Day 16 of 350

Day 16 of 350
What to post? What to post?

These are the Trusty boys. I took their picture along with their mom and dad last fall. It actually only seems like yesterday. :D The light on this day was incredible. I let them "fish" off the dock to begin with and that's all the little one wanted to do. I had to bribe him to take the rest of his pictures.
I love to take outdoor pictures of families and children and people!
In a couple of weeks I will be taking a young man's senior pictures. And I will also be taking Elias' one year pictures. And, of course, I am taking the wedding pictures this weekend. So, it looks to be a very busy and productive month of picture taking.
We have rain, ice and snow in the forecast for the next 48 hours. I have mixed feelings about it. I could use a prep day for this weekend. But the kids are really behind in the computer lab. I'm easy either way!
DeWayne had more pictures of deer on his camera. One really nice deer (antler wise). He also had a nice picture of a raccoon and a rabbit. :)
More later!

Day 15 of 350

Day 15 of 350

I decided on this picture for today because it was sunny and pretty outside today but the wind was still Winter. I miss the warm, beach weather. I really think I could live at the beach and not miss anything but the changing of the leaf color here in Illinois! :D
Evan has agreed to help DeWayne and I at the wedding next weekend. (I will owe her a new pair of TOMS!) I am excited that we are going to do this as a family. I love that my husband and my daughter see things to photograph that I usually miss! It's going to be a great day.
DeWayne and I worked with the settings on my camera this afternoon. I think I have figured out how to do some presets on the white balance and the ISO settings.
I'll keep working on it this week and I'll keep you posted.

Day 14 of 350

Day 14 of 350

This is DeWayne's Christmas present to himself. He bought a trail camera. He has it set up on the back of our property where deer are known to travel. Obviously, by the look of this guy, some big deer!
He has been checking it about every 3 or 4 days. Today, when he checked it there were not as many deer pictures as earlier in the week with this picture.
There were other pictures of deer (about 10 different deer we think). Some big, some small. It's just fun to see them not knowing they are getting their picture taken!
He threw out some apples today, so we might have some new pictures tomorrow!
It has been a teaser of a day. It feels like Spring. It was 52 at about 2:00. DeWayne and I actually walked to the neighbors house and fed their cat. I didn't even have to wear a coat! It's supposed to be icy and snowy on Monday thought. Oh well! That's weather in Southern Illinois!
The wedding is in just a week! I am starting to get a little nervous and a little excited! I have bought a ton of extra rechargeable batteries for my flash units. I have extra SD cards for my cameras. I have studied poses and lighting and settings on my camera. I am just going to have to jump in and take the pictures. I can't worry about them until I get there Friday night and check out the lighting for real!
I am praying for a creative eye, an ability to get people posed and that my camera equipment is set right. Please pray with me on that one!!!
More late!

Day 13 of 350

Day 13 of 350

This is the excitement of West Side today!!!
This is my friend and coworker Mary. She is a very creative and imaginative person. She also has much compassion for all kinds of animals.
Today she was the RIF (Reading is Fundamental) celebrity reader. She put on quite a show. She read the book Oppossomundous and dressed the part of mama. She even added the right voice and accent! It was wonderful. As you can see, she actually has a pet possum. Her golden retriever retrieved this possum when she was just a few weeks old and dropped it at her feet. So being Mary, she nursed the baby along and read EVERYTHING about possums. So, Ta Da!, she has a pet possum. The kids loved her. They were very attentive and were excited about seeing a live possum.
The RIF program is a fantastic program. We do 3 RIF programs a year for the second graders. They receive a free book of their choice, a bookmark, a pencil and an eraser. Plus they get a very cool program/speaker of some kind.
Along with RIF, it was the 100th day of school, the PBIS good behavior reward day, and DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) Day in 2nd grade. A very busy day indeed!
Time to crash and catch up!

Days 11 & 12 of 350

Days 11 & 12 of 350

Sorry they are combined! :(

I took these pictures while I was working with the manual settings on my camera. The first picture is with Auto White Balance set. The second picture is taken with the White Balance set to indoor lighting (Tungsten/Light bulb). The second one is warmer and looks more appealing to me. The first one is the natural color. What do you think?
White Balance is a big deal during indoor photo shooting. I had a small problem with white balance when I took the pictures at the 50th wedding anniversary party I shot last fall. I should have went manual and cooled down the pictures ALOT!
I am anxious to get to Evansville next Friday and make the settings on my camera.
Today was an interesting day at West Side. Usually when we have a fire drill it is not a surprise. So when the fire alarm went off at about 1:45 we all jumped and ran and did what we are supposed to do. We got our children out in record time. While the other aides and I stood outside the building we were discussing the fact that we didn't think there was a fire drill scheduled. Well, sure enough, you could hear the fire trucks coming!!! To make a long story short, someone put some popcorn in the microwave and it caught on fire. (Guess they missed those directions that said 3 minutes is the max for microwave popcorn!) The teacher's workroom was a little smokey and very stinky!!!
The other crazy thing that happened when I got to school this morning was that when I opened my little fridge a bottle of poppy seed dressing fell out and crashed to the floor. The whole bottle shattered and dressing was in a big pile right behind my desk. Needless to say I craved salad ALL day! LOL
Time to cook some dinner for DeWayne.
More later!

Day 10 of 350

Day 10 of 350

This is my book group. We meet once a month and discuss books that we read. It is sooo fun! We started the group because we all liked Karen Kingsbury books and thought we should get together and talk about the books. Well, this is our third year and we try to read one of her books a year. As a group, we decided to read this book every January (to get it out of the way!). We read the book Unlocked for this month. Two of our members, Lisa G. and Chellie, are not big fans of Karen. So the rest of us got together and had T-shirts made that say I heart Karen Kingsbury. Too funny! We laughed and laughed tonight. Good times with good friends!
Next month the group is meeting here. Most of them have not seen my library. Maybe we can meet in there. (might be a little cramped) :D

Day 9 of 350

Day 9 of 350

Well, this is the full moon the other night. I, again, took this out our front door. It looked way cooler when I was getting my camera ready. The color is ok. I should have had a tripod or a monopod but I was in a hurry.
Sorry about not posting a picture yesterday. I just absolutely forgot.
We dodged a snow day today because the temperature didn't go too far below freezing. It snowed almost an inch last night before bed time but was melted down this morning. And it was almost all melted off by this afternoon. If we use all of our snow days we get out of school on the 6th of June. If we don't use any more, we get out on June 3rd. We'll see!
The kids were ready to learn today. I was ready to teach. It was a good day.
I thought about wedding pictures all day: schedules, poses, people etc, etc. It will all come together. God is awesome like that!

Day 9 of 350

Day 9 of 350

AWWWWW!!! It happened. I got so caught up in church then just relaxing yesterday that I forgot to post.
SORRY
I'll post for today when I get home from work!

Day 8 of 350

Day 8 of 350

This is Jackie. Jackie lives at our house and is a big part of our family. Jackie moved in permanently in May of last year. She and Evan have been best friends since they were 14. Jackie has practically lived at our house ever since. Before the girls drove, we would pick her up on Fridays and deliver her back to her house on Sunday evenings after church. Sometimes she would even spend the night and go to school the next day with Evan. Due to finally putting up with her family long enough (and I say that in the nicest way), she moved in with us. It's been coming for a long time. She just needed to make her own mind up that enough was enough. She and Evan and Erin and Cacy and Angela are the fabulous five. All through high school they did everything together. And Jackie always had a plan. I lovingly call her the cruise director. She is a good leader!
Jackie is a student at John A. Logan college in the Dental Hygienist program. She finished the Dental Assistant program last June and works at a dental clinic in Harrisburg. She is the hardest working 21 year old that I know. She works at the clinic, goes to school full time and works at Hardee's part time. And did I mention she is planning her wedding. She is engaged to Austin. They are getting married in May. Austin and DeWayne kayak together. He and Dane have been friends since first grade.

The real reason I posted this picture is because I was playing with my flash and light. I am trying to eliminate the shadowing that happens behind people when you take their picture using flash. I bought a bounce card and my flash has a swivel head. So this allowed me to find the right angle and take this picture of Jackie in portrait position without the shadows. The catch lights in her eyes (the white shining) are just right too. So it was a good practice day! :D

Evan came home for a few hours today. She's getting ready to order a new passport and start on immunizations. She hasn't found out yet if she will be able to help with the wedding or not. I am selfishly hoping that she can. I NEED her and her creative eye! :D

More later!

Day 7 of 350

Day 7 of 350

Well, here is the snow picture I promised. It's shot while I was standing at my front door. I did open the door and stick my head out and that's about it! I am not one to walk around outside when its really cold. That was right after the snow quit and the sun poked out for behind the clouds for about 15 minutes. It was really pretty reflecting off the woods.
Today it's FREEZING!!! The temperature is hovering in at about 10. BRRRR! I like the 24 degrees and snow way more than 4 and frigid!

I'm keeping my camera close today. You never know when the deer are going to stick their heads out of the woods. :D
I also need to keep reminding myself what each button on my camera does. (I really think I will be 70 and still wondering what some of the buttons do on my camera!)

DeWayne is working a lot of overtime right now. The "no-show" guy has started being a no-show again so everyone else has to pick up the slack. He has promised to help me take the pictures at the wedding. Those will probably be his first days off! He has a good eye and seeing details that I sometimes miss! I like it when he helps me!

Day 6 of 350

Day 6 of 350

Well, it's snow day number 5 and DeWayne took my laptop to work. I assured him with the iPad I wouldn't need it. I forgot about posting to my blog and I haven't figured out how or if I can upload a picture to this site. So, today there is no picture. Sorry!!!

I have had my camera out several times today working on light settings and trying to really figure it out. I took a picture of the snow. The su decided to shine at about 4:00 and I snapped a few pictures of it. I'll use those tomorrow. I have read several good articles about wedding pix and lighting and poses. I'm trying to put together a timeline for the day of when to take whose picture. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Tomorrow is snow day number 6. That officially changes the end of our school year. I now go the week after Memorial Day. As long as we stay out of June I'm ok with it. (Of course I don't have much choice.)
I just want to be able to take Evan to Indianapolis on June 2. That's when she leaves for the Ukraine on her mission internship! Very exciting for her!

More tomorrow!

Day 5 of 350

Day 5 of 350

Well, I have actually made it for 5 days in a row now!

This is a picture of Christmas day and all the snow we had. I had to post this picture because we are forecast for this same amount of snow tonight and tomorrow. Looks like we may another snow day or two in our future. :D

I shot this picture through the door glass because I didn't want to disturb the birds. They can sure empty that bird feeder fast. Usually about every day or so. The blue jays are the biggest and the bossiest. Then the woodpeckers and then the little birds. When they empty the bird feeder, they start on Brody's dog food. They REALLY like dog food. Too funny!

I've been putting together wedding pose lists and a schedule of when to take each groups pictures. The bride and groom don't want to see each other before the service. I can respect that. We can do all the formal separate shots before the wedding and then take all the together formal shots afterwards. I just need a timeline and a plan so we don't stand around trying to remember who has and hasn't had their picture taken. Wedding photography is very nerve wracking. I feel like I have to cover a lot of bases. (You don't get second chances to take some photos at a wedding again!) I just want to be prepared and do a good job!

More later!

Day 4 of 350

Day 4 of 350

Meet Paige and Addison. This is why my day of taking pictures was so easy. They are a very handsome couple. Very photogenic and much personality!

Paige is the same age as Dane. They started in the same kindergarten class and went all through school together. I have a connection with her family from way back! Her dad and his family lived behind my Aunt Jackie and her family. I honestly don't have too many memories of being at their house and her dad, Eric, not being around. He was just the kid who lived next door and hung out with us. He's also my sister and my cousin Jill's age. So is was a pleasure to take an old friend's daughter's engagement photos. I also work with her mom, Patti.

I had never met Addison so I wasn't sure what to expect. He was very funny and a good sport about having so many pictures taken. I pray that their life will be blessed and they will grow stronger and stronger in their relationship.

This picture was taken on Main Street in downtown Evansville. The street lamps are painted black and very old style. It's a very charming place to take photos. I hope to use this location again as I take more pictures.

I have had contacts about senior picture, a family group and a child's photo shoot. So in the next 2 months or so I am going to be busy. Can I just say YAY!!

Day 3 of 350

Day 3 of 350

Thought I might post one of the pictures from Saturday's photo shoot. (Actually, I might post a couple more before the week is over! )

I had seen this photo set up on Flickr, which is a very COOL site for photographers to show off their stuff. I grabbed the Scrabble tiles before I left the house Saturday morning and put them in a ziplok bag in my pocket. After we took all our photos and were warming up with a wonderful coffee at Starbucks, I remembered the tiles in my pocket. Paige very graciously gave up her ring and I placed the tiles on the end table between the comfy chairs. This is the end result. I think it's awesome!!!! I love photos like this. I have done one with the word Family on a little sign. And I just bought a little stand-up word LOVE. (Jackie has claimed that one for her ring pictures)

All-in-all it has been a wonderful weekend. I finished editing Paige and Addison's pictures. I have them uploaded to zenfolio and they are ready to view. (If you would like to view them and my other pictures go to lwhitlock.zenfolio.com

I feel like it has actually been a long weekend even with all the busyness.

Today, Jackie and I went to Evansville to hang out with Evan and Angela. Her wedding dress was supposed to be in but it was actually in at the store in Nashville. They are shipping it to Evansville and she will have to make another trip over to pick it up. We shopped a little and ate some yummy Hacienda and shopped a little more. Good times!

Back to work tomorrow!

I have to keep my eye open for an interesting photo op! LOL!

Day 2 of 350

Day 2 of 350

Well, here is the arch at the "river end" of Main Street in Evansville. All in all the engagement photo shoot went really well. I woke at 5 a.m. this morning thinking of things that I shoulda, woulda, coulda but I have many wonderful shots and I am pleased. Most of all, Paige previewed the pictures on the LCD screen and she was pleased! So, it was a good day.

Evan didn't have to work until later so she was able to help me. (You know, keep me on task!) And she got to take some shots too. (Oh, yeah, she got a new camera for Christmas too!)

Tomorrow, Jackie and I are going back to Evansville to shop and hang with Evan again! I could get used to seeing Evan every weekend!

Wonder what I will take a picture of today?!?

Day 1 of 350

Day 1 of 350

I have looked and looked at blogs of "365 Days of Photos" and I really wanted to participate. Well, being the procrastinator that I am, I am 15 days late. :D

So, I really plan on posting a picture every day for the entire year of 2011! (All 350 of them!)

This picture was taken December 30 while Evan and I were visiting mom and Jim in Florida. We took a mini road trip for the day and started at Fort Pierce. The colors of the ocean that day were wonderful! Isn't God amazing how He puts all those colors there to please our eyesight! The sun was not too bright; actually a little overcast. I was impressed with this beach area. It was clean and very accessible! I also couldn't get over how pretty the water was. Usually when we visit the Atlantic, it is gray and rough and not very pretty. This was a beautiful day. Evan and Jim were checking out the water from the top of the dune.

My hope is that I can share a photo that captures everything that I want to say for the day.

On a side note. I am taking photos of a couple in Evansville for their engagement today. I will also be photographing their wedding in February. I am really nervous about the indoor wedding shots. I am trying and trying to soak up all the indoor photography knowledge that I can find. Of course, there's no better way to learn than to just do!

The whole point of taking a photo a day is to get my camera out and use it!

(Oh yeah, did I mention that I got a new camera right before Thanksgiving! It's a huge step-up for me. I am still, and probably will be for a long time, learning what all the buttons do.