Really missing my camera

I've completed my 2009 scrapbook. It is a great sense of accomplishment. Now I have nothing to scrapbook because I haven't printed any pictures from 2010. I'm also feeling lost without a camera. There's this lovely, special photo shoot I've had planned for several weeks now, but I have no camera! Well, I have a film camera that a co-worker has let me borrow. But, it won't work for the shoot I have planned. I need digital! I was trying to wait for the insurance; however, I think the insurance is trying to see what the investigation comes up with. And, as much as I watch CSI, real investigations are apparently nothing like CSI. They have not wrapped up our robbery in an hour. Heck, it's taken a couple of weeks to work through the fingerprints. I may only be able to last a little longer without a precious digital camera. There are fleeting moments I need to capture!

Realization of Friendship!

After being robbed, it's a horrible feeling to leave your house and return again. I'm not sure when that feeling, as I open the door of dread, will leave. I actually breathe a sigh of relief when I enter and see everything in its correct place.

Friends, neighbors and coworkers were very supportive. Everyone asks how we're doing and if we've heard anything yet (nope). We made new friends with a neighbor about 4 houses down the street. She has this amazing son that has such a wonderful heart. I'm so glad the incident introduced us.

I even had one co-worker give me an old film camera that "he just had sitting around". I haven't taken any pictures yet. The film concept seems so foreign after several years of digital. I will though. I'm afraid of the outcome, but also remember the excitement of not knowing exactly what you were going to get when you picked up your prints!

We are also going to use this as a way to upgrade my DSLR. I had a wonderful Nikon D70. It took great photos and I learned so much while I had it. I'm now looking at D90. One thing to be thankful for is that they didn't take my back pack full of lenses. Replacing the camera will be much easier than replacing the lenses I had gotten as presents or saved up for. And, the D90 works with all of them!

Not sure when I'll order a new camera. Definitely before the wedding we have to go to in October. So, the blog may be picture-less until then.

Terrible News

Our house was broken into yesterday. While they took every single dang camera I owned, what is really upsetting is that strangers were wondering my safe haven while we weren't home and how unbelievably easy it was for them to get in! But, we're turning this stressful situation into a positive one. Several wonderful neighbors and friends came or called to check on us and even offered a place to sleep for the night. One neighbor and her son think they may have saw the teenagers who did it and came forward to talk to the police. It takes situations like this to realize that there are more people that have your back than you may think!

Catching up...

I've been waiting for my headmistress to put up the new challenge at Nerdy Victorious Scrapbookers. I hope everything is going OK for her.
I am almost finished with my 2009 scrapbook!! I just need to get a couple more page protectors and choose a picture for the front cover! I'm hoping to have it finished before I have to go back to work on Wednesday. I'll post pics of the finished album when it's all done.
I'll leave you with a little scrapiness for now...
This is a digital page I did for the 2009 album. The goal was to include as many pictures as possible, so it is not the most creative page but, it fit my purpose. I'm still trying to figure out the whole digital world.

Depth of Field

Prompt 7 for Shimelle's class was to play around with depth of field. This, I think, is the easiest photography concept to understand. A large depth of field is when everything is in focus. A shallow depth of field is when a small part of the photo is in focus and the rest is out of focus. Easy enough right? Large depth of field - large area in focus, small depth of field - small area in focus. I tend to shoot with a shallow depth of field. This is in part to the fact that I use a zoom lens but, also because I think it puts more focus on the subject. Now, I tend to shoot small objects and people, which work well with a shallow depth of field. I shoot less landscapes, which typically work well with a large depth of field.

I chose two photos to show this concept. They are both of the same thing. It is a centerpiece I made using a Jenni Bowlin kit. I took it outside to shoot in natural light and after several variations, found the wagon sitting next to the fence with grapevines and thought it would be perfect!



The first one shows a narrow depth of field, while the second shows a large depth of field. This was all done by changing the opening of the aperture. The first had a large aperture opening - F2. The second had a small aperture opening - F22. You, of course, can get varying degrees of depth of field by changing the aperture opening. It's why I typically choose to shoot in aperture priority.
Which do you prefer? I like the one with a shallow depth myself but, photography is an art, and art is subjective!

Nerdy*Victorious*Scrapbooking!!

You still have plenty of time to play along with the nerdy girls. Take a look at this collage:

You know it inspires you and makes you want to create. You know you have some great pictures that are begging you to use them a girly girly way. Pull them out and get scrapping! Currently, there are only 2 entries. That means your chance of winning a fabulous prize pack is VERY GOOD indeed!!
So grab your pictures, grab your materials, scrap your little, crafty heart out and post your layout here: Nerdy*Victorious*Scrapbookers

On a side note...I managed to blog everyday for a week : ) Woohoo!!

Bokeh

Ah...the lazy days of summer. I am loving having time to actually play with my camera, photoshop and blogging.
Prompt 12 for Shimelle's class is about adding texture to your photos. I had many new experiences with this one: using flikr, playing with layers, adding texture to a photo.

To do this, I first searched flikr for "bokeh texture". Bokeh is that dreamy circles created in the part of the picture that is out of focus. You can create this in the camera or you can add it. I added it over some subtle texture that was already there!

I've never done this before and really wanted to play around, so I did it three times with 3 different textures on the same photo.
This was my first attempt. I used a texture from e.kristina . I covered the whole picture with it then used the darken mode. You not only see it on the right hand side but, in the left corner as well.

For my next attempt, I used a texture from shironekoeuro . This one, I only used on the right side of the photo. I then used the eraser tool and erased the dark part off the banister.

For my last attempt, I used a texture from inspire*dream*create*
I also only used it on the right side of the photo. I had a more difficult time erasing parts I didn't want. I think the colors on this one are more suitable to the photo though.

I'll have to make time to play around with this more. There were a couple of music page textures that I tried to make work with this photo, but they didn't. I'll keep that in mind for future pictures!

I've never given credit to files on flikr before. Will someone please let me know if I did it correctly? Thanks for stopping by!