Week 13 (March 26th - April 1st) | Picture 23

Blooms and bokeh - ahhhhhhhhh!!! So refreshing.

I don't even care that the trees are triggering my seasonal allergies. And we won't talk about the fact that it snowed here Sunday and we are supposed to get more wintry precipitation again this week. Spring is finally just around the corner - it's so close I can taste it.

I took a quick break tonight while Daddy had dinner duty with the toddler to run out and take some pictures. I wanted to try some HDR stuff (which depending on how it turns out may or may not get shared here), but while I was out I had to get some pictures of our flowering tree. I should know what this tree is, but I'm really bad about the names of plants and trees. So I just call it the tree that gets the pretty flowers every Spring.



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/3.2
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO: 200
Flash: none
Exposure: manual

We are hoping to sell our house (or at least get it on the market in the near future) and when we depersonalize I think this would go perfectly on the wall where we currently have a 24x36 canvas our our little boy.

Week 12 (March 19th - 25th) | Pictures 21 & 22

Ahhh, Spring! Okay, not quite. But it's a nice 60 degree day here and my family is recovering nicely from our illness, so I got outside during nap time to take some pictures.

There isn't much blooming in the yard yet. So I took a picture of a dead bud casing and a weed - but tried to get a little different perspective than I normally do. I'm a pretty boring flower photographer. I want to shoot flowers straight on and that would explain why my flower pictures are usually so blah. Today, I tried shooting at several different angles and found (surprise!) that straight on is a pretty uninteresting way to shoot.

The dead bud casing:



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO: 800
Flash: none
Exposure: manual

The dandelion:



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/4.8
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO: 200
Flash: none
Exposure: manual

I did an OCF project this weekend too - but I'm not loving how it came out. Maybe I'll share later this week if I revisit the pictures and change my mind.

Week 11 (March 12th - 18th) | Picture 20

Drugs are good.

When I committed to doing this "Project 52" - I was pretty serious about it. But I almost skipped this week. My little one has been sick for the last week (ear infection, bad cough, and high fever for days) and has passed it onto me. 3 of the last 4 days I have barely been able to get out of bed. I am super thankful for a wonderful husband and mom who have helped fill in around the house to play "Mom" while I have been unable to do so.

I did make it to the doctor on Monday, and I must say that I'm not usually a fan of antibiotics. I think they are over-prescribed and as most of us know, they won't do anything to help a virus. But I was desperate on Monday and was accepting whatever pills the doctor was handing out.

THANK GOODNESS!!!

This infection may very well have been bacterial, because within 24 hours of starting the antibiotic I actually felt like I was getting better and now 48 hours later, I am feeling downright decent. For the shape I was in Monday morning, I would have expected to be sick for the entire week.

I still don't feel nearly good enough to craft up some fun OCF or macro project this week. (And when I am feeling good enough - I'm pretty sure my job and chores that have been neglected for the last week will take priority over my hobby.) So, in an attempt to keep up this blog, I am sharing my drugs with you. :)



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 200
Flash: SB-800 off camera, manual, 1/4th power
Exposure: manual

Nothing exciting. Speedlight was next to the pills (camera right) and bounced 45 degrees off the wall/ceiling. The only benefit to doing the lighting off camera was getting some shadows and depth to the pills. On camera would have made this already boring picture even more boring with flat light.

I do have a fun project in mind . . . hopefully for next week. Stay tuned, I promise to do something interesting again soon.

Week 10 (March 5th - 11th) | Picture 19

Blah. Blah. BLAH. Spring is such a tease. We get one nice day just to make us even more mindful of how long and boring the Winter has been. I am ready to get outside, see some sunshine, and take pictures of something vibrant.

While I long for fresh air and sunshine, it poured all day today. ALL darn day.



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/3.0
Shutter Speed: 1/800
ISO: 4500
Flash: none
Exposure: manual

Blah. Blah. BLAH.

Week 9 (February 26th - March 4th) | Picture 18

When I started out this week, I thought I'd do a post about gels. I spent about 30 minutes tonight playing with some, and while the results were okay, I just wasn't really inspired to blog about any of them. (Maybe next week.)

Instead, I decided to use that cut up diaper box that I used in the smoke project for it's intended purpose - to allow diffused flash to come in from above.

The result:



Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: 105mm f/2.8 macro
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 400
Flash: SB-800 off camera, manual, 1/64th power
Exposure: manual

The DIY/cheap/free setup is here. Flash is being shot through packing foam. The only real comments I think I have here are 1) that I wish the diaper box was taller so I could stand the glass up and 2) I really need to clean my plexiglass!