Checking the Mail -- Day 178

Some days I take several kinds photos and can't decide which one to post. :) Today I got photos of Em and El, shot a corn field on my way home from work, and two bluebirds perched outside on the electric line. I chose to post Emelyn getting the mail, because I love pictures of little kids doing everyday things that adults would think are boring, but making it look so fun. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/400 sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 100, Focal Length 119.0 mm

Special Cherries -- Day 177

Yep, today is my special day. This is part of my breakfast. I love Bing Cherries! This plate is a big part of family celebrations at our house. For as long as I can remember Mom has gotten it out on birthday's and the birthday person gets to use it. For many years Amber and I shared the plate, taking turns using it on our birthday,  until eventually Mom found a second one on ebay. :) Now we each have our own for our special day. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/80 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100, Focal Length 55.0 mm.

The Annie Charge! -- Day 176 -- Winner of Viewer's Choice Poll

My creativity seems to be dwindling. If anyone has any ideas for things I can capture, let me know.
Maybe I was just tired today, but I really didn't know what to take a photo of. I don't have any little siblings who are cute and cooperative, so I had to use the dog. She was cute, but not exactally cooperative, but at least she doesn't whine like a child. :) I made her sit across the field and then told her to come. She didn't come to me, but at least I got a photo of her. She ran on past me until she got to the end of her leash. :) My focus was a little off and I still haven't figured out how to get good sharp photos in the evening. The sun was still above the horizon, but still not bright enough for a fast shutter speed. Oh well, I guess this photo depicts motion. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/100 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 84.0 mm.

Cloudy Sky -- Day 175

This evening the clouds rolled in and we got a short shower of rain that cooled things off. :) This photo was taken before the rain. I messed with the contrast quite a bit, so this doesn't really depict what it really looked like. I like the high contrast and they deep blue sky.

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/500 sec, Aperture f/20, ISO 100, Focal Length 31.0 mm.

White Wall Tires -- Day 174

Tonight Dad, Amber and I went to a reception/question and answer time/dessert party for Jack Goodman, one of our candidates for United States Congress [If you live in Missouri, look him up. He's the man for the job!]. Some friends of ours arrived with their friends who own an old Packard. :) Old cars are pretty and I decided to get a photo of the white wall tires for my photo today. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/60 sec, Aperture f/6.3, ISO 200, Focal Length 28.0 mm.

Apricot -- Day 173

The apricot trees at the rental house across the street are ripe and ready for picking. :) No one lives in the house and we've picked the apricots a few times before. Today Ben and Daniel spent a couple hours out in the heat picking apricots, shaking the limbs and collecting them from the ground. Now we have piles of these cute little fruits. They taste good too. :) Ben posed for this shot. That was actually my apricot that I had taken a bite out of. I just couldn't get a good picture while holding it, so I asked him to do the honors. And his shirt made a perfect backdrop. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/500 sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 200, Focal Length 180.0 mm.

Silhouetted Friends -- Day 172

My two best friends looking out over the valley just before sunset. We had been taking a walk and I needed a photo, so they agreed to pose for me. First we tried shadow's of all three of us, but that didn't turn out as good as I'd have liked, so I told them I'd get a silhouette. I didn't think it turned out very well, but as I've said before it's easy for my thoughts toward my photos to change once I get them into the editing program. :) So here it is girls!

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/160 sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 100, Focal Length 130.0 mm, Edited to remove one spot from lens flare.

Marbles -- Day 171

I got out my tripod, a bag of marbles, a sheet of copy paper, a couple light sources, and of course my camera  and came up with this photo. It didn't look like this straight off the camera though, I did a lot of editing in Dynamic Photo HDR.

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/20 sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 100, Focal Length 218.0 mm.

Baby "Beans" -- Day 170

About a month ago Camryn, Emelyn, Ellise and I took a walk and found a puddle of tadpoles. We collected a bunch of them so we could watch them grow and this is a photo of the only one who grew legs. I added water to the tadpole habitat several times, but regretfully I forgot over the weekend and by the time I remembered this morning, all the tadpoles were dried up. :( Of course their puddle dried up weeks ago, so I guess they lived longer than they would have. :) Anyway this lone little guy was lucky enough to survive the drought since he had already acquired his legs, but sadly he also died today, shortly after taking this photo. I don't know why, maybe he was handled to much? We buried him in the flower garden next to a pink petunia. After he died, Camryn promptly named him "Beans" after the bullfrog who died in the 2003 movie version of Cheaper By the Dozen.

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/250 sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 100, Focal Length 55.0 mm.

Green Beans in the Raw -- Day 169

Today I'm being lazy. We were snapping the ends off of 7lbs of beans from our garden and instead of thinking up something creative to take a photo of, I decided to get  a closeup of a pile of beans. Not very exciting, but very yummy. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/2 sec, Aperture f/5.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 31.0 mm

Drinking Fountain -- Day 168

Today after church, Christy rediscovered the drinking fountain. I had tried to get a good shot of her a couple weeks ago, but didn't have sufficient lighting. Today I was able to use an external flash to bounce some light off of the wall and ceiling. Oh the joys of a toddler and water! :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/60 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100, Focal Length 45.0 mm, Canon Speedlite 420EX bounce flash.

Pool Girl -- Day 167

We went to a family reunion today and cousin Janet had a great big pool that we all enjoyed to the fullest. Definitely the best way to spend a really hot and humid day in Oklahoma. This is my 2nd cousin, Rylee. I love how this photo turned out. I wasn't really thinking about a photo of the day when I took it, but when I got home and looked at it on the big screen it was perfect. The aqua color of the water, her goggles and suit are just great together. I'm also glad I was able to catch her natural expression. She was looking directly at the camera, but not with a cheesy grin. :) I like that!

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/1000 sec, Aperture f/11, ISO 400, Focal Length 259.0 mm.

Tiger Lily -- Day 166

I haven't posted a flower photo in a while. :) The Tiger Lilies are blooming in our yard, so I thought I'd feature it them today. I procrastinated about taking a photo today, so dusk was about here when I finally went outside. I'm surprised this turned out at clear as it did. Hand holding a camera and taking a non-fuzzy shot at 1/15 of a second isn't always easy. 

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/15 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 400, Focal Length 18.0 mm, Noise Reduction applied with Neat Image.

Slip 'n' Slide -- Day 165

Today we entertained ourselves with water again. This time with the water slide. I slid a few times, but spent most of the time catching some action shots of the kids. Camryn enjoyed seeing how far he could slide across the grass once he got past the end of the slide. :D

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/200 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100, Focal Length 141.0 mm.

A Splash of Summer -- Day 164

I've been spending a lot of time outside with the kids lately. Today I got the camera out with the long lens (to keep it as far from the pool as possible) to capture some of the fun. Ellise was having a great time jumping off the steps to the hot tub and into the blow-up wading pool. Splash! I love her expression and the frozen water. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/320 sec, Aperture f/6.3, ISO 100, Focal Length 114.0 mm.

Culver's for Luke -- Day 163

Did you know you can get a free custard sundae for your birthday at Culver's? Today Amber and I took Luke on his birthday date to get his sundae. He chose the flavor of the day "Turtle" topped with Oreo's and Heath Bars. He shared a bite with me and it was tasty!

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/125 sec, Aperture f/4.5, ISO 100, Focal Length 35.0 mm.

Quilting Time -- Day 162

On Day 35 I posted another photo of this project and it is now nearing completion. Quilting has begun. I took this photo myself as I was quilting. My camera was propped on my quilt and I used the self timer to push the shutter. I'm actually surprised it turned out this good. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/1.3 sec, Aperture f/25, ISO 100, Focal Length 55.0 mm.

Fireflies -- Day 161 -- Winner of Viewer's Choice Poll

Today we had company and my brother's got to stay up late and catch fireflies. Usually they are already in bed, when dusk and the fireflies arrive. I tried to get a photo of them, and this one turned out pretty good, I wanted one with more of them lighting up, but the poor things had been in the jar long enough that they weren't too active anymore. Or maybe they had found their mate and didn't have any reason to light up anymore. :) I applied a Dry Brush filter to this photo in Photoshop 7.0

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 30 sec, Aperture f/5.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 18.0 mm. Tripod and remote shutter were used for this shot.

Helicopter Ride -- Day 160

There's an annual festival going on at the park near our house. You can go and get a helicopter ride for $35. We've been hearing the helicopter fly over our house every 10 minutes or so throughout the day. I finally got out there one time to catch a photo of it. I wonder if the driver and passenger saw me taking their picture. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/640 sec, Aperture f/8.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 300.0 mm

My Dog -- Day 159

This is what Annie looks like whenever I go outside without her. She's truly MY dog (and Amber's). She doesn't care what everyone else is doing, if Amber or I walk out to the yard she follows us from window to window. I really think she feels like she has to watch over us and that is why she goes crazy. I guess we need to work more on establishing us as the pack leaders. :D

  Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/25 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 100.0 mm.

Three Strawberries -- Day 158

Today I picked 3 strawberries from our strawberry patch. They were a little too tart, but cute enough for a photo. :) 

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/500 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100, Focal Length 55.0 mm.

Luke on his Birthday -- Day 157 -- Winner of Viewer's Choice Poll

Today is my brother, Luke's 12th birthday. I try to get a photo of each of my siblings on their birthday, so I took Luke (and Daniel just in case I needed some humor to make Luke smile) and we went in search of a perfect spot. We chose the old chicken coop behind our neighbor's house. Luke was a good sport and I only needed Daniel a time or two. :D

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/40 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 88.0 mm.

Stretch -- Day 156

I'm home again, after a weekend away, and I'm again falling back on my alphabet project because I don't have any other ideas for a photo (I'm also trying to get all these photos taken so that everyone will believe me that I really am almost done:)). "Stretch" the ostrich gets to be my subject for "O" since I don't have a zoo nearby. :) He's so much cuter than a real ostrich anyway.

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/400 sec, Aperture f/4.5, ISO 100, Focal Length 135.0 mm.

Dutch Blitz -- Day 155 -- Winner of Viewer's Choice Poll

We spent a lot of time playing Dutch Blitz today. By the time we were done, we had all gained speed and everyone had won at least a couple rounds. Jessa was too young to understand how to play so we let her tell us when to start. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, GO!" She enjoyed her job and would just sit and watch the rest of the time. :) For this photo I wanted to focus on her as the subject, so I decided to change everyone else to black and white. I really like how it turned out.

Photo details: Canon Powershot G5, Exposure time 1/60 sec, Aperture f/2.0, ISO Auto, Focal Length 7.19 mm, Canon Speedlite 420EX bounce flash, Edited in Photoshop 7.0.

Strawberry Girl -- Day 154

Emily and I enjoyed a visit to the strawberry patch Sunday evening. I was wanting to get a picture of a juicy red berry, but since Emily was with me I gave up that idea and got her to eat one for the camera. She enjoyed it to the fullest and amazed me at how long it took her to eat that one berry. I guess I'm used to boys who would have eaten it and been gone before I could snap two photos. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/1250 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 800, Focal Length 104.0 mm.

An Engagement -- Day 153

We almost ended up canceling our weekend trip, but we decided to go anyway even though several things came up that seemed to be stopping us from going. When Saturday arrived we were so glad we were there with the family. Jake proposed to Hannah that evening and we were there to join in the celebrations and to hear the stories of how God brought them together. It's truly amazing how everything turned out and we were glad to be a part of it. Here Hannah shares a bible verse with Jake shortly after his proposal.

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/ sec, Aperture f/, ISO , Focal Length .0 mm

Yu's Yummy Pizza -- Day 152

Amber and I went to stay the weekend with our second family. We arrived to find that pizza was in the works for supper. Our "sister," Hannah (aka "Yu"),  makes some really good pizza. I think it may be even better than the pizza Amber and I make. Here is Carter enjoying Yu's Yummy Pizza.

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/ sec, Aperture f/, ISO , Focal Length .0 mm.

Venus -- Day 151

I took this photo and didn't like it in the preview screen so I took another one of my Dad's socket wrenches (He was working on my car) that I planned to post, but when I got this one on the computer and edited, I liked how it looked. :) The main celestial body in this photo is Venus, but you can also see, Wasat, k Gem, u Gem, l Gem, 57 Gem, b Gem, 64 Gem, and λ Gem, all stars in the constellation Gemini.

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 30 sec, Aperture f/6.3, ISO 100, Focal Length 70.0 mm, Tripod.

Spaghetti -- Day 150

Today I was again collecting alphabet photos. :) N is for noodles was next on my list. I took a photo of macaroni noodles while at work and then came home to find that we were having spaghetti for supper, and photographed those noodles too. I have decided to use my spaghetti photo instead of my macaroni photo for the ABC project. I took a plain noodle picture and then added the meatballs which makes for a way better photo of the day. :)

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/ sec, Aperture f/, ISO , Focal Length .0 mm.

Candy Machine -- Day 149

C is for Candy. You guys thought I was almost done with the aphabet huh? I'm not going in order as you may have figured out. :) Amber and I went to get our car inspected and this candy machine was in the waiting room. I already had an older candy picture, but decided to take a new one. So here it is. This machine featured my favorites. Skittles and M&M's

Photo details: Canon EOS Digital Rebel, Exposure time 1/ sec, Aperture f/, ISO , Focal Length .0 mm