f stops and revelations

Here are the rest of the handful of photos from photo field trip day. I think I said I felt like I fought the camera the whole time and it was true. Turns out that I had inadvertently set my exposures to always be whatever I set each time based on aperture/shutter speed plus .65. I have given the camera a very stern talking to and have been assured it will not happen again. Where was this revelation? In the metadata stored with each photo snapped. Ack!

This crypt was elevated so you couldn't see the dove of peace until you got up close or at a certain angle. I like this one.

I focused on the hat in this one and recomposed. And because I had the f stop wrong, the depth of field was too crisp. I wanted more fuzzy...but "I am getting there" said the teacher.

This was just for fun. As evidenced by the listing to port. Or starboard. Whatever. Where's the ship's purser when you need her?

This chic broke off the pedestal you can see in the background. Since she looks so perfect from this angle, it makes you wonder what she looked like standing straight up and cuddling the blanket. Note the massive roots of the tree behind this vignette.

Last but not least: keeping the dead in, or the living out? [to my brother the seminary student: here's a sermon title for you, let me know what you do with it]

Six Feet Under

Across the street from Oakland Cemetary is a place which is reputed to have the best hamburgers in Atlanta. I have been trying to figure out where it is, and hey presto, there it was all along.

Name's kind of catchy, don't you think?

Happy Birthday!

Today's Mother's birthday. We will gather this weekend for the actual celebration. I hope at my house, because I've got some wicked rib sauce for the gang to try on the country style ribs. And I think there will be cake or cupcakes...

Anyway - check this pose out, and the beautiful smile. And the southpaw, which my brother inherited.

My mother likes to paint, sew, draw, read, write, play scrabble, and hang out at the pool. She loves blue painted furniture, the old chippy kind which has character, she says. She LOVES the grandchildren. She's always working on something to give someone. At Christmas I got a handmade purse from felted wool. The way the wool was cut from the sweater was quite clever - I don't think I would have been able to take advantage of the pattern of the sweater it was made from. I am quite taken with it.

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Laverne/Mother/Grandma

Happy birthday to you!

Only show the good ones

This is the first photo I took at Oakland on Saturday. It's before my mind melted into a puddle of mush and I couldn't recall how to operate my camera.

Which sounds better, brain mush or the fact that I was trying to use the tripod that my brother gave me somewhere about 15 years ago? Which the instructor borrowed from me to show another guy which kind to buy (you rock, Rob!). So anyway, either the heat or unfamiliarity with the tripod did me in. Because in 96 photos only a handful are presentable.

And, as my instructor says, "only show the good ones".

This just in...

So today was the field trip for my photography class. It was at Oakland Cemetary in downtown Atlanta. You may remember we had a ginormous tornado here in March, and much of downtown was seriously damaged - well, so was Oakland. But the dedicated volunteers and the City have made great progress cleaning up.

Anyway, while I type this, I'm waiting for my RAW converter to convert the RAW (think digital negative) into something my Photoshop elements can relate to.

It's always about relationships, isn't it?

Anyway, I'm interested to see how things turned out because in the mid-day light, it was hard to see my LCD screen. And I got frustrated b/c I couldn't make the camera do what I wanted. So, I may be back there tomorrow so that I can hold my head up in class Wednesday night.

AND, I must say it was HOTHOTHOT even though it was overcast. I wilted quickly, but I overheard another lady telling the teacher "it is hot" and she was not exactly dressed for the weather. Or much walking. And was carrying lots of stuff.

I'll share some of my shots with you, IF they merit an audience.

Meantime, here's a link to Oakland...you should drop in.