Peace Man

Trying to find something to post today when I saw that I'd missed this one of Thomas. I'd better start taking some pictures or else I'll soon be pulling out Tucson pics from December.

Squirrel

Jonathan Fountain

I didn't have as much time composing my shot of Jonathan as you did of James, Lisa. I couldn't trust him any longer than that not to jump on in. ;-)

Thomas Tree

Thomas in a tree. His bruise is still there more than a month later. It was quite a fall.

Friends Running

Except for the trash can, I really like this shot. :-) Love Amy's goofy running and Jonathan trying his best to catch up.

Friends

Jonathan loves Amy and she's really good with him.

Perspective Lesson

This assignment was on perspective. We were to photograph this statue at 3 different distances and focal lengths keeping the statue the same size in all three.

18mm at 18 feet
50mm at 50 feet

100mm at 100 feet

In hindsight, I wish I'd used a smaller aperture, especially on the 100mm one. The trees in the background aren't as crisp as I'd like. Lesson learned.

Leading Lines, part 2

The other leading line assignment was leading lines that lead you TO a subject. Here are my two attempts.

Leading Lines, part 1

Part of our photo homework, which we shared last night, was to photograph leading lines in two different ways. This is my attempt at the first...leading lines AS my subject.

No More Pictures!

As usual, Jonathan wasn't in the mood to have his picture taken in front of a cute background.

Red Wall Buddies

Butterfly Boy

Not the manliest of backgrounds but I loved the bright colors and his smile.

Peace

Jonathan, Amy, Thomas, and James peace out.

Fast Break

Thomas and I went to watch Bethany's final basketball game of the season last week. Mom and Dad watched Jonathan for me so I could try taking some pictures without worrying about him running onto the court. What did I learn? Something I already knew...I need a faster lens! These were taken with my 50mm 1.8 lens which did a much better job than my 18-135 lens. I'm looking forward to trying some different settings and make other attempts next season.

Bethany got the ball and darted down the court with the other team trailing.
She went for it and MADE it! Good shot!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a pic of the giant singing balloon David got me for Valentine's Day along with a bunch of flowers. Any guesses on what it sings? Yep, "I've Got You Babe." And since both boys love it, we've heard that song about 50 times already. ;-)

Shutter Speed Fountain

One of our assignments was regarding shutter speed. Stopping action and blurring action. Here's one attempt from the Botanical Gardens.

Movie Watching

Thomas decided to watch one of the Star Wars movies and thought the characters and their ships would enjoy it too.

Sticker Face

While we were talking on the phone to David's parents the other night, Jonathan snuck over and started playing with Thomas' sticker book.

Airborne

As Leighann and I were finishing up on Sunday, David and the boys spotted us and came running over. I was taking a pic of something else when I happened to see David throwing Jonathan in the air. I turned and snapped the pic. Good thing my shutter speed was already set at a fast speed. I love the expression on all three of their faces.

Running Brothers

Yesterday, Leighann and I had our photography class field trip at the Botanical Gardens. David and the boys decided to come too and run around the grounds while Leighann and I were taking pictures. Just as we finished, the boys spotted us and ran up...Jonathan trying his best to keep up.

Rock Climbing, part 3

My grinning boy at the top of the "rock wall." He LOVES doing this activity and will do it at least 15 times each class.

Rock Climbing, part 2

After he gets to the top, he always goes down the slide head first.

Rock Climbing

Jonathan climbing the "rock wall" at Little Gym.

Photo Class Homework

I figured since I'd already taken these pics for my homework assignment for my photography class tonight, I'd post them here.
I used my 50 mm lens and tried to blur the background of the trains as per the assignment. Wish I could have been closer but it wouldn't focus if I did.

Then I changed the settings to make the background more evident. There's definitely a difference between the two images. Hopefully it's good enough. I'm a little nervous to have my pictures on display for 30 strangers which is weird since they're on this blog for all the world to see, but on the blog people usually only write NICE stuff. ;-)

Penguin Hi

Jonathan was watching the penguins at the zoo and this particular penguin seemed to really like him. It kept swimming up to him and trying to get his attention. It was really cute.

Zoo Bird

I was trying a new technique out to make the bars of the bird cages disappear when we were at the zoo the other day. I think it worked.

John Fonda Revisited

Remember the first John Fonda shot? Well, he did it again, but this time, he put the headband on himself. He also was pretty happy to be sneaking some Wheat Thins when he thought I wasn't looking. Mr. Fonda must eat his healthy snacks you know. ;-)

Beary Nice

Beary Nice came home from school to spend the weekend with us. He went everywhere with us and will report on his weekend tomorrow at school. It was a full weekend with the zoo, video games, the Super Bowl, David's BBQ, computer games, pool, and more. These are the two photo collages that we put in the journal to go with the write-up about the weekend. Enjoy.