Assignment #3 - Better Composition

#1 - Rule of Thirds

Images shouldn't be smack dab in the middle, but located along the lines of thirds.




#2 - No background clutter.

My dog, a Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier named Elora Danan

#3 - Viewpoint

Sydney looking for the Nutties. That is "squirrels", for all of you who don't know Sydney.

#4 - Fill the Frame

Carson kissing Lilly. He was a fast kisser, I had to be faster.

# 5 - Lines

I found it difficult to choose between two pictures, so posted them both. However, I lost the second photo during an edit . Ugh! I long for the day this all will be easy for me.

#6 - Details

I call this one the floating cat head and then just to show you that Maggie does have a body and how cute she is, the whole body shot.

#7 - Know the Subject.

My great niece, Lillian. Is there anything more precious than a sleepy, suck-a-thumb baby?

#8 - Break the Rules

Although this picture breaks the rules regarding cutting people off at the joints, other ways of cropping seemed to lose something that this pictures has. It's slightly blurry, someday I'll invest in a tripod.

Assigmnet #2 - White Balance

Assignment #2 - Understanding White Balance

This was also a two-part assignment. Take photos at different times of the day of the same subject with the same setting, to see how the light effects your photographs. I must admit I skipped this part of the assignment due to my working schedule, rainy days and a safe place to set up my camera. I did however, view fellow photographers pictures they submitted and saw that some had little differences and others a huge difference; I assume due to weather patterns in their area.

Part two was take a picture using a white balance setting that you feel is right for the type of lighting you are shooting in.

This is a pair of cranes in a neighboring farmer's field taken on an early, foggy morning. I tried more than one setting, but this is the one I liked the best.

Digital Photography101 - Assignment 1

Getting to know your camera. That means getting out your manual and reading it. Yes, I printed the manual out from the Kodak website and read all 72 pages, not once, but portions of it several times. Up to this point, I had taken all photos on auto and did not use any manual settings. I had features on this camera I didn't even know existed! It was something I never would have chosen to do on my own, but now I'm having fun putting all the new found information into use.

The second part of the assignment was to take the best picture we could with our current knowledge.

This is GT, a remarkable little boy that I take care of, who just also happens to be autistic. THE SKY IS THE LIMIT, is what this pictures says to me.

My First Attempt At Blogging

Actually the title statement is not true, my first attempt was in June. Setting up the blog was not to difficult, but I ran into problems posting photos. Since then I have read the "Everything Blogging Book" and decided to try again. It's hard to grasp some of the concepts and the jargon gets confusing also, but it's good to push the brain cells into hyper-mode occasionally.

My main motivation is not to have a place to write, but to have somewhere to post photos for an online digital photography class I am participating in. I soon realized I need a blog to post my pictures so that others could see the choices I submitted for the assignments. I have always enjoyed taking pictures, and decided it was time to find a new hobby. My passions in life have always been growing things and children. My older two girls have "grown and flown" and now the younger two are also about to leave the nest, so I'm trying to get ready for the big event by reinventing myself. Hence, the name for my blog, REINVENTING DORSEY.

Hmmm..... Reinventing, but that I mean the plan is to find new hobbies, venture out and take classes, meet new people, get a new focus on life. The mothering children living at home part of my life has come and gone and the next phase of my life is about to begin. Instead of dragging my feet, because this is not the way I had it planned, I'm determined to put my efforts is getting ready for the next stage with a positive attitude. I have another new hobby on the back burner which I will start late fall or early winter, but I'll save that for another post.