New Blog

Hey Everyone!

I decided that I'm going to start up on a new blog. =) Just because this one is so specifically for photography only, and I wouldn't mind having a blog that I could talk about other stuff on also. =) Anyway, I just thought it would be fun to try out. =D So if you wanna take a look, you can find the new blog here:

http://dianaanndaydreams.blogspot.com/

Leia ...

Autumn Days

Hey Everyone!

So, I don't know about everyone else, but we are having some kind of amazing weather right now for fall where I am. Normally in the fall, we have to start bundling up right away, and the change from warm to freezing is so fast that a lot of the times the leaves on the trees don't really change... they just fall right off. =P But this year has been amazing! =D It's the middle of October and we're still getting +20 degrees Celsius for the highs. =) It's been really great.

Anyway, in celebration of this wonderful weather I decided to take a trip to a large public garden in my area and see what kind of shots I could get this late in the year.

It was awesome! =D They still even have some flowers in bloom. I was so excited! And the leaves on the trees were just beautiful! It was really exciting. =) Anyway, these are some of the shots that I got that I really liked. =)

Leia ...

Adobe Lightroom

Hey Everyone! =D So I just recently downloaded the free trial for Adobe Lightroom (like, yesterday) cause I saw a video about it on youtube and figured it'd be worth trying. =) I'm already madly in love with photoshop, but I've heard that this can kind of enhance you photoshopping experience. =P So I figured it'd be worth a try. =) Anyway, I'm going to kind of play with it over the next few days, and we'll see if it turns into a 'must have' kinda thing. =)

I already know it's good for editing pictures quickly and in batches. I'm not entirely sure if it gives you as much freedom and control as photoshop does, but it seems to be very quick. I think if I got good at using it my editing times might go down. =P (Which I think everyone can agree is awesome!) Anyway, if anyone has/likes/ knows about lightroom leave a comment below just saying if you like it, what you think, or even your favorite feature!

Cheers!

Diana

Leia ...

New Lens and New Photos

Hi Everyone!

I hope everyone is handling the transition to fall well. =P I personally like it. ^-^ I love when the trees change colors, and walking on the crunchy leaves. =) So, I realized I never blogged about my new lens! >< It's a 50mm f2.8 EX DG Sigma Macro, and I love it. =D It's a really good, solid feeling lens, and the focus ring is so smooth. I've been having so much fun with it. ^-^ I've wanted a macro lens for such a long time, and I'm so glad to finally have one!

Anyway, I thought I would give you a sneak peak of some of the pictures soon to be listed in my photography shop (DianaAnnPhoto.etsy.com) and at the same time, I'll show you some of the pictures I took with my new lens, seeing as all these pictures that I'm about to list were all taken with that lens. =) Hope You like them. =D

Leia ...

Natural Light Portraits

Hey Everyone! =D So the other day I was kinda bored, and putting off making supper. =P (We were having stir fry! Why was I putting it off?! ><) Anyway, I was actually on my way to the kitchen, seriously considering starting supper when I noticed that the light coming from my window was hitting my tiny rose plant really nicely. =) Of course, I had to take a picture. =P Well... that picture was good... but there isn't even any blossoms on my poor little plant, so it was kind of boring also. =P

And then I was thinking about how I've been trying more and more to get some creative lighting and background ideas for portraits, and I thought this could be a super fun experiment. =D I've never actually taken a portrait with the light from a large window, so I thought I'd have some fun with it. =)

For these photographs I only used the light from the window. I think next time I'll probably try using a reflector to help fill in the shadowed side of my face a little bit, but the shadows weren't too strong, so I didn't worry too much about it. =P Which I'm realizing is pretty lazy now that I'm actually typing it out. =P

Well, that's it! I hope you like them. =)

Cheers! Diana.

Leia ...

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Audrey at Audrey's Country Crafts and have been asked to answer 8 questions. =) Sounds like fun! Here I go. =)

1. What is your favorite song?

Hmm.... I'm really loving "Mine" by Taylor Swift right now. =D It's a really great song. =) I swear I just about cried the first time I heard it. =P

2. If you were a flower - what would you be?

Hmm... Well I really love like, orchids... but I don't think I could be one... probably a rose. =) because they're good for so many different occasions, and can bring so many different emotions. =D They're just a pretty awesome flower. So, hopefully I'd be a rose. =)

3. Summer, winter, fall or spring?

Well... where I live, winter is unbearably cold some years. ><>< And then summer this year had like, whole WEEKS where it was like, +40 and you couldn't go outside without getting heat stroke... I guess fall. =) It's crisp and fresh, and I love all the beautiful colors! =)

4. Do you collect anything? If so, what is it?

I think the only thing I really collect is hobbies. =P I've tried pretty much anything that even just might be fun to try. =P Scrapbooking, card making, stationary printing, crocheting berets, making amigurumi toys, candle making, painting, sewing, Glass Blowing, and Photography. =P That's all I can think of. =P

5. Do you have a hobby?

While I've tried lots of things, the only hobby that's really stuck with me, and I don't think will ever stop being fun, is photography. =) It is definitely my favorite thing to do. =D I love it. =)

6. If you could go anywhere for a winter vacation, where would it be?

As long as I got to spend Christmas and New Years at home, I would probably want to spend the rest of winter, if I could, somewhere like, Mexico, or Cuba, or Hawaii. =) Somewhere fun, and WARM! (Very important. ><)

7. What color is your purse?

Lots of shades of blue. =)

8. What is your favorite TV Channel?

Whichever one Grey's Anatomy comes on. =) I can't remember which station or channel that is right now though. =P I just flip through the guide 'till I find it. =P

So that's that! I've answered all the questions. =) That was lots of fun! Thanks for the opportunity Audrey. =) I hope everyone is having a good long weekend!

Leia ...

Why Do I Have Computer Paper in my Camera Bag?

Hey Everyone! So this is just a short post about a stress saving idea that I had. =) When I first got my camera and started taking artistic photography I sort of leaned on the pre set white balances programed into the camera. =P I soon learned that while they work okay, I had to do a lot of color correcting in Photoshop. =P and even then... that doesn't always work...

So one day I'm in my friendly neighborhood photography shop picking up some new light bulbs for my lights and I was trying to decide between the different kinds (Like tungsten etc) and temperatures so that my pictures will come out white. Upon hearing that it not only depends on the location and lighting in my home, but that it also depends on the time of day, and pretty much how my camera is feeling right at that moment. >< I was pretty stressed out. Fearing that I will never be able to take a picture with the actual correct white balance, the incredibly nice sales person told me that I could just do a custom white balance. =P Something I just never thought of doing before for some reason. =P

As it turns out, with my camera, all I have to do is make sure my white balance setting is in "Custom" then take a picture of something white, (like a white background) hit Menu, select the second menu screen, and then hit "Custom WB" then it'll pull up the last picture I took on the memory card (so the white background) and you press "Set" and it'll ask if you want to use the information from that picture to set the white balance. Hitting "Okay" again, your custom white balance is now set!

This entire process takes about 10 seconds. =P and is incredibly handy! The only problem I ran into was when I was spending the day taking pictures in a public garden and the white balance was all wrong! And I couldn't find a single white thing to take a picture of to change it. >< And the preset ones weren't working at all. =P

The minute I got home I folded a regular, white piece of computer paper and put it in my camera bag so I will always have something white to use to set the white balance. =P

Thanks for reading!

Leia ...

365 Photographs

Hi Everyone! As you probably know if you've been reading my blog at all recently, I've been working on a "365 Photo Project" which basically just means that I make sure I take at least one picture every single day and upload it onto my blog and flickr. =)

I was really excited about starting this project because, even though I realized it would be time consuming, I felt it would help to make photography an even bigger priority for me, and would help me to take even better pictures by ensuring I'm taking pictures every single day. =)

Something that I have already realized about the 365 Photo Project however, is that, personally, when I commit myself to taking and uploading a picture every day I don't always have the time required to really do my best, and take a really good picture. >< So then I have to take an 'alright' picture, and upload that onto the internet for everyone to see... Which doesn't feel super good. =P Also, I realized that since I've committed myself to taking pictures every day, I've kind of stopped my learning process. I used to try very hard to learn all kinds of new techniques and photo styles before I started this project, but since then, I haven't really had the time, which has been a little depressing as there's so much I want to learn!

So, unfortunately, I think I'm going to stop my photo project for now. It's very hard for me to start something, and then quit before I've seen it through, but I really just feel like it's best for now. =( I'm still going to take pictures constantly, and upload them all the time. =D They just won't have a number beside them. =P That's all. =P That way I can take a day off to learn something new or really work on a certain photograph without feeling like a failure. =P

Anyway, I've gone on longer than I meant to. I just really wanted everyone to know there will no longer be numbers coming up beside my photos. >< Thanks for understanding!

Leia ...

Treasuries

Hey Everyone! So today I woke up to find that I was featured in two different treasuries. =D Which was pretty exciting. =) So I thought I would share them both with you. =)

This one has a purple Color Scheme. =)














And Featured my "Dreaming" Photograph. =)













And then This is a dark green themed one. =)














Which featured my "Tiny Dancer" Photograph. =)













And then also, while we're on the subject of treasuries, I made a "Fall Harvest" Treasury the other day because I got kind of excited that fall was coming. =D Summer was fun. I love summer, but there's just something about fall that I really like. =D It sucks that summer is on it's way out, but I'm definitely ready to embrace the new coming season. ^-^

Check it out! =D

















Anyway, that's all for now. =) Hope everyone had a good weekend! Cheers!!!

Leia ...

47/365 - Coffee

So as it turns out, after you return from a long week and a half of camping out in the woods, the first thing you want is a hot shower (that lasts more than 3 minutes per Dollar) a coffee you didn't make on a fire, and a bed that you don't have to inflate before you lie in it. =P I know, I'm really whiny when it comes to camping, I really do enjoy it! But let's face it. =) It's always nice to come home. =)

Leia ...

46/365 - The Old West

I really love editing pictures. =P It's fun! Basically, I took this picture because the morning was quiet and the weather was good, and I was one of the first ones up. =) That says picture taking time to me. =D Anyway, I just basically ran around the land we were camping on and took a picture of anything that even looked remotely interesting. =P When I first saw this picture, I liked it, but after a long time of editing, and making it look old and faded like this? I really like it. =D Hope you do too!

Leia ...

45/365 - Sonic

This is Sonic. =) So, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures today, but one subject that was highly photographed all day was this little guy. =D This is my sister's hedgehog who she named "Sonic" after the popular video game character. =) Anyway, for the first part of our trip he was a little timid to go outside (he loves going outside in our yard, but I guess he knew it was different. =P) But today he was so eager to explore! Which was awesome. =) So I got lots of pictures. =)

Leia ...

44/365 - Lonely

Someone really needs to let this tree know it's only August. =P

Every tree around where we were on our trip was full, and lush and green! Except for this one. =P In fact, closer to the end of our trip this was one of the last leaves on the whole tree! I liked how it looked through the network of twigs that was the now bare tree branch (and I kinda like how you can see a green leafy tree in the distance. =P)

Leia ...

43/365 - Fences

Another picture from this trip having to do with barbed wire fences. =) This one was a little bit farther away than the other one, but I really like how it looked. =) The whole line of fence posts trailing off into the distance, and the fallen fence post leaning on the first one of the line. =) I don't know what it is about it exactly, but I just really like the feeling of this picture. =)

Leia ...

42/365 - Surprise!

It was my younger sister's birthday one of the days we were camping so we decided to do something special for her while we were out there. =) On her birthday we kept her busy away from the camp while we decorated the whole thing and got out all the presents set up, and tried to make everything as much like it would have been at home as possible. =) There was a few of the smaller presents sitting in colorful bags on the picnic table waiting to be taken into the tent, where most of the festivities were taking place and I figured I'd grab a picture (seeing as I was trying to photograph every possible moment of the day. =P) and I actually really liked how it turned out. =D I feel like it's a pretty good depiction of the day. =)

Leia ...

41/365 - Through The Darkness

Hey Everyone! This picture was taken just as the sky was clouding over and it was going to rain soon. I really like the way the flower looks so bright against the darkening background. =) I think it looks pretty nice. =) Also, i just like that kind of flower. =) They dare to be different. =D (Petals down as opposed to up. =P) Hope you like it!

Leia ...

40/365 - Single Blade

One thing that's kinda nice to do while you're camping is just go around with your camera and try to find even just a handful of the beautiful things that nature has to offer. This blade of grass really stood out as the whole field behind it was relatively short (which you can't really see because of the shallow depth of field) and it just seemed to really stand out to me. I also really like the bokeh effect in the background. =) I hope you like it! =D

Leia ...

39/365 - Morning Coffee

Hey Everyone! This picture is actually of a cast iron pan heating up water on a fire pit at like, 7am. >< (I always get up so much earlier when I'm camping for some reason. =P I guess it's the sun) Not too much was going on here. =) Just heating up some water for some coffee. =) But it looked kinda cool with the steam and the flames. =D Hope you like it!

Leia ...

38/365 - Tall Grass

I'm Back! I know it's been a long time since I've been able to upload any of my daily pictures. I've been camping for the past little while, and taking my computer apparently doesn't count as 'ruffing it'. =P Anyway, I'm back, and I've got the best of the pictures that I took each day to show you as my pictures of the day!

This one was taken of a barb wire fence that was sectioning off a part of the land that we were camping on. =) (We think previous owners used it to make a fence to keep cows in.) I really like taking pictures of plant life with some hardware, or man made object incorporated into the photo. =) Also, I like that this photo kind of shows you just how long the grass was! In some places it was almost up to my shoulder. >< Pretty crazy. Anyway, I hope you like the picture. =)

Leia ...

37/365 - Romance

Hey Everyone! Don't you just love when life hands you little surprises? =) Today I came home from work to find this single rose on the kitchen table. =) It was just such a nice surprise, and it's a very pretty rose. =) Even as far as roses go, this one just seems to be especially pretty. ^-^ Maybe it's just how much it has opened, or something to do with the way the petals fit together. =) Not sure, but it sure made me smile. ^-^ Anyway, I decided I really wanted to get a picture of it, and loved the way it turned out, so now it is the photo of the day. =) Hope you like it!

Leia ...

36/365 - Candy Shop

Hey Everyone! So, as usual I tried to have a little bit of fun with the picture of the day. =) It's funny how if you really apply *cough force* yourself to find inspiration for a photo every single day, without really changing your surroundings a whole lot, how you can keep finding things you didn't think of. =) Anyway, I was pretty excited about today's subject. =D This is an old gumball machine that works if you put pennies in it. =) It hasn't been filled with candy for years, but I love the way it looks in my basement along with a lot of other cool retro stuff like original glass Coke glasses. =) I like the way that the picture is really dark, with a bit of a bokeh in the background there, and a sharp focus on the glass of the gumball machine. =) It makes me think of an old vintage candy shop where the lights are turned out because it's closed for the day. =) Anyway, I really hope you like it!

Leia ...

35/365 - Here Fishy Fishy!

Hey Everyone! So today it was raining... again. And I was having trouble finding inspiration looking around the house for a daily photo, when I remembered I had to feed the fish... =P Inspiration! I've tried taking a picture of my fish before... but not ever with a whole lot of luck. =P They're fast! But today I was determined. I sat for like, the longest time and finally got a shot I liked! Enjoy!

Leia ...

34/365 - Sweets

Hey Everyone! So, today was a pretty awesome day. =) It's not often that I really just go for it, and cast my diet to the side, but today we all decided to indulge and got ourselves this fantastic sampler tray of cheesecakes. =) Anyway, we weren't too bad with it. =P Each of us only had a half of a piece of cake, and this is what was left. =) So I decided this had to be the picture of the day. =D Enjoy!

Leia ...

33/365 - In My Garden

So these tomatoes are no where near big enough to eat. =P But they were a nice surprise when I went out today. =) I was taking some pictures of the leaves on a different plant, and these little tomatoes just jumped out in front of me. =) I thought they looked pretty nice beside the little yellow flowers that would one day turn into tomatoes. =) Anyway, I decided they should be the picture for today. =D Enjoy!

Leia ...

32/365 - Secret Garden

I love the way little fences look in gardens. =) something about them, they're just really cute. =) Anyway, we just had these ones put in, and I thought they made the garden look really clean and finished, so I decided to make them the picture of the day. =)

Leia ...

31/365 - Hello Nintendo

Hi Everyone! So today's photo is a little random, I'll be the first to admit. =P These are little tins made to represent some of the special object in the "Mario" games, by Nintendo. =) Basically I wasn't trying to do anything really artsy or original today, I was just working on object photography. =) I promised to take some photos of another etsy seller's products for their listings and I thought it would be best if I did a little practicing before hand. =) I mostly just wanted to practice getting the lighting right in order to minimize shadows, and I had a lot of fun posing these little characters in different ways. =D This pose was my favorite. =) I hope you like it!

Leia ...

30/365 - Timid

Hi Everyone! So today was a really good day for me. =) I got to go wedding dress shopping with my mom and sisters! Very exciting. =) Anyway, after we got home I was taking photos for my photo of the day in my yard, and I decided that I wanted to take some artistic pictures of the trees in my yard, because they have these really big, kind of cool looking knots in them. =) Once I had finished taking quite a few pictures I started cleaning up and went to go inside to see my new photos, and there was this bunny, just sitting there one yard over! It was pretty exciting, because they usually run away when you get anywhere near them. =P But this one let me get right up to the fence so I could get a good picture. =D You could tell he was a little nervous, but didn't seem to have a real problem with me being there, which I thought was pretty cool. =)

Leia ...

29/365 - Lucky Number

Hi Everyone! Okay, so I just want to start off by saying that it really is a good idea to just bring your camera around with you whenever possible. =) I did not at all plan on taking this picture when I did today. =P I was actually doing some reading and practicing taking photographs in low light. =) (Coincidentally it was very very low light outside, so I figured I'd take advantage of my new found enthusiasm. =P) Anyway, I ended up going into the garage for a minute when the bugs were getting bad to see how my pictures were turning out, and I just kind of noticed the dart board on the wall. =) Normally I don't think much of it, but today I kinda just wandered over and started playing with the aperture, and started focusing on different numbers, and the center, but I really like how it looked focused right on the 13, so that's the one I ended up keeping. =) And then just for fun I edited it to look a little bit more vintage. =)

Leia ...

28/365 Pepper Plant

Hi Everyone! I'm finally caught up on my photos for my 365 photo project. =P This one is up to date! So, today I wasn't actually sure at all what I wanted to take a picture of. I actually told my fiance as we walked through my yard that I was just going to wait for inspiration to strike! And strike it did. =) I really like photographing plants with water drops on them. =) And as it turned out, I guess the plants were just watered, as they were all covered in water drops! So I had lots of fun. =) I don't have a macro lens yet, which would have been probably a lot more fun to use (I love macro photography!) but I still really like the way this turned out. =) I really like how pretty much the entire photo is green, and yet is still so interesting to look at because of all the textures and lighting and everything like that. =)

Leia ...

27/365 - Storm Clouds

Hi Everyone! Okay, so, I'm just about caught up from my trip. =P I spent all of yesterday uploading, editing, and posting my daily photos from my trip, that, while I had time to take this pretty cool picture of some clouds... I just didn't have time to upload it. >< So here it is! The humidity was so high all day yesterday, we could tell that it was going to thunderstorm eventually. =P But who new we'd get such interesting looking clouds! It honestly looked like the sky was painted. =) I swear my whole family was outside just staring at these amazing clouds. I love the rich colors and textures that came from not only the menacing looking clouds, but the fact that the sun was setting. =P Hence the red in the sky. I was really happy to be able to get this picture. =) I love being able to have something a little different for the picture of the day. =)

Leia ...

26/365 - Embrace

Hi Everyone! This is another photo taken in my parent's garden. =P I was really excited about this new addition though. =) They don't usually get plants like this. =) I think my mom is trying to change it up. =) Anyway, I really like the way this one turned out. =D The colors, and textures are right on. =) I think I'll finally keep a background on my computer for more than six hours. =P And I'll be adding this to my photography shop tomorrow evening =) I'm so glad to be home! Even though it's nice to be able to take pictures in new and different places while you're on a trip, it always feels so good to come home. =)

Leia ...

25/365 - Reflection

Hi Everyone! I was pretty excited about this photo. =) It may not be the clearest or most impressive photo out there, but I was just happy to get a photo of the moon reflecting on the lake. =) This was taken pretty last minute, and I only had my Point and Shoot camera on me (as opposed to my DSLR) so it's not maybe what it could have been, but I still really like it. ^-^ A lot of the detail in the water came through which I really liked as well. =) I hope you like it!

Leia ...

24/365 - Water Plants

Hi Everyone! I really like the way the lighting turned out in this one. =) I like how the main focus of the picture (the grasses by the water) turned out almost completely in shadow because they were lit from behind. I just think it's a nice effect. =) Anyway, I took this photo while I was at the beach with my family. =) It was definitely the nicest day all week. =) I think it was the only day it didn't rain. =P Anyway, I hope you like it!

Leia ...

23/365 - Sparkling

Hi Everyone! Okay, so I took this picture at a wedding I went to while I was away. =) We were waiting for everything to kinda get going and for supper to start, and I just started taking pictures of everything on the table. =P this one worked out really well though! And I really like how the depth of field effected it. =) Also, just as a side note, that's not real wine! It's sparkling juice. =) Which we thought was pretty nice for the people who didn't like to drink, cause they could still toast the couple with everyone else. =)

Leia ...

22/365 - Imagine

Hi Everyone! I'm finally back from my trip. =) It was nice to get out, but I'm really glad to be home. =) Anyway, as I really didn't have a computer with me, I couldn't post a photo of the day, but I made sure to take pictures every day I was gone, so I can post them all now! I took this picture on the 22nd when I was just leaving for my trip. My little sister was sitting in front of me in the car reading this book, and I just took a picture to bug her, and then I got the idea to focus on the book, as opposed to her, and I really liked how it turned out! I didn't even really have to shop it too much. =) I just sharpened the book a little bit, and enhanced everything else a bit, and here we are! Anyway, I hope you like it!

Leia ...