Photography: What the heck is aperture?

And day two…

The day two topic for this little blog challenge that Jennie’s got going is: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

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other then knowing how to really annoy my hubs, I’m really good at photography

here are a few tips from me to you

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The base foundation of photography is light. Without light, and understanding how a camera captures light you’ll never truly know how and while some pictures come out looking great and others don’t. There are three main components to how a camera captures light and forms an image… aperture | shutter speed | ISO

We’re just going to talk about aperture today. Aperture!!

Aperture is the size of the lens opening, and controls how much light is let into the camera. A large aperture means lots of light is being let in and a small aperture means very little light is being let in. Think of blinds on a window, when the blinds are wide open lots of light gets in, when you start shutting the blinds less and less light is let in. Same idea here.

Now the catch is … the smaller your aperture (f) stop is the wider your blinds are open. So an aperture of f1.4 is very large while an f10 is very small. More light is let in at an aperture of f1.4 and less is let in at f10.

Look on the photo above, f/1.4 is a really wide opened, the blinds are fully pulled back/  That means you'll get a LOT of light coming in there, because the blinds are opened as big as they can be (even though it's a small number, 1.4) it's a wide opening.

In contrast, f/16 is a small opening- the blinds are practically closed and light is peeking through a small opening, so very little light gets in there.

Make sense?!

Here is the cool part, aperture is what is used to control your depth of field. So when you get the photos where the object is in focus but everything is blurry it’s that aperture that is being changed.

In the image above, the aperture is switched from wide open to closed from left to right. 2.8 is wide open for a good number of fast lenses out there. You can see how the background comes into focus as the aperture is closed, and less light is allowed in.

 

Hope you all learned something new today!

On Finding Passion

 

I finally found something I’m passionate about, and it makes all the difference in the world. When selecting a career path at the age of 17 and applying to colleges, having very limited experience in the world, I thought that psychology would be my calling, and not only would I love my job, but I would make lots of money. It turns out, psychology was not my calling. In fact, I hated it. I hated it so much that it didn’t matter how much money I could make.

So after $60k, two years of working for free and an awful lot of biology and chemistry, oh and a piece of paper that states I have a BS in Psychology. I decided that it really wasn’t for me. Instead I picked up a camera, and honestly it wasn’t love at first sight and I never thought I’d want to make a career of it.

Through the years, my camera became my best friend, and I grew to love the beauty that I could capture. I realized that when I look through a lens I see a different world, and I like it. However, I did not realize my passion for photography until I encountered Sue Bryce and feel completely in love with her beautiful images.

People are my passion. Specifically women.

While I love capturing the smile of a newborn, the glow of an expecting mother, the happiness of a family. What I love above and beyond this, with undying passion, is making women look and feel beautiful.

 

Every woman, no matter their age, size, and personal opinion about themselves, is beautiful. AND they DESERVE to have beautiful portraits of themselves. Not simply to feel beautiful for one day, but as a reminder that we are all absolutely perfect the way we are.

Finding your passion should be the first thing you do, before settling for a career. Without passion the days are just long and the weekends not long enough. I’ve found that since, I came to my revelation and discovered what I really love to do, my days have been much more exciting and productive. Not only while I work on my personal photography but also in my 9 to 5 job, my home, relationship and life in general.

Believing in and loving what we do is the only way to live. I find that while I’d like to make lots more money, and could find a job that would pay me twice as much as I currently make between Chimpsy and photography, I love where I am in life and wouldn’t trade it.

Well Hello Internet

It seems that this little blog of mine has taken the backseat as other things unfold in my life. Life has been hectic and this poor little blog got ignored for a while but I think I’ve finally found the time to be back at it.

I’ve been doing a lot of back and forth between Tucson and Denver lately, and as a matter of fact Lilly and I are getting ready to head back to Denver on Wednesday. I’ve also been spending some time turning half of my house into a photography studio, working with some fantastic women to put together several events that will start up in October and hopefully keep on going. AND working away at Chimpsy, getting things ready for the big lunch of our Aspiring Pro program. It’s going to be epic!

I wanted to pop in and say hello really fast, and let you all know that I’m doing good, just busy and that I will be back tomorrow with some more exciting stuff.

For now, I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite shots from this past week and weekend. If you want to see more, head on over to the Facebook page and the website!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Have I told you I love dogs?

It’s true, I love dogs, possibly more than I love children and humans. But I do love children and humans too. I didn’t really know what to title this post, so I went ahead and thought I’d throw out a fact!

Yesterday was the 4th of July. Having a mid-week day off threw me off, and it was strange. I don’t remember ever having a 4th of July that wasn’t attached to a weekend. We did a whole bunch of nothing, and because it started pouring like crazy we (the neighbors and us, we’ve decided we’re just one big household) decided to just get Olive Garden takeout instead of grilling. It was a good decision, and as D pointed out a “very traditional American dinner” … takeout.

In the morning, I met up with Tina, who I bonded with over the hate of hot weather, the love of children, photography and dogs, to take some kiddo only photos.

This beautiful girl is Harley. The baby of the family. She’s a 6 month old Mastiff who is the sweetest thing in the world.

The eldest child and the only girl (not four legged) in this bunch. Maddie is not only beautiful but she’s also the best big sister ever. She’s one of the select few people who can make Lucas (the baby) laugh!

DJ is the middle brother, and he loves his hats and posing.

Lucas, also known as Baby. He’s a very quite little guy who likes to smirk, and sometimes lough and smile, but it usually involves Maddie doing all kinds of dances and goofy faces in the background.

This handsome boy is Jacob, he’s the oldest of the brothers. He takes care of Baby and helps his mama out.

To see more a few more of this beautiful family check out my photo blog HERE.

Photography Post

 

This beautiful Mama is on the blog today and also in labor. Click HERE to see all the shots. I cannot wait to meet her little one in the next two weeks! Good luck Camilla!!!

A little something to love

This maternity session. Amy is beautiful, her baby bump is adorable. She has the sweetiest little girl and an amazing little family. You can find the some of my very favorite shots on the photo blog.

Never hurts to ask…

I have a personality issue where I feel that I shouldn’t have to ask for things. That these things are so obvious that they should just be done on their own without me prompting.

For example, I shouldn’t have to ask the hubs to put away the food and I shouldn’t have to ask my teacher for an explanation on a grade… these are things that should just happen.

However, what I’ve learned is that what I see as obvious or necessary may not be so obvious and necessary to someone else. A good example of this is folding laundry. There are certain things (undies) that I like to fold, and stack neatly in my drawers… the hubs thinks that this is completely unnecessary and slightly crazy. he’s stated several times that the undies are small enough that I could just throw them into the drawer and never even notice. However, my OCD personality will not allow for it.

With this whole photography thing going on, I’ve needed to learn lots of things and still have so much more to learn. So while I kind of winged it and learned as I went when photography was just for me, now I’ve had to crack down and get a move on. … SO my personality issue has reared it’s ugly head again. I know that the only way I’ll improve is if I have someone critiquing my photos, and giving me an honest professional opinion.

That being said, I kicked my fear in the booty and asked a few photographers for help. I figured the worse they can do is say no, or not respond. Well, guess what?! They all responded back! And two of them are some of my all time favorite photographers. I can’t wait to hear what they have to say about my work!!!

The lesson, I’d like to leave you with on this Tuesday morning is never be afraid of asking for something. The worst that can happen is a no, which leaves you with nothing less then what you had before.

Happy Tuesday all! I’m off to pick up my handsome baby brother from their airport! Can’t wait to have him here with us for a few days!

Home made pizza and babies!

Last night we made homemade pizza… crust and all.

It was pretty tasty. Mine had all kinds of things on it, like mushrooms and fresh mozzarella cheese. Hubby’s was a boring cheese and pepperoni.

 

Lilly helped make the pizza by laying right in front of the ovens and guarding the food while it baked. Unfortunately, she did not get to have a slice as she get’s too many treats as is, and is starting to put on a bit of extra wait. Dog parent FAIL

After dinner, I met a little cutie.

He’s name is Ian and his has some bright blue eyes!

He wants to be just like dad when he grows up.

And this may be my favorite picture by far from the whole shoot. The face says it all!

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!!!!

Z

Ramblings on Monday

I don’t know where time goes. Really, it seems like you wake up on a Monday and before you know it it’s Monday morning again. This weekend was very low key for us, we worked on our backyard, cleaned the kitchen, cooked A LOT, drank wine and played with our pup. I worked a little for my 9 to 5 job, and did a few shoots on Friday and one on Sunday. Overall, it was a good weekend.

Here we are again on Monday morning though. Lilly’s been really good at getting me up at the crack of dawn, and it’s actually been nice. While I grumbled a little about it initially, now my body and mind are use to waking up early and it’s nice. I get lots more done, and have time to workout again.

I’ve been going a little crazy between two jobs and school, so I decided to drop my class for this 8 weeks. I’ve got one bitch of a teacher anyways, she constantly takes points off of assignments without explanation. I hate professors like that. For some reason they think they are above everyone else and no one can get a good grade in their class, I’ve seen at least 10 of my classmates already drop the class.

On a brighter note, I got a bright orange kitchen aid mixer. We picked the most obnoxious color in the world… just because we could. It’s awesome!

I’ve already made a big load of twice backed potatoes, deviled eggs, funfetti cupcakes and nutella cupcakes (which turned out more like muffins).

I’ve also been able to take photos of some beautiful people… and when my camera decided to quit on me, husband decided that I should get the camera I’ve been drooling over for a year or so. SOO, now I’m the proud owner of a Mark II. <3 It’s love!

I’ll leave you with a few of my favorites shots from my recent shoots:

My beautiful friend Irina posed for the camera when I was back in Denver at the end of April/beginning of May. She’s one of the most beautiful people I know, and there are so many more shots that I’m drooling over.

I’ve known Navodita (Dita) since we were in the 4th grade. She was one of my first true friends here in the States and we have stayed friends over the years. It’s scary to think we’ve known each other for 15 years!!!

 

When we moved to Arizona, I was afraid we’d never meet anyone or have any friends, as the places we’ve lived before, most of the neighbors have been closed off an unfriendly. Well, we lucked out this time! Our backyard backs up to an amazing family, who has this little boy! They’ve become our close, and this little babe brightens up our day, everyday!!!

Amy found me through Facebook and we clicked right away. She’s such  a sweet and beautiful gal, a true Southern Belle (she’s from Georgia)! Such a beautiful family! Can’t wait for the arrival of little Mr. Logan!!

Kristin is the local power yoga instructor. She is amazing, and so are her classes!

This beautiful baby girl is Jenny, Val (the mama) is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We were doing a Father’s day mini session for Jenny, when Val got the news that her grandma (Jenny’s great grandma) wasn’t doing so great and most likely wouldn’t make it through the weekend. So we got a few pictures of Jenny holding her great grandma’s picture. Such a sweet moment.

Individual posts with more photos from each session will be posted on my photography blog later on this week. I’ll link it on this one if you all are interested!!!

 

Have a great Monday!!!

The last week and a half

I had to keep a little secret from you all… but I had good reason.

My parents are born 12 hours apart… same year and all, and their birthdays happen to be on the 27th and 28th of April. So, I decided to surprise them and drive home to see them, without telling them.

It’s a pretty long story, but I ended up making it without them having a clue … this is why I couldn’t post on here as my mother reads this little blog of mine. Thanks to my beautiful friend Kristin for chatting it up with me on my long drive, Tina Fey for keeping me entertained on my drive home and of course my Lilly bug for keeping me company. I have a post dedicated to the trip coming to you over this week.

I also had the opportunity to take some photos of two of my beautiful friends while in Denver. Here is a sneak peek.

I’ll have more of each of these through the week. I’m pretty impressed with myself, and love these two for letting me practice on them. I’ve learned so much, and yet there is always more to learn.

While in Denver I also got to meet one of my most favorite bloggers! I’ve met Janna over a year ago through blogging and sort of hated her at first, because she is so dang beautiful. BUT then I got to know her better and fell in love!  She is one of the sweetest, nicest and incredible ladies I’ve met and I’m so glad to call her a real friend!

I made it home on Friday, after driving for two days to my incredible husband who had cleaned the floors and done all the dishes!

Also, a beautiful little bracelet was waiting for me when I got home from my bestie Kristin.

I finished off the week by spending some quality time with the Hubs, celebrating the 5th of May with tacos, margaritas and good company, buying a new patio set, doing homework and some awesome power yoga!

Lots of things to Love

As I stated last week, there’s a lot of things in my life that I’m loving, and I most likely sound like one of those overwhelmingly happy-all-the-time people who are just having the perfect life. Please know that my life is no where near perfect, and there are lots of things I could complain about, I just choose not to right now. If I did choose to complain, I feel that I may go down a path of depression and really… that’s just not a good place to be. So, it’s Wednesday, and I’m linking up with Jamie over at this kind of love!

I’m loving …

… that the hubs let me sleep in a little today and took Lilly out for her morning bathroom break

… that we have amazing neighbors who have the cutiest little boy and so many of the same interests as us. It sure makes moving to a place where we known no one a lot easier.

… that I get to go get my nails done with said amazing neighbor

… that I am having Nutella for breakfast

by the spoonful and right out of the jar

… the fan/light that is now installed in our bedroom.

Thanks to the amazing husband who can pretty much do anything. However, I’m NOT loving that all the breakers are labeled wrong, and that we have to flip the “kitchen island” switch to shut off power in the master bedroom… FAIL electrician FAIL

I am absolutely loving these two…

Kristin and Ki… Kristin blogs over here, and I don’t know what I’d do without our almost daily Skype sessions.

I am loving that my parents birthdays are a day apart. Literally… born the same year and all. And that I have a big surprise for them… since this is the first birthday that I wont get to celebrate with them.

Speaking of parents… I could love mine more.

I’m also loving these impulse purchases that I shouldn’t have really made:

Forever21 – $11.80

Forever21 – $22.80

Forever21 – $20.00 (no longer available)

AE – $39.99

Can you blame me? With these kinds of prices, I just couldn’t pass them up.

I’m ALSO LOVING the new photography gear I got… with the husband’s blessing of course:

Some color gels to go with this little flash:

I decided to go with the Canon one, just because I like to keep things in brand. It is a bit more pricey to go with a brand flash, but the quality and durability is worth it to me. If you are looking for an external flash and don’t want to spend a lot, here is a great one that you can try out:

It gets great reviews and the only thing that it doesn’t have is the auto-set with the camera, so you have to manually set the power of the flash… which is usually better anyways. This baby is going for about $70.00 right now. I plan on getting one to have as a second.

 

A tripod… I have an amazing monopod, but not a very good tripod, so I invested a little bit into getting a nice one that will last me a few years. And of course, I needed a new ball-head for the above tripod:

 

My monopod and the ball-head are both Manfrotto and I LOVE THEM. So I figured this is a pretty good choice. It also has the quick release, which will save you a ton of time taking the camera off the tripod.

I also got these guys:

An external shutter control and a reflector. These were cheap, and I learned the hard way that it’s best to have them around, then to need them and not have them. The shutter remote is about $20 and the reflector is under that.

Finally… I am Loving these two:

and this one:

Photo taken by my amazing friend Lena. You can find her here and here.

 

Hope you all are having a great Wednesday!