumet 200 2-Light Kit. It has to make things better than this!

Natural Light

I am really working hard, trying to get the hang of using a window as my softbox to diffuse natural light coming through my window. Well, I'm not having very good luck with it as you can see:Canon Xsi - f/2.8 - ss 1/100 - ISO 400 - Reflector to my left

And, as you can see, I am a resident of Color Cast City (population: ME). Look how cold and blue this image is! ACK! Back to the drawing board!

My First Storyboard

Since it seems I'm all about photography these days, I want to show you a small storyboard I did with the photos of Chloe I took on Christmas Day (after receiving my black backdrop!) Please click on the image to view the entire photo. For some reason, Blogger is cutting part of it off. :(

Natural Light (with some fill)

I pretty much stay in the recliner these days, and there is a window right beside where I sit. So, seeing as how bored I am, I grabbed the camera and first asked Chloe to help me out. Well, she only has patience for one or 2 shots, so I asked DH for a moment of his time. And this is what I got:

Taken with my Canon Xsi, 50mm f/1.8 lens, and Speedlite 430EX. Settings were:
ISO - 1600; Speedlite set to +1 2/3 bounced on the window behind me; f/3.5; SS 1/100 sec.

Lots of Stuff To Talk About

(Kit and elements used can be found at www.digitalscrapbookplace.com)

EGADS! I did it again! I fell in another pothole. This is the third time I've hurt my left ankle since May 2006. And this time, the tip of the fibula is broken. Since it is a small break, I didn't need a cast. It looks like, as you can see above, someone has painted my purple bruised foot with mustard. EEEWW. My wonderful and very loving DH has been amazing. He has been doing it ALL! From cooking to cleaning, taking care of the kids and making my Avon deliveries for me. He is such a wonderful guy. I'm so lucky to have him!

Now I am left up to my own devices. I'm bored. Stiff. And it hasn't been a week yet. UGH. So I spend lots of time with my laptop, doing digital scrapbook layouts. And I have said to many that I now give up walking. Really. It's over-rated. It's like my feet have a magnet device implanted in them that attract potholes. And everytime, I step in one, then my ankle rolls outward. Not fun. At all. It's not been a year yet since my last spill. See this LO below:

(Kit and elements used can be found at www.digitalscrapbookplace.com)

(Butterfly tattoo is just a kit element, placed for decoration and realism.)

In other non-ankle injury news, I got my first items for my portrait studio set up on Wednesday!
I got the Westcott 301 Photo Basics 40-Inch 5-in-1 Reflector, the Savage Seamless Background Paper, 107" wide x 12 yards, Thunder Gray, #2, and the Savage Port-a-Stand Background Support System Extends from 44" to 8'10". The background stand came with a FREE roll of 53" white seamless paper! :) Bad news - I haven't even got to open the packages yet. Yep, because of my ankle.

Next on my list is the AB400 from www.alienbees.com, and the adapter for my camera's hotshoe from Flash Zebra. And of course, some odds and ends, like a great, sturdy light stand for the AB.

Time to go learn how to decorate this blog. So I'll spare you anymore babble. Nite all!

All the Little Chicks w/the Crimson Lips Go "Xsi ROCKS!"

Oh. My. Gosh.

I had a very great friend do a very wonderful thing for me. I was getting ready to list my Canon Digital Rebel Xti on eBay, so that I could purchase the new Canon Digital Rebel Xsi, and was telling her about it. She then replied promptly that she wanted to buy it! So, with a long story made short, she bought me the Canon Xsi, had it shipped directly to me, and in exchange, I shipped her my Xti, and a check made out for the difference. Pretty cool huh? Well, you are probably wondering about this new Xsi and what I think of it. I really must say,
IT TOTALLY ROCKS!
There are new features with the Xsi that the Xti doesn't have. And I have to say, my photos look soooooooooo much better! Wanna see one I took tonight (this is one of my best yet)? Sure you do. Ok, pretend you do! Here it is!

To learn more about the new features seen in the Canon Xsi, go here. (Note: I am not getting paid by Canon for this! I really do LOVE my new Xsi!)

I Think I'm Getting Better!

At least I hope I am! The journey to photographic greatness is a long, difficult road. There is so much to learn and it takes a lot of time. Anyway, here are two photos I took today (out of 286!) at our Veteran's Day Parade.