Tears form rivers eroding canyons left dark and cold.  One still resides there, though she fades with time and grace.  The fearful heart strengthens only by the power of One calling her out of the shadows and into His light.  He makes a dwelling in the wounds, binding them, for pain He knows well. In compassion and mercy, His love brings warmth to the most frigid of hearts. He faced the darkest night to restore and renew His light in every bleak crevice of her heart and any who call to Him out of their darkness.

 

Thank you for visiting.  I’m honored to be involved in this project with some very talented artists.  Each month we explore a feeling depicting it in black and white photography.  Be sure to visit each artist to see how she depicted cold.  Start with here with Cris Stephens.

For our 26 week project, my group is  picking topics that correspond with the ABC’s.  Each letter of my project represents a term or technique frequently used in photography.

D is for “Depth of Field”

Basically speaking, Depth of Field (DOF) refers to the plane of the picture that is in focus.  There are ways to calculate specific depths of field, but I just want to touch on the basics for now.

One way to control the DOF is through aperture settings.  The lower the aperture, the more wide open it is and the shallower the depth of field will be.  For instance, if one shoots wide open at F 1.4, 1.8, etc. The only part of the picture in sharp focus will be where the focus point is placed.  This works well when the photographer wants to bring attention to specific details (newborn features, for example). I like to shoot with low apertures to separate my subject from the background and create nice bokeh.  Usually to ensure my subjects entire face is in focus I shoot around F 2-3.  In addition, if more than one person is in the picture, and I want them all in focus they have to all be in a clear depth of field.  If they are on the same plane, I can still shoot pretty low. However if one is in front of the other or their is a group from front to back, I have to close my aperture between F3-F6, to ensure that everyone is in focus.

Ok, enough talk.  Here are a few examples:

In this series the depth of field starts small and opens up towards the end.

The aperture settings  of each from top to bottom: F2.2, F4, F8, F16.

Notice that in the first image, the yellow truck is only thing that you can see (besides color).  With each increase, the background becomes more clear.  Depending on the vision of the photographer, a low aperture could lower the depth of field and hone in on the truck or a wide aperture could create interest by showing the boy playing in the background.  If I planned this better, I would have done the latter removing the trash and recycle bins.  Then again, this is our real life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an example where I would choose a shallow depth of field to cut out the distracting background.  At F16, the first picture has to much going on for my taste.  The bottom picture is shot at F2 and brings my son into better focus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No doubt I’ve only touched on the subject of DOF.  For further study I recommend this very detailed Depth of Field article by toothwalker.org.

Now be sure to see what the rest of our group is doing with the letter D.  Start with Liz; I love the way she captures authentic life.

This month our group is exploring Love…  How appropriate for valentines day, right?  While love comes in many forms, for the sake of this project I must narrow to one picture.

When I had my first son, my heart filled with a greater love than I had ever known.  I had never imagined that I could love so much and want to give so much to another.  My heart overflows with love for my boys and I receive so much joy as their momma.  They are the result of  love committed and shared between my hubby and me.  What’s even more amazing is that this love has been given to me from my mother and infinitely more from my Abba Father.

Here are the two loves of my life loving one another:

 

I can’t wait to see what others in our group have come up with!  Would you join me by starting with Penelope?  Her creativity inspires me.

C is for COLOR!

So glad you are here!  In case you missed it, I am a part of a 26 week project.  I started with “A is for Automatic,” and then “B is for Bokeh.”  Now for C!  C is for Color. Color can be used in many ways to create an interesting image.  Colors relate to one another in different ways and convey different messages when used in art and photography.

This picture is very colorful, very playful… just like the two I have captured.

 

 

A few color relationships are:

Complimentary (opposite).  Examples- Blue and orange, Red and Green, yellow and purple.

Analogous- live next to each other on the color wheel.  Green, Blue Green, Yellow.

Primary- The colors you can not make by mixing other colors, but mix together to make the rest of the colors of the wheel.  Blue, Red, Yellow.

Monochrome- many shades and tints of one color.

Split Complimentary-  Complimentary taken one step further by taking two colors on the side of one of the opposites.  Example:  Purple, Yellow Green, Yellow Orange.

 

Now be sure to visit the rest of my group and see what they have captured for “C.”  Start with my friend, Liz at LIZ PERRYMAN photography.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the best gifts we give our children is the time that we spend with them.  Most parents love to take pictures of their children and their activities and  fun family trips.  Most of the time the one who takes the picture never gets in the picture and there aren’t many pictures of him/her with the family.

I’m excited about this project, “Just Us x 12″.  My hope is to get in the picture and be sure that my children have pictures of us together as they grow up.  These pictures are not really artistic or creative or even photographically excellent, but they are meaningful and will only grow deeper in meaning as my boys grow up and look back.

I’m joining a group of inspiring photographers with the same goal for this year.  Please be sure to visit

Julyssa Schenk- Gilbert, AZ Photographer next to see her picture for this month’s project.

 

It’s our second week and I’m just catching my breath from the Imaging Conference and Expo.  I don’t want to miss, so this may be brief, but I plan on adding more step by step examples like I did on “A is for Automatic.”

B is for Bokeh:

Bokeh is pretty much making your background blurry.  There are a few ways to get this effect and different lenses produce different qualities of bokeh.  My Sigma 50 1.4 is my favorite lens and gives amazing results.  When I’m using my zoom lens and want bokeh, I make sure to zoom it to it’s farthest.  To decrease the depth of field and obtain bokeh the aperture needs to be close to wide open (1.4, 2.0, 2.8, etc.).

This shot was taken with my Tamron 28-75 2.8 lens. The lens was zoomed to 68 mm

Iso: 320

Aperture: f 4.0

Shutter speed: 1/200

This shot was taken with my Sigma 50 1.4. My settings were as follows:

ISO 200

Aperture:  f 3.2

sutterspeed: 1/200

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Please continue our circle to see how others have interpreted the letter “B” starting with  Katiusca.

With a new year, I’ve taken on a few personal projects.  I’m excited about this monthly project focused on Black and White photos depicting feelings.  I’m surrounded by a very talented group and can’t wait to get to know them a little as we have fun shooting, expressing, and feeling with our art. Our project is aptly named 12 Feelings in 2012 and will post on the 12th of each month.  Would you explore with me through the art of photography some of the highs and lows that we all experience?

This month, “nostalgic”, challenges us to express ourselves through our lens.

My image depicts a crocheted blanket made by my late grandmother.  I spent much of my childhood in her home and vividly remember her always with quilting needles in hand.  From placemats, to her covered bike seat, to finer pieces like this blanket, she was always creating.  Yes, I did say bike seat, she was an interesting sort to say the least.  I wish you could’ve met her, because there truly is no other like her and words can’t quite capture her.  She had dark times in life, but I was blessed to live some of the lighter times with her and am thankful for the light she shined into my life as a child.

 

Be sure to visit Penelope and continue through the circle to see other’s take.  You don’t want to miss it!  Comment freely as we open up our hearts to you through our art.