Baby Deer!

Photography

The best part about living where we do, is all the wildlife that we get to see in the back yard. This weekend, I got to see some baby deer! Aren’t they cute?

I couldn’t pass up grabbing my camera and taking a boat load of pictures! Sadly, not all of them turned out. I had to share the momma deer with her tongue sticking out, even if it is blurry. ‘Cause I love that she’s sticking her tongue out at me!

I hope I never grow tired of rushing to see the animals in the back yard…wait…does that make me an old lady?!

Texture Shots

Photography

Today I was working on using my macro filters and flash. I don’t have an actual macro lens, so awhile ago I bought some inexpensive filters to play with. If I like them, I will either buy a glass version of the filters or an actual macro lens. For the most part, they do what I want to do. But there are four filters in the set, and if I put them all on my lens, the camera can see the edges of them, and it gets in the picture. Luckily, they are powerful enough that I haven’t really needed them all yet!

Flowering Tea

Miscellaneous, Photography

For our anniversary this year, Nick got me flowering jasmine tea from Tea Source. I had never heard of flowering tea before and was excited to try it. It comes in the little pods that you see below. You put them in a clear glass and pour water over them. As they steep, they expand to become a flowerish-type thing. I was so excited to see how this would turn out, that I had to break out the camera and flash.

During my initial photos of the pods, I was so enthralled in photographing, that I missed the electric tea kettle going off, and I had to start my water over again! Luckily, the tea was too hot to drink for awhile, so I was able to snap away without being stuck with cold tea.

I think this was a really fun experience, and the flowering tea is both beautiful and eerie at the same time. As for the taste of the tea, it was good, but I don’t think it was any better than any of the other jasmine teas that I have. I will definitely enjoy it, but I don’t know if I’d get it again.

Tutorials

Photography

I thought it might be nice to take a break from Sketchy February this week. It’s a break for you, not for me. For me, the sketching continues!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I LOVE tutorials. I’m not picky. Any Photoshop or Illustrator tutorial will do. (There might be something in there I learn that I can use to make something else…even if I already know how to create the effect the tutorial is explaining.) Because of this, I have a folder on my computer FULL of tutorials to try. Being as busy as I have been, it’s become more of a collection I need to go through more than anything. So I have very slowly been making my way through the folder. (And probably adding 20 for every one I go through!)

I had some extra time tonight, so I thought I would try an antique photo tutorial. And what better photo to try it on, than one of some friends that I haven’t seen in a long time! (This photo was taken by my husband. I don’t want to take credit for his work!)

One thing that I have been finding when going through these tutorials, is that it’s really disappointing to get a dud, and that’s what I got tonight. The person who wrote the tutorial came out with a really believable antique-looking photo, and I came out with a textured, less-saturated photo. I think a few steps were missing.

Below is the original image and the “antique” image. I ended up going rogue from the tutorial when my results were drastically different. Oh well. Although it doesn’t look believable to me as an old photograph, it’s still fun!

Yoga!

Miscellaneous, Photography

It’s Monday night and that means yoga night! Yea! I started taking yoga classes from my friend/co-worker Michele. She owns Silver Birch Yoga (www.silverbirchyoga.com) and has recently started offering classes at the Metamorphosis Meditation Center in Burnsville.

If you’ve never been to the Metamorphosis Center, it’s a really interesting space. They have a smaller room where Michele likes to hold her practices, and a larger room with a labyrinth. They also sell beads, candles, socks, and other items. The labyrinth room has a fireplace, comfy chairs, and bookshelves full of books. The bookshelves are really interesting because they contain an array of books. There are books on yoga and meditation, books on finding jobs and business, and my favorite random items, a book about the TV show Lost, and Dungeons and Dragons games. I don’t understand why the books are all there, but I love it ’cause it’s so random!

My other favorite oddity is the container that has free earplugs in it right by a basket for donations. I’m sure if you’ve been to the center for an event other than one of Michele’s classes, it probably makes sense, but as an outsider, it seems really random. And I love it!

A few weeks ago, I went to class an hour earlier to meet with Michele and take photos. Unfortunately, I really need to practice taking photos indoors. I got some really cute ones of Michele, but they are all blurry. Boo! There was also this really interesting trunk sitting below a bench full of rocks, and that photo came out blurry as well. So now I have a goal. I need to practice taking indoor photos and using my flash. I need to conquer this thing! Wish me luck.