{Pic} a Pepper

Want a 70-200mm Canon Lens Cup?

2012-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

http://purephotoshopactions.com/?p=1336
Check out this site and their giveaway this week. First of all I have to say that I LOVE this site doing the giveaway. Always producing beautiful stuff. Second, this is so generous of them to be doing another giveaway this week. What fun!

Week 2 photo for 52 weeks of photography.

2012-01-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

This is the first photo I took for this weeks challenge using apeture. Second photo for this week is coming.

Challenge for Week 2 of 52 weeks of photography

2012-01-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

Time for another lesson about the manual settings on your SLR and DSLR cameras. I have been looking forward to sharing this lesson about aperture with you. By playing with the aperture setting on your camera you can create some amazing photographs. This lesson is so sweet and simple too. I can’t wait to see you all put it into action!!

So what exactly is aperture and how do you use it to your advantage?

The aperture of the camera works like the pupil of the eye. The more the aperture is open the more light comes in through the lens to touch the film. Just like with shutter speeds, a change to the aperture is referred to as a “stop”, or “f-stop“. Also, just like with shutter speeds, when you adjust your “f-stop” you either double the light coming in the lens or you cut it in half. The smaller the “f-stop” number, the larger the aperture. The term “stop” actually comes from early cameras that used metal stop plates to adjust the aperture size.

How does this affect your photos?

Using a smaller aperture setting allows you to capture more of the scene you are attempting to photograph, while using a larger aperture will only allow you to capture a small portion of the scene in focus.

Here is a photo with a small aperture. You can see how it captured the whole scene with the cups in my foreground and my hubby standing all the way at the back.

Here is a photo with a large aperture. You can see how it blurred in the foreground and the background, only focusing on my little man in the sand.

This technique of using your aperture creates incredible portraits. I hope this article will inspire some play with the aperture setting on your camera this week!! Be sure to share the photos you take!! I would love to see! For directions to changing the aperture on your particular camera, consult the manual that came with it.

So as a challenge how about playing with the aperture setting of the camera. Take a few portraits, a few shots of your favorite objects. Can't wait to see.

Week 1 of 52 weeks of photos.

2012-01-16T17:53:00.000-08:00

So here is my photo this week. I posted it on my facebook page, but I wanted to share it here too.

It was taken while driving with opposing traffic coming toward me. f-22 and 30 second exposure

52 weeks of photo challenges

2012-01-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

So I want to do 52 weeks of photos this year. Yes, I know I am already a week later starting this, but who says I cant end it a week late or just be short or even add an extra challenge in somewhere?Several people who responted with interest about this challenge said they are new to SLR cameras so I thought I would share some of the articles I wrote for an online magazine. This first one is about using the shutter speed on the camera. There are a few photos for examples posted here too. Every camera is affected by motion blur, though, so dont feel like you cant participate because you don't have the right kind of camera. So lets get this year started and take a photo or 3 of something in motion!

Your keys to controlling light

If you are using a camera you have probably heard these terms, but do you know what they mean and how to utilize them to your advantage? Once upon a time I did know what these meant, but when I got my first digital camera with all of its automatic settings and no manual ones, I kinda forgot everything I learned about these terms in college. . Fortunately, I still have my old college text book to help refresh my memory on all the terms I needed to know. My pack rat ways have finally paid off!

To start, I took a peek at my point and shoot camera and, as far as I could tell, they don’t allow you to really control changing the shutter speed or the aperture. When you change your settings to the images like the flower, the mountains, or the star, the camera automatically sets these things for you. No problems. On the other hand, DSLR cameras give you the freedom to point and shoot with automatic settings or manually adjust your own preferences. You can even set the camera so it won’t do your focusing for you.

F-Stop, Shutter speed and aperture are the things that are going to be the most important to your photographs. We will explore these concepts through the next few challenges.

Shutter Speed Signs

- Shutter speed controls “the amount of light by the length of time shutter remains open.” Doubling the amount of time the shutter is open gives one more “stop” of exposure to the film. To do the opposite, or go back one stop, means that you have cut the time that the shutter is open in half. Digital single lens reflex cameras don’t use a mechanical shutter for capturing images, Instead, they have a sensor chip that turns on and off for the same amount of time that a shutter would be open.

So how does this shutter speed affect the photos that you take? It depends on what you are photographing. If you are photographing something that is moving fast, you want a fast shutter speed. Something slow does better with a slower speed.

These 2 photos of the water coming out of my slip and slide show how the change in shutter speed can affect the image. Photo #1 was taken at a fast shutter speed
( 1/1000 of a second or f-10) so it captured the individual droplets. Photo #2 was taken at a much slower shutter speed (1/25 of a second or f-40) , therefore it looks like a constant stream of water. I know you may not go out and photography the sprinkler often, but you might want to go and photography a pretty little stream as it tumbles over some rocks. To get that nice smooth look of water you definitely want to use the slower speed.

Other factors can also affect the blurring of the photo when considering the shutter speed. Objects moving toward the lens will not appear to blur with a slower shutter speed because, to the lens, the will not appear to have moved a significant amount. Also, objects that are closer to the lens will cross more of the view and appear to blur more than objects that are further away, but moving at the same speed. It is also possible to trick the lens with slower shutter speeds by panning, or following the subject as you photograph them. Panning will keep the subject in focus but the background will blur with the motion of the camera.

Photo #3 is the perfect example of how things moving toward the lens don’t blur even with a slow shutter speed. This was taken at with a 1/200 shutter speed. Not as slow as the water, but with the nearly white background, my aperture couldn’t compensate at a slower speed. Photo #4 is a great example of panning. She is nicely in focus along with the splashes of water from around her legs, and her motion is well expressed through the blur seen in the background.

I do have to say that I prefer to faster shutter speeds. For capturing my images of kids. It is great for capturing their energy. With a fast shutter speed it is possible to capture things in midair. Check out these great action photos I got!

I hope this article will inspire some play with the shutter speeds on your camera this month!! Be sure to share the photos you take on my facebook page or by linking them in the comments here!! I would love to see! For directions to the shutter speed on your particular camera, consult the manual that came with it. Next time we will explore aperture and delve into that befuddling subject called the f-stop.

September moon

2011-09-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

Gotta share this photo. I took it tonite. :D The moon was just too beautiful not to photograph.

It has been ages...

2011-09-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I posted photos in here on my blog and not just on the FB page, I know, but I just got back from Atlanta and had tons of fun along with getting loads of photos I wanna share. :D Check back soon!

New email address

2011-04-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

I have a new gmail address that is exclusively for the photography biz. If you need to get in touch with me for anything, that is the easiest way. The new addy is picturedpeppers@gmail.com

Been really busy lately!

2010-09-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

I recently started a new job working in a frame shop. But I still have hours on my weekends and weekdays until about 4 pm to take photos. Plenty of time to take photos and work on editing. So it is time to clear out a few cobwebs from the blog and point everyone to a great webpage hosting an awesome giveaway this week!

www.soulographer.com/blog/2010/09/an-all-new-workbook-giveaway-sale/

Senior Portrait Sessions have begun!

2010-06-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the first senior portrait session I have done since we have moved to Louisana. More shots to come!!

It dawned on me...

2010-05-09T07:40:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to a picnic with friends and I handed my card to someone and I realized that I have not updated my blog to actually say WHERE I am living now! Whoops! Yes, I realize my last post says that I am licensed in Louisana. But that doesn't really mean much does it? We are actually in the Shreveport, Bossier City, Haughton, Benton. Greenwood area. SOOO that means the northwestern corner of the state. NOT New Orleans. That is about a 5 hour drive as I understand it. lol We are located about 2 1/2 hours or so out of Dallas.

Licensed in Louisana!

2010-04-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

And I am ready to start booking appointments!

Just a few {pics} of an 8 month old.

2009-11-16T23:00:00.001-08:00

I absolutely fell in love from the very first photo and was so grateful to these parents who let me experiment with a few things in my photos this week. I have been wanting to try photos on a mirror with a baby and this little girl was my first attempt. She wasn't so keen on laying on her belly though so we didn't get very many. lol Ahh well, I tried. I had fun playing with a few new ideas for backgrounds as well. It was so funny that my random selection of backgrounds were a perfect match to her outfit without any coordinating before hand. It was just meant to be, I guess!

Johnny's {Pic}s

2009-11-03T08:21:00.001-08:00

I always love taking photos at the beach and these were no exception. We actually ended up going out on 2 separate nights since our first night had such a heavy fog that the light was horrible by the end of 1 hour of photographing. Worked out perfectly, though, because we were able to get awesome shots at the railroad tracks right at sunset the very next night!!

At Last!

2009-10-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

www.picturedpeppers.com is going live!

I am just waiting for my web hosting company to flip all the switches at their end and my site will be live!! Check it out and lemmie know what you think!! I would love to hear your feedback!!

And as a Special Grand Opening Treat, I am challenging everyone who goes to the site to try and figure out where the music on the home page is from. Send me an email through the site contact section and get entered into a chance for prizes!

(note: I am not referring to the lullaby music that plays in the galleries, just the long piano piece that plays on the very first page of the site)

Pictures in the Park

2009-10-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

I got to photograph the cutest family this evening at Cocheo Park here on base. These are just a few of part of the family!! Lots more to come!

Photos at the mission

2009-09-21T09:04:00.001-07:00

I love taking photos at the mission because there are so many different "backgrounds" to choose from! I took nearly 200 photos during the time we were there yesterday. This set is my top dozen favorites!! (nothing has been editied or color corrected yet, Sorry!)

Christmas mini shoot special

2009-09-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Want to get Christmas photos done of the family but don't want the hassle of a studio or the expense of a full photography session? Schedual a mini session with me! Sessions will last between 30 minutes and an hour. Get the session and $50 in print credit for only $70. These sessions should yield up to 10 images for printing.

Incredible photo

2009-09-14T19:59:00.001-07:00

Photo By Katie Case Mihalak

I have to share this photo. It isn't one of mine. It was taken by a gal I went to highschool with and the soldier is also someone I went to school with. Being a military wife though, I find it incredibly powerful. It is these moments we look forward to.

August Baby photos

2009-08-31T22:24:00.001-07:00

My latest sweet little photo shoot. Isn't she beautiful?!?

And some more

2009-07-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

A few more from the 4th of July

2009-07-31T11:57:00.001-07:00

A few photos

2009-07-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

These aren't photos I took at shoots for clients, just some of my favorites that I am FINALLY finding time to post and share from the 4th of July party we went to. I took almost 400 for the day. I loved capturing the action of the day. It was fun sneaking photos of people relaxing and playing. Can't wait for the next party!! Oh yea!! That means Jens birthday party tomarrow!!

As promised...

2009-07-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos I took for a friend. I was waiting for her to give the album to her hubby before I posted anything here.

These photos turned out so beautifully, if I do say so myself!

Glass photo tiles

2009-07-26T15:29:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine makes these beautiful glass tile necklaces and I asked her to make me a few using photos that I have taken. They turned out absolutely beautifully. And have even gotten her a few more orders.

These tiles are 7/8" x 7/8". She can also put the images on Scrabble tiles for those who want something a little less breakable.

Alishas non-photo necklace tiles can be found on etsy at http://ragamuffinexpress.etsy.com/

Coming soon

2009-07-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

I took some photos recently and I can't wait to share a few of them with you all. I am just waiting for them to be delivered to the customer before I share them. I can't wait to see her reaction to them!!

Little Miss "Teacup"

2009-07-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

I loved the way most of the photos in this shoot turned out. This sleepy little sweetheart was less than a month old when we did her first photos.

Photo collage

2009-06-15T22:47:00.001-07:00

Beautiful Headshots

2009-05-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

Not so long ago I had to go in for a same day medical procedure. While I was "recovering" from anesthesia, I visited with my nurse. We chatted about lots of things, including photography, and I gave her one of my business cards. I was absolutely delighted when I heard back from her this month about doing some headshots of her daughter for beauty pagents. I am still making my way through the photos, but here are a couple of the photos that I took. As I get through the pics, I will add a few more. Things have been so busy, unfortunately, that I have hardly had time to even convert them from RAW to .jpg format.

Baby pictures

2009-05-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

Her photos are in my header already, but yesterday her mom and I created a birth announcment with another of the photos I took. She is the teacup baby in my header. I love this photo of her for the announcment because you really get to see her face and she seems to be looking right into the lense of the camera.

Still under construction

2009-05-08T21:01:00.001-07:00

But so much closer to being done!! My friend Emma came over here today and helped me. She is genius with code! I am still trying to figure out how to get the header to flip between the photos but I do have a new title!! Thank you to Joanne for the {Pic} a Pepper idea!! I love it!! Check back in a week or so and maybe I will finally have it all done!! With Emmas help that is!!

All new

2009-05-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

The link is the same, but I am loading a new header to the blog sometime soon. Fingers crossed I can get it to work. With the new header is a new title for the blog. I learned recently that a lot of people who don't know me and just happen across my blog believe that my name is Anabell Pepper so the new header actually has my name in it!! What a novel concept I know!!

Be looking for it soon. It will be up as soon as I can figure out how to get it to load!!

In memory of 3

2009-03-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

I took these photos of my friend and her husband as a way to remember their three little ones. She came over and we put this collage together. I am going to teach her to digi scrap more, and this was our starting point.

I will do a second collage that has more of the photos that we took but I wanted to share this one here. It is really special in my opinion.

The quote that we used on the page comes from her blog.

My sisters wedding

2009-03-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

I took so many photos at my sisters wedding. This is just a collage of some of the photos we took between the ceremony and the reception.

Vegas wedding

2009-03-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

I took photos at our friends wedding in Vegas a few years ago. While they had a professional photographer, I really wanted to take photos of my own. I am glad I did because my friends said mine came out better than the photographer they hired. I was glad they appreciated them. I have scrapped several of them and some of the pages have even been published. I wanted a collage of my favorites though.

Collage from photoshoot #2

2009-03-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

Posted some of the photos before, but I had created a collage of my favorite family group photos.

Another photo shoot collage

2009-03-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

Had so much fun taking photos of this family. They had 2 other teen girls with them as well and I got lots of photos of the 4 girls together. Another collage for another time maybe. WE will see.

First photo shoot collage at last

2009-03-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

I made this collage, but wanted to share it with the family before I posted it. Then forgot because the mom went on a trip and on and on. lol. But here it is posted at last! Still haven't shared it with them, but...

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

My hubby got me a backdrop AND lights with unbrellas for Christmas this year!! What a nice suprise. I have everything I need for a studio now except space!! The nicest part about all my goodies is that all the framework, canvases and umbrellas fit into one bag and the bulbs go into the bag I carry my camera in. Means my studio can go with me to the homes of clients for onsite photography!!

I did manage to clear my living room enough to set everything up for a little while and play this afternoon. This is my favorite photo I took of the girls. Aren't they sweet!!

They had fun posing and playing. Laura was busy making faces for more than half the shots I took of her.

Family photo shoot #3.

2008-12-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

I am not done editing all the photos from this shoot. I still have the indoor photos from in front of their tree to do, but I created a collage to put in a book with photos I have taken so people can get a feel for what my photos look like. I need to do at least 1 for each family I photograph I think!

Photo Challenge #27 - Motion

2008-12-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

My dd dancingin the 1st grade. She is my little diva. She LOVES to sing and dance and this was right up her alley!!

This is the only photo I love more than her spin from when they had dance as part of class. This was in Kindergarten. I think she must have had a crush on this little boy, because she wanted to name her new baby brother after him!! lol

Here are some fun other photos I have of things in motion.

Family photo shoot #2

2008-12-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday after Thanksgiving I went out to the mission with this family and did photos and am so delighted with the way the photos turned out. I hope that they are as happy with them as I am!!

It was really hard to pick my favorites from the day, but I think I have narrowed it down!!

This first photo is actually the last photo I took before we left.

Don't you love the results of little kids not wanting to cooperate? You get some of the most fun photos!!

Family photo shoot #1

2008-11-25T09:53:00.000-08:00

I volunteered myself to do photos for friends in my hubbys office. Being military money is really tight for all of us, and so if I can help people out by free photo shoots...

All I asked is that they pay for the disk it got put on (I had to take it to Walmart so it costs me about $3 each disk) Beyond that cost I told them that donations are appreciated, but I don't charge. Do I sound pathetic or what? lol I did tell people that I will be using the photos in a site when I start a photo studio, though. So I have to have photo releases done.

Anywho...

I did my first shoot this past weekend. Here are the photos I took. I am so tickled with the way that they turned out. I really didn't need to do much editing to them. The biggest problem was shadows on some of the shots. The rest of the editing I did was just for fun like sepia tones, and color edits.

Challenge # 26 - weather

2008-11-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

Weather here hasn't changed much this week. No really cloudy days to photograph. Nothing but wind, and how do you photograph that? lol

So here is a photo from sunset the other night. Just a few clouds for the light to reflect from since the sun had already dropped below the horizon. I liked the way it looked through the palm trees at the end of my street.

But in working on this challenge, I hunted through some of the photos I have taken that highlight a days weather since we have lived here in cali. Where we live, the ocean keeps it from snowing. But between a single sunrise and sunset we have seen all of these weather conditions.

hail

Fog,

wind,

Flood, (this is from 2 hours worth of rain. In case you can't read it, it says 3"!)

lots of fun clouds,

and more sunshine. (sunrise this time)

Challenge #25 - low light

2008-11-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

I have put off posting thinking that I was going to get time to take a new photo but things have just been sooooo crazy here at my house. UGH. I had some candle photos planned. I will probably still take them, just no clue when!! Anywho... I ended up digging out some fun photos we took of my kiddos at halloween with glow sticks. We had so much fun playing with these in the yard and the photos came out so cool!!

I think this one is my favorite. My oldest was wonderwoman and it looked like she had a skirt.

I this one she managed to keep it going in a perfect circle long enough to snap the photo. Love the way it came out!!

Challenge #24 Macro photos

2008-11-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

At last, I have them posted. lol Been a busy week. I was having fun photographing a spiderweb on my lantern in the front yard, though. Here are some of the shots I got.

Some old Macro shots

2008-11-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

My grampa was so proud of the garden he planted for my aunt this year. I took lots of pics of different things in the flower beds and the garden. Some of the flowers were past their prime, but I thought they were still really pretty!

These photos are from our drive down Highway 1 a few years ago. Lots of pretty flowers to look at!!

And the results of Challenge #23

2008-11-05T23:04:00.001-08:00

I am so tickled that I won. There were so many gorgeous photos this week. Thank you everyone who voted for my photo!

Some of my favorite edited photos

2008-11-03T23:12:00.000-08:00

Looking through my folders of photos to complete this last challenge I found tons of photos that I absolutely adore the finished products of my editing work. I had to share a few more of them.

These are from our friends wedding in Las Vegas in 2006

Before - I loved this photo straight out of the camera

After- Just warmed the color a little bit.

Before- Another I loved straight out of the camera but I was a bit distracted by the suit right behind her head. Maybe it is just me noticing things in my own shot.

After- I love the look of those old photos that have the color painted in so I desaturated the photo so only the boldest colors would pop.

Before
I was photographing them with the photographer.

After - I cropped the photo in behind them a little and then photoshoped the professional photographer out of the photos. They look like they are standing contemplating their future together now! I love this shot. I actually turned it into a business card.

Before- I needed a photo of just the groom but all I had was this one with my hubby in the background and a gas heater in the corner. I found it to be very distracting, but I couldn't just crop out the things I didn't like. So I played with photoshop.

After- This is the finished photo of the groom all by his lonesome.

Challenge #23 - Photo makeovers

2008-10-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last week it was no editing and this week it is all about editing. I am forever cropping at the very least. Guess this challenge gives me an excuse to work on more of my sisters wedding photos!! lol

This is one of my all time fave photos that I have edited. It is from my hubbys step fathers military burial. I found the original distracting with the faces especially since the honor guard members closest to me were cut off. I cropped the photo in so it focused on the flag and the hands that folded it an love the effect.

original photo

Edited photo

From my sisters wedding here is one that gave me fits to edit. There was a terrible shadow on her face but to lighten it made the photo grainy. I played for hours to soften the graininess of it.

Original

Edit

Challenge #22 - S.O.O.C

2008-10-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is just a repost of the photos I put in my regular blog
This is the first photo I posted. It is from the maternity shoot I did for a friend of mine.

This is another one I took at the maternity shoot. Love the way it turned out, the little bit of blur and everything.

Last photo is from soccer on Saturday morning. My poor boy was tired and wanted mommy to hold him but the second I would pick him up he wanted to get down and run. Not a good choice when we are sitting between 2 soccer fields. lol

I have joined a photography blog challenge

2008-10-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

So I thought I should start a place to share my special photos. This will be their own special gallery to say the least.