JP Photography

August Favorites

2010-08-26T20:40:00.005-04:00

August was filled with the NC Zoo, Duke Gardens, and new product!!

Laurie, Chad, Maggie, and Laci

2010-08-08T12:35:00.004-04:00

I am still VERY new to the art of photography. I have only owned a dSLR camera for 10 months and have been shooting in complete manual mode for about that amount of time. I am learning to set the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, metering, and other settings for each photo. Most people let the camera make these decisions for them, but being able to change these settings gives the photographer more creative control. It is a long process and lots of trial and error. On top of that I am learning to edit my pictures in photoshop so that I end up with a clean and appealing photo.

Because of my newness, I am willing to take on anything a friend or family member throws at me. This week it is a good friend of my sister. I was asked to take pictures of this lovely couple and their two dogs. I was lucky to have very nice and laid back people to work with for my first 'stranger' shoot. It was quite hot, but I believe despite the heat, we were able to capture the happiness of this family.

Friday Afternoon

2010-08-08T12:27:00.004-04:00

My Friday afternoons are my 'Me' time. I get to do what ever I want, Husband and Daughter free. It's usually a time I will play around with my camera and take field trips to different places. This past Friday I visted Anderson Point Park again with my Brother. I was able to find a few butterflies that would pose for the camera. These turned out nicely.

And a self-portrait. I never have pictures taken of myself, so I tried one on my own. This is the camera set up on the tripod with a remote shutter release. I edited with a light pastel overlay and think it adds a nice dreamy feel.

Bethany's 5 Product Shoot

2010-08-02T20:37:00.012-04:00

I was asked by Bethany's 5 (Bethany's 5) to take some photos for her Facebook Fan page and Etsy.com store. She corchets amazing hats. This round is for her Halloween line and are adorable animals. When looking for models, I was able to connect with a very old friend and have her beautiful 6 month old daughter model for us. We also used a few of Bethany's children as models. I had such a fun time and am so thankful for the experiance and challenge!

Adult Hat

Bear

Elephant

Fuzzy Hat and Basket Fringe

Giraffe

Lion

Lion

Pear and Basket Fringe

Pear

Pumpkin and Basket Fringe

Unicorn and Rainbow Basket Fringe

Individual Hats

Giraffe

Lion

Unicorn

Elephant

Pumpkin

Pear

Photos from July

2010-07-31T13:13:00.006-04:00

Anderson Point Park, Raleigh

2010-07-31T10:43:00.005-04:00

These are from my trip to Anderson Point Park. It was a lovely time walking around and I found some amazing spots for future shoots!

Raleigh Sky Line

2010-06-27T09:27:00.005-04:00

I just realized I never shared my skyline photos from a couple of weeks ago. These aren't awesome, but interesting none the less.

Horseshoe Park

2010-06-26T21:16:00.006-04:00

Horeshoe park is a lovely park down the road from our house. It is just an open field with some beautiful apple trees, wooded areas, and a fun open barn. We decided to take Rylee there one evening in hopes of getting some nice shots. Well, she wanted nothing to do with it. So instead I captured this beautiful landscape and sun shots.

And earlier that morning I caught this adorable photo of Rylee...

Some Resents

2010-06-26T21:05:00.006-04:00

I was backing out of my driveway one morning and I saw a very pretty spot in my neighbor's yard. I thought it would be a great spot for Rylee's 2 year portrait. I was right. I turned out to be very nice. These are a few of my favorites.

Some cute out takes

Been a While

2010-06-19T12:34:00.008-04:00

So, without going into too much, I just haven't felt motivated to get out and shoot. I have gotten some neat photos from my photography class. I really think it's the heat. I LOVE taking pictures outside and it's just too hot to do that. (excuses excuses). Well, I will just share some of my favorites over the past month and a half.

So Fragrent

2010-05-01T12:38:00.000-04:00

I DID get a few shots of the roses before I started taking pictures of my brother. Here are a few of my favorites.

My Cute Brother

2010-05-01T11:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my normal field trip day. My brother tagged along and I was excited to have some company. It started out normal...two people with cameras not paying any attention to each other. Then, we got over to a nice over hang and I asked if I could take his picture. It turned into a 'Scottie Photoshoot'. I enjoyed it and I hope he did to. It was just really nice to have a stationary subject!! I hope he lets me practice on him more, he sure is a cutie.

Bubbles Everywhere

2010-04-28T20:52:00.000-04:00

Today Rylee's bubble machine arrived in the mail. It boasts that it can produce 5,000 bubbles per minute. Not sure if that's accurate, but it sure does make a lot of bubbles.

I found that bubbles are a very hard thing to photograph, not that it was my soul purpose.

I caught this really neat photo of a single bubble as it floated to the ground. You can actually see my reflection.

Here are two of Rylee amazed by the bubbles.

And our neighbor's dog Roscoe and Rylee. She LOVES this dog.

Rylee took off to follow Daddy and left Roscoe all by himself.

Rylee's Garden

2010-04-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

For maybe a year or more we have had this empty baker's rack on our porch. It was my grandfather's. It was put here because it really had no where else to go. So, in my eagerness to pretty up the house I decided to give Rylee a flower garden. We packed up and went to Walmart last night to buy flowers and pots. This morning when we woke up we began planting our flowers.

Rylee is a good helper, though she just wanted to move the dirt back and forth between the pots....

After all the plants were potted, the rack still didn't feel right. So, we looked around the house and the attic to find different additions to the pots.

Here is the final product.

On a side, I hope we're able to get out and about this weekend, though I don't think the weather will hold out for us. Our hope was to head out to Ray's work to visit the sheep that eat the grass at the SAS Solar field, but it may be another weekend trip.

Raleigh Rose Garden

2010-04-23T20:43:00.001-04:00

With an amazing job comes amazing benefits....half day Fridays!! I have now turned my normal "Mommy's Time" into a mini field trip for myself. I am finding different places around Raleigh to take photos. I have been to a family farm, the Arboritum, and local parks.

Today when trying to decide where to head after work I decided to try the Raleigh Rose Gardens. I did not know if there would be any blooms yet, but I did know that it is a very pretty place to be. Thankfully when I drove down the road, there was plenty of parking! I made my way down the old stairs and down to the gardens.

I saw that a wedding was being set up down the main isle way and around the foutain. I would have LOVED to take some pictures there, but I didn't want to get in their way.

There are rows and rows of rose bushes. Not all were in bloom, but I did find some very pretty ones budding and beginning to bloom.

After finding so many pretty flowers, I made my way to the stone archway around the back of the garden.

At the back of the garden I found another neat staircase. This one is actually my first go at cloning out 'stuff' in a photo. I took out a lamp post and a phone pole. Not a great job, but I think it turned out OK.

After taking enough pictures to fill up my SD card, I made my way back to the car. At the top of the stairs, across the street I saw this amaizing tree. It has seen many years.

I can't wait to make it back there again, maybe it will be my next week's field trip as well! I didn't get to see everything I wanted.

Until next time.

First Post!

2010-04-23T20:28:00.000-04:00

As my interest in photography has grown in to a full fledged hobby, I thought I would find another outlet to share my photograhs.

I have always been interested in photos. My house is full of other people's pictures. I have always enjoyed seeing different things and places I had never seen before. But, my daughter is the reason I stepped from in front of the pictures to behind the camera. Seeing her grow so quickly, I wanted to capture as much as possible. My interestests have now grown into nature and landscape photography.

It has now been 6 months since I first picked up a Digital SLR camera. I now take it with me whenever I leave the house. I am getting to see my city and community more because I make special trips to places I would have never gone by myself. It has opened my eyes to a different way of viewing the world.

I look forward to sharing what I see with those interested.