Working the remote...

I set the tripod up again to play with the remote. Two out of three of my kiddos had fun with it. Abby preferred I chase her around with the camera instead. ;)

Speedlite!

I got my Speedlite out tonight. I've been using it off camera in "slave mode" with an umbrella reflector for a portrait session I did last weekend. But I haven't played much with it "on camera". The girls had fun posing for me tonight. Will wasn't too interested so I pulled some photos of him from yesterday using natural light.

Story time...

I set up the tripod this morning in an attempt to get a picture (with me in it!) with my kiddos.  I openned the curtains to let some natural light in from the window to our right.  It took a couple of tries, but I finally got a shot that I liked. 
Lens: 28-135mm, ISO 400, SS 1/16, f/3.5

A day at the park

I have committed to working exclusively in manual mode this year. Which still intimidates me...I'm so afraid I'm going to miss that "perfect shot" because my settings weren't perfect. But I've decided to let that fear motivate me to learn how to nail that "perfect shot" in manual mode.
I love the idea of "project 365"...taking a shot everyday and uploading that shot no matter how it turns out! ha!
I have A LOT to learn about post processing as well. I'm working in PS Elements 8 right now and will soon be making the jump to Photoshop (although LightRoom intrigues me as well).
For this post I've include both SOOC images as well as the post processed image. (I'm totally eyeballing everything right now!)
These were taken at the park yesterday. It was an overcast day with the sun peeking in and out of the clouds, requiring me to change settings often.
At this point I'm concentrating on focus and exposure...

SOOC

Post processed

SOOC

Post processed

SOOC

Post Processed