New Goose Family

I took this picture last year actually, but it kind of got buried in a whole bunch of other stuff on my computer.  This photo got 2nd place for a local photo contest in my city, and also it just got accepting on Dreamstime!!

Thanks for viewing!

Worn Down Softball

Hi everyone.

So, as some of you may know, I do stock photography now.  It's a way to earn money for your photos.  Of course, you can't earn much money from the photos, but it still feels good to have people wanting to pay for your photos.

So far, I have only had one download, but hey, it's a start right?  So I thought I would share the photo that I got a sale on.

If you want to check out my (less than impressive) portfolio on Dreamstime, you can check it out here!

Thanks for reading.  I'll have another post up in a few days!

I guess I made a wrong turn today

Hi everyone.

So I went out for another 100 step challenge.  It's a really nice day out so I figured I would get one in.

Unfortunately, it looked like I made a wrong turn when I walked out of my door. When I got to 100 steps, there was literally nothing in sight that would be worth taking a picture of.  There was one tree, but I was kind of getting tired of taking pictures of trees.  The roads were busy, so I couldn't really do anything on the actually road.

So, I decided to adjust the aperture on my camera, and see if I could take a picture of the sidewalk with a very shallow depth of field.  Here's the result:

It's a good thing the side walk wasn't too dirty!

Thanks for viewing, and I will post again in a few days!

The Sole Survivor

So it's not exactly Spring here yet, but it sure feels like it.  Temperatures today were in the upper 40's F, and the skies were beautiful.

We've gone through super windy days in Autumn and freezing cold and extremely snowy days in Winter.  However, this little leaf stuck through the whole game, and when all of his other leaf friends were voted off the tree because they were too weak, this one became the Sole Survivor.

Yes, I do watch Survivor a lot, and it's my favourite show, so pardon the Survivor jokes!

Thanks for viewing.

Air Pollution - So harmful, yet so beautiful

I started doing this "100 step challenge" thing.  What you do is as soon as you step out your door, you count 100 steps, and where ever you are at 100 steps, you have to take a picture.  No ifs, ands, or buts, it's the rules!

So after 100 steps, here's where I ended up.  In front of a tree in front of a beautiful sunset.

Any photographers out there going through Photographer's Block, I highly suggest you try this.  It really gets the ideas flowing, and it forces you to get creative to try to get a good picture.  Yes, this isn't the best picture in the world, but it's the best I could do.  Perhaps next time I will take 100 steps somewhere else.  It you don't have to do it outside.  If it's raining outside, do it inside!  Take 100 steps around your house, and where ever you land at 100 steps, snap a picture!

I think I am going to do another 100 step challenge tomorrow, so stay tuned for a new post within the next few days!

Thanks for reading.

Stock Photography

First off, I have to say, I am extremely sorry for not posting in a long time!  I hadn't posted in a few days, and then, I admit, I totally forgot about this.  But I will be posting on here more regularly now.

So, I wanted to talk about stock photography.  If you haven't heard of it, stock photography, is where you upload your photos on a microstock website and if they accept, your photos will be up for sale.  Though you can't sell your photos for much (usually between $.50 and $3.00), it's still a great idea to get your photography out there.

So far, I have had four photos accepted, and have had one sale so far.  If you would like to see my profile, click on the link at the bottom of this post, or you can click the "Dreamstime" button (Dreamstime is the microstock agency I work with) on the side of the page.

Thanks for reading, and I will have another post up in a few days!


Click here for my stock photography portfolio!

NaNoWriMo

Hi everyone!

So this entry is a "not related to photography entry".

I just wanted to let you know, that I am currently participating in the National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.  There is no winner to it; the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel between November 1 and November 30.

So, I just wanted to let you know that if you don't see many posts here within this month, you'll know why.  I started late, so I am way behind; I have a LOT of writing to do.

Thanks, and wish me luck on reaching 50,000 words!

Polarizer Filter

Hi everyone!

So last Saturday, I spent my birthday money at a camera shop, and I bought a Circular Polarizer filter.

If you don't know what it is, a Circular Polarizer is a transparent, but dark, filter.  It is basically like putting a pair of polarized sunglasses on your camera.  It cuts down the amount of light going into the camera, and it reduces glare from the sun.

So this is what it looks like:

And now, here are some before and after, well, more like without and with pictures, showing what it can do.

Without

With

Without

With

So, as you can see, it really makes a difference with the lighting of the photo.  Sorry for the bad photos, I was in a rush, and frankly, it was COLD outside!  I could have made these pictures better, but I didn't feel like fiddling around with my camera in the cold.

The CP filter is for cameras with threaded lenses (like you can put different lenses on it), but since my camera isn't one of those, I simply (well, somewhat simply) hold the filter in front of the lens.  You can do that with any camera.  It is a great thing to have, I suggest you get one if you do not yet have one. :)

Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment below.  I'm going to get a hand warmer before my fingers fall off!

Bye for now!

"Over the Top" award

Hi everyone.

First off, again, I'm sorry that I have not been posting much, I have not had great opportunities to get out and get some pictures.  However, do expect one or two posts by the end of this week!

On a lighter note, I came on today and checked my comments, and I noticed that I had recieved a "Over the Top" award from Corina at Through the Photographs.  So thanks Corina!

One of the conditions to this award is that I answer the following questions, using only one word.  So here goes:

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket


2. Your hair? Long

3. Your mother? Den

4. Your father? Den

5. Your favorite food? Lasagna

6. Your dream last night? Unrememberable

7. Your favorite drink? Water

8. Your dream/goal? Photographer

9. What room are you in? Compuer

10. Your hobby? Photography

11. Your fear? None

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? University

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. Something that you aren't? Female

15. Muffins? Please?

16. Wish list item? DSLR

17. Where did you grow up? Canada

18. Last thing you did? Ate

19. What are you wearing? Hoodie

20. Your TV? On

21. Your pets? Loud

22. Friends? Yes

23. Your life? Good

24. Your mood? Great

25. Missing someone? Yes

26. Vehicle? No

27. Something you're not wearing? Coat

28. Your favorite store? PetSmart

29. Your favorite color? Blue

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Forget

32. Your best friend? Jesse

33. One place that I go to over and over? School

34. One person who emails me regularly? Private

35. Favorite place to eat? Home

I am supposed to send this to six people, but since I'm that much of a rebel, I'm sending it to four.   Of course, Corina's is amazing, but I'm not sure if I can send it back.  So, the four blogs are:

Robin at Living with Parrots Cage Free
Robin is an amazing blogger with an even more amazing blog.  She blogs about her parrots' everyday life without a cage, sharing bird behaviour tips, and much much more!  If you have birds, this is a great blog for you to check out.

JP at Crafty This and That
Again, an amazing blogger with an even more amazing blog.  There are lots of craft ideas on here, many which I myself have used.  I suggest you check it out and try some ideas.

Allegria at Allegria Images
What an amazing photographer she is.  She posts a blog entry everyday of a picture, and what a treat it is to look at them.  She has a great blog, and I suggest you check it out.

Here Forward at Here.  Forward.
Again, another great photographer.  She posts amazing pictures, and there is always a story to go along with them.  I suggest you check this blog out if you like photography.

Thanks for reading, thanks for the award Corina, and check back again soon.  I'm sure I'll start posting again soon!

Look at Life at a Different Angle

Hi everyone!

Photography is more than just snapping a picture.  Some pictures look good this way, however, it is great to have different angles for a certain subject.  Just take a look at the examples below.

This is a picture of some leaves that I took a while back.  Now, it is an okay picture right?

Now this is the same arrangement of leaves, but it is taken at ground level.  That's right, I literally was lying on the ground to take this picture.  Looks better doesn't it?

Here's another example of a yellow rose that was in our front garden.  From top view:

And now from a different angle:

So, as you can see, taking pictures at different angles really makes a difference in the picture.  This works great with pets too.  Dogs, cats, etc. are great examples of pictures that should be taken at their level.  It is such an easy thing to do, but it makes a huge difference in the picture.

Thanks for reading, and please, leave a comment below!

See you next time!

PS~If you have friends interesting in photography, let them know about my blog, I would love to see more followers!