Attempts at a family photo

I had mentioned in a few earlier posts that I got a new tripod!!! It was... well... kind of an accident. National Camera Exchange was having this huge tent sale all weekend. And I just wanted to stop in to see if there was anything I just couldn't live with out. I really wasn't planning on getting anything because I'd been saving for this new lens, and I was pretty close to having the amount. But then I saw this tripod... that was also on my list of things to get... eventually. But with the sale, I just couldn't pass up the price. And you know how I don't like to pay full price for anything!

So it came home with me!!


My little Manfrotto Baggins! (hee hee, if you don't get the baggins joke.... just click here)


And what else do you do with a new toy once you bring it home??

PLAY!!!!!


Of course Harpo 'the fur-child' wouldn't cooperate. But it was still fun trying to capture a decent family photo.
______________________________________________________________

Waterfall Shots

2/5 sec.
48mm
f/36
ISO 200

When we went to Minnehaha Falls, I was able to play around with my new tripod (squeee!) and shutter speeds. I just wanted to share with you what a difference a tiny part of a second can make.

**disclosure: I don't really know all that much about photography, I just love doing it! So I'll share with you what I've learned ;-)

Now in order to get waterfalls looking like they flow vs. still water in the air, you do need to slow your shutter speed down quite a bit and of course use a tripod when doing this or it'll be a blury mess like this:


Now these next shots were all taken from the same location, at 55mm, ISO 200, and f/36 for the 1 & 3 and f/32 on the second one. As you may know, when you slower the shutter speed you are letting more light in the camera, and even though I was standing in the shade, the sun was right overhead. You can see the lightness difference in these three shots:
1. 2. 3.

1= 1 second . . . . . . . . . 2= 1/2 second . . . . . . . . . . . 3= 1/5 sec


Although I love the water flow in that first one, the shot is too light in my opinion. I prefer the contrast and colors of the third one. :-)

Thanks for reading!

Seven Sushi

For my birthday Kyle took me to a restaurant called Seven. It was a steakhouse/sushi restaurant.... because he knows my favorite food is SUSHI! But the fun part was that it was roof top dining.

We started off with a few drinks. Here is a cucumber martini I ordered. And if you're thinking, ew gross... then you are RIGHT! It really wasn't that great.


I mean comeon' at least put a cucumber in it for eye appeal. It could have been the Gin in it that I didn't like, I'm not really sure if I'm a Gin fan or not since I don't really remember ever having it. But this drink also had mint leaves in it... it just didn't leave a good flavor in my mouth. And as my friend described gin today "gin tastes like how pine needles smell" that is rather a good description of what this tasted like.

It was such a gorgeous day for roof top seating. Not too hot, and beautiful skies!


After a nice year reflection chat, we ordered our food. Now when we ordered I thought surely it was going to be a lot of food and we'd have some leftover for take home...


but I thought wrong. We had nothing left over. It was good, but my honest review is, I've had much better sushi for a fraction of the price. So although I don't recommend their sushi as being my top favorite, the experience was fun and I would defiantly recommend this place for that reason alone. Maybe just come for a few drinks then head next door to Fogo de Chao (which I've never been to either, but want to)

I did try to capture a panorama view... but what I was going for was more of a pieced together look... I'm still kind of working on it and I'll post again if I can get it the way I am wanting, but here is a rough draft of it....

Project 365

Today begins my project Y27 (said like why-two-seven)

If you haven't heard of project 365, I'll tell you a little bit about it. I first heard of project 365 from my friend Rhiannon. It's a fun project where you take a picture everyday of the year. Now it can be of whatever you want, where-ever you want. But the idea is you are taking 365 pictures and they say "if you do something everyday for one year, you are bound to get better at it".... so I decided to wait until my birthday to start it, making it my project Y27 (as in my twenty-seventh year of life) I just had to give it a catchy name :-)

Now, days like today are going to be rather hard to pick ONE picture... seeing how we've been to the Mall of America, Minnehaha Falls, Downtown, new place to eat..... but I did pick this one to share, but not sure if it'll be my picture of the day:


And then I have to share one Kyle shot, while we were eating at Seven (a sushi place) on the rooftop in downtown Minneapolis (more to come), because... well... you just don't see many pictures of me:


So I'm thinking I will have a weekly Y27 post, sharing my photos of the week. I do plan to scrapbook them all, but not sure how (digital or photo/paper) I'll figure it out as I go :-) So I hope you enjoy my photos I have to share!!!

More ideas for 365 days of picture taking.

On This Day In History

(*Thanks to the folks at MorganStanley/SmithBarney; I want to share these fun facts they sent me)

Monday, August 16, 1982

Top News Headlines This Week: Aug 16- K Olofsson discovers asteroid #3573 Aug 17- LA Dodgers beat Chicaco Cubs, 6-5, in 21 innings (game completed 8/18) Aug 17- South Bend, Ind jury acquits self-avowed racist Joseph Paul Franklin Aug 18- Longest baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL ends after 22 Aug 18-NYSE sets trading record of 132,690,000 shares traded Aug 18- Z Vavrova discovers asteroid #6507

Top Songs for 1982:
Jack & Diane by John Cougar
Maneater by Daryl Hall & John Oates
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
I Love Rock an' Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Centerfold by J. Geils Band
Hard to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago
Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
Abracadabra by Steve Miller Band
Don't You Want Me by Human League

1982 Prices:
Bread: $.53/loaf
Milk: $1.79/gal
Eggs: $1.11/doz
Car: $9,890
Gas: $1.28/gal
House: $83,900
Stamp: $.20/ea
Avg Income: $27,391/yr
Min Wage: $3.35/hr
DOW Avg: 1,047

US President: Ronald Reagan
US Vice President: George Bush

Academy Award Winners
Best Picture: Gandhi; Directed by Richard Attenborough
Best Actor: Ben Kindsley in Gandhi
Best Actress: Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice

People born on August 16
1958- Madonna; singer
1945- Suzanne Farrell; Cincinnati, dancer
1960- Timothy Hutton; actor
1932- Eydie Gorme; Bronx, NY singer

On TV in 1982
Magnum P.I.
Hill Street Blues
Remington Steele
St. Elsewhere
Taxi
Cagney & Lacey
Knight Rider
Family Ties
WKRP in Cincinnati
Dallas

Hot New Toys in 1982
Glo Worm
ColecoVision
Tron
Trivial Pursuit

(copyright 1997-2009 dMarie Direct Inc.)