121/365: Chocolate

120/365: A Visit to the Children's Farm

It was a beautiful day here so we spent most of it at a children's farm at a regional park nearby. It was just me and the kids; so I'm exhausted!

119/365: Another Kalanchoe + Macro

TGIF!

118/365: K is for Kalanchoe

Today, I shot another photo for the ABC challenge at Clickin Moms. We had rain and dark skies all day long. It was a little challenging to capture this plant in a creative way. So, late this afternoon, I had just finished editing this one of these lovely succulents when, lo and behold, the sun made an appearance for a few minutes! I rushed and got another picture of the Kalanchoe.

The top is a PSE-edited photo taken with the 50mm lens and the bottom is a LR3-edited photo taken with the 15-85 lens (which I used for yesterday's post). Thank you to Karren for giving me the name of the berry plant in yesterday's post--it was a Pyracantha bush!

117/365: Where the Wild Things...Grow

We went for a late afternoon family walk today. I caught the last few minutes of very lovely light. I can't say spring is in full bloom here but there's interesting life sprouting anyway (can you tell I have no idea what any of these are called?!).

116/365: U is for Ukulele

This one is for a contest over at Clickin Moms; however it's not the first time I've captured hubby and his uke. See my first post on this blog.

115/365: Rainy Day and Her Galoshes

It's been rainy all day. We ventured briefly out before I had to get the camera back inside (wink)! When she first got her rain boots, she could not stop showing them off to everyone! 

114/365: Easter Bonnet

It's a lovely Easter bonnet, and she may not be wearing much after this year. So here's my capture of it!

113/365: Sunny Day and a Big Kid Bike

We bought my daughter a new "big kid" bike a week ago but only today was the weather warm enough to take it for a spin. Sure felt like a real spring day! Hallelujah!

The first two are shot with my 85mm lens. First one is processed in PSE using My4Hen's Just Love. Second one is processed in LR3 using Willette's Easter Bonnet (how appropriate!). Last photo taken with my 15-85mm, SOOC from LR.

112/365: Good Friday

Happy Easter (for those who celebrate)!

111/365: Crayons

Guess it's my turn to do the crayon shot! That's all I could muster for a Thursday--in dreary un-Spring-like weather!

110/365: Painted Feather

My mother sent me some pretty unique artwork, which arrived Monday. It's these framed hand-painted feathers. They're done by Puerto Rican artists. Here's a close-up of one of these feathers.  This one depicts the Three Magi (one above the other).

109/365: Guilty Pleasure

This should be a picture of some decadent food. But it is not, today, anyway!

108/365: Macro Monday - Color

These are the little confetti that come in a jar to decorate the icing on cakes.  I shot into the jar for this one (and used the Speedlight).

107/365: Abstract Mood

Sunday we spent the day at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I've looked at my shots off and on between yesterday and today. I couldn't decide how to edit them or what to post! Then it hit me tonight. I'm in an abstract mood! The first one is of the Gallery's huge wall of arched timber beams and part of a wood sculpture. The second one is the reflection of a portrait I took (my subject is reflected on a glass wall overlooking a mossy brick building).

106/365: The Big Water Fall

We spent the weekend sight-seeing with my mother-in-law. My daughter saw the Falls again almost as if she had not seen them before. At her age, every time is a new adventure.

105/365: Casa Loma

We did a little sightseeing today. The temperatures dipped again, so we stayed mostly indoors.

SS 1/125 f/4 ISO 3200

SS 1/500 f/7 ISO 200

Thank you for the comments on my macro!

104/365: Pixel Peeping and Macros

I am coming to the conclusion that pixel peeping and macro photography are not a good combo! Or maybe, I'm expecting too much. These are my Gerbera daisies.

103/365: No Way, We're Not Smiling

My daughter decided to give me her funny face, while my son chose to ignore me and my camera! Just one of those days, I guess! LOL

Thank you for all the comments on yesterday's post. I bounced my flash behind me on the first one and to the side on the second one. On both, my daughter was sitting on a silver reflector. As for my B&W conversions, I do them in LR3. After doing the standard WB adjustments, I play with the Tone Curve (bumping up the lights and bumping down the darks). I tweak other things such as contrast, brightness, and recovery sliders as needed. I use the adjustment brush to lighten or darken any given area that needs it (have not done this lately). I learned a lot of this from David DuChemin's book, Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Hope this helps!

102/365: My Assistant and the Speedlite

After spending the afternoon listening to Neil van Niekerk talk about flash (Clickin Mom webinar), I had to ask my little assistant if she'd let me practice on her. She was so cooperative today!

I'm editing on my big non-calibrated monitor and this B&W conversion has me second-guessing myself. Tell me what you think.