Beach Bum

Time for more Florida pictures! I was going to hold off on the beach pictures, they are my favorite. Build up the suspense, so to speak. But I could not hold off any longer! Most of these turned out great. Below are a few of my favorites. We only got to spend one day at the beach, but we made the most of it.

I can't quite figure out what it is about this picture. It's not one of the best ones, but it just seems to capture the realness (is that a word?) of the moment. It shows the scenery, the footprints, the toys, the movement, and Brandon just lost in his playtime.

I tried and tried to capture this moment. It was not easy! Granted, 3 year olds are only so cooperative for so long. But I finally caught it! I love the focus on Brandon with the ocean in the background, slightly blurry. I love the angle of his head looking out on the water, contemplating who knows what? The magnitude of the world around him? I doubt it, but it's a nice thought :) I do not like the splatter of dark sand in the middle of his back. But it's real-a boy at the beach.

This is one of my absolute favorites! I was trying so long to get the aforementioned pic of him looking out on the water, I almost forgot to get his precious face! This one turned out wonderful. He's clear, the water is blurry in background. I wish I had made note of the camera settings to share. I will work on that in the future.

I love this one simply for his body language. Knowing him and his mannerisms, I can tell he's having the best time watching those waves! I can only picture the huge grin on the other side of his head!

Love that I caught this one camera! I had no idea what the expression was saying, but it was great all the same. When Brandon saw this photo just now, he said, "Oooo, cold!" So that's that. He was suprised by the cold!

This shot I struggled with. I was really trying to go with a different angle (as mentioned in previous blogs as a challenge). But I just couldn't seem to get it right. This was the best of the bunch. What are your thoughts?

  I couldn't decide which I liked best of these two. They both have some good qualities. 

Lastly, we made sure to leave a mark! I love this photo! It captures everything that was great about that day!!



I hope you enjoyed a few more photos from our trip to Florida. It would've been even better if I could've taken more family members down there!

Lastly, a question for my subscribers-Do you think the photos are large enough? Would it be helpful to have a larger photo posted, even if it slows down loading? Please share your thoughts with me.

Please remember to give me feedback! I want your thoughts, criticism, and advice to help me become a better photographer! Help me on my journey of chasing dreams!

Nicole

2/25/11-The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box. ~Henri Cartier Bresson

You Capture-Anything that starts with 'L'

Ok, so fellow You Capturers, this one was tough. With so many potential choices, it made the decision making much harder. But I totally loved it! This is only my second entry, but I very much enjoyed the creativity that went along with this challenge. I can't wait to see the other entries!

This week's topic was Anything that starts with 'L'.

Laughter

Lightsaber

Lashes

Lipstick

I really enjoyed this one! Check out some more 'L' photos at:

Nicole

You Capture-Warmth

I've decided to participate in the You Capture weekly photo challenge. I thought it would be an excellent way to improve my photography, as well as see lots of beautiful photos to keep me motivated and inspire creativity! This week's topic was warmth.

So when I think warmth, I think sunny days and playing outside with my son. And thankfully, Georgia weather provided this week for the warmth topic. Brandon and I got to play outside and I tried to snap a few pics that 'capture' warmth for me.

A sure sign of a warm day, wearing shades! Even Brandon, who never wants to wear his!

Gorgeous warm day, requiring shades!

Warmth means the toes get to peek out! Flip- flops! Love these days! (this pic would not rotate, sorry!)

Love a bubble blowing day!

Brandon loves to chase and pop the bubbles.

Playing anything with him just warms my heart <3

Hope you enjoyed my pictures today! Check out some other great photos at the links below! And join in the photo challenge!

Nicole



Florida Memories

Ok, so time to see more shots from my trip to Florida. I really tried to do some new techniques there and I'm happy with the results. It's motivated me to keep thinking outside of the box and see what happens. I'm looking for more new things to try. Any suggestions are welcome! Also requests! Is there something you want me to photograph or a skill to try? Send me inspiration!

When I saw this gorgeous sunset, I was so happy I brought the camera! Catching the right shot was the key though. I like this one, but it's not my favorite. I like the ducks on the water in the shot, but the photo just seems unbalanced.

This, however, is my favorite shot. I love the color in the sky and the reflection on the water. I hate that stupid sign blocking the water though. I need to invest in Photoshop! Otherwise, love this photo.

I took at least 16 shots of just this bird trying to capture the right one. I was still attempting to catch an uncentered shot, as mentioned in my last blog. Going off-center is hard for me because I just prefer things centered. This one is slightly off-center and turned out ok.

Here's me going back to my normal shots, but they do work for me, so never forget about what you already have learned! So here, centered and up close, just the way I like it. This required a long zoom in and a steady hand. If you have a camera with optical zoom, it's a wonderful tool! It allows you to catch amazing things that are far away, without having to zoom and crop on your computer later and possibly losing picture quality. But you do have to practice at keeping steady because the camera will not do it for you when zooming in from really far off. I love this photo, the details of the bird and even the wind plowing his feathers and giving him a cute hairstyle :) Not to mention how much he curves his long neck, it looks painful!

Now he stretches that long neck out for us! Again I stayed with a zoomed and centered (mostly) photo. All of the off center photos I attempted caused his white feathers to glare and be unclear. I will share examples below.

I guess it's only fair if I share my mistakes as well. Learn from them! As you can see, the glare on the bird completely ruins the shot. I could not find a way around this other than to zoom in closer. Share your knowledge with me photographers. What else could I have done to get this shot?

This one is better, but the bird is out of focus. I was not able to replicate this one shot, so I went back to the zoom and center shots already shared.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. There are more photos to come! Also, please remember you can click on the photograph to see a larger image. As always, please provide me with feedback on photos and the blog!

"You don't take a photograph.  You ask, quietly, to borrow it."  ~Author Unknown

Nicole