The most sacred thing is a child's innocence;
his trust the most inviolate.
~ KN

winn's window / koreen photography

My photo
I'm a hobbyist photographer, a school counselor, a health junkie, and a mom. But above all, I'm just a woman living my truth. My biggest happiness in life is to savour each moment while it happens. That's all. That's everything.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

My Best...


This is my best this week.... I love this picture because it's him, and it's how I feel. (And he's the best thing I've ever done.)

Since there was just one photo this week on assignment, I took the opportunity to play around with editing, to improve it, to learn some effects that I've seen and would like to re-create. Of course, I have no clue what the effects are called, or exactly how to do them, so I just played....

Being there

(ISO 400, 1/640, f5.6)

I always shoot in manual.

Want to hear something funny? I can't figure out the pre-programmed settings on my fancy little dslr camera. I've tried them. But honestly? It takes more work and practice (and frustrations and curses) to get the picture I want than to just flip it to manual and shoot from the hip. The other settings do things like set off the built-in flash (which I desperately loathe), make the numbers jump around (and I have to reset everything) or make things fuzzy. Yes, I blame the camera for my ineptness with the auto settings. (I have trouble taking responsibility for myself, remember?)

You see, I'm self-taught, and not a very good teacher. So I just went to manual and figured it out, instead of working through all the stages and taking it a step at a time. I'm not always very good, but I'm getting there.

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Beth is featuring Your Best Shot today at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Photobucket

29 comments:

  1. LOVE this shot.

    Gotta love boys.

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  2. You can't lose with such a little cutie in the picture!

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  3. It's a great shot. I love the lighting and the softness.

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  4. Great job! It's really nicely done.

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  5. Beautiful shot! Good job shooting in manual :)

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  6. Very cute shot! I am the opposite, and think manual is the hard one. haha! I usually use aperture priority mode...but seems like manual is definitely working for ya!

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  7. Great stuff! I still have moments when I can't believe he's the tiny baby I babysat for you that one time...

    It goes by so quickly.

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  8. Always in manual? That's awesome. I fluctuate between auto and goofing off with the many settings. Unfortunately, I never remember what I've set it to, so I can never reproduce it.

    This is such a sweet picture. I like the editing.

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  9. love your honesty! so funny... and im right there with you.
    great shot too ;)

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  10. I love it! love the blurriness and the coloring and of course, the cutie.

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  11. you're great at shooting from the hip

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  12. It's such a real shot-I love it!

    And you're totally right about suing the pre-programmed modes! I still use them a lot, but I'm working my way back to manual. I used manual a ton a year ago, then went on vacation to Disney World and didn't want to worry about getting the right exposure all the time!

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  13. He's so freakin' cute! Love your header too. I'm still shooting in AV mode a lot. The auto settings are awful....I agree about the flash popping up...even OUTSIDE!!!

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  14. You look pretty accomplished to me!

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  15. I think you do a fantastic job no matter how you get the job done. And, that header...so so good. Fantastic!!!

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  16. No more apologizing...this is a fantastic shot! I love it! (and I want you to share your talents with me since we seem to share everything else!)

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  17. Wow. That is a gorgeous photograph. I love the lighting and composition.

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  18. I think we could put our You Captures together this week categorized as "a complete joyful abandon childhood moment". I love unposed shots, and this one is a keeper. Shooting manual is so "normal" for me also, it didn't even cross my mind to say so on my post. Even Av mode has such a tendency to screw up the metering. Manual is the way to go!

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  19. awesome shot! You're a natural!! I don't like using the pre-programmed settings either, for the same reasons.

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  20. Great picture, and I'm proud of you for shooting manually! You're doing it the opposite of everyone else.

    Every true photographer loathes the in- camera flash. :)

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  21. What a fun pose! I'm a manual girl, too, but I have NO eye or ability.

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  22. Wow - this is amazing! And I love that you shoot in manual. I'm still trying to figure out my SLR and some days, it's quite a battle!

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  23. Great shot!! Shooting in manual is more than I can do, lol!

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The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.
~Rajneesh