Hannah's First Easter

I have more Duck Creek photos to post later, but have to break for the cuteness of Miss Hannah. A few weeks ago, I was digging in a closet and came across a box of baby clothes from Jenny and Kara. I had hardly saved anything, but found 2 adorable sweaters, including the lavender sweater Kara was dedicated in. Jenny immediately went in search of an Easter dress for Hannah that might match. We had fun trying to get some pics on Easter weekend. These aren't perfect. I'm still experimenting with what settings capture the best skin tones indoors. It's HARD....That said, the first pic is terribly grainy, but I love Hannah's adorable expression. The little bunny was a gift from Grammy and G-Pa.
I'm not in love with the white background below either, but this was the only pic we took with the heirloom sweater. I'm pretty sure this was a gift from Aunt Carolyn in 1981.
Which background do you like best? I think my favorite is green, even if Hannah does look a little worried. . .

Web-footed friends. . .

I just learned about a little treasure in the heart of Richardson, not far from where we live. Duck Creek Linear Park was once nothing more than a glorified drainage ditch, but has been converted into a beautiful walking/bike trail. I enjoyed going there during my lunch break yesterday and today to see what I could shoot. I was amazed at how many varieties of birds I saw...various ducks, geese, swan geese, an egret, and even a couple of exotic birds. It was a great place to practice on things that MOVE. (I was happy to capture anything since the last time I tried this, EVERY shot was out of focus). It was fun to see how social these ducks were, particularly the two below who seemed to be good buddies. Love the way the current looks here with the angle shot...Gotta try that more often! Don't you love the markings on the little guy out front?
Finally caught a little action. . .
I took the above shots yesterday, when it was partly cloudy, without my polarizing filter. The image below was taken today in full sun with the filter. Interesting to see the difference... kinda fun to see beneath the water, but I also like the way you can see currents and water movement above with more glare. (Decisions, decisions. . .)

Still more Arboretum . . .

Loved this particular bed of flowers, especially the hairy tulip(?), but it was in full sun and looked really washed out. Found a solution by standing in front to create my own shade. I'm learning. . . It's interesting that the pansies look like they're floating in space. . .Both days at the Arboretum, I was in search of bees. They were everywhere, but I never could seem to capture one till I came on this grape hyacinth. Ta da! Love that you can see his pollen sacs. Sometimes, it pays to crawl around on the ground.
I don't know that that the image below is a particularly good exposure, but I like the colors. Also love the way these daffodils lined up like they were on parade. Took another shot of them from a slightly different angle, but laid down for this one and caught that corner of sky.

All BOY at the Arboretum

More pics from the Arboretum? What can I say? I don't get out much!!! But not all the pics are of flowers. I also had fun practicing on the adorable Jonathan. As always, there's a lesson for me...like I need to use a faster shutter speed for 3 year old boys! Focus is soft on some of these, but I still like them. Not sure what he was doing here, but I think he's practicin' his he-man act. (Insert grunting noise here!)
When Kim wanted him to pose, she'd say "Close your eyes, count to 3, then open and smile." I love this pic....He may be counting, but he looks like he's praying. "Dear God, please make my mom stop taking my picture!"
Love his cute smile below. In hindsight, I think this would tell a better story if I'd included more in the frame. Close ups are great, but it would be fun to know what's making him grin like that ...(playing with the water from the spitting frog fountains). And the shadow on his face? Well, sometimes you just get what you get when it comes to candid outdoor pics.
The gardens may not be the most fun for a 3 year old, but Jonathan made the best of it and even found some places to tumble. . .
and do some thinkin' . . . (love his hair sticking up from standing on his head!)

Wide Angle Arboretum

I thought I'd post some wide angle shots today. I didn't take many, because it's so rare to catch a moment without tons of people in the frame. Still...everywhere you turn, there's another beautiful view. Behind the gardens is White Rock Lake. I want to go back later and walk down to the water...maybe at sunset.
OK....I confess.... I adjusted the color temperature below with post processing. It not only made the water and sky bluer, but gave the distant landscape more clarity and definition. It may be cheating, but I could argue that it MIGHT have looked like this if we'd been shooting at a different time of day. (That's my defense and I'm stickin' to it!)
Love all the color below with the cherry trees in the background. Just wish I could have captured a successful close up of those blossoms. Next time!

Back to the Arboretum

I got to spend a morning at the Arboretum again last week, but this time with Kim, her mom and Jonathan. It was a beautiful day...a little windy, but nothing like the previous week! It was great going with someone who has more experience so I could ask questions and get new ideas. The previous week I got all hung up on switching back and forth between f/5.6 and f/22, depending on what depth of field I wanted to capture. That worked well for some things, but it was good being there a second time to experiment with settings between those 2 extremes. It was also good to get there a little earlier in the day, which allowed us to shoot with backlighting like this (great idea Kim!)...

or my favorite...

We even found dew still on the tulips...

And finally...one last tulip shot....loved this one yellow in a bed of red...

More Arboretum pics to follow soon. . .

The other "grandchild"

Bob likes to say that I'm "shooting everything that moves" these days. My only defense is that I don't know any other way to learn to be a good photographer. That said, Kara gave me a new photo op when she asked me to try shooting her sweet kitty. That's right, it's time to pay tribute to my other "grandchild"....the 4-legged one! Dolce truly is a beauty...more photogenic than KC (but don't tell KC I said that). Her ticked fur is fascinating and her eyes...mesmerizing. She lives up to her name (translated "sweetly") in EVERY way. I thought she performed very nicely for her photo session. She even gave Kara her standard kiss on the nose when I asked her to.
And, once again, I learned what NOT to do. I thought Dolce would look so pretty on a colored background and brought a red blanket with me, but later learned that red casts a strong reflection on your subject. Kara and Dolce both had a distinctly reddish cast in most pics. (If you look closely above, you can see that Dolce's chin is a little pink). Thank goodness for editing software! I was at least able to correct Kara's skin tone and I kinda like the below pic converted to black and white (a different solution).
The shot below is another happy accident. I was hanging off the edge of Kara's bed. Dolce got curious about that and stared at me hard. Her blanket just happened to be in the background and I love the way it picked up the color of her eyes and even her pink collar!
And for once, I held the camera steady enough to be able to crop a close up of those eyes! Amazing, aren't they? God does BEAUTIFUL work!