Lawrenceville Lawn

A little more than a week after our light snow, it was warm enough to stop at the playground after co-op. The kids often want to stop at Lawrenceville Lawn on our way home, but circumstances don't always allow for it. We took advantage of the pretty weather though and enjoyed a little time at the park. 

All the kids love the merry-go-round! Especially standing up on it!

Clayton is always climbing to the top of different structures.

The moon was clearly visible in the beautiful blue sky.

Shelby just chillin'.

Shelby in the spiderweb climb.

Clayton on the merry-go-round.

Paige on the merry-go-round.

Paige laying in the fake grass (the sun was a little bright)!

Cheyenne

Shelby

Cheyenne running and jumping onto the spiderweb climb.

Paige climbing up and over the side of the playground. There was a long series of these pictures, but I just picked out three that best showed start to finish.

365 in 2015 - End of Week 41

I'm finally getting around to posting last week's pictures when I should be working on this week's instead. Oops. Anyway, I am still working through The Unexpected Everyday. None of these pictures have had any editing done to them. I wanted y'all to see them them straight out of the camera. 

SS 1/125 | f/4.5 | ISO 6400

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Tip 04: Window Lighting

Prompt: Besides candid moments, it's nice to have a portrait of your child at each age.

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This was my first attempt with window lighting (well, our front door actually). I totally blew it out with too high an ISO, but I LOVE Shelby's silly face here! 

SS 1/125 | f/5.6 | ISO 400

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I decided to retry the window lighting challenge a couple days later. I didn't count these in my 365 challenge, but wanted to go ahead and show them here anyway. These were taken inside with the blinds all the way up and close to the window. Paige wouldn't give me a normal smile, so I tried to make her laugh by saying "don't pick your nose" - and she proceeded to stick her finger right there! It made us both laugh!

SS 1/125 | f/5.6 | ISO 400

SS 1/80 | f/5.6 | ISO 400

SS 1/80 | f/5.6 | ISO 400

SS 1/250 | f/5.6 | ISO 200

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Tip 05: Aperture - Shooting Wide Open

Prompt: Capture little details that showcase who your kids are at this age.

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This was my first attempt with Mercy's hands. I used my 18-55mm, and it only goes down to f/3.5. I didn't get that low in this picture because I had zoomed in a little. So I retried with picture below. 

SS 1/100 | f/3.5 | ISO 200

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Shelby's little foot on her bike.

SS 1/250 | f/5.6 | ISO 400

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Tip 06: Metering Mode

Prompt: Capture your kids favorite outdoor activity.

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I totally didn't get metering mode at all. The Unexpected Everyday said to check your camera's manual to see how to change/set it, and I couldn't find mine. I'll have to read up on that more another time. I went ahead and took some pictures of my kids playing outside. This one was one of my favorites!

SS 1/60 | f/5.6 | ISO 200

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Tip 07: Focus on the Eyes

Prompt: Capture your child laughing.

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Paige wasn't feeling great, so she certainly wasn't in the mood to laugh. But I wanted to take a picture of my brown eyed girl anyway.

SS 1/125 | f/13.0 | ISO 200

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Tip 08: Limb Chopping

Prompt: Play peek-a-boo to capture true excitement and joy.

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Paige in the spiderweb climb at Lawrenceville Lawn. I didn't follow the prompt at all, but made sure to not chop off the body at any weird point.

SS 1/30 | f/3.5 | ISO 200

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Tip 09: Custom White Balance

Prompt: Capture the quiet peaceful moments while your child sleeps.

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Once again I didn't follow the prompts. I also didn't quite get how to adjust my white balance as well as I hope to. My missing manual would help me figure it out, but I need to find it first. I did take it off auto, and changed it to the different settings I was in. This and metering mode are two I'm going to wait to read more about later (after this challenge is over).

SS 1/30 | f/5.6 | ISO 400

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Tip 10: Reading a histogram

Prompt: Photograph your kids hands at work. 

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Cheyenne at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland. I picked this picture as my one for October 10th because of the histogram. I didn't know how to show it on here without taking a picture of it on my computer and I didn't feel like doing that. But it was in the good range described in The Unexpected Everyday, and I liked the way it looked. :-)

365 in 2015 - End of Week 27

Wow, I can't believe it's been over half the year since I started my 365 project! I'm still just beginning though, as I don't know nearly as much as I wish I did. It's been fun at times, but also gets frustrating not knowing how to change things up to get excited about photography some more. Well, before July started, Bethany asked me if I wanted to do a challenge for this month - WORDS. I wasn't sure about the idea, but told her that'd be fine and I'd do what I could. So I started on that this week, and have actually enjoyed the idea!

Jon was cooking something super messy and asked to wear my apron to keep from getting his clothes so dirty. Cheyenne already had hers on, ready to help, so of course I had to snap a picture! 

We met Bethany at Lawrenceville Lawn thinking it'd be a cooler morning on Monday. We were terribly mistaken, but the kids had a great time anyway! 

Clayton found a hickory nut in our yard! 

My word challenge began Wednesday. I kept passing this old cemetery, taking Clayton to basketball camp, so I decided to stop and get a picture or two. While I wish I had done better with this shot in general I thought the words were nice! 

While hanging out at Jon's dad's house during Clayton's basketball camp, I spotted this old camera on the book case. Faye said it was her family's camera and had been used to take pictures of her as a child!

Clayton at basketball camp Friday. He really had a wonderful time and learned so much!

I actually took this one earlier in the week, but wanted to use it as my fourth of July picture!

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Click here to see Bethany's 365 project featuring the beginning of the word challenge.

Park Hopping: Lawrenceville Lawn

On June 29th, as one of our park hopping trips, Bethany and I took the kids to Lawrenceville Lawn. Even though we went earlier in the morning, it was quite hot as the playground is not shaded. The kids still had a great time though!

Shelby on the merry-go-round.

Cheyenne climbing on the outside of the playground.

Paige on the merry-go-round.

Shelby on the spiderweb climb.

All the kiddos (except Patrick of course) on the spiderweb climb.

Paige on the top of the spiderweb climb.

Paige

Peek-a-boo! (Cheyenne)

Clayton taking a short rest on the slide.

Cheyenne climbing up the slide.

Mercy going down the slide!

Silly Shelby!

Patrick

Mercy holding "Day-den's" hand.

The whole crowd...

...getting wet!

Bethany re-enacting getting my keys out of the water. I had thrown my keychain over my shoulder and when I bent over near the fountain, it fell in. Sadly it was a partially damaged keyless entry, that was fully damaged after it's contact with the water! 

365 in 2015 - End of Week 24

This week was a busy one! I managed to take pictures every day except Sunday (which is a perpetual problem). I also started back with my kettle bells, after a long break. Hoping to keep up with a routine again!

We went to the zoo on Monday with Bethany. The kids enjoyed having their ride wristbands so they can ride everything as many times as they like! They also played in the splash pad because it was a hot day! 

After the zoo I stopped by Ikea to pick up a couple things. The kids absolutely love the travelator! Paige and Shelby rode down in a cart this time. 

On Tuesday we went to a friend's neighborhood pool. The kids enjoyed going down the slide!

Some new decorations I put up in the house. These are actually cards, but I hung them up since they all have Bible verses on them. They are from Hope Ink! 

Paige tracing Shelby with chalk in the cul-de-sac! 

Shelby and I on the merry-go-round at Lawrenceville Lawn. This thing is so cool, but I got dizzy really quickly! 

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The kids playing Ticket to Ride in my room while I work on pictures.