My first roll of film

So here it is....my first roll of film shot with an SLR.  I loaded a roll of Fujifilm Superia X-TRA 400 into my Nikon F100 and had it developed and scanned by Richard Photo Lab in Hollywood, CA using their Noritsu scanner.  These are straight scans, no editing at all except adding my watermark.  The moments I captured were just every day moments that occurred over the course of two weeks.

If you can believe it, I shot these two photos of Havi and Madeline together in the grass as the sun was dropping in the sky.  With an ISO of only 400, I had to drop my shutter speed to 1/60.  You can see Havi's hand moving in the second shot.  But still, I was proud of myself for pulling off a reasonable exposure with so little light. 

Of the twenty-four exposures I shot, I had to toss 4 of them due to blinking or soft focus, things of that nature.  I love the grain and softness of the images I captured.  I'm tickled with how my first roll turned out.  Nothing fancy.  Just simple, every day moments shot on film.  I will be sending my second roll out soon, same film, but then I might throw a professional roll in after that.

Well, Caleb had a great weekend of tennis.  I'm sorry I'm just now getting this blog post up.  After my internet issue was resolved last week, I ended up hurting my left wrist.  I am STILL in a lot of pain, one week later.  Grrr.  Typing hurts but I'm tolerating it just for the sake of catching up with my blog posts.  I will try to share about Caleb's tennis happenings soon.  This afternoon Madeline has her dress rehearsal for her dance recital.  I can't wait to capture the rehearsal and recital with my new lens.  And a certain little dancer I know will be sporting a new smile for said recital.  Hopefully my wrist feels better soon, too!

Enjoying the outdoors

The other day the dumplings and I sat outside in the front yard under our oak trees drawing pictures of what we saw.  We used crayons and colored pencils and drew trees and flowers.  It wasn't too hot, and there was a nice breeze as well.  It was perfect!  We ended up sitting out there for over two hours!  I also remembered to shoot with my film SLR (Nikon F100).  So when I get that first roll back, I will be sharing more images from this session.

If it looked to you like Havi was singing in the photo above, then you would be correct.  

She was an absolute hoot copying her sister and singing.

Well, I meant to share these shots earlier, but we had some internet issues that kept me offline for a few days.  So much for trying to play catch up here on the blog.  Sigh. 

Anyway, have a great weekend!  

We will be spending ours at the courts!

One day

It didn't occur to me until I uploaded my photos from shooting one day last week that I pretty much shot all day long, from early morning to sundown.  I guess I really wanted practice at lugging around my new, super heavy lens.  It sure is a workout.  No doubt my arms will thank me later.  So, here's the day...

Caleb likes to hit the tennis ball against the house.  He does this every day. And don't even get me started on how grown up I think he looks here.  Somebody tell time to slow down.

I took some selfies with Havi.  I just love how sometimes the focus is off or soft.  The images just so seem so raw and in the moment.

Madeline got a new delivery of ants for her farm.

Then  we headed over to the tennis courts for a little practice and match play.  I took all these shots through the fence, on purpose.    So that is why they look a bit soft.  I also forgot the lens hood.  Still, I like how bright and airy they are.

I love this shot above.  It looks like he's looking right at me.  In actuality, he's looking at the point of contact. 

 Next up, his Raffa follow through.

I tried to capture a little flare and fun on the playground with Havi while Caleb was on the courts.
Really, she did have fun. lol

Then Havi and I headed home while Patrick took Caleb and Madeline to the store.  As I was sitting outside with her, she pointed to the sky.  I turned around and saw a rocket being launched.  I quickly ran into the garage and grabbed my camera.  I didn't even change the settings from earlier and just started snapping.  That worked out fine as I tend to underexpose my shots at sunset to capture more color in the sky anyway.

Those black specs in the photo above are actually birds.  Then I snapped a few shots of Havi as the sun was going down, all on auto white balance.  You can see the color of the light change over time.

Then it was time for some sunset snaps and silhouettes.

Patrick had made it home with Caleb and Madeline by then.  So I asked Caleb to do a jumping shot.
Not bad for a first try in this location.

Anyway, I really enjoyed shooting that day.  My new lens does pose a problem with my beloved camera backpack.  You know, the one I bought for our China trip but still use every day?!  It can only fit if the lens is attached to the camera body when stored.  So that means shifting some things around.  With this lens, though, I'm finding that I'm only bringing one extra lens with me, my 35mm f/1.4, leaving my other two prime lenses at home.

Well, this weekend Caleb will be playing in yet another tennis tournament.  I'm so excited that Bammy will be able to watch him play.  Be looking out for a monthly tennis recap, as it's been a busy one.

One last bit before I go...I want to give a big Happy Birthday shout out to Bammy!  She's turning 39 again.  And we have the privilege of celebrating with her.  Have a great weekend.  And keep cool! We will be hitting the beach!