Every Picture Has A Story

The header on my blog has changed many times over the last couple of years and I finally think I have made one that can stay awhile. 

Each of these pictures really do hold a moment in time for me. And has the saying goes, every picture really does tell a story.

So, come and sit awhile and let me tell you some stories. 

I took this picture in the summer of 2007. While visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Nashville, we made a trip to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee. Not only is this a beautiful plantation but it is so rich in history. The battle that took place on the grounds of this plantation was one of the bloodiest of the Civil War. Nearly 10,000 soldiers were either killed, wounded or went missing. Four generals lost their lives here which were laid out upon the back porch. Carnton Plantation served as the largest field hospital in the area and within the rooms, you will still see blood stained floors from wounded and fallen soldiers. Following the war, a piece of the property was designated as a cemetery in which 1,500 Confederate soldiers were laid to rest. 

The book Widow of the South by Robert Hicks has forever immortalized the events that took place in just five hours on November 30, 1864.

gate leading to the garden

hydrangeas... my most favorite of all.

This picture was taken the summer of 2009 on our family vacation to Virginia. My parents had just made a recent move there, so not only did we have time with them, but it was a  chance to visit places we may never had thought of visiting before.  One day, we made the drive to Harper's Ferry and once we got off the bus that took us down into the town, this fence was one of the first things that caught my eye. Give me a door, gate, fence, or flower and I could take pictures all day long. 

This was such a fun day walking through the town and imagining what life would have been like so long ago. 

Isn't there also a saying about the longer you are married, the more you begin to look like your spouse? Funny thing is, I don't think we noticed that we were wearing the same colors until we saw the picture!

Last summer, we found ourselves back in Virginia again. This time it was a list of battlefields and the historic Mount Vernon we set out to see.

Walking through the gardens of Mount Vernon, we gazed upon the beautiful flowers, butterflies and once again, we were just enamored with the history that took place there.

There were many wrought iron benches in the garden and along the pathways and I suppose, it's just another one of those things my eye is drawn to.

Sam sitting on the back porch looking out onto the Potomac River. It was very easy to see why this was General Washington's favorite place to be. 

front view of Mt. Vernon

On that same vacation, we also visited the home that served as Stonewall Jackson's headquarters during the Civil War. I think this was one of Sam's (our history buff) most favorite stops. What makes it really neat is that it is even located in my parent's hometown of Winchester, Virginia.

We walked through the rooms of the house, each one telling a story of it's own. Personal keepsakes, photos, and furniture were all on display and again, we wrapped our minds around such a significant time in our country's history.

I suppose it's not only doors, gates, flowers, and anything wrought iron that I am drawn to but steps, and old ones at that.

Sam in the front yard of Stonewall Jackson's headquarters 

Remember what I said about taking pictures of flowers? We have a local flower shop that I love to visit and buy flowers from. This really is my go to place for anytime I need flowers for a special occasion or just to add a little bit of loveliness to our home. 

I came home with several bunches of flowers in my favorite color... white. I sat them out upon the picnic table and not only did I arrange and fill vases, but I took picture upon picture.

 So, there it is, a picture that really is worth so much because I have a story to tell behind each and every one.

The end.

These Things I Do Know About Photography

Because of some questions and comments I have had recently about my photographs, I wanted to share some things that have helped me when it comes to photography.

Let me preface by telling you that I am simply a mom who years ago fell in love with capturing my children on camera. My knowledge of the technical side of photography is very limited and every picture is a work in progress.

I am 13 days into the challenge I placed upon myself to take a picture every day for the next 365 days. As each day goes by, I am more and more surprised at what I am learning. Trust me, there is a whole lot of trial and error going on, but I am really enjoying the challenge so far.

So, here are just some little bits of advice from me to you...

1.) Before buying a camera... do your RESEARCH! If you admire a friend or family member's photographs, talk to them and find out what kind of camera they are using and what they like and dislike about it. Find a camera store that is going to guide you in making the right decision based on what you are looking for in a camera. You need to know what you want to do with your camera so you can be prepared in making a decision that in the end, you will be very pleased with. For those of you who asked, I have a Nikon D60. I also use a 35 mm lens which allows me to open up the aperture to 1.8. This allows a whole lot of light to come through the lens and it also creates the blurry background (bokah) that I LOVE!

2.) Read your manual. Read it over and over again, because I promise the more you familiarize yourself with your camera, the better your pictures will be. I have also found Pioneer Woman's photography site to be very helpful as well as The Digital Photography School. The DPS has some basic and easy to understand tutorials about aperture, shutter speed, ISO settings, and exposure.  I have them printed off so that I have something on hand to refer to. So, READ, READ, READ!

3.) PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! The more you have your hands on your camera and your eye behind the lens, the more comfortable you are going to be in taking pictures. I can't believe how much more comfortable I am after 13 days of taking pictures. While I took pictures all the time before, there is something to be said for taking pictures on a daily basis. I said it before, and I will say it again, take pictures of anything! Over the last week, I have taken pictures of shoes laying by our front door, chopped up celery and green onions, the dishes in our cupboards, my son looking in the refrigerator, a box of cereal, and well, you can see the rest here. My point is... Take pictures!

4.) Stop using the "auto-focus" mode. Sounds intimidating perhaps,  but I guarantee once you get the hang of using your other settings, you won't go back. Your pictures are going to look so much different and better. The only time I am using the "auto-focus" setting these days are when I don't have time to take several pictures or because I want to be absolutely positive that I am getting a picture that is going to be focused and capturing the moment or event - like Christmas morning when the kids were opening their gifts.  Refer back to your manual or other resources so that you have a real understanding of your other settings and how they work. Each setting is going to give you a different result so, when you are taking a picture, ask yourself what you are wanting to capture or create? Play around with the settings and familiarize yourself with how they work. Practice taking a picture of an object on each setting so you can begin to understand what the results will be in the end. Most of the time I  have my camera set on aperture priority mode ("A" setting on a Nikon). The majority of the pictures I take are of my children, so I want to be able to control the area that is going to be in focus and the amount of light that enters through the lens. If I were taking pictures of my kids at a sporting event or another moving object, I would use the shutter priority mode ("S").

5.) I am learning more and more that great light makes great photographs. Pay attention to the sun, lighting in your home, or wherever you are taking pictures because it has a huge impact on how your picture will turn out. I don't ever use my flash (except if it's on an automatic setting) so I have to really pay attention to what the lighting conditions are. I know that most likely, I am not going to get a decent picture inside once the sun goes down so honestly, I don't even try or I use an automatic setting. Read your manual or other resources to know how to work the white balance and metering on your camera so that you get pictures that are exposed correctly.

6.) Be patient. While learning how to use your camera can be overwhelming and frustrating, don't give up. Remember what I said about trial and error? As I am taking pictures everyday, behind every one good picture, there are several that end up with me hitting the little trash can button.

7.) Don't think you have to use PhotoShop to have great pictures. One day, I will conquer the feat of PhotoShop but for now, I am perfectly content with my straight out of the camera shots.

And finally, remember why you are taking pictures. Every picture has a story and with that picture you have a tangible way of remembering the moment. What's important is that you and your family love your pictures!

Now, go take some pictures!!!

A Picture A Day

It's no secret that I love photography. My love for capturing everything on camera began over ten years ago when I had a simple point and shoot camera. When my husband and I purchased our first SLR camera, the photography bug really grew. While most of the time I kept the camera on all the automatic settings, I was slowly beginning to learn how to manually take photographs. There were literally hundreds and hundreds rolls of film that I took while using that camera. Keeping up with getting film developed became quite a task. In fact, I still have rolls of film that need to be developed. Last Spring, we gave into technology (my husband will say he gave into my begging and pleading for a new camera) with the purchase of a Nikon D60. I am finding that digital photography is a whole new ball game, and I have a whole lot to learn.

So, I am reading my manual and learning everything I can about my camera. Fortunately, I have a couple friends that are excellent photographers who are very patient with me and willing to teach and offer advice that I really appreciate. And finally, it comes down to only one thing... PRACTICE. There really is no other way to get better, so I am taking a lot of pictures. Like millions of them. I take pictures of my kids, my feet and random stationary objects. There are times when we are watching TV and I pull out my camera and just start taking pictures.

When I heard of Project 365, I thought it would be a very creative, fun and enjoyable way to practice taking pictures.

Here is why I want to do this:

1.) I would like to gain a better understanding of the technical side of photography.

2.) To be more confident when I am taking pictures. My lack of knowledge often leads to a whole lot of frustration.

3.) To capture memories and document our family's life for a year.

4.) Develop my eye for seeing things in a new way.

5.) It gives me a really good excuse to take my camera with me everywhere I go.

So, today marks Day 1 with the picture of me relaxing on the sofa with my cozy slippers and my ever faithful manual book.

I also have another blog up and running now as a way for me to document the pictures I take. You can click here or link to it from over on my sidebar.

Enlarging Pictures On Your Blog

Would you like to know how to make your pictures larger on your blog? Well, I had always wondered the same thing too, until I found a very easy to understand tutorial walking me step by step through the process.

Since I am one that believes that a good thing needs to be shared, I am going to show you how you can make all those great pictures you have even greater!

I can hardly stand how excited I am, so let's get started...

Begin by uploading your picture just like you normally do. I always use LARGE as the image size.

Once you have your picture uploaded, you are then going to click on "EDIT HTML". It's up there in the top right hand corner and before it was set on "COMPOSE".

Now, here comes the most important part of the step. You are going to see a whole bunch of letters and mumbo jumbo. Don't let it intimidate you because you are a photo uploader, big picture maker GENIUS!

What you are looking for is (each picture will have it's own paragraph) is something that looks like this:

WIDTH: 247px

HEIGHT: 400 px

(the numbers might be different for you but just find the WIDTH and HEIGHT)

Now, are you ready for this... DELETE them both the numbers as well as the ;. Don't panic, I promise it will work.

Now, you need to carefully look through all the letters and find something that looks like this:

/S400/

This might be a different number too but look for the /S.../

This special little number is what determines the size of your picture. /S400/ is the size that it was uploaded as LARGE. Guess what you get to do now... DELETE that number too. At this point you are well on your way to great big pictures.

Here are the choices that will work to make your pictures larger:

Let's start at the beginning without changing a thing...

400

576 makes it a little bigger

640 makes it even bigger

and 800 makes it GINORMOUS!!!

(I can't enlarge to this size because I am currently using the Minima template for my blog. However, if you are using the Minima Stretch Layout for your blog, I have three words for you... GO FOR IT!!!)

It's really important though that you only CHANGE THE NUMBER. All that other mumbo jumbo is important.

Once you have made these changes, you can click back on COMPOSE to finish your post and you should see that your picture is larger.

That's it... you did it and now your pictures will never be the same!

Hi, I'm Christy...

And I am a mom-a-raz-zi.

Definition: n. pl. A mom who doggedly pursues her children to take photos.

I take pictures of them at work...

Or at play...

Of celebrations...

And special days...

Whether they are smiling at the camera...

Or looking the other way...

I can always capture them when they are catching some zzz's...

For 8 tips to bump up your game as a Mom-a-raz-zo, go here.