May 31, 2008
posted by Shelley
I read a lot. Some of the stuff I read I remember, and much of what I read is stored away in bits and pieces that even I can’t sort out and put together. And then…there is the rare occasion when I have a conversation with someone else, and a few of those small tidbits have a place. Such was the case as I spoke with another about the state of our country, the price of our gas and other depressing things.
I personally don’t look for gas prices to drop back to what they’ve been in the past; I don’t look for a quick turn around in the economy either. I hope that I am wrong. In the conversation I had, we touched on the number of people that are born daily in China and how much crap American companies import from there to sell here. In comes Wal-mart, stage right. As fuel prices remain high — or go even higher — how exactly is Wal-mart going to offer a savings on items that are imported from China? It’s going to be more and more expensive to get the product here to sell. Right?
Just FYI — Of the four largest European markets, Britain has 336 Wal-Marts (June 2007), France and Italy have none, Wal-Mart in Germany went belly up. Japan has 391, Canada has 290 and Mexico has a whopping 921. Brazil has 297 and China has 184.
Remember when Wal-mart used to boast that their products were “Made in America?” Those times are long gone. I for one wouldn’t mind to see Wal-mart gone as well. Check out the link below — pretty interesting stuff!
The Real Wal-mart Facts — Wake-Up Wal-mart
May 28, 2008
posted by Shelley
It looks, sounds and smells like summer in the burg. Flowers are in full bloom, the hummingbirds have arrived, and the days are longer so we have more time to enjoy the sunshine. Libby peacefully naps in the rays that blanket the floor, and the pool is close to ready (ok, so it’s not warm enough to swim yet — but the water is looking pretty darned good.) After I poured a ton of chlorine into the green water, the frogs retreated from their sanctuary and have taken up residence in the ditch out front. (Sorry guys!) The lil’ feller in the photo below was sitting inside the skimmer — waiting on a few of his buddies to accompany him to their new home.
May 24, 2008
posted by Shelley
Who works harder on weekends? We do! First day of summer vacation and we’ve been getting the pool cleaned up and power-washing the deck. I feel like I’m 100 (I’ve been under the weather, so really I feel 110), but with about another hour of scrubbing tomorrow — it will be ready to seal. I’m hoping the flower that I’ve been photographing won’t croak, poisoned by the deck cleaner that we tried so hard to keep off of it.
The good news is — there are steaks in the fridge ready to grill, and I don’t have to think about work on Monday. Woo woo! Tomorrow is going to be another fabulous day!
May 23, 2008
posted by Shelley
School is out for the summer. Although rain has softly fallen for much of the day, it hasn’t dampened my excitement about having this school year behind me. It’s too bad that we’re sick — I would be up for some type of celebration. And how smart is this? I went outside in this rain to capture a photo (coughing like crazy!) just so I could include it here. (For those of you playing along at home …the whole rain on the flower thing is supposed to correlate with my feelings about the day — you know …rain can’t dampen my mood any more than it can make the flower less beautiful.)
Do you ever go back and look at photos you taken? Not like years later, but days or weeks later. If you’re like me, when you pull all the photos from your camera to your computer, you automatically focus your attention on the ones that you immediately like best. Sometimes to the point of ignoring some shots that you will absolutely appreciate more when you take time to reflect on them again.
For example, the photo below got barely a glance when I first looked through all the shots taken at our dinner meeting with the fine folks from Old Mutual. Today, when I browsed through the images taken that evening, I stopped at this candid shot. I wonder what these two could’ve been thinking…
May 22, 2008
posted by Shelley
Flash changes the nature of the whole photography ball game. Why? Because flash bumps up the exposure of the subject so that the exposure between your subject and its background is equal. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that – but it simply doesn’t give the ‘natural look’ you may be trying to capture.
The type of indoor lighting you choose sets the mood for your photo. So to capture the mood of your subject, grab your camera and take a few test shots! To get a natural lit photo without natural light (the sun), you should shoot in manual mode as opposed to automatic. You’ll need to be in complete control of your camera. If you stick with P, A, or T modes, your camera will usually expose for the background, and you’ll come out with images that are silhouetted. To avoid this, you need to be able to “read” your camera’s meter to get the shot that you want.
If light is low, you’ll need to use a tripod – no matter how still you think you can hold that camera, you’ll find that the outcome of your image will tend to be slightly fuzzy – less than perfect. The longer the lens, the more light you’ll need – so keep that in mind as you shoot.
Begin by slightly overexposing your image. Remember, your meter is picking up the light in the back of your shot. Play around with your settings until you get the desired effect. Photos taken without flash – when flash would normally be automatic – will produce a different and natural, sometimes ‘edgy’ look that will differentiate your photos from those of your friends!
In the top 2 photos, only natural sunlight coming in from an open window was used, and I bumped the exposure up slightly — the bottom 2 photos were taken in the same position using a flash. While all 4 photos are acceptable, the top ones are much more interesting…don’t you think?
