The Third Annual Art Show

Last Friday I hosted the Third Annual Art Show. (We may have missed doing one of these years, but it's the third time doing it and deserves having the title.) The "Art Show" is the day when we, my fellow artists, invite others to meet in a central location and appreciate art while snacking on yummy food. I meant to take more pictures this year, but my memory card was full.

Here are a few photos (SOOC p&s) of the event and the fun!

Holly's display (that's me)

Jackson's

Jenny's on the window, Adam's on the table

More of Adam's

Kelli's (using some amazing technical method of transferring her photos to metal shingles)

And the pictures I didn't get :( I'm borrowing some previously taken photos. While everyone is amazing and had their own excellent displays, most comments I heard were about his. And they were amazing so why not?  These are just some of the things he showed.

Praying Mantises

Yesterday I went out to water my flowers. They were looking a little dry. In turning on the hose, I saw this little guy scrambling away from the droplets of water. I had seen a much smaller praying mantis earlier this year and thought, "oh, cute. He's all grown up now."

As I continued to water, trying somewhat to avoid this guy because he obviously didn't enjoy the bath, I then discovered this guy.

I called them both boys, but now I'm now calling them husband and wife. What a lovely family! Aren't we lucky!

Old photos found.

Old photos edited.

Old photos want to be shared.

Old photos below.

Old photos now happy.

Time On My Hands

With no work and apparently a lack of better things to do with my time, I sifted through some photos and discovered these ones that I had never edited due to the whole computer crash and loss of Photoshop. I figured that I would do some editing. It was fun for me to see how the photos changed. And because I'M interesting in it, shouldn't you be too? Check out the original SOOC shots here.

The Great Salt Lake AGAIN!

My friend wanted to take pictures out at the Great Salt Lake. She thought I could teach her something about photography. Ha ha! :)  It was still fun.

It was also interesting at least being back there during the daylight (if you call sunset time "day") after so recently experiencing it at night.  Almost the EXACT same spot as before. Different focus/angles.

Practically the Coolest Thing EVER!

So let's just start off by saying that I have amazing friends that share ideas and knowledge with me. In this case, Adam was the teacher. He didn't seem to mind, or didn't let on that it bothered him, that I knew next to nothing about the technicalities of camera use or photography. He just shared and shared and shared! (All very interesting stuff)

I've seen Adam's pictures like these that he has done previously. I always gave him a hard time that he must have taken the photos during the day. I knew that wasn't the case, but it's more fun to tease. 

Wait, let's back up. Did you hear that? Do you think you didn't really read that? These photos weren't taken during the day.

THESE  PHOTOS WERE TAKEN AT NIGHT!

THAT IS THE MOON LIGHTING UP THE LANDSCAPE NOT THE SUN!

I took these photos and I still look at them and can hardly believe it. So crazy to me. Basically, it was all about tripod use and opening my shutter for long periods of time to let lots of light come in. It's practically the coolest thing ever! (thus my title) 

It was fun just experimenting. You can tell that the shutter was open for a long time due to the lighting that just glows, or in other cases of the cars driving by and you see a line of their tail lights. Or even the planes I caught flying overhead that now look like shooting stars.

And then we played around with other aspects. I believe Adam called it ghosting. He would stand in the frame for part of the time the shutter was open and then move out.

Then he pulled out his cell phone to create this lighting while attempting to move around quickly so he wasn't caught in the same place long enough to be photographed.

The bugs were out and biting and since they preferred Adam over me, I said we could wrap up our session and call it good after these last shots of the train. (I know there have already been plenty to look at, but at least you didn't have to get bitten by bugs to see them!)

 

There's always so much to learn from everyone! Thanks Adam!

My 4x6 problem

I've realized recently that I have a real problem with taking most of my photos vertically (meaning 4x6, meaning it's width is shorter than it's length). I don't know why exactly, but there must be something about how I can arrange my subject in the shot vertically better than horizontally. But no matter the angle, Baby Miley is adorable!

Here's the one shot of the set that isn't vertical. Better enjoy it while it lasts!