You Capture/Friends

I was extremely blessed with a visit from my dear friend, Patrice in Kansas.
This is us together. My dd 19 took the photo. (slight adjustment to exposure in PI)
And her dd loving on my baby. sooc
sooc
And a few for fun for a photo shot. :)  sooc
(slight adjustment to exposure in PI)

Now I need to learn to angle peoples glasses to get rid of glass glare. Will play tonight and see if I can clone it out. sooc
More You Capture Photos Here

Poor Man's Macro

Couldn't decide if this should be under craft or Photography so put it in both.
My 12 yr old son was reading Boy's Quest April/May 2009 copy, which is the Photography issue.

 In it they had an idea to use bolts, washers, wing nuts, nuts, magnifying glass and wood to make a camera able to take macro photos. He took it a step farther and made it so his can tilt and angle.
Here it is...



If you want to make one you will need.
 1 board any size; he used 11 X 13;
solid maple scraps
 1 carriage bolt 5/16  length 6 to 10";
 1 5/16, 2 " long bolt;
1 5/16, 1 1/2" long bolt;
5 -  1" washers;
2- 3/4" washes;
4 wing nuts to fit your bolt;
1 locking washer;
1 5/16 nut
1 camera to try it out. A point and shoot is fine.
Here a are his results. First a normal photo

And then Macro.
If you need better information just holler.
Don't miss my blog Giveaway. 4 DSLR Camera Strap Covers.

Necessity the mother of Invention

I have a camera bag coming someday but had been using a purse I had purchased at a garage sale for now. Well I was afraid my equipment was going to get damaged so......
I created this insert. I had seen a simular idea at etsy. But why buy when I can make it myself. :)  I still need to make a few velcro panels that will go horizontally. So small equipment can go below a lense and not be touching.  I am really happy with the way they turned out. And it even matches my camera strap.

It's a Bird, A Plane no it's Super Me/You Capture Black and White

Go see the other lovely Black and White Captures here.
Ok I couldn't resist after seeing everyone elses what the wee girl would look like black and white...
Finally captured a smile! :)
This is from a photo shoot I did with my lassy 2 weeks ago but wanted to see what it would look like b and w.

More Flowers

My Equipment and Favorite Photography Sites

My Equipment
When buying cameras and lenses you want to make sure they are NOT grey. Also I always make sure I get a USA model.
Nikon D90 body
Nikon D40 with 18-55 kit lense (this is now my backup)
Nikkor 18-200 VR AF-S   I use this lense mostly outside. It's great to try and get closer to animals and such. Also it is not a prime so tight places I can get more of the surroundings in the image.
Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-S  This is my favorite lense right now. I use it 90% of the time. I use it for all my studio shots.
Camera Body Armor I have 8 dc I wanted extra protection for my camera.
Nikon Remote Control This is great if you needs to get you into the picture.
Reversing Ring for Macro Photography  I really don't recommend this. It only works in VERY bright conditions.
58 to 52 adaptor Ring Which I needed for the reversing ring
Hoya UV Filters for each lense I have one of these on every lense I one to protect the front glass.
My Studio Equipment
Savage Background Stand
Savage Papers
Impact Convertible Umbrella-60"
Umbrella Bracket
10' Impact Stand
Nikon Sb-400 Flash  This is a pretty basic flash, it can bounce of ceilings and walls to give a softer light. Can also be put on a umbrella stand and flashed. If I was to buy again I would purchase a sb-600 or sb-800. Updated this flash does NOT work off camera. And I sold it to a friend. But still good if you aren't doing off camera work.
Nikon Sb-600 Flash  This is a very fancy  flash. Can even be turned to the side and lots of other things. But best of all it works off camera through my umbrella and with my triggers!

Cactus Wireless Flash Trigger
5 in 1 42" X 72" Reflector  This gives you a second light source without a second light.
My favorite baby background blankets right now are vintage chenille blanket white and pink.
Favorite Photography Books and Magazines
Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson Check your library or inter-library loan.
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson  This one I recommend buying.
Understanding ShutterSpeed by Bryan Peterson (I believe this one has his wife in a bikini if that's a concern to you.
Popular Photography  Very clean magazine
Favorite Sites to Learn Photography
Digital Photography School
Pioneer Womans Photography
Ken Rockwell's How To (this is mostly equipment )
Pop Photo Magazine and Site
Nikon's Official Site
Apogee Photo Magazine
Awesome Forum on Child Photography (you do have to join)
John Greengo at Creative Techs I HIGHLY recommend watching the classes live each week for free. The topic changes constantly.
John Greengo's 10 week Photography Class This class was excellent. And they still offer 15 minute the best of of each class. Then you can purchase individual classes for $15.00 each or $75.00.
Photography Schoolhouse   They have a wealth of talent that shares knowledge through webinars. Great resource.

Favorite Sites to Research Equipment
Ken Rockwell
Digital Camera Reviews
Pop Photo Reviews
Inspiration
anya e.
Patti Schmidt
Ree Drummond
Beth of I Should be Folding Laundry
Kim Cartwright Blog
Kims Photo Site
Anna of Pleasant View Schoolhouse
Heather Bailey (I believe the photos are mostly by her dh)
We Picture This
Eyes Of Wonder
Ni Hao Y'all
Vintage Girl
Rabbit Trail
Maternal Lens
Art Wolfe
ljholloway Photography
Linda Hawkins Photography
Andrea Joki
Lisa Kryschuk Photography
Crave Photography She is a phenomenal photoshop editor
Where I buy Equipment
B and H Photo and Video
Adorama
Be careful there are a lot of crocked photo stores online. I stick with these too. No matter how good the price is. I would also trust amazon. But ONLY if it is actually coming straight from Amazon. Not if it comes from one of those other sites.

You Capture/July 4th

All I caught were the sparklers. We didn't eat anything spectacular except Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Peanut Butter pie. She has much better photos then I would get. YUM!!!




Go see the other great Captures of the 4th.
When leaving a comment where it says anon just type in who you are... Your name or your address. Then you are no longer anon. :) Please leave a comment I love to meet new people.

Italian Garden Pasta

So simple! Enough whole grain pasta for your family cooked according to box instructions. (for my family it's 2 boxes)
Summer veggies you have on hand. I used sugar snap peas diced and yellow summer squash diced. Add the veggies the last 5 minutes of the boil.
Italian Dressing to taste. (for me 1/2 bottle)
This would be great cold but we wanted to eat now. LOL Enjoy!

Cool Summer Refreshment

I have talked in the past about how healthy fresh lemon water is and just wanted to remind you again with these images.


Only 4 ingredients
Lemon or lime, 1 packet of stevia ,water and ice!
Squeeze lemon juice into large cup. Put in 1 packet of stevia. Fill with ice then water. Sip and Enjoy.
(PS remember too much fresh lemon can be hard on your tooth enamel so sip through a straw)

Product Review

(Scroll mouse over review their are tons of links to more information.)
Finally Companies are allowed to use Stevia  in their products. The ban has finally been lifted by FDA.


I have just tried Zevia natural Cola. 
My mom picked it up for me. It is a little sweeter than I prefer. (I am a diet Pepsi addict ) But I think with time I will come to love it.  And this company offers a huge assortment of flavors. They have Root Beer, Twist, Cola, Orange, Black Cherry and Ginger Ale. Unfortunately it's not available in my area. Have to get it 1 hour away. (Which is where my mom is)  So I have printed off this paper  and am going to see if my local Target will carry it. They claim to be hip and with the times so we will see. Also it is a store I already shop every two weeks. If they won't then I will try my local health food store. But I'de love to see a big store like Target carry it for them. Plus just look at the ingredients.

Coca-Cola  is bringing out Sprite Green and Odwalla juice drinks, sweetened with Truvia.

PepsiCo said its first US PureVia sweetened products would SoBe Lifewater in three different flavors. (But it's not a cola it's a sweetened water like Kool-aid, only better) It's not my thing.

While I am glad the big companies are going to carry Stevia sweetend products I will probably stick with Zevia as long as I can find it, to help the little company survive.

You Capture/Photographers Choice

Oh Dear was Mommy supposed to take pictures?
(This photo was messed with in PhotoImpact to try to remove yellow cast and sharpen that cute face a tad.)
She's busy trying to figure out how to take indoor no flash photos with her new 50mm 1/4 lense.
She did have fun in macro this week!
But mostly she's struggling with a yellow cast to the photos indoors. Anyone with any suggestions?
Stats...Metering-Matrix, shutter 1/60, Apeture F1.4, Exposure mode Manuel, Exp, =2.0 50mm, no flash, I did have my Hoya uv filter on.
Then Mom took of the filter to see if that was causing it...
Then Mom moved to a new room to see if it's the room
Then went back to the first room again.
And this is the first one sooc

Also when leaving a comment you don't have to be anon. Just type in that block that says anon your name or web address so I know who you were!

Go see the great photos at You Capture.