What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Friday, October 09, 2009

A WET Foto Friday


I want to start off this week with an apology. Last week I made a few comments on some of your blogs about how a certain photo might be made better. It was later in the week before I realized that in doing so, I might have offended some of you. Of course, I never meant any offense and I do apologize for any that may have occurred. Unless I hear specifically from you that you wouldn't mind those sorts of comments, I will keep my big yap shut.

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Last week's WATER challenge was the hardest one yet (for me). Don't mean to complain but...SHEESH! They did not turn out at ALL like I wanted them too. The few I posted are nice, don't get me wrong, but it is a bad case of envisioning something in your mind then being disappointed with the results. It wasn't for lack of trying either~ I put more work into this challenge than all the others combined. I guess I need some serious help with the subject of water. blech.

Ok. Enough complaining.

To look at it a different way: I haven't spent so much time behind my camera~and that is ALWAYS fun. The assignment even spurred a wild goose chase/picnic/do school at the park/explore Fall day which made this challenging all the more rewarding. (More pictures from that another day.)

Here are the few I narrowed it down to: I took probably 500 pictures~ that is a VERY high failure rate people! *blush*


These first three photos were taken with a white cloth napkin in the background, outside (since my dark house is no good for taking indoor photos), using a wine glass and a pourable measuring cup. The drop one was created using a medicine dropper.


I did really like the colors that were reflected in the water. I propped up a piece of red construction paper on one side (out of the frame view) and I guess the green must have come from the grass.


These are from the park day, yesterday. It was a perfectly wonderful day. Enjoying mild days outside take precedence over home chores anyday. All too soon I am going to become my typical winter recluse. Gotta soak up the goodness while I can.



And down the road from our house, there is a funny pond where a mailbox sits smack dab in the middle of the water. I have no idea why~my only guess is for birds to roost/nest?! It's a funny sight~ though I wish I could have gotten closer to it for a shot. But it was impossible. Especially with three little people in tow.


Can't wait to see everyone's contributions!!



In order to participate in these Foto Friday challenges, you must take a photo (or several) pertaining to the challenge and post it to your blog (and when you do, please link back to this blog {you may use the button if you like} so that perhaps we can get lots of participants! Because, you know, the more the merrier!) Then simply link to your Foto Friday post with Mr. McLinky here so that we all can visit you and compare notes...

Most importantly~challenge yourself, but HAVE FUN doing it.

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I am straying a little bit from the challenge list this week because I thought it would be fun, since we have just begun, to sort of "introduce" ourselves to one another since in some cases we are "meeting" for the first time. So.... this week our challenge is going to be SELF-PORTRAITS!
The requirement, of course, is that we take the photo ourselves (no husbands taking pictures). Hence, SELF portraits! hehe You can also try to capture what MAKES you you in more creative ways. I think this is going to be great fun!

15 comments:

Wendy said...

Okay...I seem to be a hopeless failure...I tried linking up with the "posted by wendy at yada yada time...that didnt work. Then I tried the ENTIRE LINE and it would not let me enter it again...

Your water pictures are sooo creative and it makes me very thirsty...ha ha. I really didnt have the time I wanted to take on this challenge...ps...I like your feedback:)

Unknown said...

Oh man. I'm giving you the Nobel Photo Peace Prize. Those water in the glasses shots are AWESOME! You really don't give yourself enough credit! What a fabulous tip about the colored paper too! Love, love ALL your photos! The kids boots one is fabulous too! 500 photos! LOL! Kindred spirits! :)
WOW! Self portraits, huh!? This will be tough for me...yea! I'm excited! :)

PS-PLEASE tell me how to take better photos! I beg you! I love when you give me tips! I will NOT be offended. :-)

Jennifer said...

Your pictures were great!!!!! I too like the tip on using some colored paper to get the cool color reflections in the water...pretty neat.
Fell free to suggest things to help me take better photos too. I am really trying to improve :)

One question for you? So you have and use a macro lens?

Thanks for hosting this...it is fun to be a part!

Rebecca said...

Wendy~ see how the time has underlining under it? That means it is a hyperlink. If you right click once(your mouse button) on that time a menu will appear. Down toward the lower middle of the menu the option to "COPY LINK LOCATION" should appear. Click on that. It will remember that post address and you can paste it into the mclinky under LINK URL. I think where you are going wrong is that you are highlighting information and copying THAT and not just copying the link. Try is and we shall see! ;-)

They Call Me Mommy~ ha! I might have been worthy of some sort of prize if I had pulled off what was in my head---trust me, these ain't nothin! I know SELF-PORTRAITS will be tough for a lot of people who are camera shy...but it is a good challenge especially since I am such an advocate of taking your own pictures for your childers' sake! :-)

Under the Son~ I WISH I had a macro lens! Oh MAn do I wish. Nope, just a plain ole standard lens. Someday maybe.....

Bonnie said...

These pictures- GORGEOUS! By all means critique my pictures! Thats why I do this, to learn!
Self portraits? You are cruel....

Wendy said...

Thanks Rebecca...I think I get it now...I hope!

Unknown said...

Ooooo...I want a macro lens! :) :) *down greed down* :P

alane said...

I love the rich color in your pictures at the lake. The water droplet with its shades of red and green is really neat too.
I don't think you've ever said anything about my pictures (probably because they were too bad for improvement!) but feel free to give me suggestions if you have any, I'm always looking to improve. [Although I do only have a little Canon and limited time to work with - 500 pictures? I am really impressed! I maybe took 10 total and picked the ones I liked best].

Jemit said...

Rebecca, the blue in that last photo is awesome!! The colors so vibrant! I love it.. I'll take an 18x16 any day of that one
:-) Marilyn (aka Wendy's mom)

Jemit said...

And, oh yes, puleeeezze give the feedback.. I appreciate the critique any time
mb

Anonymous said...
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Peggy said...

Okay it doesn't look like I will be getting a post together... we just go back from Anchorage and I only got 30 or so pictures of Turnagain Arm (haven't even looked at them...)

self portraits.. ugh ick... ok i'll give it a try though.. it never hurts to try new things!

please critic away!!! as far as i'm concern it is called constructive criticism, a very, very good thing!!!

gotta go! trying to clear out e-mail at the same time.

haven't looked at everyone's posts but will as we may be getting dsl later this week... woo hooo!!!

Take care and i dearly love, love, love your photos this week. great tips!

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Hi Rebecca, long time no see. :-) Your family has grown and you have developed into an AMAZING photographer. How you have time for all of this, is amazing.

On Sun. I made your "Mom's Apple Crisp" recipe for family dinner. Since I pictured it and posted the recipe, I thought someone might pop over here and say they saw your recipe... And you'd wonder... "Who did that?" :-) So, I found you and came by.

No, you don't remember an "Aunt Amelia." But if you think about it, you might get a hint who I am, from my blog sound. [The "sound" of our blogs stays pretty consistent over the years, it seems] But I put "Miss Xxxx-Xxxxx" on the shelf, some time ago. And now, I blog as "Aunt Amelia."

But I still don't have the great photographic equipment, which you have. Nor the expertise! [That's my excuse for how my pics look, and I'm sticking to it. -grinnnnnn-]

Gentle hugs,
'Aunt Amelia'

Paula said...

Better late than never - comment away Rebecca and make me better! I already used your tip about shadows to make it pop - did it work??

http://heartyworks.blogspot.com/2009/10/foto-friday-water.html

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

Your photos turned out great. I just now got the water challenge put up on my blog. Yep, I'm only a week behind. lol!