Summer List 2014

Taken with iPhone 5S; edited with Camera+

In our neck of the woods, the signs of summer are everywhere:

• I'm sporting tank tops, shorts, and saltwater sandals. (Who says they are just for kids?!)

• Our local pool opened this past Sunday. (Woohoo!)

• School is out!

• We've been to the splash park four times already.

Because I've got summer on the brain, I created a summer list. (Here's my 2012 list and my 2013 list, in case you missed them.)

I always enjoy the process of brainstorming what we want to do in the next few months and documenting those goals here.

I try hard to keep my list to a manageable number because too many things for me to do in a short period of time = an overwhelmed me = a cranky me.  (Nobody likes cranky me--even me!)

And I know myself well enough to know that if I have several active days with lots of going, going, going (especially if it involves social interaction), I'm going to need down time to recharge.

At the end of each summer, I love looking back at my list and reflecting on what we did and didn't do. (And it's totally okay if we do NOT get everything checked off.)

{2014} Summer List

1 | Get my Nikon D700 repaired and shoot away!

2 | Finish sewing 6 pillows for the family room couches.

3 | Complete our adoption website.

4 | Start a photo journal, adding one new photo per week.

5 | Visit Oregon with Brian's family.

6 | Indulge in a massage.

7 | Host a play date with friends.

8 | Go on at least one date per month with Brian.

9 | Hike with family and/or friends.

10 | Attend a county fair. 

11 | Swim with Noah.

12 | Finish an article about search and rescue dogs and submit to a magazine.

13 | Create a scrapbook layout about Noah's name.

14 | Explore how to build a free little library for our neighborhood (with help from Brian).

What's on your {2014} summer list?

Sneak Peek | December Daily 2013

Looking for our family Christmas letter?  Click here.
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Wow, there are just five days until Christmas!

A few of you have asked about my December Daily album, and while I'm not ready to share it just yet (it's still a work-in-progress), I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at some of my photos. (If you follow me on Instagram (jharless), you'll recognize some of these pics.)  

December 1 | A photo walk in the park, just me and my Nikon.

December 2 | Eggnog shakes after picking out our tree. (Nikon)

December 3 | A trip to the mailbox. (Nikon)

December 4 | Spotting new items on the Life box at breakfast. 

December 5 | Showing Lucy his guitar (gee-tar) ornament.  (iPhone 4)

 

 December 6 | Screenshot of the weather forecast. (iPhone 5S)

 December 7 | Playing in the snow. (iPhone 5S)


December 8 | Snow-laden branches and blue skies. (Nikon)

December 9 | Shopping for a special 7-year-old whose Christmas wish was a pair of shoes.  I bought him some Legos, too. (iPhone 5S)

December 10 | Hot apple cider. Yum! (Nikon)

December 11| A quick trim at Supercuts. (iPhone 5S)

Although I've taken photos since December 11, I've yet to go through them and decide which ones I want to include in my album.  

After Christmas, I'm planning to carve out some time to sort through all of my photos, edit some of them, send an order into Costco, and then add embellishments to the journaling cards. 

In January, I'll share my completed December Daily album.

Are any of you working on a December Daily album? If so, how's it going?

Noah's 18-Month Photos

Rather than head to Picture People for Noah's 18-month pictures, I set up a mini studio in our downstairs bedroom, complete with a backdrop stand and white seamless paper. 

I purchased both the paper and stand from Amazon, and with Brian's help, I was able to assemble the backdrop in less than 10 minutes.

That was the easy part.

The hard part?

Actually, taking pictures of our 18-month-old.  Smile.

I naively thought shooting Noah's 18-month pictures would be fairly effortless.

Boy was I wrong!

Brian, my trusty assistant, would set Noah down on the paper and even before we could begin coaxing him to look at us and smile, he was up and running.

Running behind the backdrop.

Running into the bathroom.  

Running over to the pile of toys that I accidentally left out in the room.

When it became clear that the shoot was not going to play out the way I had envisioned it in my mind, I thought, Why fight it?  Go with it.  Shoot Noah playing with his toys.

Now, technically, this is not a toy; it's a decorative bicycle I bought years ago at Pier One.  But Noah has a thing for bikes right now and he really wanted to ride it, that is until he realized that the wheels didn't move.  Then, he quickly ditched it and moved on to his Fisher-Price puppy.

This shot and the one that follows are probably my two favorite.  Noah is such a happy toddler (most of the time) and these photos capture that joy. 

They also capture the scrapes on his legs from playing outside; his mouthful of teeth which we brush every night; and the drool on his chin--clearly more teeth are coming in.   


From one Fisher-Price toy to the next.  Here, Noah pushes his cement truck around on the white paper.

Noah: Hmmm...I wonder if I can ride this truck like the bicycle?

The answer: Yes and no.  Sitting on the truck worked well, but riding it proved to be more difficult.

From there, it was off to play with a third Fisher-Price toy, the puppy playhouse.  (Perhaps, Fisher-Price should be sponsoring this blog post.  Smile.) 

The stuffed dog laying next to the house is quite special; it was a gift from Noah's birth mother and lately, Noah has grown quite attached to it.

One day, when Noah was going down for a nap, I set him down in his crib and he said, "Woof, woof."  I assumed he was just making the sound for a dog, so I said, "Yes, dogs say woof, woof!"  He shook his head back and forth, pointed at the stuffed dog and repeated, "woof, woof."  When I gave him the stuffed dog, he smiled and hugged it tight to his chest.  
  

And last, but not least, here's a shot of Noah, sans toys.

He's such a handsome boy, I tell ya.   

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with these shots, but I know there's room for improvement. 

I can't wait to capture more images of Noah in the future...in my studio!  Big smile.  

P.S. A {huge} thanks to Brian who ran after Noah (several times!), coaxed him back on to the paper (over and over again), straightened his shirt, and combed his hair.  You're hired!

Oh, Shoot!

Earlier this month, I spent a day with photographer Beckie Kengle. 

I met up with Beckie to learn how to use my Nikon D700.  (Beckie has been shooting with a D700 for about a year.)  

After saving for months, I bought a used Nikon D700 from Kenmore Camera on eBay in November.  But in the weeks (and months) following the purchase, I was having a hard time figuring out what all the buttons were for, and how to make the camera do what I wanted it to do.  

I told Beckie that I wanted to learn more about how to achieve tack sharp focus, and she suggested I try back button focusing (BBF).  I'd read about BBF online, but never attempted it.

At first, I was totally puzzled.

You mean, I don’t press the shutter release button halfway down to focus?  What?  I have to push a button on the back?  Huh? 

It felt weird using the AF-ON button to focus, and then clicking the shutter release button to take the photo.  I took quite a few practice shots, but all the while, I was thinking, Man, I don't like this.  It's so different.   

At one point, I was so uncomfortable (and frustrated) with it, I thought for a second about switching back to my original method (pressing the shutter release button halfway down to focus and then all the way to take the shot).

But I took a deep breath instead.

And reminded myself that anytime I try something new, it's often difficult at first.  (I'm the type of person who likes to be good at something from the get-go, but I'm learning--from experience--that it rarely happens that way.)

And kept shooting.  

Later that day, Beckie and I took photographs of Sandra, a high school senior.

I was so focused (haha!) on metering the light, using back button focus, and toggling the focal point so it was on the model's eyes, that I wasn't paying much attention to composition.

I kept thinking, Oh, shoot!  (Hence, the title of this post!)  Darn it!  What the heck?!  And ugh!
as I struggled to take decent shots of Sandra. 

I’m not going to lie: Some of my photos were pretty bad--especially in terms of composition.  But some of them turned out okay. 

Here are three of my favorites:

I'm happy to report that since the mentoring session, I've been shooting exclusively with my D700.  Smile.     

I've also been practicing with back button focusing.  Smile. 

And learning more about the D700's autofocus settings on Ken Rockwell's website.  More smiles. 

Have you tried back button focusing?  What did you think?  Do you use it all the time now?

P.S. Thanks to Beckie Kengle for showing me how to use back button focusing, and allowing me to tag along with her on a photo shoot.