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I moved to http://naomiford.wordpress.com

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12/365

So todays photo is completely by chance.  My husband I and were watching T.V., I look up and there is this little guy watching us! I had to take the shot.  This little guy made me happy, therefore it's todays photo.

ISO 1600

f/stop?

shutter speed?

Here is the redo of yesterdays photo.  I really didn't change much. Just the time of day, therefore the ISO went from ISO 400 to ISO 1600.  I like the composition of this shot better then yesterdays.  But I like the lighting of photo 10. Lighting places such a big role doesn't it?

I forgot to look at my f/stop and shutter speed. I only paid attention to the ISO..

If you were wondering, my back is better today.  Some pains, but nothing compared to yesterday.

See you tomorrow.

Technical Knowledge

One of the things that I am having a hard time with understanding in a applicable way is shutter speeds and f/stops and apertures.  If I understand correctly, apertures and f/stops are the same thing.  Anyways, I kind of get it when I am reading, but applying it is completely different.  I learn best by doing.  So in order to learn the differences in f/stops and shutter speeds, I am going to start recording them, and labeling them in my blogs.  My goal is to learn (obviously) and hopefully be able to use them to my advantage creatively in the future.

Honestly, I wish I could afford to take a class or two.  I have a friend that live near by me that are photographers, we have just recently started getting together about once a month to go on a "walkabout" with our cameras. He has been a photographer for many years.  He is teaching me these aspects (or attempting too) I am having a hard time grasping.  I am going to see about find a group or community close by...like a hiking club, but with cameras and tripods and the like.  I know flickr has groups, but they are toward DC, I would like to find one a tad closer to me, even though I am not to far from DC. Mainly because I live just far enough away that there will be more times then not for to miss a "gathering" with the flickr group.

There is so much.  Thank goodness I love to learn.

10/365

I hurt my back this morning.  The pains from whatever I did sent me home from work early today.  With that said, todays photo journey was particularly difficult.  The thought of trying to move around an object, or go for a walk trying to find that "one" shot, well it wasn't a happy thought thats for sure!  So I decided to find something around the house to photograph. I thought a pile of nuts would be fun. It wasn't. Not because I didn't like my subject, but because as I was moving around my back was really hurting.  So I didn't spend as much time setting up, or composing this particular shot.  This was my best out of about 8 shots.  I know thats not a lot, but like I said, I am in pain.  Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully a pain free day.  And I will retry this shot, because I really do like the texture.

Wish me luck

9/365

I had a hard time trying to decide what I was going to shot today.  It didn't help that I didn't give it much thought before this afternoon.  And I find that when I am tired, I don't care.  So I was sitting on the couch after many efforts with coins, wondering why I didn't like the pictures I had taken.  Wondering what I was going to do.  In the corner of the room the light had hit my cat's toys just right. The way the sun hit them, sang to my eyes.  Then it was a matter of how would I take the shot.  I went straight on, vertical, from above.  None of them made me happy. Going at them at an angle was just the ticket.  I never thought that I would spend so much time on a floor taking several pictures of cat toys.

8/365

Here is TODAYS!! and I had so much fun!! I am really liking capturing white.  If you can't tell, I choose eggs. I stacked them in a small bowl and proceeded to take as many different angle shots.  I set a small tv tray table by my back door, and used my white apple laptop as a "reflector" of sorts.  I am not sure if my "reflector" really made a difference.   Maybe some day soon I will let myself afford one, or make one myself.  Will see.

7/365

Ok, this one is a picture of me.  My first self portrait. I had a very difficult time with this one.  I had a hard time getting the focus accurate. As you see in this one, the focus is on my hair and the rest is slightly out of focus.  I have asked for some advise with my flickr friends, and have gotten some good feedback. If anyone has additional advise on self portraits, please comment.

6/365

This is a freshly painted white door.  I liked the lines, and the idea of photographing something all white.  I had fun.

5/365

First snow day of the year. December 5th 2009 in NOVA

4/365

Dried rose petals. I saved them from all the flowers that my now husband use to send me while we were dating. I have them in a glass jar. This is the top view.  I am not sure if I like this one.  I think I could have done better

3/365

This one was taken as I was going home for my break. I work at a school and it was recess time, here in VA the weather is very bipolar. So the it was randomly a warm day, so all the kids through the their jackets off. I loved the colors and the angle, it just sang to me. The difficulty I had was figuring out the glare.  I couldn't seem to move in a way that took it out of the shot

2/365

This one is the roof of a wooden mushroom European incense house that was given to me when I was three. I love it, it reminds me of the smurfs. Which was one of my favorite cartoons as a child.
I had a hard time taking this shot, because it is my first "still" photograph.  I took so many shots at so many angles.  I wanted to give up. I am glad I didn't

1/365

I love the texture of this shot. I didn't catch what kind of plant this is. I was to focused on the image itself. Photo was taken at Greensprings Garden Park in Annandale, Virginia

What is the Project...

I started a photography project this month. A photo a day for 365 days. Now this isn't to catch my life in pictures every day for a year. I am using this project as a way to improve my creative and technical skills in the world of photography. I am posting them on my flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_naomi/. Yesterday I decided that it would be a great idea if I blogged my experience during this process, what kind of difficulties I have, what I have learned and why I choose the subject I did. Also, each month I will pick a different theme. For the month of December, my "theme" is 360 degrees. Meaning that I will take one object and learn how to shoot from all the different angles to try to find the best picture.

Since this is Day 8 of my project, I will post the first pictures with slight detail.