life on the farm

i had my first fundamentals of photography class at newspace last night with 10 other students.  the instructor, jason, is a funny guy and, since he's been photographing for 20 years, definitely knows his stuff!  after we introduced ourselves and talked about what type of cameras we all had, we jumped into a discussion of aperture and shutter speed and how these two functions affect depth of field and showing/freezing motion.  thankfully, my friend jessica had already told me about the book understanding exposure, so i had a very good theoretical background in shutter speed, aperture and ISO.  thank goodness because i think if you were starting from scratch, you'd be pretty lost!  

our assignment?  to take a series of photos showing variations in depth of field and we will review them in the next class.  i'll post those as soon as i take them - i already have an idea in mind, which, of course, involves fife!  :)  we'll see if it comes to fruition... 

next week, we're talking about metering, and i think reading the understanding exposure book will have been helpful here, too... but i'm grateful that the holes in my (admittedly little) knowledge are getting filled in.  

on that note, i'm sharing a photo i took from our bedroom window yesterday.  you can see the cows that belong to our neighbor (he's actually the grandfather of our landlord - they live basically on the same property).  

here is case in point about universal focus or lack thereof.  i took this at f/3.5 because i wasn't really thinking and many of the elements are unclear - like the detail in the evergreens.  i was more concerned that the sun was coming up and lighting up the tree - it looked so pretty!  however, it really should have been taken with a smaller aperture to get a clearer image.  or at least that's my (amateur's) critique...  not to even start on the composition conversation...

it's one thing to know what to do in your head.  it's another thing to actually do it.  i'll just have to keep practicing!!

coasties

chad, fife and i went out to cannon beach today for a change of scenery.  i always feel so refreshed when i get back from the coast.  the fresh air, ocean, sand, and sun... well, the sun was there for about 20 minutes... but still, it was so, so nice.  

 i have such a hot hubby!

35mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/4.2

i think this dog wanted to say hello...

18mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/3.5

chad was playing fetch with fife with a football.  it was too cute.  the football was actually a christmas gift for chad, but as soon as he left for nz, she claimed it as her own.    

18mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/3.5 

18mm ISO 100 1/1600 sec at f/3.5

fife was playing in the tide pool, but the tide was coming in!

18mm ISO 100 1/400 sec at f/5.6 

18mm ISO 100 1/250 sec at f/5.6

fife was scoping out some playmates...

98mm ISO 100 1/250 sec at f/5.6 

the tide was coming in around haystack rock

105mm ISO 100 1/1250 sec at f/5.6

a little yoga on the beach?  don't mind if i do... 

105mm ISO 100 1/400 sec at f/5.6

here's fifey girl with her football... my little kiwi likes american sports after all!  

105mm ISO 100 1/1000 sec at f/5.6

chad wanted to join in the photo-taking fun.  i think he did a pretty decent job!  and i have to say, i adore my new crumpler camera bag!

portlandia

this morning, after running 10 miles with team in training in northeast portland [time 1:43], i decided to wander around and take some photos of the city.  thankfully, the weather cooperated very nicely.  it was pushing 60 degrees with partly cloudy skies - not bad for the end of january!

admittedly, what i really wanted to do was take photos of people, as i think that is truly what tells the portland story.  i seriously saw a guy today that looked like mc hammer -- à la the early 1990's!  there is just so much creativity and expression to capture in this city... but i just felt really strange about pointing a camera at random people like some kind of stalker.  i'd be really interested in talking to some street photographers about how they do this without offending people.  perhaps then i'd feel a lot more comfortable about it and actually give it a try.

anyway, here are a few shots for your viewing pleasure.  i'm proud to say i shot most of the photos today in manual mode.  the light meter is now my best friend.  i did use the aperture priority mode a few times and the shutter priority mode once or twice as well.  

i call these first ones my 'gritty southeast portland' shots.  i had a hard time getting inspired over on that side of the river today.  it just seemed very void of people and very industrial.  as such, i added a lot of grain in the following shots and changed them to black and white.  [actually, now that i've typed that, i realized that the second shot was actually on the west side...but i'm sure you get my drift.]

28mm ISO 100 1/640 sec at f/4 

80mm ISO 100 1/100 sec at f/5.3

28mm ISO 100 1/640 sec at f/4

the following were taken on the west side.

this looks like something the college might use on a promotional postcard or an annual report. 

48mm ISO 100 1/100 sec at f/4.8

i was trying to play around with slower shutter speeds on this one and catch the bike in motion.  it didn't really work that well, but i'm posting it anyway so you can see my first attempt at trying.

24mm ISO 100 1/100 sec at f/4.0

can't have a portland series without a brewpub!

18mm ISO 100 1/50 sec at f/3.5

21mm ISO 100 1/200 sec at f/4.0

this was a fountain that i came across.  it was dedicated to someone for their support of the arts.

38mm ISO 100 1/50 sec at f/4.5

38mm ISO 200 1/200 sec at f/4.5

this was taken at barista.  i love the variety of colors and textures in the bricks.  it makes such a complex look, especially given that most bricks look so straight, clean and boring.

35 mm ISO 200 1/60 sec at f/4.5

this might be one of the few times that you'll see a photo of chad.  he usually gets kind of annoyed when i stick the camera in his face!  

18mm ISO 200 1/200 sec at f/3.5

and because she's such a wonderful, beautiful wee girl, here is a shot of fife.

66mm ISO 1250 1/6 sec at f/5.3

now, in honor of the title, i'm going to watch the latest episode of portlandia online.  gotta love that show!!

p.s. chad bought me a crumpler camera bag today as a late christmas present.  so excited!

happy hunting

fife's favorite hobby is hunting -- squirrels, rabbits, and moles, mostly.  there's a hazelnut orchard on hillside drive that she enjoys spending time in, as squirrels like to burrow down in the hollow trunks and branches of the trees.  

we went there yesterday so she could run around and get some energy out. here is a shot of her in hunting action!

pruning at ribbon springs vineyard

this morning, our vineyard workers were gracious enough to allow me to lurk around for about a half hour and take photos of them pruning.  to be perfectly honest, i felt intrusive.  first of all (and biggest problem of all), i don't speak spanish.  so, i showed up and said, "hello, i mean hola, i mean... um... is it ok if i take pictures?"  and, so it became that i wandered around them taking photos, all the while they were talking and laughing (probably at me! i really have no idea what they were saying.).  i think it would definitely be awkward if someone came into my office and started taking photos, so i sort of felt the same way about going into their workplace.
 
at any rate, i have a few shots to share.  i really need to figure out how to use lightroom because i think i did more harm than good in there.  that might have to be my second class at newspace!
so, without further ado, here you go: 

a wide angle shot of the vineyard.  there were 6 guys working in this area, each one in a different row.  perhaps you can find them all?  

patiently waiting for their turn to be pruned...

my second favorite photo of the day

freshly cut

i don't think this is a particularly good photo, but i guess it's a good "action shot" to show you what the guys do out there.  

my favorite shot of the day

fresh cuts.  now the other team will come through and pull out the old canes.  they'll eventually get mulched so they can break down. 

driving back down dopp road, i came across these little guys and thought their horns, while gnarly, are quite fascinating.  

last moments of sunset

i left work today at 4:25 to try and catch the last minutes of sun for the day.  unfortunately, i didn't end up with as much time as i would have liked, but i did catch these shots of a hazelnut orchard right by the winery.

i was having a hard time with the exposure.  i totally understand the exposure triangle in my head, but now the goal will be to actually figure out how to do it.  i was shooting in aperture priority mode at first, but then changed to manual which definitely helped.  these shots were a challenge because i was trying to balance out the left side (sunny) and the right side (dark).

here is one i took from kings grade.  i couldn't believe how fast the sun goes down.  i really would have liked to start taking photos earlier, but i was rushing because i only had about 20 mins of light tonight by the time i got going: 

this was also on kings grade.  the cow stood there the whole time wondering what the heck i was doing interrupting his grass eating time. 

tomorrow morning, i'm going to go to ribbon springs vineyard to take shots of the guys pruning.  it's supposed to be foggy in the morning, then clearing later on.  it could be a neat morning to take some landscape images in particular, especially with the fog effect down in valley.  we shall see... still loads and loads and loads to learn.  i can't wait until my first class starts. 

just for fun, to round out this post, here is one of the wee girl.  she's such a pretty princess! 

rain, rain, go away!

seeing as all the photos i've taken in the last week are inside, i thought i'd try to run between the raindrops today and catch some llama photos.  here is my favorite: 

i also took (yet another!) Fife photo.  this one i changed to black and white and added some noise (20%).  i was just playing around in photoshop.  still a lot to learn about that program (and lots of other photography-related things), that is for sure! 

i went to champoeg today with my good friend, dari, and all of our puppies.  i was hoping to get some shots out there, but it was raining when we got there, so i left the camera in the car.  after walking for about 15 minutes, the rain stopped and it stayed away until we finished an hour and 45 minutes later.  guess i should have taken my camera after all!  darn!  

Finally got the camera!!!

i'm STOKED to work for such an awesome company (they bought a nikon d7000 which i get to use!).  i start a fundamentals of photography class at newspace center for photography in portland on february 7th! in the meantime, here are a couple of shots of my "muse": 

tomorrow i am running in portland at 8:30.  it's an 8 - 9 mile run, so we'll see how my it band is holding up now that we're getting into some longer mileage.  i felt good with 6 last weekend and with 4.5 mid-week.  


afterwards, i think i'll take my stinky self and wander around 23rd to shoot some photos with my lovely new camera!  yay!  i'm SO excited about all the learning that is ahead!  

my total money makeover

i don't remember how i started listening to him; all i know is that i now listen to him most days and he is changing my life.  'he' is dave ramsey.  i just finished his book the total money makeover and i'm currently reading financial peace revisited.  dave doesn't teach anything new or extraordinary.  rather, his philosophy is simply to live on less than you make.  it seems like pretty straightforward advice, right?  well, considering the level of debt in the average american household, it seems as if it is a lesson that everyone (myself included) could use.  


listening to dave and reading his books has made me realize that it is absolutely possible to do things financially that you previous thought were impossible.  all it takes is dedication and time.  unfortunately, most of us want it and we want it now.  he will teach you how to change this.  


his books are all on sale at the moment for $10 each - a perfect gift for christmas!  buy here. you won't regret it!  

¡Salud! success

wow, i really am the worst blogger on the planet.  i do all my updates on facebook, so i forget (or fail to take the time) to update my blog. 

today i have a reason to update since i have this amazing photo to share.  doesn't my husband look awfully dashing in a tux?   

it was taken by my friend carolyn wells-kramer at the ¡Salud! auction on saturday night.  she is a great wine country photograper here in the valley. 

the new zealand travel package i put together was the highest earner of the night, fetching a whopping $15,000!  that package itself will give nearly 188 vineyard workers comprehensive preventative medical, dental and vision care next year.  very cool!

at last glance, we had sold 16 tickets for the nz/oregon pinot noir "showdown" tasting, so less than 20 to sell and still two months to do it in.  we should get there!