Saturday 19 February 2011

Meeting Joshua {5 Minute Photo Shoot}


Just popping in here to wish you all a Happy Weekend!  I hope you get to do whatever it is you want to do, that you don't have time for during the week!!  My, but doesn't the time just seem to be flying this year?  I swear it gets faster each year - not quite sure how that works LOL...

These are a few photos taken from a 5 minute shoot I did in January, in Johannesburg, on our way back from Zambia.  Joshua is the latest addition to the family & isn't he a cutie!?  I have decided to start working on a Picasa tutorial for you all, 'cos you ALL know what a huge fan I am!  Expect that pretty soon.
This weekend I have a tonne of work to do for my photography course so that is a little daunting.  I have to hand in my first assignment on Monday.  Luckily I get an extra 6 hours, which is one advantage of living in Africa when you do a US online course :)

You may find this hard to believe but I do not have very co-operative photo subjects AT ALL.  Admittedly they have stopped putting their hands up in front of the camera but that is all...so all I can do is regularly "surprise" them with impromptu photo-shoots!
This one took place as we were leaving Johannesburg and heading back to Durban by road.  As we are never the earliest of risers the sun was quite well overhead by the time we left but luckily there was a nice big tree in the garden that I shoved the kids under so as to avoid harsh shadows on their faces.

This little man took an instant liking to my daughter Chelsea - which bodes well for her future as a mommy!  {in the FUTURE lol}.  He started head-butting her for some strange reason!  Thank goodness for digital photography where you can just click away almost continuously to capture these fleeting moments.
I always have my Tamron AF28 - 75mm F/2.8 Macro lens attached to my Nikon D5000, for every day use.  I cannot recommend this lens highly enough.  In my opinion it is superb & I have noted that it is a very popular lens indeed with other scrapbookers/photographers whose interest is mainly impromptu "candid" photography.

Obviously the lens did not come with the camera or it would be a Nikon lens.  I bought the camera BODY ONLY & the lens separately.  I did this because I already have the 3.5 - 5.6 kit lens (that comes with the camera) as I got that one with my D40 some years ago.  If you are interested in a very shallow depth of field, as I am (sharp focus at the front & bokeh blur at the back) the 2.8 is obviously far superior to the 3.5.
I'm cropping less & less these days as I am improving a lot on my SOOC (straight out of the camera) shots.  This is what I've been striving for for years now as of course it cuts down on editing time!  I shoot on A mode (Apperture Priority) almost all the time & keep the f stop down at 2.8 & only up it if that is too bright, so that I can get the background blur that I love.

Okay little lesson over.  Hope that tidbit helped someone out there in the universe :)  Blog Love xoxo

11 comments:

Marilyn said...

Wonderful photos!!! I love it!!! Joshua is so CUTE!!! The last photo is Gorgeous!! You have a Beautiful family!!!You're blessed, my friend!!!
Have a nice weekend, Take care! A Big Hug!!!

Diana said...

Wowza your photography is really getting good Helen.

Pearl said...

fabulous pics with Baby Joshua !!! woohoo ! loads to scrap !!!

Have a great weekend too !

Jessy Christopher said...

Awww... Jason is such a cutie!! I love every photo u have taken :) You have beautiful children!

Alison said...

Hi Helen...have popped over from SC and love your photos and blog...what a beautiful family!
Alison xx P.S. have become a Follower

topkatnz said...

Gosh he looks like Shane! Great photos.

MadeByMaly said...

What a wonderfull photo's.

Lynette Jacobs said...

Your photos are beautiful Helen...I must be honest and say that other than cropping I do very little or no editing...much to lazy for that...and it steels to much scrapping time.

linda said...

Love these photos, you have done well
Have a great week
Linda

LG said...

these photographs are amazing!

tania said...

hope you had a lovely weekend!!
these are such cute photos, your photos are becoming outstanding!!
sorry i only pop in now!!