Project M: Lobsters (and stuff)

Little Turkey is spending the night.  Just 'cause.  He and I went for a photo walk tonight.
Actually, I'm the only one who was on a photo walk.  Little Turkey was hunting lions and bad guys.
At one point he said to me... "I'm so afraid of pictures Aunt Anna!  Please don't shoot me."  A little high on the drama there, Bud.

When you put a friendly Auntie together with a friendly Superman, you're bound to meet people.  We met these brothers on our walk.

I totally forgot about my white balance while shooting, I left it on flourescent lighting. I believe that's why there's such a blue hue.

Big Brother
Rim lighting, almost a silhouette
50mm lens, Manual

Meet Noah.  Crawdad expert, just ask him.
Noah exhuberantly demonstrated his prowess at finding crawdads.  I have to admit, he was good.
I even caught one.  Braxton wouldn't touch them.
50mm lens, Manual

Braxton insists that these were lobsters.
50mm lens, Manual

So, I'm starting to figure this manual stuff out.  There's really just 3 basic elements you have to control.

ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture.  Decide what is most important to you in the shot.

Do you want to freeze action?  Set shutter speed first.

Do you want dreamy shallow DOF, or crystal clear for miles DOF?  Set Aperture first.  Lower number, wider open (more light), shallower depth of field.  Higher number, smaller opening (less light), sharper depth of field.

As I said, decide if depth of field or shutter speed is more important.  Set that first.  THEN go to your remaining two elements and adjust as necessary.  The name of the game is to zero out.  On your meter, you want that little line to be at zero.  Or just below, or just above, depending on your personal preference.  A good rule of thumb is that you can ALWAYS find detail in a photo that's under-exposed, but you can't bring back detail in an over-exposed shot.  The data just isn't there in the blown out areas.  When in doubt, underexpose.

If I want a shallow depth of field, I'll set my aperture to, oh, 3.5ish or lower.  Then, I need to adjust my shutter speed and ISO to compensate.  They say you can hand-hold at 1/30th, but not slower without camera shake.  If you have to go slower than 1/30th, you're in trouble.  Now you need to bring in that other tool, ISO.  ISO controls how sensitive your image sensor is to light.  My camera goes up to 3200, but the higher you go, the grainier your images.  I try to avoid going higher than 1600.  If there is a lot of available light, I usually stay around 400.

*Project M photos are shot in manual mode, displayed as SOOC (straight out of camera a.k.a. no retouch).

home is where the deodorant is...

:-)

What a whirlwind these days are.  Please pray for us.  My brain is so scrambled that I'm more absentminded than ever.  If I had a penny for every time I've forgotten to zip up my pants the last week I'd have a dime.  I lose my keys on a daily basis.  I've had to have Kristy come jumpstart me because I left my car lights on, again.  I locked my keys in my car at church, again.  I worry so much about forgetting deodorant that I found a stockpile of 3 full size containers in my travel bag.

I was housesitting for a week and a half.  Then I went straight to a Photo Class weekend in Billings, I could write a whole chapter about that.  I'm so excited, SO excited about photography.  Particularly journalistic style, as I have a burden to tell Moldova's story.  And Dana, I met another girl JUST like us.  We do need to work on our Project M, she would be so on board! :-)  This weekend I'll catch up.

Kristy leaves in 4 days for Moldova.  She will be there for 2 weeks this time.  She is going with a group of dentists from Oregon, and they will be doing dental work in the villages.  She's taking as much baggage as possible so she can leave things there for when she moves later.

We have so many things to get done.  So many.  Legal paperwork.  Media projects for the Hamiltons as they continue to raise support for the Hannah House.  Bank accounts for transferring money internationally.  Garage sale.  Dates with Superman.  One-on-One time with Squeakers.  Time with friends.  I want to hike.  I want to fish.  I want to SOAK IT UP.  This Montana, this United States of America.  This love I am surrounded with.  The smell of country.  Hugging my dad.  The baby calves.  The weathered old ranchers who I've known since I can remember, I want to memorize the lines in their leathery faces and the twinkle in their eyes.  The lines of the majestic mountains stretching out underneath our big blue sky.  Mentally recording my Mom's stinker giggle.  Spending time, spending time, spending time...

I'm learning as much as I can, trying to be a sponge.  Everything we can learn is something we can teach those orphans.  They NEED that.

The one thing I wish I could have learned before leaving is singing.  Oh I wish I knew more about 4 part harmony.  The girls (and the boys) would SO enjoy singing.  I just wish I knew more of the science behind parts.  I need to find someone to glean this knowledge from.

Eventually, I'll start a photojournal of this journey.  Thanks for praying!

The M ladies dressed all matchy-matchy in our home-sewn gingham finery.
Resurrection Sunday

Squeakers turned 1!

My first ever storage unit.
Weekend goal: 4 more boxes to storage!