Snap Happy, Mouse Happy

I’ve been wanting to take more photos. I guess it’s safe to say, it’s one of my goals for this year. It’s probably one of the few creative goals that I feel quite certain I’ll be able to keep throughout the year regarless of when we get our kids. I really want to learn more about photography and the manual settings my camera allow me to use. In researching and looking for free help online, I’ve seen lots of things that mention using photoshop to edit photos. Then, I found the Pioneer Woman’s Blog. . . and I’m more motivated than ever to learn the manual possibilities in my computer and to learn to use photoshop for editing my photos. (Yes, I already use it to scrapbook, but photo editing is quite another thing.)

I’ve played haphazardly since Thursday with both my camera settings and photoshop. I’m not sure what I’m doing but, I’ve really enjoyed seeing some of the things I can create. So, today, when my parents and brother asked if I wanted to go to the local zoo while DH was still away at the deer lease, I jumped at the opportunity to take some pics.

I really didn’t care to take pictures of the animals. . . how many pictures of the same animal can a person take. So, most of the time, I focused my camera on my parents and brother. Yes, there was lots of camera war between my brother and I. I’ve got a bunch of shots of my brother with the camera in his face. It’s what we do.

Here’s a few shots from our trip and the edits I made.

First, this is one of my mom. One of the few I could get her stand still without getting that “look” because she really doesn’t like having her picture taken.

Unedited:

Edited:

Then, here’s one of my parents together. The lighting was really bad- the sun was out in all it’s glory but there were awful shadows. Since this shot was completely candid. . . I couldn’t get a good angle to get the shot. Thus, a bunch of bad lighting shots. I took other with a darker exposure but this light one wound up being really easy to work with.

Unedited:

Edited:

Edited in Black and White:

I’d love to know what you think of these.

And, just for grins. . . here’s a shot of my dad and my brother. . . who wouldn’t let me get a normal shot of them.
(This one still needs some help. . . like the guys in this picture)

And, now, I’m really ready to learn more about photoshop and just what I’m doing as I make adjustments to my pictures.

Related posts:

1. The Camera Knows
2. My New Digital Slr And No Adoption News
3. The View from Someone Else’s Eye
4. The 100- Best Punishment Ever
5. Happy Birthday Lisa!