Prom

Today is Becky's Prom night. We all went over and took pictures. This is Becky in her Prom dress. It was nice today except for the rain, but since it rained it's turning cool.

Here's Becky and Josh her date for the prom.
Jerry, Becky and Lisa
Jessica, Becky, Michael and Vanessa.

Mom and Dad with Becky.

Becky with both Grandma's.

We wanted to get both Grandpa's but Jerry's dad wouldn't get out of the truck.

Learning to Enhance

I'm learning to work on my pictures, to enhance them. I was actually able to come home and do it. It took awhile but I got it. I haven't tried what I learned in the first lesson, but I plan on trying it soon.

Field Trip to Belle Isle

Alexs' class went on a field trip to Dossins Great Lakes Museum on Friday. It's on Belle Isle which is an island not far from downtown Detroit. I haven't been there in many years, It's really nice they've added different stuff and of course they've taken things away. We had a great time, the weather was nice even though it rained early that morning.
This is a picture of his class. Notice the teacher acting as silly as the kids do. She's giving the boy bunny ears.

In front of the Museum is a cannon so I had him sit there and got his picture before the other kids came. They seem to like the camera because everytime I had it to my eye they came running.
This is part of the museum tour, it's an actual front end of a ship that they've attached to the museum.Although this submarine scope doesn't have anything to do with the Great Lakes, they have it there so the kids can look through and see whats happening on the Detroit River.
This swan is part of a ride that used to be at Boblo Island. You get in it and ride along this pond. Boblo Island used to be an amusement park. The only way we could get there was by boat. I can remember going when I was young. It's been closed for a long time.

We had lunch in the flag room. There are more flags hanging but I didn't get them all. All those flags mean something and the tour guide gave us a card telling what they mean.
After lunch the bus took us a little ways down the island to the play area. I'm not sure how long this has been there but it was really big and nice. I think in another week or two when the weather warms up again I may take the day off work and let Alex skip school, so we can go there and spent the day.
I have almost 3 weeks of comp time to use before the end of school. Each time I use a day I gain double that. I hate taking the time off at the end of school because that's when all the activities are going on.

More Studio Pix

As of Wednesday night my photography class is over. During these few weeks the instructor was showing us some different styles of lighting. I thought this was really cool. This was done during the class , but I would love to try it on my own to see if I could get the same effect. Since class is over I don't believe we're allowed to go back into the studio. I even tried my hand at doing kids, this little girl is the daughter of one of Chelsea's childhood friends. The little girl is 2yrs old, I found children take a little more effort and patience. Everytime I got her positioned correctly and I then got into position she was moved.
I thought this picture was so innocent, I had her sitting and was getting ready to take the picture when the mother asked if they could use the flowers. As soon as she gave her the flower she smelled it, so I snapped the picture. I saw the sweet innocence of a child.

Basketball at the Y!

Alex wanted to start playing basketball again so I signed him up at the YMCA. He had a game today, his team lost but Alex made 3 baskets so he was happy.

Back to the Studio

I went back to the studio and took some more pictures. This young girl was on spring break last week and was willing to get her picture done. I know I need alot more practice in the studio, I need to learn to see what changes need to be done while looking through the camera. Some of the pictures are a little to bright on the right. I need to learn photoshop and how to make the corrections. My class on that starts tonight, so maybe I can work on some of my pictures.


Maricella is Puerto Rican and wanted to use the flag for some of the pictures. The only thing I could find to clip the flag on was a couple very light poles that needed to be weighed down.
I think I should have moved the mirror to the left so I could get her arm and less of her legs. Something I should have seen through the camera.
I think this is a beautiful picture but a little to bright on the right. It's fun, but I had a hard time getting the background to stay. It's only paper but after a while the roll began slipping and I ended up with a hump and had to correct it often.

Spring Clouds

The clouds were really interesting tonight, I know we have a storm coming and its been lightning. I decided to snap this picture. I did it without a tripod because I didn't have time to get one, the clouds were moving quickly.

Spring has Sprung!

It was a beautiful day today. The kids were able to get outside and play, I do believe all our snow is gone if not it left today. Dad got out and worked on the yard, Diane, Lisa and their kids came over today. Although I started the day out with a bad sinus headache; after my 2 hr nap I was okay.

Here we go again!

Someone forgot to tell Michigan that spring has arrived. Another couple inches of snow fell last night. I started my Easter break with bad weather and it's ending with bad weather. What a break!This little guy flew north too soon, he wasn't strong enough to handle this weather. He was laying on the top step last night when I came home, this morning he was still there.

Class Project

I have a class project to do which involves using the bulb function and taking night shots. I'm not sure if they came out right because I don't think they're supposed to blur. I used a tripod but I didn't have a cable remote so I had to hold onto the camera and maybe that caused the blur. This picture is of the Ambassador Bridge (Bridge to Canada). This is it without the flash.
The teacher gave instructions on how to set the camera. In this shot I had to hold down the shutter for 30 seconds, then release the shutter to take the picture.

This picture is where I have to hold down the shutter for 1 minute then release it.

This picture I had to hold down the shutter for 2 minutes, it lets in a lot more light. It's cold out and I didn't have the cable so I got blur.

In this picture I had to change the setting and redo the picture, this time I started at 1 minute.

This picture is held open for 2 minutes. I was supposed to do another one holding the shutter open for 4 minutes. It was cold and I wasn't about to continue for another 4 minutes.

Maybe I'll try this again after it warms up, I guess something to practice on until I can accomplish it.

Vanessa & Chelsea

I went to the studio again and tried by myself to do different shots. I had different poses to try but when I got there I forgot what to do. I guess I need to take my paper with poses on it so I can know what to do. Above I used a dk pink gel, the light stand was broke so I couldn't aim high to get the pink up more.

Vanessa in a basic portrait pose. There's a couple with Chelsea and Vanessa together. They wanted to do silly things, I wanted to get something for a class project. I tried working with the mirror again, first it's not wide enough, and second there is no stand for it. Therefore I had to be careful so that it wouldn't come out like a funhouse mirror.

I tried to get an inocent picture so I thought using this flower would be cute.




I posed her the other way with out the filler light so I could get a different effect.

Mom & Dad

I went to the studio again this time I used mom and dad as models. I'm not sure if I like using the white background. I didn't get shadows this time.

I got alot of mom and dad by themselves. I think these two came out pretty good. Mom kept acting silly after you took her picture so I didn't get many good facial pictures. Dad wouldn't smile for me, he looked all uptight and stiff necked. One of my fellow students helped me that day. When Clarence got up to take dad's picture dad just laughed and smiled, then I came up and he went back to his old self. I did manage to get a couple good ones.

This is Clarence he helped me out that day. He was a photographer about 15yrs ago using film, he's in the class now learning to use digital. He was showing me how to use the props we have at the studio. The instructor just got this mirror in and I wanted to learn to use it. We didn't have a stand to put it on so we improvised. We have a few other props that we used on mom and dad and Clarence showed me a few lighting techniques. I'm heading back to the studio on monday with Chelsea and Vanessa, I need the practice, I need to learn to feel comfortable posing and working with the lights.

What happened to SPRING ?

What a way to start out my vacation. With a snow storm. I took Chelsea, Vanessa, and Alex out shopping today. We left about 1:00 and it was clear, but by the time we finished around 5:00 everything was a mess. I took this picture about 6:00p.m. while me and Alex was waiting for Chelsea to finish tanning. According to the weather report the snow storm warning goes on til 8:00 a.m. I've read that we're getting anywhere from 2-8 inches. I also read that it's suppossed to snow most of the week. So much for wishing for nice weather while I'm off.

Easter Break

I can't wait til work is over today. We are off until March 31st for Easter break. These last 2 weeks have been hectic. I've done a lot of teaching these last weeks, I've taught 3rd grade, kindergarten, and gym. I did 3 classes of gym and it about killed me. I did the stretching and warm ups with the kids, I was in so much pain that night and I still hurt yesterday. I've got enough time accumulated where I can take 2 1/2 weeks off (if it ever gets warm I'll use it).

More Studio Pix's

I went back to the studio yesterday, I wanted to try taking pictures by myself. The instructor got a new white background and took down the black and gray backgrounds. I couldn't get it just right, then I couldn't figure out how to twist the light to aim down. I went ahead and played around anyway.

I took a couple of pictures of Alex in this pose, and when I looked at them on the computer I noticed he had his lips puckered.














I thought this one of the both of them was cute. I'm going back to the studio a few more times and maybe I'll get the hang of it on my own. I have to find some models to take with me.

Winter Won't Leave!

Yesterday it started snowing just before 6 p.m. and it snowed and it snowed until 7 a.m. We ended up with 6 inches, and a day off school. I went out shopping today at the new Walmarts store, it was their grand opening. The only bad thing was the parking, the plows had piled mountians of snow all over and you really couldn't tell where the parking spots were.

The trucks were still out plowing the roads when I was out. Then I

got into a traffic jam for a good 40 minutes, it was backed up for at least 2-3 miles it was all due to truck traffic going to Canada what a headache. Alex did get out to enjoy the snow, the second picture he's showing me his wet behind. According to the news we have more snow coming, I really am ready for something other than snow or ice.

She's Home Again

Chelsea made it home last night, her plane came in on schedule. Dad took me to the airport I went in an waited while he went and parked somewhere. Although her plane was on time, it only took the airlines about 15 minutes to get the luggage started. When she left last monday we got hit by some bad weather. When we left for the airport it was raining, when we finally got out of the airport there was a layer of snow on the ground, and now we're getting more snow tonight. We're expecting at least 4-6 inches. I'd say she planned her trip on the right days. It was funny to see everyone getting off the plane with red skin and of all things, shorts on. Didn't they realize they were coming to Michigan.

Troubled Roads

After our winter blast on Friday all day, when I went to bed Friday night it had started to snow again and of course the temps began to fall. On Saturday morning the roads were nothing but ice there were so many freeways closed down because of multi car accidents. About 5 o'clock that morning a semi-truck lost control on the freeway and ran into the side of the activity center located in the parking lot of our church. I found out this morning at church one of the members was on his way home from work when the semi was passing him and lost control and sent him off the freeway as well, lucky no one was injured.