My Sweetest Things » Photography

Weekly Winners ~ July 18th-24th

Donna — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:14:39 +0000

Sunday Morning Pancakes.

Wish I May, Wish I Might.

Sew.La.Te.Da.

Ginobili.

Swirltastic.

You Spin Me Right Round Baby.

Color Splash.

Reflection of Me.

For more Weekly Winners and to be inspired visit Lotus!

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Weekly Winners July 11th – 17th

Donna — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:58:53 +0000

Photos taken this week with my Iphone Hipstamatic App

Sweet Ginobili.

It was a dark stormy night….

Hello Belle.

Couples Night.

On My Way to Work.

Muffins for the Office.

Saturday Salon.

Mod Podge.

Blue Moon Saturday Night.

To see more weekly winners and to be inspired, visit Lotus!

It’s all good. ~Donna

Weekly Winners July 4th-10th

Donna — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:18:35 +0000

Poppy gets fashion pass on Flag Shorts and Belt for the 4th!

Mariposa

Hot!

Cool.

Saturday Night Drive-In.

High Gravity.

Double Feature.

Love Summer Nights.

To see more weekly winners and to be inspired visit Lotus!

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Weekly Winners June 27 – July 3

Donna — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:51:53 +0000

At Work. After 5

I Meow for Ice Cream.

Lazy Day.

July 1st! Already?

Hibachi.

As he said in A Christmas Story..

Sidewalk Smiley.

Afternoon at the Fox.

Glitters Gold.

Blue.

What a wonderful week! To see more weekly winners, visit Lotus!

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Weekly Winners

Donna — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:30:10 +0000

I am very excited to join “Weekly Winners”. It is the creation of Lotus aka Sarcastic Mom. Every week from Sunday to Saturday you take photos, pick your favorites and post them on her site to share. It’s a great idea and it encourages me to take my camera everywhere I go. I discovered Weekly Winners from visiting one of my favorite photographers Mishelle Lane aka Secret Agent Mama. This will be a good thing since I’ll be taking a lot more photos and practicing with my action sets knowing I have to post on Sunday. I have photos from weeks ago I have not gotten to yet! Thank you Lotus and Thank you Mishelle.

Yes Please.

At the office.

Living in the ATL!

Saturday Morning Coffee.

Weekend Project.

Afternoon Delight!

To see more weekly winners please click here!

It’s all good. ~Donna

I Heart Faces Photowalk – Atlanta

Donna — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:14:07 +0000

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to grab a spot in the I heart faces photography Photo Walk. This was the first year the event was held with 20 cities participating. I am a huge fan of I heart faces and I joined as a member earlier this year. The I heart faces group has been a wonderful resource for all things photography. The members are so helpful in answering questions and there are so many tips and techniques that are shared.

The Atlanta walk was held in Oakland Cemetery. I have lived in Atlanta for 15 years and this was my first visit. Oakland Cemetery is the oldest cemetery, as well as one greenest spaces in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded as “Atlanta Cemetery” in 1850 on six acres of land southeast of the city. The cemetery was renamed in 1872 to reflect the large number of oak and magnolia trees growing in the area. It is truly a beautiful last resting place.

I was happy to meet our group leaders Dawn Camp and Mishelle Lane. They both were so kind and very helpful in answering questions and sharing information to help those who have jumped into the Digital Camera world. Go Canon! They both are bloggers so scoot over to My Home Sweet Home and Secret Agent Mama and check out their amazing photography skills. You will be inspired for sure!

Here are the images I collected on our Photo Walk. I had a such a great time and I look forward to next year when I hope we get to do it all over again!

Guess who I found?!

That’s me down there! Thanks to Mishelle for the photo!

I heart faces – Atlanta Walk Photographers! Thanks to Heather for the photo! Truly terrific time meeting such wonderful inspiring photographers!

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Nifty 50

Donna — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:51:18 +0000

The Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II Camera Lens is a super great buy for around $100. It is one of my favorite lenses. With that lens I was able to capture this shot…

Hello Pretty!

50mm standard lens with f/1.8 maximum aperture
Lens is extremely sharp
Focuses as close as 18 inches for extreme close-ups
Ideal for natural-looking shots; excellent color balance

This a fixed focal lens which means the focal length cannot be adjusted. No zoom here. If you would like more or less of the object or scenery in your photo, you will have to move yourself around to get your shot.

Totally worth the money!

Here’s a peek at how I took the two Canon Image Shots above…..

I used a sheet of white paper on my front porch at 9:00 am.

Here is my supervisor Ginobili at the front door, making sure I get it right.

Thanks Canon for a super great lens, at a super great buy!

It’s all good~Donna

Photo Collage using Picnik

Donna — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:26:05 +0000

I am a fan of Photo Collages. When you take over 200 photos of your son’s Senior Prom, they are a GREAT way to group the special moments together for display. I am slowly learning to use Photoshop but a real quick and easy way for me to create a quick collage is by using Picnik. Picnik is a wonderful FREE photo editing site that is so simple and fun to use! They offer many features for post processing photos and allow you to correct images, frame them, add text or cute stickers. They offer advanced options for $24.95 a year which I find to be a great deal for all the use I get from it. Take a peek at Picnik and have fun with it!

There are so many different collage options with different frame setups. All I did to create the collage was drag the photos I wanted into the boxes and picked the color of the border and the spacing between the photos.

I used the Polaroid Action for this set.

Polaroid again. This is one of my favorite actions. Thanks to my son Andrew and his girlfriend Chelsea for being such great sports as Mom clicked away. Senior Prom 2010. If you are looking for a simple post editing software I highly recommend using Picnik. If you give it a try and have any questions just let me know and I’d be happy to help you out!

It’s all good. ~Donna

Hipstamatic iPhone App

Donna — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:33:13 +0000

I have discovered the coolest photography application for the iPhone! Hipstamatic. It has made using my iPhone camera so fun and I find myself using it instead of the regular camera feature.

The cost of the app is $1.99 and there are options to buy different lenses and films. It’s really easy to use. When you purchase the app it will load an icon on your iPhone screen and you will use that icon to take a photo instead of using your camera option. When you click the Hipstamatic icon, the photo above is what it will look like on your phone screen. If you click the film button on the left it will give you options to change the photo for different looks. If you slide your finger across the camera lens, you change the lens type. Photos taken in Hipstamatic can be downloaded directly to Facebook, Flicker or emailed. SWEET! The shopping cart is to make purchases for more lenses or film types. Most run .99! Good buy for so much fun!

Kodot Verichrome is a film option which will put a rough edge around your photo and add a vintage look to your prints. Here are a few samples of Kodot Verichome…

Lens: John S
Film: Kodot Verichrome
Flash: Off

Lens: John S
Film: Kodot Verichrome
Flash: Standard

Hipstamatic also has different lens features. I prefer the John S lens which I used for the two photos above. It has a camera flash setting that will brighten a photo for you as well.

Lens: John S
Film: BlacKeys B+W
Flash: Off

I love the BlacKeys B + W film! It gives your photos a monotone look and stamps the month and date on the side of your print. Cute!

It even makes a colander look interesting!

I LOVE what it did with these Diner Stools!

Regular photo using the iPhone camera. Boring photo of a parrot in a liquor store. Yes, there was a parrot in a liquor store we stopped in!

Jazzing things up with Hipstamatic!

Haha! Finish! Perfect for the end of this post. I am crazy about this app. Give it a try! You will love it too!

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Canon Speedlite 430EX II

Donna — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:08:05 +0000

This past Christmas I was very happily surprised with a new toy! A Canon Speedlite 430EX II. I am not a fan of using flash when I take photographs but there are times when setting up the tripod is not an option especially for a quick in home shot. I did some research and heard good things about the 430EX II and maybe said out loud a few times..”I have been looking at camera flashes” and someone (my generous husband) heard me (there must not have been a football game on at the time) and now that baby is in my pretty little hands!

The flash is very easy to add to your camera. It slides right into the shoe on top and locks in place. Of course I did not read the manual, I was anxious to try it so I just turned it on and took a few shots to test it out. Please note that these photos have had no color adjustments made to them. Just a slight sharpen and crop.

This is the first shot. This is Toby and it was DARK in our living room and night outside. No lights on. Pretty Neat Huh?

The 430EX II head can be moved up from 0 – 90° (5 settings), left from 0 – 180° (7 settings) and right from 0 – 90° (4 settings). I turned the flash to face the back wall which is painted a tan color. See how the color changed? Don’t point at tan walls unless you like this color cat.

This shot is taken with the flash turned backwards.

This horrific photo was taken with the flash that is built in my camera. Terrible.

Flash is pointing straight up to the ceiling which is white. Looking Good! Most impressed since there are no lights on and it’s quite dark in the room.

I am very happy with the results! The Speedlite 430EX II is quiet. The recycle time is fast. 20% faster (as compared to the 430EX) and since it is compatible with Canon’s wireless E-TTL, it can be used as an affordable “slave unit”.

Thanks Nitsuj for this wonderful gift of light! (This photo also taken with the flash in dark living room.)

Thanks Toby Cat for being such a sweet model. (Photo taken with flash pointed at tan wall. Beware of tan walls.)

It’s all good. ~Donna