October submissions

Sorry for the delay – here are some of our submissions received for the October photo assignment!

Kim Gowdy, of AB, shot this next image while lying down in a field – just in time for Hallowe’en:

Taken with Canon Rebel XSi at f/5.6, 1/250 sec., ISO 100

Thanks, Kim – now I want pumpkin pie…

Our next image comes from Stephanie Schan, of ON:

Taken with Canon 5D Mark2 at f/2.8, 1/5000 sec., ISO 200

Fantastic shot, Stephanie!  Thanks for your submission.

Lisanne Côté, of QC, sent me a trio of photos for the assignment this month.  The first is a great perspective looking up at a ladder that her son built in their backyard:

Taken with Canon Rebel ST at f/5.6, 1/50 sec., ISO 200

Lisanne’s next image features another type of perspective – such a fun shot!

Taken with Canon Rebel ST at f/5.6, 1/25 sec., ISO 200

Here’s another example of using perspective in a creative way:

Taken with Canon Rebel ST at f/5.6, 1/200 sec., ISO 200

Thanks for the great submissions, Lisanne!

Lorraine Melin, of AB, sent me this cute image of her grandson in the player’s box at his hockey game:

Taken with Canon SXi at f/4, 1/13 sec., ISO 800

Look at that grin!  Thanks for your submission, Lorraine.

Now, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone else’s photos – your deadline is November 1st, so you can get creative with your Hallowe’en photos and send them to me!

Cheers,

Happy Mother’s Day

Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Moms out there – wishing you a happy and peaceful day!

Happy Easter!

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.

                                                                                                                          ~ Charles M. Crowe

Q & A: Round 1

Hello, everyone!  How is your January assignment coming along?

A reader left me a question in one of her comments, and it occured to me that others may have questions as well.  So each month, I will post a Q&A type of post to answer your questions regarding the assignment that month.  You can leave me your question in a comment or email me directly at sue (AT) canadianscrapbooker (DOT) com.

Here’s Sonia’s question:

How do you get a lower F setting? I could not get it lower then f/5.6.

The lowest f/ setting, or widest aperture, will depend on the lens speed.  If you are unsure of your lens speed, there are two easy ways to check: 

1) in manual mode, set your camera to manual or aperture priority, and dial down to the widest aperture – it will stop changing at the lowest number.  This is your lens speed.

or

2) look at your lens – there should be a bunch of numbers on the barrel or on the front rim, as shown below:

In the first photo, this is a 50mm fixed, or prime, lens, with a lens speed of f/1.4.  In the second photo, it is a lens with a varying focal length of 18-55mm.  As such it has a varying lens speed, depending on the focal length.  At the 18mm focal length, the lens speed is f/3.5 and at 55mm, it is f/5.6

Hope that answers your question, Sonia!

If you have any questions pertaining to this month’s assignment, or just in general, please ask! 

Cheers,

Happy New Year!!

We will open the book.  Its’ pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its’ first chapter is New Year’s Day.

~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce ~

Happy Holidays!

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!

~ Author Unknown

You want me to WHAT??

Well, things never seem to go as planned around here… My plans tonight to post about a new contest I will be running got waylaid – I had to take my daughter into emerg tonight!  After 4.5 hours, 3 ventolin treatments, some prednisolone and a chest x-ray, we’re home – tired but breathing much easier!

So since the contest news will have to wait until later this week, along with the December tutorial and assignment, I just wanted to tell you about this new phenomenon that’s catching on!  Since it’s similar to November’s assignment, I thought I’d share!

Apparently, there is a new trend out there called Camera Tossing – it basically uses any camera with the ability to set a long exposure; a couple of light sources, such as two or more candles or lights, and (in my opinion) the dexterity to catch!

Here’s a tutorial from Wired Magazine:  Snap A Camera-Toss Picture  It also includes a video with more detail. Thanks to my hubby for pointing me to this via Twitter!  You can also visit the official Camera Toss blog for lots of examples, or view these on Flickr.

The end results look amazing… but I’d be afraid of dropping my camera!  Please share your photos with us if you try it (at your own risk!!)

Happy tossing!

Final October tutorial submissions

Sorry for the delay in posting these final submissions!  Postponing the assignment deadline proved to be a great idea - I have some great Hallowe’en pictures to share!

Gail Bidgood of Goulds, NF sent me this great photo of her daughter, dressed up as the great Capt. Jack Sparrow.  She used a flashlight as her light source, and shone it up to light her daughter’s sweet face:

I also received this great jack-o-lantern shot from Jacquelin Green of Victoria, BC - how cute is that polka-dotted one?!? 

Jacquelin wrote, “I tried a whole lot of settings to finally get a shot I was happy with – Thank you for encouraging me to experiment – I am not a great photographer, but I am learning a lot about my camera!”  I’m glad to hear that, because this is the reason we are offering these tutorials!

Sonia Rodriguez, of Sainte-Catherine, QC, sent me this photo of her display of  jack-o-lanterns:

Taken with Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi at f/4.5, 0.3 sec., ISO800)

Stay tuned for the winner’s announcement tomorrow evening, and the November tutorial to be posted by the end of this week!

A big thank you to everyone who submitted their photos for this assignment.  Please remember – for future assignments, follow the assignment instructions and include your photography settings in the comments field of your submission in order to be eligible for our random drawing.

Happy Clicking!

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Happy Hallowe’en!

‘Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.
                                                                                           ~William Shakespeare

More October submissions!

Jacquelin Green sent me this photo, taken at the Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney, B.C.:

(Taken with Canon Rebel XT at f/5.6, 1/30 sec., ISO 800)

This beautiful sepia-tinted wedding photo comes from Sarah MacKenzie, from SK:

(Taken with Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi at f/1.8, 1/15 sec., ISO 1600)

I love this!!

I’m also a sucker for a man in a kilt!

Last, but definitely not least, Beth Sears of NB, shares this photo of fireworks – note how her long shutter speed effectively captures the fireworks’ trails:

(Taken with Nikon D80 at f/32, 10 sec., ISO 100)

Thanks to everyone for sharing their work with us here!

How about YOU?  Have you sent me your photos yet??

Happy Clicking!

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