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I’m progressing through the book from Thom and I’ve been experimenting with exposure and stops. Now that I understand the exposure meter better, I feel like I can start to “dial in” my photos for the effect I want. I’ve been having some fun with depth of field as well.

It’s cold and grey and dreary outside, so I’ve been moving around the house finding interesting test subjects: low lighting, shadows, macro, that sort of thing.

Here’s our family room clock:

I focused on the “3” with a shallow depth of field, so the left side of the clock is out of focus.

And here’s a toy dragon in Zaque’s room:

For this one, I did some post-processing to bump up the contrast and heighten the color a bit, making the dragon look a little more harsh (fierce?).

Thom gave me Camera and Craft, a book on digital photography, for Christmas. I’ve been reading it on and off for the past few weeks, devouring the information and recommendations. Although I’m still a long way from having the artistic eye that he does, I’ve learned a lot about how the different elements of shooting combine to make a better photo.

Here are a few recent practice shots:

Right now I’m working on the technical stuff; over time I’ll work on the art.

Teaching early-morning seminary has been an amazing journey over the past year and a half. It’s incredibly difficult, but also incredibly rewarding. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve had to do hard things, but I’ve been blessed for my sacrifice. And every now and then, I have an opportunity to see the effect I have on seventeen high-school kids who come to my class before the sun rises.

One of my students wrote a note for me over the Christmas break. Part of it reads:

I need to remember this sort of thing on those days when I feel like I’m not making a difference, when most of the class is barely hanging onto consciousness, and when I feel like my lesson is a disaster. In the end, it’s all worthwhile.

It’s about time to take down the Christmas lights, although it’s been a wee bit chilly lately (below zero tonight) so they’re still hanging.

I thought I’d take an artistic fuzzy shot of them…

Last month I decided to brighten people’s days by leaving anonymous Post-its in various places. It was fun to leave little notes that said things like “You are awesome”.

Since Laralee is extra cool, I thought I’d leave some for her as well. They weren’t very anonymous, but each day I added one more to my collection. Eventually they formed sort of a heart shape, because hey, I’m a romantic sometimes.

Zaque really concentrates when he rolls dice during games.

I clothe her, I feed her, I provide shelter and love and respect for her. For almost nineteen years, I’ve treated Kyra like my own daughter.

And this is what she gives me for Christmas.

True, so true…

I don’t know if “kameraspielen” is even a word, but if not then I think I’ll make it one. It means “playing with a camera” in German, and as I continue to work on improving my photography, I’m just playing around to learn the tricks of the trade. Today I popped in the prime lens for my Nikon D90 and took a few shots around the house. I’m working on lighting, f-stops, depth of field, that sort of thing.

Then I download the photos to my computer and mess around with Darktable, which is a fantastic photo-editing package. That’s where I’m learning things about levels and contrast and base curves. Digital photography absolutely relies on good post-processing.

So, at my desk as I was running through different tools in Darktable, I saw my little Lego guys and figured I’d take a few shots. Here’s my favorite minifig, King Arthur with the Holy Grail:

And my second-favorite, the generic pirate, complete with parrot and treasure map:

Longtime readers may remember when these guys first showed up.

Thom gave me a thick book on photography techniques, which I’m going to start reading in hopes of learning more. And then, more kameraspielen.

Kyra and Laralee decided to sit down and play a duet on the piano. It’s not really a duet– they’re each playing one hand of a two-handed piece. But it’s pretty funny to watch them work through it, keeping time so they’re in the same place.

I, of course, am still limited to right-hand-only playing, because I can barely read music. One of these days…