The Apple

         Woah, I haven't blogged in forever and this feels so weird. I have so many things I can blog about and I really don't know why I chose this out of all of it, but I did. So, I have definitely learned that Texas High photogs are beyond spoiled. Like super beyond spoiled. Like it's kinda ridiculous. So you people enjoy it while you have it. Anyways, these pictures were for my photography class I'm taking. I wanted to do something different from the rest of the class, but this took some major innovation since I don't have near the equipment that I had access to last year. Even simply having 13 other people that are willing to help is something I definitely took for granted because now I'm on my own and having to hold a bajillion things all at once and use the self-timer because I don't have enough hands to press the shutter button. For this we simply had to turn in 3 pictures with a beginning, middle, and end so naturally I would do something with food because I LOVE food, especially fruit (hence the apple). My teacher asked me if I could demonstrate to the class how I set this up, and also asked me about my previous learning experiences and teachers and how they taught. (I think she is very impressed with our high school program.) Anyways, this is such a random blog post but I haven't done it in so long and just felt the need to put something up. :) 

English project-miniature guy and his shadows

ISO: 800 f/2.8 shutter speed: 1/100

ISO: 800 f/2.8 shutter speed: 1/60

ISO: 800 f/2.8 shutter speed: 1/160

ISO: 800  f/4.5  shutter speed: 1/40

ISO: 800 f/2.8 shutter speed: 1/80

                   I had an English poetry project to do over the poem "My Shadow" so I decided to do something with photography because, well why not it's about shadows. I was originally going to use people but nobody in my family wanted to volunteer and be the subject so I went and found these little lego people and used that instead. In the poem it talks about his different shadows: big, small, weird, just his shadow in bed, him by himself, etc. (I have more pictures than what is on here.) The hardest, and worst picture is the one of just the shadow on the bed. I had my brother hold the lego man and a flashlight but you can clearly see his hand in the shadow, but I figured Mrs. Johnson wouldn't be too picky about that so I didn't worry about it. I used a flashlight for all of these since it was on such a small scale and pocket wizards never seem to work well with me. But the flashlight worked just fine for what I needed. The last picture is the guy getting up for the early morning sunrise so I just pointed the flashlight right at the well, but had it to where not the whole thing would be showing to try and make it look like the sun, which if you ask me, I think it kinda resembles it pretty well. Using a flashlight also makes it very easy to tell how big your shadow is going to be right then rather than taking the picture, looking, guessing where to move the flash and keep going on and on until you finally get it right, so for that purpose I enjoyed using the flashlight. It was a lot faster for the purposes I needed. I set up in a corner in our kitchen and was laying down or on my knees for all the pictures to get eye level with the little guy. I had a 17-50mm lens and reallly didn't do much editing at all except maybe a little crop and white balance adjustment.

Copy Cat- but not near as good

ISO: 800  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/100

         So I was trying to re create the image of the finger cut in the book from a school's ATPI TOP portfolio that was about books. It is my favorite theme portfolio, but after taking this I realized that this image doesn't work as well by itself. It's better in a portfolio. Carlie already had a cut on her finger, so I borrowed her hand but her fingernails weren't painted and it was in a different spot than the image I was re creating, but that's ok. In Lightroom, I tried to make her cut a little more red because it wasn't that red, but keep in mind that I spent like .2 seconds editing because I am not really attached to this photo or anything, but it definitely helped it out. I used a 50mm lens for this and started off using a flash but turned it off since it wasn't doing what I wanted it too.

Mysticles Many Kiddos

ISO: 1600 f/3.5 shutter speed: 1/250

          So I got an assignment to take a picture of Mr. Kyles and all his kids for newspaper. I was told just a simple picture, portrait I guess, but nothing fancy. Anyways, I showed up and Mr. Kyles had a rope and was telling me that he wanted his kids to tie him up and all be pulling it. Only Mr. Kyles. haha, but we went inside Bounce-A-Lot which is where I met them and the background for this picture is well ehhh...just ignore that. What was so annoying, though, was he asked me if I wanted to take it outside but when he asked me the sun was really bright and the shadows were going to be terrible so I said no. As soon as I left, however, it was overcast. Perfect for taking pictures. So annoying. This image could have been really good in a different location. The bounce house and trampoline in the back just kind of mess it up. I still love the expressions and the idea of the picture.

Basketball...with no strobes

ISO: 1600 f/2.8 shutter speed: 1/250

         So yes this is from a little while ago, but I haven't done anything with it yet. This was my little brothers championship game and I came straight from shooting an assignment so I had gear in my car, so at half time I went out to my car to grab a camera so my mom could have pictures of Matt playing basketball. The gym was very dark and I couldn't use flash or strobes so yea, I now have some grainy pictures. I bumped my ISO up and luckily had a f/2.8 lens and for the most part tried to keep my shutter speed as high as possible. This picture turned out alright for my circumstances but I definitely had to bring up my exposure in Lightroom and I de-noised it some and brought the clarity up a little bit. I was using a 17-50mm lens which was really nice and since I didn't have strobes I was able to move around more which was very helpful. For this picture, for example, I was sitting on the sidelines, like literally right on the line. This isn't the best, but it's not terrible and it'll please my mom so that's good.

Birdies :)

ISO: 160 f/4.0 shutter speed: 1/1250

ISO: 160 f/4.0 shutter speed: 1/1250

ISO: 160 f/4.0 shutter speed: 1/1250

          So these pictures are from when I went to Mexico back in February, I just haven't taken the time to process any of the pictures I took then until recently. Well, I really only processed a couple for blogs and haven't had time to finish the rest yet. I'll get to them eventually. Anyways, we were walking down the beach right before a storm and we went out on this deck and there were birds everywhere. I had a 17-50mm lens so I was trying to walk really really quietly and slowly so they wouldn't all fly away. Most of them did, but several stayed so I was taking pictures while slowly walking closer. I really wish that the top of the post was wood and not that ugly metal thing because that just really bothers me and makes it meh. I had a hard time white balancing these because of the color of the ocean and the sky and yea it just didn't want to look right for me, but I did the best I could. I think my favorite of these is the last one just because it has the wood and rope and it's not just an ugly, metal thing with bird poop all on it.

          

From a little while back

ISO: 200  f/7.1  shutter speed: 1/800

         This was taken while in Colorado over Christmas break. I was snowboarding with a camera around my neck for a couple runs one day. (Probably not the smartest idea since I'm a newbie snowboarder aka not good) Anyways, I was following my brother and sister to try and get some pictures of them. At one point they were ahead of me and so they sat down to wait on my catch up. I saw them sitting there like that and decided to stop behind them and capture them. I really wish I could have been lower down but we were on a mountain meaning I was on higher ground than them so there's not really anything I could have done about that. I wish my sister's jacket didn't blend in with the snow/mountain so much but that was not in my control either haha. Anyways, I still like this image and am glad I took the risk of carrying a camera while snowboarding.

Baby Shower

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ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/50

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ISO: 800  f/5.6  shutter speed: 1/125

          So Alex's baby shower was at our house and my mom kept asking me to get some pictures of it. The first two pictures are of tables and how they were set up. My mom wanted a picture of those to remember how they were set up so she could refer to them for future when she needs to decorate again. (A friend set up at our house for the baby shower.) In both of them I had to use natural light to my advantage and use as much of it as possible. The first one, I think I went and opened the blinds a little to get some more light because it was dark. I couldn't decide the best way to get the table to be able to see everything, well I take that back I thought the best was would be from above but I didn't have a way to get high enough so i just went with if the table had eyes- it's eye level. I have several other pictures for my mom's sake that are not on here so don't worry, there are some close ups. For the 2nd table it was super dark and then someone walked in the house and when they opened the door it helped tremendously so I kept it open for a couple minutes, took a picture then closed it.

         Oh goodness gracious. The next picture (3rd) was just not working very well for me. Talk about mini catastrophe (mainly because all of the hostess' wanted this picture). It was super dark, I was without flash and I already had run my ISO way up. I didn't have a f/2.8 lens and I wasn't about to use pop-up flash. So I help really still and did what I could with what I had. And oh my freakin goodness. I just realized something terrible. Terribly terrible. I did have a falsh. I had gear for something else that night and I had a flash! I could have used that, I could have avoided all the awfulness of this picture. I could have had a lot better image without trying to bring the exposure up and fill light and all that. AHHH! Why did I not realize this at the time. :(

          And for the last image. I just couldn't resist putting it up. It cracks me up and describes their personalities perfectly. They are all sisters and I was getting a picture of the 3 of them together with the Middle Sister wine bottle or something like that. Anyways, they started talking and someone said something and they all reacted. I really like this picture and it makes me laugh every time.

Pregnancy Pictures

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ISO: 200  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/500

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          One of our good friends, Alex Benefield White, is pregnant and due this summer (so exciting!). She didn't want to do the whole maternity photo shoot thing, but in her baby book is a place for a picture of Alex pregnant, so she asked me if I would take a couple pictures of her the other day. She had an idea of what she wanted which was good because other wise I wouldn't have known how to pose her. The sun was not very cooperative when I was taking them, but I did the best with what I had. In the first picture, I really wish I would have moved to the left so the bright, white sky wouldn't be in the picture. (Of course I would notice that now and not then.) In the second one, yes I know the background is bright, but it actually doesn't bother me for this particular image. Looking at it though, if I were to do it again, I would have angled her a little more towards me so you could see more of her left arm instead of just her left hand. However, at first her left hand wasn't there and she didn't look pregnant so it's a good thing we noticed that and had her put her hand there. And the last picture took a couple minutes of trying to not make them look awkward. At first, Alex's eyes were closed which just looked weird, then she turned her head which also looked weird but finally she just opened her eyes and looked at Cody (her husband) which looks so much better. Oh and also at first her left hand was up by her right hand which again made her not look pregnant rather just bigger than she is (well was before she was pregnant and will be again after she has the baby). Anyways, these were my favorite of the pictures I got of her.

Portraiture is difficult

ISO: 400  f.4.0  shutter speed: 1/1000

ISO: 400  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/1000

ISO: 400  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/1000

           So Paige asked me to take her senior pictures and I told her I would. I have never really done portrait/people since my main focus has always been action shots so this was a new challenge for me. I am not used to having to worry about my subject so much so there were a lot of picture I had to delete because of things I didn't think to tell Paige. In all of my pictures I didn't worry about the background first which made my editing process go a lot slower. I had to go through with a brush tool and burn down the background and brighten Paige to make her stand off a little better. The first picture I really like of her except for the fact that her hand is holding her ear. Perfect example of me not being used to having to worry about those types of things. I really wish I would have noticed that and told her to move her hands. The second picture I just think is really cute. She was laughing at something her mom said. And the last picture I really liked since she wasn't aware I was taking a picture, but I had to crop it not to my liking because Woodsies leg was in the frame. (Woods went with me.) Her mom really wanted Paige sitting in the flowers and I like the look on her face in that picture since it is very natural and not at all forced. Her face, however, is also a little dark since it is in the shadows; I still like this picture though. I used a 7D and a 70-200mm lens for these pictures, and Smith told me (after I finished of course) that I should have scooted back and been zoomed in all the way or not been zoomed in at all. While I may not have done the best job, it was a great learning experience for me and thankfully her mom was very happy with the pictures.

Nail Polish

The set up:

ISO: 100  f/5.6  shutter speed: 1/200

The doesn't want to drip except green shot:

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The accidental advertisement shot:

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The of course the ugly color would drip all over shot:

ISO: 100  f/5.6  shutter speed: 1/200

          So I was on Pinterest the other day looking at still life images since we had been questioning what exactly still life is during class. I came across an image of nail polish stacked with drips coming out that I really liked so I decided to try and re-create it. What Pinterest neglected to tell me, though, was that getting bottles to stack is not easy and getting them to drip how you want is even harder. The photography part of this was the easiest. The first picture is zoomed out and my set up. I stacked books and taped white paper to them and set the nail polish up on that. I didn't have a lot of time, so the paper taping is not perfect and that shows especially in the last picture where you can see the shadow of overlapping paper easily. That really bothers me. Ugh. Anyways, one of the first major problems I came across was getting the nail polish to stack. I tried and tried and tried and they just wouldn't stay until Smith finally found sticky-tack. That stuff works miracles. Except for the fact that it is blue and you can see it in some of the pictures. Once I finally got them to stack I got my settings on my camera and was all ready and took of the lids and crap. They all had different amounts in them meaning some bottles weren't dripping or even close to dripping and others were flowing profusely. Example: 2nd picture. The green came flowing out and there was no stopping it. Well great. I'm no expert with nail polish and it didn't want to cooperate with me whatsoever. Woodsies helped me try to clean up and tip over at the right time to get a better image and thank goodness for her help. The third picture was kind of an accident shot. I was taking the picture, Woods just wasn't ready to flip the green back over, but I ended up liking it. If that was done a little better it could be an advertisement picture. Ok, well I guess if it was done a lot better but you get the idea. I just like how you can see Essie (the brand name) and then there is other nail polish all around it and there just so happens to be a puddle of green. 

         Anyways, I had fun taking these pictures, but they are by no means anywhere close to perfect. I was using a 5D with a 24-105mm lens and I had a flash off to the right angling down. If I were to do this again, I would move the flash to change the shadows (they bother me) and I would have to get some different bottles of nail polish that might be a little more cooperative with me so I could get the drips how I wanted.

TTDSD last picture scramble

ISO: 1600  f/8.0  shutter speed: 1/200

          So our TOP pictures were due Monday and we had 2 left to take Sunday night. Why doesn't this surprise me? haha, anyways, Claire, Rush, and Woods all came over to my house because we were planning on using a screed door for a picture which I happen to have and I also had all the gear. They got over and we didn't really know/have a plan for this screen door image so we decided to try a staircase picture while we waited. This picture literally took ALL of us. If there was one less person this image wouldn't have happened. We even had to get my brother to be a subject because we didn't have enough people. Rush was our creeper, Claire was holding the flash that was hitting Matt, Woods was holding the other flash and I was taking the picture. We were in a very small vicinity, however, and all very crowded and uncomfortable. It took us forever to get Rush's shadow right. We started off with the flash very close to her but that didn't work and we kept getting closer and her shadow just was way too big until we finally realized that the flash needed to be moved back-farther away from her. I don't know why we were so confused, but when we finally figured it out it was glorious.

What is still life?

multiple settings (this is a composite)

          So for TOP we are entering 4 categories. Sports, photojournalism, thematic, and still life. We were on teams for thematic and still life and I was a part of the thematic team which we did Town That Dreaded Sundown for that. On Saturday, we realized that the still life still was in need of 3 pictures and our deadline was Monday. So, I went home and decided to attempt a still life. The big debate/discussion is what exactly is a still life image? These are candles. They do not move. I consider this picture still life. But if you are being really picky, they are lit, and fire is not still. So technically I guess you could say it is moving and not still. But I am calling this image a still life image, even if you disagree with me. (I feel like I just argued with myself. I am a strange child.)

         We had a wedding shower at my house like a week ago and used these candles. Except they started off tall and not melted and by the end of the shower this is what they looked like. I thought it was really cool so I decided to get a picture of it. I did a composite/HDR and combined like 3-5 different pictures. One was really dark-to get the flames to look right. On another I used a secondish exposure and used a 430 flash and pressed the pilot button (I didn't have a pocket wizard or sync or anything) on the tray and candles coming at an angle back toward the camera. The third image, I used another long exposure and used the pilot button on the flash again but this time flashed the ferns in the background so there was some depth to this photo. My ISO was 100 and my f-stop was f/4.0. I started with a smaller (bigger number [f/80.0]) aperture but the background was rather clear and I didn't like that so I kept changing it until I got to f/4.0 so it wasn't so clear. With a smaller aperture it was too distracting, and I like it like this better. So this is my still life image that I created for TOP. 

TTDSD Portrait

ISO: 100  f/11.0  shutter speed: 1/200

         This was taken for our TOP thematic category. We are doing the Town That Dreaded Sundown for our theme. So, we are recreating scenes that actually happened way back when when all this happened. We have 9 scenes and then a portrait of the killer hence the image pictured above. This was taken in the studio against the white background. Claire was a human light stand for me holding an alien bee underneath him angled up to the left, and there was another light stand behind Josh to get a rim light so it wasn't a floating head. Then Woodsies was holding a reflector above him to get a little light back on the top of his head. I was really pleases with how it turned out. At first we were cross-lighting him but that didn't look very creepy. We finally decided that creepy lighting usually comes from underneath so we completely changed our lighting set up. I like that you can really see one of his eyes. For TOP we added grain (not in this image) to go along with all the other pictures we have for our theme.

Orange Chair Awarded

ISO: 800  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/80

           They were announcing teacher of the year and Potter told me to grab a camera and go shoot it, so that is what I did. I had a 7D and a 17-50mm with no flash. I actually grabbed a flash but was in such a hurry I forgot to get batteries. Luckily, I didn't need the flash and ended up being just fine without one. This is the picture that went on the top of online newspaper. The chair is what's in focus and that bothers me, but besides that I like this picture, especially since she is all smiling and happy. I had to have my shutter speed so low since I didn't have a flash and I was inside and yea. In Lightroom I brought the clarity up a little bit and the blacks up (in the negatives so down? [golly there are so many things like this in photography like f/stop whether to say up or down and yea I always get my wording mixed up]) So I don't know whether I brought the blacks up or down, but I brought more blacks into the picture.

Emma Edwards

Emma Edwards

ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/80

          I was assigned to take a picture of Emma communicating with her family in South America. I was originally told to get her writing a letter and when I talked to her she said she doesn't write letters, she just skypes with her family. Well duh, that's what she does, with technology these days that should be a no brainer, haha. Anyways, she had her iPad with her so we went to the library to make it look more homey. She was being very stiff and I kept telling her to relax, but that didn't work very well. It bothers me that her hand is cut off but that's because it is under the table not how I shot it. However, I should have noticed that and asked her to move how she was sitting. 

Gabby's Independent Research Presentation

ISO: 800 f/4.0 shutter speed: 1/200

ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/80

          So I went to shoot this presentation that was at a church. It was about some multi-generational housing something, I don't really know but I got out of class to shoot it so that was nice. I like the angle of the first picture, but it is kind of dark. I don't know why my shutter speed is so fast. I definitely should have slowed it down. I think the light coming through window and door was making my meter not be quite accurate. (I turned the recovery down in Lightroom so you can't tell now, but it was really bright I promise I'm not just making this up.) For the second picture, I wish Gabby was making a different face-but that is kind of out of my control. I was using a 7D and a 17-50mm lens and was zoomed in to 41.0mm. I didn't use flash, even though for the first one I should have.

Miss THS

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ISO: 1250  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/125

ISO: 1250  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/400

         Woodsies and I got to shoot THS (so fun). This was actually way back in February I just realized I never blogged about it so I am now.  I used a 7D and a 70-200mm so I only got f/4.0 but it ended up being okay. I really like the first picture of the judges. I don't know why, probably just because it's clear and in sharp focus. I also like the colors of the popcorn. The 2nd picture is right before they announced the winner. I really wish I was on the other side so I could see their faces better cause they are both looking off in the other direction. I really like the last picture except for they need a little more foot room. This was used as a full bleed for the yearbook (that's always exciting!). It worked really well for that since you have the dead space to the right easy for design and text.

Can I just go to Africa right now?

          So today during photography Christena Dowsett came to our class to talk and share her amazing experiences. She lived in Africa for a year as a photojournalist for a Humanitarian Aid organization which I happen to find so super cool. She started off by showing us all her stuff from Texarkana when she worked for the Gazette which was all really good, but when she got to her stuff about Africa, well that's just a whole new story. I have always wanted to go to Africa. Like really badly. And I'm pretty sure it is in God's plan for me to go in one point in my life even if it is short term. When Christena showed her pictures from Africa, I'm pretty sure my eyes got a little watery more than once, and all I wanted was to be over there. I am so thankful for getting to listen to her talk and see some of her work. It is all so moving and so inspiring. I mean, it made me want to be across the ocean, haha, but for real, that was a very cool experience to get to have her come to our class.
          One of the things Christena said was that you don't have to be the best, you just have to be different. I really liked that and would agree with her completely. She also talked a lot about how networking is so important. I need to start working on my networking skills, because right now I don't know that they are that great. Another thing Christena talked about that I really liked was her technique to not make someone feel uncomfortable. She said if there's one person she is trying to get, she will usually take like a group shot first and then close-ups of several people so they don't feel left out and the one person isn't uncomfortable. I am definitely going to have to try that tactic out.
          Smith, thank you for bringing Christena here to talk with us. I greatly enjoyed every minute of it and wish our class was longer but I am still grateful for the little time we did get. I want to go to Africa so badly but am having to learn to trust God and his timing and realize that He'll have me there when he wants me there. All I can do is take it one step at a time. God likes to work on my trust by only revealing to me one step instead of where I may be 10 steps down the road. Anyways, thank you for bringing her in. The entire class enjoyed it. :)

Varsity Softball

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ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/400

ISO: 800  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/800

          I shot the varsity softball game the other day and it started with some daylight which was really nice. It started getting dark while I was there so I was constantly having to change my settings, but it wasn't that big of a deal. This game was very boring and there was not very much going on, so it was hard to get much action. I really like the last picture especially since Michaela is very sharp and the ball is in the picture. The first picture is of Michaela as well, and I have decided that she is easier to get good pictures of rather than the other players. In the first one, I really liked that you can see the ball still in the frame and it was at a time that she actually hit the ball. And if you look really closely, you can see one of her eyes which I like since she has a helmet on and that's hard to get. And the 2nd picture I really like except for the stupid fact that Erin is in focus and not Molly (the girl that you can see her face). Agh. It makes me so mad. I was using a 70-200mm lens at this game and no flash and the 7D.

Track Meet

ISO: 400 f/2.8 shutter speed: 1/2500

ISO: 320  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/2500

          These were taken a couple weeks ago at the Watty Meyers Track meet that i shot. It was very very cold that day and I ran out of card space very fast. :(  I like these two pictures since they are clear and in sharp focus. A lot of my other pictures from this meet that were really really good were out of focus and it was beyond irritating. For the first picture I was using a 17-50mm lens and the second one a 70-200mm lens. I liked having 2 different lenses to use and I kept switching but it would have been really nice if I had something like a 17-200mm f/2.8. That would have been glorious. (I don't even know if there is such a thing as a lens like that and if there is I'm sure it rather expensive) Every time I switched lenses I would need the other one for some reason. I had a hard time deciding what one to use when and I felt like I always chose the wrong one. The last picture I really wish the bus and truck were not in the background, or they could at least be bokahy or somehting. But they are really distracting which is super annoying. Ugh.

Blogs are important

          So, over spring break I went to Samford to talk to some professors and things of that nature. I was talking to the person in charge of photography there and realized that I didn't bring my portfolio so I pulled up my blog and suddenly realized why they are so important and was very disappointed with my lack of updating. It was a very frustrating moment and what's even worse (I don't know why I am admitting this right now to you) is that currently I know that updating my blog is important but I still am not motivated to do so. I don't know why. What is happening to me. I am in desperate need of motivation. I have senioritis. (btw, that word makes no sense cause I am not having inflammation of a senior {myself?}) Anyways, I have taken plenty of pictures. I have plenty to update this thing with. I have lots to do. I just need to actually do it. Gahhh, Caroline just do it. (Fun fact of the day: in middle school for every essay we wrote we had to include a quote and I used "Just do it" for EVERY single essay I wrote from 6th-8th grade which is a lot) Yea, sorry I keep distracting myself. But the point of this blog is to let you know that I understand now why you take them seriously. Blogs are serious business. haha. but for real, they are.

GOLFF

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ISO: 400  f/4.0  shutter speed: 1/640

ISO: 400 f/4.0 shutter speed: 1/1000

          I FINALLY GOT TO SHOOT GOLF. Yay. But, I chose a bad, terrible day for it. It was windy and cold and did I mention windy? Yeah, well it was really windy. I froze my butt off out there. At one point Smith had texted me and I was trying to respond but I couldn't because my fingers were so cold I couldn't type. This had made me realize something when it comes to photography and how well I can handle situations. I can handle awkward, dangerous, sad, happy, hot, rainy, under pressure, in a time crunch, etc., etc., but the one thing I can't handle is the miserable cold if I don't have enough clothing to keep me warm. In this situation I become a wimp almost instantly. I got out there and the minute I couldn't feel my fingers all I wanted was to go inside. I looked down at my watch and I had 2 hours left out there. That made me want to crawl in a hole and die. I seriously didn't know how I was going to survive that. Like I said, I can handle a lot but when it comes to the cold I become a mega wimp. And I am not proud of that at all, but it's true.

          So, I took the 7 and I brought Bigma, but was too cold to try and carry that thing around so I used the 70-200mm. (Once again, I'm not good at handling cold). Anyways, the last one of Dawson and the middle picture are the same concept. They have to read the greens and get their ball lined up and since they do this all the time I thought I needed a picture of that. Golf is a very quiet sport so it's hard to always get the ball in it because you have to wait til after they hit the ball to press the shutter so you don't mess up their concentration. That's why I got the shots of them reading the greens and lining up their ball. Putting is the other easy shot to get, which I put one on here. The shot of the guy chipping is ok, the one thing that I don't like about it is that the ball is there but it doesn't stand out that much. It bothers me and with golf it's hard to get a picture where the ball really stands out since it's white and really small. Since it's winter, the grass was not a very pretty green and it was also cloudy adding to the not very pretty color, but oh well that's what I had to work with.

Competition Time

ISO: 800 f/2.8 shutter speech: 1/250

ISO: 800  f/2.8  shutter speed: 1/250

ISO: 800 f/2.8 shutter speed: 1/250

          I took these at Drill Team Showoffs Monday night. I was so excited to go, and to be honest part of me wanted to just watch them since 2 of my best friends are officers and I wanted to get to watch them. But, it ended up being ok, and I was pleased with the outcome of my pictures. The first one I really liked I'm not sure exactly why but I think it's partly because of the pose the girls are in. It's just fun and their costumes are bright and show up well. The second one I was so excited when I saw it and realized that I actually did get Bailey up in the air at max height with legs straight and everything. I have tried getting a leap picture multiple times and it has never turned out to be that great. So, I am really pleased with this one and it just happens to be one of our lovely photographers :) The third picture of Angie I also liked since everyone is doing the same thing but Angie is the only one in focus. I was using a 7D and a 28-75mm lens for these pictures. I had a 70-200mm with me as well but didn't want to use that since it's slower than the 28-75. My pictures were a little dark and I could've put the ISO at 1000 to help, don't know why I didn't but whenever I turned the flash exposure up to help, all their faces were blown out which was making me angry so I decided to let them be a little dark rather than have pitch white faces.