I made a good choice when I decided to go with this Canon S95. I’m so happy with it! I snapped this photo in Disneyland last week with my trusty little camera. No tripod, low light, and no editing after the shot. I think the image speaks for itself.
Here are a few other Disney captures from me and my camera:
My camera misses Disneyland - me too. It was a fun trip!
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I’m always on the lookout for good information on how to be a better photographer. I have a nice dslr camera (Nikon d90) and I want to get the most from my investment, so I was really happy to find this e-book from Katie Evans. And – she has a great first name! lol! This is a 74 page beautifully illustrated book about the mechanics and creativity of photography. Here’s what she has to say about this book:
“I’m a professional photographer who wrote a photography book called The Key to Taking Pictures like a Professional Photographer. The book is geared toward the person who owns a digtal slr camera but doesn’t quite know how to take the fantastic pictures they desire. I start out teaching (in simple, easy to understand terms) what exposure, aperture and shutter speed is all about, how they relate, and why they are so important to understand. I talk about camera and lenses and why I use what I use. I discuss camera settings, lighting, composition and I even walk through my whole editing process. I’ve included tons of pictures that will help the reader follow along very easily. Overall it’s a great resource for anyone who just wants to learn how to take better pictures…whether that be for their blog, scrapbooking, or their business.” – Katie Evans
After looking through this resource, I knew that my blog readers would love it also. Katie very generously offered to share some pages of the e-book here and to give an exclusive coupon for my blog readers that will be good for only 1 week.
The discount code for my readers is: scrapbooklady This will be for a 20% discount of the ebook and/or hard copy. If you use this code, I would love it if you would use one of the links in this blog post to purchase the book so I get credit for the sale and she knows that the coupon was used and appreciated. This link will take you to her site to purchase this book. The ebook is $35 and the coupon will take an additional 20% off that price!
Take a look at everything that’s included in the table of contents
and here are a few more sample pages:
You can find Katie Evans at:
The Key to Taking Pictures Like a Professional Photographer Book {Official website}
Katie Evans Photography {Blog)
Hope you all have a happy weekend filled with lots of fun photos!
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I started this little tradition back in 2008 where I pick my favorite photos of the previous year and share them here in a roundup type format. This little exercise has really helped me see how my photography has evolved and it’s a fun way to recap some highlights from the past year. Here’s a list of my previous posts:
Doing an annual review of my own photography has been an incredibly useful tool! Of course, it’s always difficult to judge your own work, but taking the time to try and evaluate which pictures turned out the “best” helps you realize where your strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to photography skills. I’m always surprised at what I discover and my photos from 2011 gave me a lot to think about. Here’s my collection of favorites:
As usual, January was my least inspired month for photo taking. I always have a hard time wanting to take a lot of pictures in January. The short days and yucky weather make it difficult to find good light. I did have fun with some colorful cookies that my daughter made. A new Lego game gave me the chance to practice with a white background. My twin nieces colorful birthday bags made for a cheery picture. A bowl of taco rice for lunch was quite yummy.
I was so happy to capture some fun photos from the World of Color water show at Disneyland. I've never been great at night photography, but I think this one turned out pretty neat. I like the shadowed figures in the foreground.
The Jazz kitchen photo is a favorite simply because my kids have the perfect facial expressions to go with the statues they are mimicking. I love the middle photo of my hubby in the hotel room because you can see what a great view we had. He was also very relaxed! I can't believe I got a shot of Paradise Pier in the evening while it was empty. Score!
I love this picture of my parents because you can see their fun personalities and their love for each other.
My brother Zach is a great photographer who gets up close & personal with his subjects.
The landscape in New Mexico is so amazing. The last photo just makes me laugh so hard. My brother Mike fell down and a "bad word" came out of his mouth. I was taking a picture of him on the ground just to be silly, and I had no idea until I looked at it on the computer later that day that my daughter was covering her ears because of the "bad word" - lol!
Love those Lego minifig packs!
It took forever for the blossoms to bloom.
A trip to Vegas & a stay at The Venetian.
Only in Vegas would you see a couple getting married at 9 a.m. in the morning.
May was a fun photography month for me because I followed Katrina Kennedy's May Merriment challenges. I practiced a lot more than I usually do. I also got a new camera and a new macro lens. :)
Flowers at Gardner Village
Downtown Salt Lake City
Summer Squash
Almost all of these photos were taken at a friend's house during a 4th of July barbecue dinner. The campfire treats were enjoyed around our little firepit we bought at Target.
I was lucky enough to capture this first shot because the giraffe came right up to the upper fence at Hogle Zoo. That's my husband's hand reaching out to pet her. The baby elephant was another favorite photo from the month. We went to the zoo in the evening and the animals were very active and willing to be photographed.
We spent a lot of time on those 3 green swings. I also love all the green things we grew in our garden!
My son doing his online school work.
A beautiful green tomato
We received gifts of heirloom tomatoes throughout the season from our gardening friends.
Play-dough cupcakes
We went to Yellowstone National Park in October so I had a ton of neat pictures to choose from. I love the picture of my daughter behind the camera and my hubby looks cute too.
The bears at Bear World in Rexburg, Idaho were just amazing!
One of my favorite landscape photos came from my iPhone camera during a rainstorm.
I love that we all had our cameras going at the same time. It took 4 cameras to make this photo happen.
Thanksgiving pictures - the rolls, the centerpiece, the weather, and the stuffing.
A trip to Trader Joe's at the end of December helped me capture these pretty flowers. A stay at The Grand America and a photowalk with my daughter. A small portion of my Mom's Santa collection. Blue sky in Albuquerque - it really was that blue!
Again, I have learned so much about myself as a photographer by reviewing my photos this way. I love seeing them all together! Historically speaking, January is always my toughest month for photography. I need to remember that right now and spend a little time getting some fun shots over the next week. I think May was my best month for photos, but it’s because I was practicing every day. Practice really does make a difference. I’m happy that I take the time to do this annual review, it always inspires me to keep going and try to improve in the coming year.
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I shared some holiday photo bombing pictures back in this post and that reminded me of one of my favorite “bombed” photos. When we went to Yellowstone back in October, I told my 8 year old nephew about photo bombing and he gave me a little smile. Little did I know that he would soon put it into practice.
Here we are having a family picture taken.
Here’s my nephew photo bombing us. LOL!
Photo bombing can also be called “photojacking” because someone is basically hijacking the picture.
Silly stuff! Maybe we will do some photo bombing today, just for fun!
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I love to play with my photos! I’ve been having fun with a new site called picfull (my pick on this episode of The Digi Show) lately and I love how easy it is to use. All you do is upload the photo you want to alter and then send it to a friend or online account when you are done. You can also just download the full size resolution. Sweet!
Here’s a favorite photo I decided to play around with. This is the original:
Vintage Dark
Sepia
Yellowed
Old Colored
Line Drawing
There are several other options to try as well. It’s just a fun little place to go and play with your photos!
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