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It’s Not Perfect, But It’s a Start July 31, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Photography, School, Thoughts , 6comments

As most of you know, I’m attending The Academy of Art University.  It takes up most of my free time.

Free time?

What the heck is that?

I’m pretty sure I haven’t had a lot of free time in the last few years.

Kids have a way of filling up time.  In a good way, of course.

This summer, I’ve posted more pictures than text.

I don’t have a lot of time to write about stuff, but I certainly have pictures to post.

I have a professor that only awards “A’s” if your work is a perfect 10.  Perfect in composition, clarity, color, and if it’s technically perfect.  To achieve an “A” grade, your images need to be out of the ball park for his class.  Basically, you shouldn’t be taking his class if you get “A’s.”

I have been a little frustrated with all the “B’s” I’ve been getting.  This will probably not come as a surprise to many of you, but to me, anything less than an “A” is a failure.

I’m extreme.

I know.

But, that’s the way I’m wired.

I emailed the professor.

I told him I was pulling my hair out.

Going gray exceptionally early.

Loosing my mind.

He told me that I had to WOW him.  I needed to produce images that were a  perfect “10.”

I decided to shoot with my heart and not my mind this last week.

I shot these random images.

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I like them.

You know what?

He did to.

Please, re-read that last sentence.

I scored an “A-.”

I do hope this is the beginning of a new trend.

Photographing the Midnight Moon July 30, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Photography , 3comments

The big full midnight moon was BEGGING me to photograph it.

I crept outside and set up my tripod in my driveway.  After fiddling around with several shutter speeds, ISO’s and F-stops, I came up with this combination for this picture:

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F-11

ISO 3200

4 seconds

I know this is a high ISO, and you can see a lot of noise in the photo, but I wanted to see how a photo would turn out with an ISO of 3200.  Heck, I figured if there was ever a time to use the highest ISO on my camera, it would be in the pitch black (no street lights or flash was used) photographing the midnight moon!

Keep in mind, when shooting at night, you MUST use a tripod, and the self timer on  your camera or a remote.  Even touching the button on your camera to take the picture will create enough movement to blur the picture.

I love the moon rays.  Love them.  Too bad I’m not usually awake to enjoy the midnight moon more often.

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I shot this picture of Sam Moon around 11:00 PM at:

F-3.8

ISO 200

1/4 second

The 200 ISO makes this picture much cleaner.  If my street had bright lamps like this this, I would have shot the moon above at ISO 200.

Both of these pictures were taken without a flash.  To make this possible, I set my camera to Manual mode so I could adjust the shutter speed, ISO, and F-stops manually to achieve the best exposure.

Don’t be afraid to shoot in Manual mode!  The possibilities are endless!

One More Reason to Go Back July 29, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Texas , 1 comment so far

This maze is famous.

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The only reason I know that is because of the sign I read in front of it.

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Apparently, one of the stops on the Amazing Race season five was filmed here .

In this very maze.

I’ve never done the maze myself, but I want to.

One more reason to go back to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Next time, I’ll opt to run through the maze instead of photographing it.

The Boss July 28, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, Friends, Kansas, Little Man Dallin, Photography, Projects , 1 comment so far

Hello.

I’m the boss of my family.

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I can make my mom and dad do almost anything when I smile.

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And when I stare really hard, they think I’m cute.

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See this here?  It’s my arm.  My “chub-a-lub” arm to be exact.

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I’ve got it made.

I’m one adorable baby.

What more could I want?

Baby Inca July 27, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Friends, Kansas, Medical School, Photography, Saba , 6comments

My friend Nicole, (she lived on Saba the same time I did and her husband is also a medical student doing rotations in Kansas City) just had a baby girl at the end of May.

I’ve never photographed an infant, so I asked to photograph her new little one.

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She was a doll.

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Inca is actually crying here, not yawning,. But she’s still so cute!

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I shot these in my kitchen.  I put up a black sheet on a wall and used the light from the window.

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I think it did the trick as a “make-shift” studio.

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Look at that hair!

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And her sweet little hands!

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This was Nicole’s idea.  So sweet!

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Aren’t babies the best?

Kind of makes me hungry. . . for lunch that is.

The Plaza in Kansas City July 24, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Kansas, Photography, Princess Hannah , 3comments

Once upon a time, our good friends, Daniel and Lydia, used to live in Kansas City.  When we visited them over the fourth of July, Lydia asked me if we had been the The Plaza in Kansas City.

Because I’m practically a hermit and never leave my house unless it’s a major emergency, (read with much sarcasm) I answered her very honestly.

No.  I hadn’t.

After she gasped, pulled her chin up off the ground and shook her had back and forth trying to conjure up reasons she was such good friends with such uncultured people, she very politely told us to go.

After six months of living in this city, we finally took the time to see what all the rage about “The Plaza” was.

This is the Art Museum:

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I’m sure it has a more beautiful name than that, but I was too busy trying to figure out the best angle to photograph this building without stepping in the reflecting pond.  It was GINORMOUS, as you can see by the teeny tiny people in front.

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I loved the large pillars.

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The Art Museum had a beautiful photo gallery (a favorite of course) and interesting sculptures and paintings.  The birdie out front was fantastic.

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And huge.

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Hannah was not sure what to think!

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Behind the building was an Art Sculpture Park.  These headless people intrigued me in a scary sort of way.

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So did these wooden things.

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This house was directly across the street from the Art Museum. I LOVE this style of house.  Especially the ivy and the columns.

We only explored a small portion of The Plaza, (we were toting two little people, and when you figure in naps, lunch, travel time, etc, they expire pretty quickly) but we certainly plan to explore more of it.

I’m sure I’ll have many more pics to post of this place in the future!

I guess we are now Kansans because  we’ve been to The Plaza.  :)

Their Bodies are Made of Rubberbands July 23, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Exercise, Photography , 1 comment so far

I may have mentioned a time or two how David and I like to do P90X Yoga.

It kicks our butts.

But . . .

These guys make yoga look effortless.

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Check out how happy the Nick Lachey look-a-like is in the front!

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The setting sun could not have bee more perfect for this pose.

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I was shooting for an assignment and decided to photograph some instructors at a nearby yoga studio.

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This dude is from Bulgaria and he owns the studio.

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This guy teaches there.

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Don’t let this nice face fool you!  I’m afraid to take his class!

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My form is not exactly this straight.

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And I’m 100% positive I can’t do this.  Should I be able to do this?  When would I ever need my body to do this?  Anybody?  Hello?

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Don’t look at this happy face.  This pose is NOT THAT EASY.

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And this one?  I don’t even want to think about it.

I was offered free yoga lessons from these guys after shooting these images.

As nice as it was for them to offer me classes, I was all, no thanks.

I’ll leave my soft, uncoordinated, inflexible self at home.

Happy Birthday Hannah Bear! July 22, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Princess Hannah , 4comments

Dear Hannah,

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Happy 3rd birthday!

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You have one darling little backside.

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And you’re getting a great start mastering the art of self-portraits.  (This photo was actually taken by you.  Do you see the remote in your hand?)

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You know how to work the camera already . . . (HEAVEN HELP US!)

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And you tolerate Dallin pretty well even when he squeezes the life out of your shirt.

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You’re my little clone in both looks and speech (I looked just like you at this age).

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And we have LOVED having you in our family!  (We took these pictures while daddy was at work, so we missed him!)

You have taught us very valuable lessons, such as:

Happy third birthday!  WE LOVE YOU!

True Love July 21, 2009

Posted by Emily in : My Handsome Husband, Photography, Thoughts , 4comments

As many of you know, we just celebrated out 12th wedding anniversary.

David come home from a long day at the hospital with these lovelies:

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I’m such a practical girl, I never ask for flowers (or anything that requires any kind of maintenance) but I really loved them.

I was certainly surprised.

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He listened to me talk about all the things stressing me out.

Like my projects, keeping the house clean, my patience running thin, and not having enough hours in the day.

I had to shoot a “creative image” depicting “This is the End.”

I had a crazy idea.

I wanted him to hold a sign at a busy freeway off ramp.

I asked him to be a panhandler for a minute or two.

Because wouldn’t it really be “the end” if doctors had to turn to panhandling?

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I’m not sure I would do this if someone asked me, but David is nicer than I am.

And you know what?  He didn’t even hesitate.

I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what he had in mind to do on the evening of our 12th anniversary, but he’ll do anything to clear my mind and lessen my stress.

Our 12th anniversary was memorable to say the least.

Nothing says “I love you” like your spouse agreeing to a crazy request!

Celebrating His _4th Birthday July 20, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Birthday, My Handsome Husband , 2comments

David just celebrated his _4th birthday.

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He talked about his 20 year high school reunion coming up in a few years.

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Yes.  HIS 20th reunion.

What a handsome (and young of course) man I’m married to.

Happy birthday!