A few of you have asked how my classes are going. Well . . . let's just put it this way. I've already dropped out of one. You know, it just wasn't what I was looking for. Actually, it was so difficult to understand, I felt like it was one that I really needed to learn with someone sitting right next to me telling me what I need to know.
But I am LOVING a natural lighting class that I signed up for. I've always looked at light differently than most people. I have some french doors in my home that during certain parts of the day, the light beats in so hard that I can see tiny pieces of Madalyn's fallen hair on my wood floors. 5 years ago I looked at that light and HATED it because it totally exposed me and my less than lackluster desire to clean house! Today, I look at that light and study it intently. I look at its color, its intensity, its direction, and it's ability to expose me (or any subject that wanders into the light).
My first assignment for this class was to position an object or someone in front of a window and shoot them straight on, blowing out the background but still capturing detail in the face and light in the eyes. I didn't quite do the assignment exactly correct because I shot more from the model's side. But I have a reason for that. Carl sits on top of my printer everyday and looks out this window that face my backyard (faces east). The morning light was sssooo gorgeous and considering he was the only willing model I had that day, he got the first modeling job! But cat's aren't all that willing and I can't really tell him, "Stay right there Carl, don't move your head even though I know you watch every single solitary move I make." SO I quick grabbed my camera, metered off the lightest part of his face, focused on his closest eye, and VIOLA! I captured a picture I LOVE of my adorable cat doing what he does every single day. He loves his window and I love him!
My second assignment picture will be posted tomorrow. It's SSSSOOOOO cute! And the light is AWESOME! I'm learning techniques to shoot in full sun without a flash to fill in shadows and how to make the light "DANCE" behind the subject. Fun stuff
About a year ago, my son found this sweet "little" bird that had fallen out of a huge palm tree in our neighbor's yard. I bet he fell about 150 feet! We protected it from the resident cats and fed it raw meat and water. Now we aren't certain, but we believe it gained it's strength and flew away and now lives in our yard. Even though it doesn't look like the exact same bird, I choose to believe it is . . . or otherwise I've got a bird sanctuary!
