These are from a session in September with my friend's family. Took me a while to get them posted. (Bad Amanda!)

Kevin & Ami, Part 2

Kevin & Ami

Got the D90, had my first session today. Kevin is my husband's best friend, and Ami is one of our "kids" from church. Here's the first batch of pics. I have more coming, and most were done in black & white and color - some also got a sepia treatment. I'd love CC!

More...

The fair was pathetic. The rides weren't any good, and were hardly lit up at all. No cool shots this year, I'm afraid. Just this one of the slide that was at least usable. Oh, and some crayons. I'll take a picture of anything!

New Camera, OLD Prop

Woo-hooo!!!! I finally have a new camera, and I am in love! Unfortunately, there is little for me to practice with right now, so I dragged out my old clarinet and a purple satin shirt. I rather like what I'm getting. :)

Sizz

I'm still trying to convince Jeff that Sizzle needs to be an inside cat, but for now he just has inside privileges. At any rate, he is happily curled up on the desk beside me, and I decided to take a minute and experiment with close-up manual focus. These are all SOOC (not counting the B&W, of course), except for a basic unsharp mask. I just wish I could photograph all the twitching he's doing. :)

Foliage

Although it hasn't been up to par with some of the gorgeous Indiana autumns I've seen, this has been by far the best year for leaves in Tennessee since I've lived here. Friday was dreary, but it made the colors seem so intense. I actually pulled off to the side of the road to take this shot (in the rain). I know people thought I was nuts, but I guess it's a sign you have photographer in your blood when you just don't care what people think!

Fall Photos

It's been too long... I'd forgotten how much I love to be behind the lens of a camera. I'm experimenting with vignettes, in case you couldn't tell. :) I think I like the finished look it gives, although I really don't want it to look overdone. Opinions are welcome!

The focus isn't perfect, but I had used my zoom lens instead of the portrait lens so I wouldn't have to manually focus, and in the waning light, it wasn't focusing on exactly what I wanted it to every time. Still, I'm happy with the results. I just wish I had a more cooperative subject! LOL

Some things are just funny - like my tall-for-his-age boy furiously riding a tricycle around the front yard with his knees slamming into the handlebars with every push of the pedals.

And then there are things that are just plain cool - like this wicked pumpkin Braeden picked out at the pumpkin patch. Seriously, could he have picked a cooler pumpkin? It's all warty and lumpy, and has so much character.

Here he is, proudly holding the aforementioned pumpkin.

Speaking of pumpkins, check out this bad boy - I said I was going to do a Transformers pumpkin, and while I need to refine my technique a bit, I still think I carved out a way cool Autobot-o-lantern. I should win an award for Cool Mommy or something.

Another shot of my Halloween masterpiece.

And totally unrelated, here is one of the best pictures I've ever gotten of my sweet dog - we've only had him for ten years!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Yes, folks, I have finally taken some pictures! Unfortunately, I have a bad sensor in my camera, so anything take in low light will have this icky red laser line right down the center of the photo. Totally too expensive to fix. Totally unfair.

Anyway, here are pictures from our Pumpkin Patch trip this afternoon. I didn't take as many, since there were hundred of kindergarteners running around, but I did get two that I especially liked. Enjoy!

Halloween, 1980

Nope, I didn't take it. But I needed to post something, and this seemed rather amusing and appropriate for the season. It's me and my cousin Shawn. I'm the one in the Bugs Bunny outfit. Remember those gosh-awful plastic costumes from the 80s? They didn't even look like a costume - just a plastic suit with a logo and cheap plastic mask with elastic bands that hurt like heck when someone snapped them against your cheek.

Ah, yes. Those were the days!