Thursday Theme: Stairs

This week I had a few options for this Thursday Theme post, here they are:

I just really loved the iron work and look of the stairs on this old building.

 Of course I couldn't resist the kitten on the front steps.

And last but not least the typical fire escape.

Linking up with Photo Theme Thursday.

Wordless Wednesday: Smile

Happy Wednesday!

 

Linking up with 

Candid Playground Shots

I love candid playground photography. The major drawback is that not every cute shot has the light source where one would want it to be. And convincing the subject to turn even slightly often loses that candid moment.

Another challenge is having enough energy to run or climb after the shot. On this particular day I found myself in a bit of a dilemma after climbing up a rung ladder to get to a shot. Climbing down the ladder would have jeopardized the safety of my camera so . . .

 Me and my well worn flip flops took a ride on the slide!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Welcome to one of my favorite photography prompt memes. 

This weeks prompts were more challenging than I had at first thought they would be. I am glad to say I managed to finish the challenge without having to draw from my archives. So here we go.

Beneath Your Feet:

All week I struggled over this prompt. Of course I was taking it too literal. I kept taking pictures of what was under my feet, with of course my ugly feet in the photo. Then while going through this weeks photos I saw this and was reminded how I found it. I am sometimes surprised by what I step on while my eye is glued to the viewfinder.

Capturing Movement:

This week I captured a number of really fun movement shots. It was actually pretty hard for me to decide which one to use. After a bit of arguing with myself the jet skis won.

Texture:

I find textures fun and interesting to photograph, but when I saw this I couldn't resist capturing it and using it for this prompt.

Face Your Fears:

Awwww, and for the most difficult of all the prompts. I am lucky to have few fears so I was at a total loss. Then while headed into down town Norfolk for some much awaited photo time I saw this.

See it there on the left. That little red pump! Now I don't know about you but that little light strikes a bit of fear into me when I am traveling in an area that I am not familiar with. So I though hey this could be my fear shot. Then it dawned on me for it to truly be a FACE your fear I would have to continue into down town where I had no idea where a gas station was or I could turn around and go back to the station a few miles back and find a different photo for this prompt. Well, I turned around. So once again I was at a loss. I thought, alright so what else do I fear... having my photo taken when I am not 'PUT TOGETHER' . . .  nope I didn't face that one either. So that left taking a photograph of a stranger from a distance of less than two feet. Well here you go I did face this one, and it wasn't bad. I didn't get caught.

Currently:

Currently I am having a blast with my grandchildren.

Now click on the link below to join in with Ashley Sisk and others for:

Next weeks prompts: Shine, Fast, Left, Peace, Plain

Weekend Reflection:

Today's weekend reflection comes from my walk through the Freemason Street Historic District. Among the many beautiful homes sat Norfolk's first permanent library.

I was very tempted to call the number on the reality sign on the building to see if they would let me go inside and take pictures. I am rather saddened that this is on the market and not being used by the city for the purpose it was intended. 

Be sure to hop over to Jame's Weekend Reflection for more awesome reflections.

Friday Fences: Freemason St. Historic District

In addition to amazing architecture I saw a number of very intricate fences during my walk in the Freemason Street Historic District.

To see more of the beauty in this fabulous area  click here. 

Thursday Theme: Music

Welcome to Thursday's Theme where myself and others link up over at Spun With Tears for the Thursday Challenge. This week I am pulling from my archives.  Next weeks theme is 'Stairs'
Back in March before moving to Virginia I had the pleasure of going to Old Skoolz in down town Sioux Falls, South Dakota to hear Mr. Todd and Blind Owl Berkness perform. Here are a few of the shots I took that night and the posters I designed for these two musicians.

Blind Owl Berkness assisted by his wife

Mr. Todd in green

poster for the owner of Old Skoolz

Wordless Wednesday: Ogre At The Keyboard

Linking up with

Street Photography

Until about a year ago I had never given much thought to doing street photography. But last year when I decided to do a blog that featured the city in which I lived it captured my interest. Recently I read James Maher's article "7 Secrets Every Aspiring Street Photographer Should Know" and decided to  put some of his tips into practice. Now I have shot from the hip using my Power Shot so I wasn't too worried about doing so with my Rebel T3, until I thought of the fact that now I was shooting on manual where before I shot on auto. It was rather fun but is definitely going to take much more practice. 

This first shot I was just a tad to slow or she was just too quick. As she passed me her face was toward me looking out to the street. But as you can see by the time I snapped the shot she had turned her head. Then I noticed the elderly gentleman coming towards me and as he neared I snapped again but as you can see it was very over exposed.

So I cropped the first shot with the woman to focus on the elderly gentleman in the background.

With the next two I got the subjects I was after and the exposure wasn't to far off but I did have to crop to achieve the frame I wanted.

All of the shots above, except the women at the Red Dog were over exposed and washed out to some degree and had to be edited. These next two shots I got exactly what I was going for with only a small amount of crop to the first image. Although the exposure is a tad dark, I decided I like them just the way they are so I did not do any editing.

My aim on this practice run was not so much on content, but more to focus on the following three things. To stop or slow down; To shoot from the hip and the big one to shoot in high ISO with a small aperture and fast shutter speed. The stop and slow down wasn't a problem. I even did a bit of a pause step in my walk without too much trouble. Shooting from the hip in manual was a bit harder than it is in auto and my aim was not as good as I had hoped it would be. I need to get better at switching the ISO while on the move. 
To see more shots of this historic area check out An Afternoon In Ghent. Do you enjoy street photography? If so do you have any tips?

Macro Monday: Abstract

Linking up with

Lisa's Chaos for Macro Monday

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

This weeks hunt was very exciting. The prompts really generated so many ideas.
The prompts this week are rainbow, fluffy, letters, metal and tree(s).

Rainbow

I had so much fun playing around with this prompt. My work partner and oldest daughter came up with the idea of using skittles, and I ran with it.

Fluffy

I wanted to take a picture of Gabriel Iglesias  for this prompt but sadly he wasn't here, so I had to settle for something a little less wild. Fluffy pumpkin cookies with orange butter frosting.

Letters

Being part of a Navy family letters and the sea go hand in hand. My son-in-law is currently at sea so of course we are all missing him. Although it is hardest for the little ones, so with the prompt I decided I wanted to somehow use it to help my granddaughter express her feelings.

Metal

Can you tell I have our service members on my mind?

Tree(s)
This tree reminds me of Jack's bean stalk . . . anyone up to climbing it and finding out for me?

So there they are folks, my submissions for this weeks scavenger hunt. Please click on the button below and pop over to Ashley's to check out what everyone else found, or join the fun.

Action Photo Session

Action photo sessions are probably my favorite to shoot. Here is a peek at yesterdays session with my granddaughter and grandson.

 This next photograph is actually a multiplicity photo, which combines two photographs taken only moments apart from the same angle. The rest of the photos in this post are SOOC shots.