Taking the plunge

It has been a few months since my last post. Figured it was time to drop a line.

I have been busy working on my new photo website. I have decided to take the plunge and start my own photography business. I am very passionate about photography. I love capturing and sharing life's moments.  I have been taking a couple of betterphoto.com classes that has been very helpful in tweaking what I already know. I am constantly finding ways to improve myself as I take this journey. Tomorrow I am going to a free seminar on how to start a small business. Very excited about that. I have been working the past few months on my website BeckyTPhotography , which has been a wonderful learning experience. My website is still under construction but well worth a look. If you have a suggestion please don't hesitate to leave me one. I have been corresponding with many photographers that I admire that have been very helpful to me. They have been very generous with their tips and encouragement.

Follow me on twitter bectphotography

Until next time :)
Becky

In Memory Of A Loved One

August 3, 2012 marked the one year anniversary of the passing of a wife, mother, grandmother and friend who lost her 15 year battle with breast cancer. My niece came up with a fantastic idea to celebrate her memory by having everyone write a note or attach a note to a pink helium balloon. Then as one we let the balloons go to float heavenward. It was a beautiful and emotional ceremony that we plan on repeating every year on this date. We also come together as a family to raise funds for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk coming up Oct 2012 in memory of this wonderful, beautiful woman who is sorely missed. Anyone who wishes to help us raise funds please click on ----> Team Morgart

Our fond hope is that eventually breast cancer will be the thing of the past so no one else will have to lose a loved one to this horrible disease.

Below are photos I took to capture this beautiful and emotional moment.

Below is a poem sent to me in a sympathy card that I fell in love with that I want to share with others who have lost a loved one over the years.

DO NOT WEEP

by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand by my grave and weep

I am not there, I do not sleep

I am a thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints on snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain

I am the gentle autumn rain

When you awake in the morning's hush

I am the swift up flinging rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight

I am the soft starlight at night

Do not stand at my grave and cry

I am not there, I did not die

Thank you for stopping by. To all the cancer survivors out there DO NOT GIVE UP!

Fireworks 2012

For the past few years we have set off our own fireworks for a number of reasons. For one, we do not have to worry about finding a good place to sit. Secondly, the kids really enjoy setting them off. Especially my son and sister (who is a big kid in her 40s). We live on a cul-de-sac which makes it a perfect place to set them off. I have attempted in the past to try to take photos of fireworks. They just never really looked good. I attempted it again and feel they came out pretty good this round. 

My equipment included:

1. tripod
2. Nikon D300s
3. 105mm macro lens (too lazy to change lens)
4. wireless remote

My settings:

1. f16 to f20
2. iso 200
3. 2 seconds

Here are six of the ones I liked best

This one is my favorite

 

 

Until next time! Happy Snapping!

Bec

 

Day Project - Photo(s) an Hour

My girlfriend Judy, who I did the No Wimpy Girls Photography blog with, found this project idea at Liz Ness Blog.  The challenge was to take a photograph(s) every hour on what you were doing that hour. This was a really fun project. I created a slideshow using ProShowGold and saved it as a video. I wish the video was a bit larger but this is as big as I could get it at the moment. The music I chose was "Waterloo" by ABBA.   Enjoy! Until next time happy snapping :)

Happy Father's Day & Happy Anniversary

I love creating my own cards for special occasions.  When I got married 23 years ago, instead of just buying generic Christmas cards I would take a photo of my husband and I with our animals and have it sent off and made into cards.  I continued that tradition until my second child.  With the birth of my second child I would just take a photo of them, send off for many copies, and then decorate them up into Christmas cards.  Over time I found out that our friends really enjoyed receiving my cards with a personal touch.  In time, I started creating other cards( Birthdays, Anniversaries and Weddings)  instead of just Christmas cards.  My only problem is that I procrastinate and end up stressing my self out or staying up late trying to get the cards created by the next day.  Father's Day and my Anniversary no exception.  Below are the cards I created for June 17th Father's Day and my 23rd Anniversary.

The photo card above is the one I created for my father.  His dream has been to fix up old cars.  He currently has two 29 Chevy's  and a 30 Model A Victoria that he is fixing up.  I am documenting the process for him.  In this photo it is the car door of his Model A that I applied a Topaz Adjust Spicify filter and then I superimposed a picture of him and his Model A on top.  I added a sepia filter to that photo.  He loved it so much that I am having it blown up so he can frame it.

The above photo card is the one I created for my husband for our 23rd Anniversary.  Found a photo from our wedding day that a friend of mine took.  Scanned it in and applied some brush strokes in our wedding colors.  Then I wrote some really mushy stuff inside :)  He loved it.  Hard to believe it has been 23 years.

This is the Father's Day card I created for my husband that is from the kids.  Used a background from the class I took with JessicaSprague.com, applied a photo I took of the kids and inserted the following poem

Special Dad

by Trinity Pratt

My dad is very special,

He's not just a dad but a friend;

For he knows where there is a difference.

When one should start and the other end.

He's my dad when I need a real guidance,

But if I need a pal for a while,

He's right there in each situation,

Not with just concern, but a smile.

Kids need someone like that,

To help them draw that line,

Between what is right and wrong.

Sometimes the difference is hard to define.

So I'd like to thank Dad for being there,

For helping me all the way.

And to all the Dads who stand by their kids,

God Bless you this Father's Day

 I use photoshop CS6 to create my cards but there is plenty of card making software out there.  So gather up your special photos and make a card for someone.  They will love it and it will make you feel good.

Until next time Happy Snapping!

Internationl Soccer Game USA vs Scotland May 26, 2012

On May 26, 2012 my family and I went to our first ever professional soccer game in Jacksonville, Florida at the Everbank Fields.  It was the US against Scotland.  We went with other family members from my son's soccer team.  Below is a photo documentary of the soccer game.

Heading to the soccer fields.  How exciting!

Imagine our surprise when we saw some of the fans for the Scottish team wearing kilts.  I wonder do they wear anything under those kilts?  I was too chicken to ask.  What great fans to come out in their kilts :)

He was trying to get some one's attention.

What is the proper shoe attire when wearing a kilt?

These must be die hard fans.  I am assuming based on all the pins on this gentleman's hat that he goes all over to support his team.  There were a lot of fans wearing unique hats.

Check out this guys feather in his hat and all those pins!

This fan even had a bag pipe that he played before the game even started.  He was very good.  Loved his hat!

US goalie practicing before game starts.

US fan getting into the spirit of things.  He was all decked out in a Statue of Liberty costume and singing very loudly :)

National Anthem was played for both teams.

These fans were singing along with their anthem.

Before the game got underway the thing to do was hit these beach balls all over the place.

Still singing!

Game started!

(Notice the feather in the shot)

My son and some of his friends dared one of their team mates to go sit with the Scottish fans.  The Scottish fans have a great sense of humor.  They noticed the boy was not one of them so they started patting him on the head and singing to him.

Then they tried to offer him beer.

Then they made him wear their flag and sing with them.  It was very funny.

Do not know why this Scottish fan wanted a blow up palm tree.

Can honestly say I do not ever see this in my normal day to day life.

Our team kept the Scottish goalie very busy.  We won 5-1.  The goal on the Scottish team was from one of our guys hitting it into our own goal by accident.  So technically we scored 6 points :)

This fan had way too much fun before the game even started.

Game over.  We stopped at Red Robin for lunch.  Yummmm!

Wonderful Milk Shakes

Burger and onion straws.  Yummy in my Tummy!

Heading home after a wonderful day.

Until Next time Happy Snapping!

Valkaria Airfest, February 18, 2012

Thought I would try my hand at photographing airplanes at a local air festival.  I have never photographed air planes before and figured this was as good as any to try my hand at photographing airplanes.  I do not have a very big lens for this type of thing.  I used my Nikon 18-200mm lens on my Nikon D300s.  I shot on Aperture Priority mode.  I took approximately 85 photographs, but narrowed it down to 20 for this blog.  I did some editing of each image in Photoshop CS5.  You will notice that not all photos are in color.  I processed some as B/W because I felt they looked best in B/W.

I love reflection shots, when I come across a neat looking reflection I will photograph it.  As you can see from the following three photos.

Walked around the area and photographed the various planes at different angles as best I could.  My son is learning about planes in school so he was giving me a blow by blow description of all the planes.  Made for an interesting day.  He surprised himself on how much he knew.

Yes I am sure it is :)

I loved this angle because it makes me feel that I was actually on the wing.

This part of the plane just felt like it should be processed as B/W

Time to put the toys away.

I really did end up enjoying my day photographing the Valkaria Airfest.  I will most likely do it again sometime.  The next Valkaria Airfest is February 16, 2013.  Check out their website at www.valkariaairfest.org

Hope you enjoyed your visit.  

Until next time happy clicking!