Off Camera Lighting

Off camera lighting can be intriguing even to those 10 and under.  This young man got interested and ended up being the photographers assistant, in most cases, holding the light himself – Great Job Cameron!  Then we got Mommy into the picture!                                Specs:  f/11  at 1/320sec  ISO 640   with 50mm prime lens

   

  

  

     

Daddy’s Girls

Yesterday I got to meet with the McCharles family and spend some time doing some pictures with them.  Lots of neat places to do pictures on the family farm, and some very chilly people willing to brave the chilly conditions with no jackets :)

 

    

 

  

Forest Kineto Theatre

For those of you who have actually never been to the Forest Kineto Theatre, maintained by the Kawanis Club, I thought I would give you a quick sneak peak.  Last night I stopped in and to take a few shots of our little local theatre.  The theatre is not the size of some of the huge city ones (though most theatre’s in complex’s are  broken up into smaller sections too), but it has many things going for it: the sound system is very clear, the seats are positioned on a nice slope, you never have to wonder what time the show starts (8 every time), and tickets are always $5!  It also works out really nice, that after the show ends you don’t have a 45 minute drive home :)  It use to be that the local theatre didn’t get any of the new movies till they were no longer mainstream at the big box offices.  Not the case here though, and to prove it – Next week –Right on time as we enter December – Kineto will be showing “A Christmas Carol” with Jim Carrey.  Check it out!

  

Black Friday Shopping

It’s here, the biggest day of shopping for those in the US – strangly I haven’t heard as much hype this year as in the past.  It’s possible the economy has affected the advertising of the event, who knows.  What I do know, is that when I was up this morning with my little man crying because he had a dream that the world flooded, I was able to tell him that God promised never to flood the earth again and gave us a rainbow to remind us; then I tucked back under my warm toasty sheets, looked at the clock, just after 4AM, and thought - “I am so glad to not be out there shopping!”  If you were out to catch the deals this morning at 4AM – I do hope you had lots of fun.  For those who would like to catch a deal still to help them with their post editing – well, no need to stand in line, just  follow this call the number below :)

Now Playing…

I thought I would begin a new series of posts that I hope to put out every Thursday – “Now Playing” will give a trailer and info for the current movie playing at our local home town movie theatre.  This isn’t exactly my type of movie – But if you’re into being scared…

The Kineto Theatre! 

 

$5 Seats – All Ages, All The Time!  

The Kineto Theatre   24 King St W, Forest, Ontario 

Doors Open at 7:30 P.M. Shows begin at 8 P.M.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday Evenings

The Christmas Kiss

Today I figured out what was going on!!!  I Still don’t Really know who, (but after talking with two other people who have also “been kissed” – I’m starting to see a common denominator -  I can just imagine her reading this right now giggling !) and I know now What to do.  Let me recap:  Last Wednesday evening we received a package at the door after the doorbell rang…with nobody there.  The package was “A Movie Night” – A Popcorn container, popcorn, drink cups, straws, a movie, and a large bottle of pop attached to which was a B/W photocopy of something on one side, and simply “To: The Jennings” on the other.  This morning at 6:45 my husband tells me – there is a gift at the door.  Right away the photocopy of the “symbol” was the same, but still I didn’t know what to do (this time there was a second page with instructions, I just neglected to read them at that point in the morning, so was going nuts with curiosity :)  So now we have received two gifts, and suddenly I am enlightened - “If you don’t stick the “kiss” in the window, it will keep happening” – Well seriously now, would you want this to stop???  Ok, I will put the picture (the photocopy) in the window (sigh), but only because I get to play along! 

I wanted to share this with you because I think this is such a Great idea!!!  So, if you would like to play along, feel free to use the picture below, and don’t forget to include the instructions as listed (just copy and past them onto a page and put them in with your Sneaky Surprise Gift!)   Here’s the instructions:

A Christmas Kiss has come to your house,

With a sweet treat left by a quiet little mouse.

If you wish to pass on this holiday cheer.

Continue this greeting without even a sneer

First, post this kiss where it can be seen for the season,

And leave it there ‘till Christmas for this reason.

This will elude other kisses that come to visit,

Be sure to participate, you don’t want to miss it!

Second, get some treats and two copies of these pages,

Deliver them to two neighbours where the kiss can engage us

Don’t let them see you, be sneaky no doubt,

And make sure they put their Christmas kiss out.

Next, you have only two days to act, so don’t you sit,

Leave it at a door where the kiss hasn’t yet hit.

Deliver sometime when your neighbour is away,

Leave the gifts then run and hide that day!

And last but not least, come and join in the season

Don’t worry Be happy!  If you need a good reason

It’s all in the spirit of that first Christmas day.

Merry Christmas is all we’re trying to say!

Do You Have A Card?

How many times are you asked this and have only a basic card to hand to a potential client?  Or worse yet, you don’t have any cards with you.  Moo.com is a printer who actually personalizes your cards, not once, twice or even three times, instead you get a variety of images on the front of your cards, with your business info printed on the back.  Check it out at Moo.com!

   

TweetMic With The [b] School

Feel like getting a little 30 second clip of Becker’s [b]school once a day?  Becker has an large selection of TweetMic tips and tidbits available online for you to check out, from personal insights to homework assignments.  Then to find out more, click over to the [b]school, developed for photographers, not just another photographers forum!

November Nuptials

Ben and Laura chose a perfect November day to hold their evening wedding, which went off beautifully!  Choosing to have their pictures done before the sun set was so perfect, and allowed for a very quick intermission time between ceremony and reception.  I shot Laura’s Matron Of Honour’s wedding last year, so it was so nice to see Jen again, and a few of the same group as well, in addition, I met Junior – the ultra talented and very cool black lab :)

    

How To Add A Texture Layer In Photoshop

There is one thing you need to know right off the bat about Photoshop, and that is, if there is one way to do something, then there are probably at least half a dozen other ways as well.  The same is true for adding a texture layer to an image.  I just did this image up quickly this morning, so it’s not necessarily the best options, but the possibilities are endless.  Textures can make an amazing addition to your images, to see some incredible examples of this check out Matt Nicolosi’s work and  including his Firenze Italian Collection of textures available for purchase.

Here’s how:

1. open your image by clicking File, Open, and choosing an image from your folder.

2. Open a texture image in a separate window and using the move tool slide this image over your original image.  (You can also add a texture simply by running an action)

3. Now set this new layer to Overlay  (currently set as default “Normal) and adjust your opacity and flow to your liking. 

Techi Tidbit

I’m pretty happy with the favourites we have in our home when it comes to tv watching.  Seriously, “How’s it made”, “Daily Planet”, “Dirty Jobs” and “Myth Busters”  Well, there is also “Wipe Out” of course in the summer!  Our son loves seeing people wipe out and giggles as soon as the music begins!  Last night I was multi tasking and caught only a bleep of a story referring to the ever famous IPhone, I caught enough to be intrigued so looked into it further on the net later.  It’s Motorola’s competition with the IPhone, called the Android.  It’s very similar, a bit larger, but with some very nice differences, the phone is currently being carried with Verizon in the US, but hopefully we’ll see it here in Canada soon enough I can see this being the end of the Blackberry Storm.  Take a look at the review here.

Coming To The Realization…

I’ve noticed it for a while now off and on, but I think I have finally come to the realization that Bradley is going to be a lefty!  It’s actually kind of funny as my husband use to tease his brother for being a lefty.  And at the same time it’s kind of neat as my neighbour use to call Brad “Little Bob” after my Dad, also a lefty.  It’s been just over 5 years now since my Dad’s sudden death, but I am so happy he was able to meet Bradley, and it’s kind of nice to look at our Little Bud with a crayon (or dry erase marker in this case :) ) in his left hand and be reminded of him. ❤

Monsterpod

Having a good tripod is vital in certain situations; whether you need it to make a shot with you in the picture, or you are using low lighting situations and need to have a long shutter speed. There are a variety of tripods, or even monopods, with one of the main name brands being the Monfroto.  When it comes to mini tripods, the main tripod is the Gorilla, this little guy can be attached to a handrail, a chair, almost anything, but I want to show you a different pod – the Monsterpod.  Unlike the Gorilla, there are no legs that may become unbalanced, and it’s slogan name is .  It’s a cool little gadget at a pretty reasonable price of about $30 US.  “It's not a tripod, a monopod, or hovering robot. It's MonsterPod™, the gravity defying tripod that holds your digital camera motionless, vertically, horizontally or upside down!”

Kids Stuff

 

I was walking through Canadian Tire today while waiting for the winter tires to be installed and I thought I would check out the Christmas lights.  I know it’s time to replace our outdoor lights, so figured what better time to check things out, and then I saw them…nope, not Christmas lights, outlet protectors!  For any Mom or Dad with little ones you are very  aware off all the plastic additions you will be installing so that no one slams fingers, drinks dish detergent, is surged with 120 volts of electricity, or becomes the victim of a myriad of other events unimaginable .  It’s just something we are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid, as we should.  Outlet protectors are one of those automatic “have to get items”, so I thought I would give a little personal insight on this today.  First, there are varieties like crazy on these, the little plastic slide in ones, the more thorough slide in locked ones, the twist covers, and the covered covers.  My all time – the slide cover – are a little more money than the little plastic slide in protectors, but they have several advantages:  First, you don’t have to remove them when you want to use the outlet, second, they are actually a little easier, not to mention nicer in appearance then the twist covers, they don’t stick out, and, they can be left on indefinitely as they can also be used as a barrier.  No matter whether your home is old or new, on those really windy winter days, you will notice the cool seeping in through the outlets-and because of the slide, these little outlets block the cold.