I have been looking out this window for a couple of days.  Not just looking, but seeing…

The past several weeks have been about “adapting”… not all by choice.

Mistakes were made.  Choices were few… adapt = survive.

Their is a story, it’s not mine to share…

As we left the parade the sun was setting.  Burn captured this from the moving vehicle.  I am in love with the tones in this image.

Enjoy the airshow!

A special thanks to Miss Rose.  Your help was invaluable.

XO-S

Shot with the 18-55 (kit lens) at 22mm, ISO 800, f5.0, 1/8 sec.  I rested the camera on the table top and held my breath while I pressed the shutter release.  Used available light.

Both books have been on my wish list.  Today while running errands I popped into the book store and treated myself.  Now for the self discipline… must get caught up on editing before I get lost in the books.  Hopefully that will be the incentive I need:)

XO-S

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve gotten off to a slow start with picture summer.  This is a shot I took today and submitted for a previous assignment.  I still have 4 days of assignments to catch up, but I’m not going to stress about it…

Here is a little tip I learned in picture summer… your kit lens is a pretty decent fill-in for a macro lens.  It will get me by for now!  I’ve added the 50mm macro to the want list.  Unfortunately for the macro it’s below the 70-200L.

XO-S

Last week I signed up for a class called Picture Summer being led by the talented Tracey Clark of Shutter Sister’s.  Each day in July she’s gives a prompt, our assignment is to go document the prompt with our camera.

Tonight I picked up the camera for me.  It’s the first time I’ve done that in… I can’t even remember.  It felt good.  Tonight I reflected on my dreams.  This class is the catalyst that I need right now.

I have not completed the first few days of  July.  I am not going to stress over it… that’s not what this class is about.  I am going to do my best to complete the assignments and write a blog post.

A special thanks to Molly who inspired me to sign up for this class.  I enjoy reading Molly’s blog where she documents the antics of her goldens and cottage life in the south.

XO, S

I was inspired by Zack Arias’s GOYA posts.  If you don’t know what GOYA stands for as Zack says google it.  Both boys have an interest in photography and photoshop, which of course makes me happy!  We have 6 Summer Photo Safaris planned, where we GOYA and shoot.  We each have planned 2 of the safaris.  I picked the first and last.  I had heard about Idle-Hour Ranch and thought it would be a great photo opportunity.  To make things fun we are selecting one of our images, we submit them to a guest judge, we ask the guest judge to give us feedback, and to choose a winner.  All photos are submitted to the judge anonymously.  The winner get’s to pick where we eat lunch on our next Summer Photo Safari.

We asked our friend Paula Wessells of Doxzen Pet Photography to be our guest judge.  If you live in the Pacific Northwest and have a pet you need to call Paula.  Paula loves animals, has a unique style, and has a wicked sense of humor.

Here are our submissions and Paula’s comments:

Photo A:  Fish

Color is just amazing and love the movement in the water. My favorite part about this photo is how the photographer captured a single gold fish amongst all the red ones. Great patience! Only suggestion I have on this one is maybe would have tried shooting more wide open so the lily pads would have blurred.

Photo B: Bird (Peaches the Cockatoo)
Cockatoos are a favorite in this house! Gorgeous bokeh – just yummy. Great focus on the beak and eyes. Only suggestion on this one is to maybe not shoot so wide open or check your distance so the entire bird (head to toe) was in focus.

Photo C: Giraffe (Sam the Giraffe)
Love the humor in this one – the tongue and teeth… great capture! So much texture in this shot and great focusing. Because I know that you were probably limited on where you could position yourself I can’t think of any technical suggestions.

This is a hard choice because all of them are so good for different reasons! My choice for a winner is Photo A – Fish.

And the winner is “Crash” the 11 year old who loves photoshop. Congratulations!  Please remember that your brother really is not a fan of Asian cuisine. K?

“Burn” had a great capture of Sam the giraffe and I submitted the photograph of Peaches.

A big shout out to Paula for being our guest judge this week.  Thank you!

What we learned about photographing animals is patience and timing.

I’ll be sharing more about Idle-Hour Ranch and our experience in a separate post with more photos.

Our next Summer Photo Safari is going to be “Sunsets” in a couple of weeks.

We love comments.  Please leave some comments and let us know which photo you like.
XO,

Sherry, Crash and Burn

This space was a perfectly functioning living room.  The only issue is that we never used the space except for a couple of times a year.  Holidays and an occasional birthday celebration.

Note the wall on the window camera forward.  This window is no longer visible the cyc wall is positioned in front of the window.  Also note camera left the opening to the lower level.  M&M put up some drywall to close the opening.  We kept the banister and can open it back up when we move the studio out of the house.

Here is a different view of the living room prior to the construction.

The room off the foyer camera forward used to be the dining room and is now my office.  That’s a post for the future.  We’re still working on the space.

Here’s a peek behind the cyc wall to see the construction of the curve of the wall.  Sorry for the crappy photos… I didn’t have the right lens for the job.  It’s a tight space behind the wall.

Behind the cyc wall is shelved out storage.  I had to clear out one side so that I could take this image.

If you have any questions about the cyc wall construction leave a comment or send an email.
XOX-S

We’ll start with a material list and follow with the q&a.

Material List:

• 3/4 MDF
• 1/2 MDF
• 3/4 Plywood
• 3/8 Bending Plywood
• Joining Biscuits#20
• Staple, Glue, Screws, Pin Nails
• Bondo
• Primer

Quantities are not listed.  They will vary depending on the size.

Me:  Why build a cyc wall?

M&M:  The challenge, support my wife’s photography biz, and cost would be similar to a couple rolls of seamless and a background stand.

Me:  Who inspired you to build a cyc wall?

M&M:  Allison Tyle Jones and Zack Arias.  You showed me images of ATJ’s studio construction. When we decided to dedicate part of the house to an in home studio I remembered ATJ’s blog posts.

Me:  How did you build the wall?

M&M:  Built the curve section first, using 3/4 plywood for the ribs and bending plywood.  Followed with the wall panels and the floor panels.  When everything was assembled I rounded over the seams before I filled them with bondo.

Me:  Why didn’t you run the cyc wall floor to the room floor?

M&M:  Because this is temporary.

Me:  Why MDF vs. drywall for the wall panels?

M&M:  Because it’s not permanent.

Me:  Why no cove?

M&M:  Not enough space & time.

Me:  What will you do different the next time you build a cyc wall for me?

M&M: Who said I’d build another cyc wall for you?

Me:  I’m asking the questions.

M&M:  I’d put the laminate floor down first.

Me:  What did the guys in the shop think you were building?

M&M:  A skateboard ramp.  A dream room wall for Aileron.

Me:  I want a dream room will you build one for me?

M&M:  No.  Get to work.

Me:  Your not being very fun.

M&M:  Are we done?

Me:  No.  Why isn’t the wall any taller?

M&M:  It was.  Then we cut a foot off the wall panels because you kept changing your mind about which rooms were going to be your studio and office.

Me:  Really I don’t remember changing my mind.  Moving right along.  Do you regret cutting the foot off the top?

M&M:  Yes.

Me:  Can you add it back please?

M&M:  Yes but it will cost you.

Me:  Will discuss that later.  Why did you add a paper holder to the top for seamless?

M&M:  Give you more background options.  You said something about wanting to paint/draw and change colors.

Me:  You know that I bought a couple of rolls of seamless and a background stand after you built the cyc wall?

M&M:  Your point?

Me:  How many times have you caught the boys launching toys down the wall?

M&M:  Not as ofter an I hear Cosmo sliding across the floor.

TIPS:

• If you use MDF/plywood, prime both sides to prevent warp.
• Screw the frame to the mdf from the bottom side to keep the screws from showing on the floor.
• To keep weight manageable use 1/2 MDF on the wall panels and 3/4 on the floor panels.
• We couldn’t decide on the type of paint so we left it primed.  Clean up has been manageable.  Give one boy a Mr. Clean scrub pad and the other boy the Shark steam cleaner.  Works so far.
• We keep tile board down to minimize scuffs.  Check out Zack Aria’s seamless tutorial for tile board info.

Here are a couple of snapshots taken during the assembly.  Construction occurred off site, sorry no photos.

You can see the 3/4 plywood ribs in the panels leaning against the walls.  The plywood box you see in the background is covering up a window.

The first wall panel is in place.

Cosmo heard the word biscuit.

First floor panel in place.

Next post I’ll show a shot of the curve from the back of the wall and a before and after.

Thanks for hanging in there.  It was a long post.
XOX-S

For today go to the photography site and see the submissions from her assignment “Coming Home”.  Read the captions when Ree tells you to.  You’ll be moved.

XO-S