Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April Fools Photos :)

My camera makes me happy. :) Last spring I splurged and bought a Nikon D40 with a couple of lenses. I'd been wanting a DSLR for a very very long time and finally had the cashola to pick one up. I know it's not top of the line, but I'm just a budding photographer so I figured that my camera technology could grow with me, KWIM?

One of things I've been trying to do since then is to improve my photography skills. And NOT because I want to be a professional (My Goodness! If I ever decide to put myself out there as a pro, someone shoot me!) but because I want to capture the way I see the world without having to spend hours in Photoshop before I print the pics.
A couple of weeks ago, I took a photography class with Allison Orthner...this lady is awesome! She's funny and engaging and knows how to explain good camera tips in plain ol' english -- which is exactly what I needed to hear.
This past weekend, I brought my camera to my parents place and shot some pics, trying to concentrate on "Quality" and not "Quantity". I am pretty happy with the results...here are some of my faves.

OK, so these ones aren't on my "top quality" list, but I love taking pics of my little man in action. He wanted to pull out the Quad and toodle around the yard, and because it was above zero we could! So this is the first ride of the year, and if you look closely you can see a teeny bit f action in the pics.


This one is one of my faves...my hubby and my daughter. Now if I could just get that girl to stop making silly faces when the camera comes out, I'd be a really happy camper!

This is my mom's sweetie -- her Cookie. Mom's been asking me to take good pics of the Cooksters so she can scrap them. Hope she likes them!

I rarely take pics of my little sister. Here she is with her hubby, who is a great guy. He wouldn't do the "turkey neck" for the photo, tho! LOL

I think this is my fave photo of my sister to date...


And I love this one of my mom...because she is honestly, truly laughing. And she's not making funny faces. Gee...I wonder where my daughter gets it from. Watch out, mom! Someday there is going to be a "Silly Faces" photo post and YOU are going to star in it. (Insert evil laugh here...Muahahaha!)

Anyhoo -- thanks for looking. Any photo tips for me? What's your best one? Please comment and let me know -- I love hearing what other people do!

Happy Scrapping!

7 comments:

Pamela said...

These photos are great!!!

just jennifer said...

no tips but great photos!!

Nathalie said...

Your photos are great! Love the action shots of your boy!

Linda Rodriguez said...

You definitely got some good photos! The best tip I can give is to practice, practice, practice at different settings, speeds, ISOs, etc. and see what you like best. That's what I love so much about digital. You can shoot a lot and not feel badly about *wasting* film.

Cheryl said...

Great photos Amanda. And wasn't that just a greata class by Allison?? I am really trying to take better photos but that little granddaughter of mine doesn't stay still long enough for me!!! I took 150 photos of her on Sunday and I can't really say any of them are great!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos (all of them) but particularly the ones of your mom and sis. I can see some great layouts with those ones! One of the things I often do for a great angle on photos is stand above the person I am photographing. Even if it means standing on a little stepstool or a chair. It often gets a better angle than straight on. I also almost always shoot vertical and tilt the camera slightly. I don't do it on purpose, it is just something I do out of habit and it sort of is "my style" now!

Anonymous said...

GREAT pics!!!!!