Thursday, March 19, 2009

Things That Make me Happy, Thursday Edition.

Things that are making me Happy today:

1. The Nora news email I just got that gives the upcoming schedule of the Nora Roberts Lifetime movies.

2. My new astigmatism contacts. I already feel like I can see better, but they feel totally funky on my eyes.

3. The mocha frap. I am drinking for lunch.

4. My Twilight movie which has already been shipped. *crossing my fingers that I get it early*.

5. Tomorrow is Friday.

6. I have a pictures session after work today.

Hugs,
briannanichole!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Yay For Amazon....

....and my AMAZING hubby! I walked into the house today after work and I am greeted my my hubby.
Me: Hi Baby

Dan: Guess what shipped today?

Me: *happy dance* TWILIGHT!

Dan: Yes *roll eyes*

I got to see some of the deleted scenes on My Space, but I am excited to see all the extras and to watch the movie again. I thought Amazon was going to ship the movie when it came out, meaning I wouldn't get it until next week.

Thanks to the all the people who emailed me about pictures, I am super excited to take them all. Anyone else interested please shoot me an email.

Hugs,
BriannaNichole.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Eye Candy

YUM


Shelley and Christine this one is for you guys!

Am I funny, or am I drunk....am I drunk or am I funny,
BriannaNichole

Monday, March 16, 2009

Casting Call....

I need some people willing to pose for the camera. I am dying to try out all the things I have been learning about my camera. I just need some people to try it out on. Shoot me an email if you are interested: Brianna.fabulous.morrow@gmail.com. I think I know a second shooter that would be interested in jumping in as well. Just think twice the pictures for nothing more than a bit of your time!

BriannaNichole.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Vivid Mode Flowers

So I read a review that said that that the Olympus E510 camera tends to produce pictures that are on the blue/dark side. They suggested that your pictures might turn out better when they are in Vivid mode. Today I took some pictures of the flowers in my front yard in Vivid and Natural mode to see what looked better. Plus I wanted to try out my telephoto lens in manual mode.

I'm not sure if I mixed up the photos or if the cloud cover had something to do with it, but the photos in Vivid mode did not turn out AT ALL. I am thinking that it might look a little different in the sunlight and/or on skin tone.


Photo in Vivid mode. Its a blue.


Same flower in natural mode.

Since I am excited about how much sharper the images look after fussing with the settings....




All I need now is to pay attention to how much noise are on the photos.
Thanks for checking me out,
BriannaNichole.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

I Love the Internet!

I love that you can learn anything on the Internet. In efforts to learn more about my camera, and photography in general I have been scouring the Internet for information. I am happy to say that there is soooo much information online. In the last few days I have figured out a bunch of useful settings that have made my pics look much better. The two that I am having the most fun with are the digital fill flash and the sharpness. I am sure you can find some better definitions online, but this is my blog so I will give you my definitions :).

The Fill Flash is another way to use the flash on your camera. You would use it when there is a bright light behind the subject or any other time that your subject is in the shadows. You use your regular flash but you put it on a really low setting. I had to play around with mine a bit until I got it right. I will use and example of my couch since I get off too late to get one in the sun.


Here is the image without the flash on.


Here is the same picture with the flash set really low. See how it removed most of the shadows. Again I realize it's not the best example but you get the idea.

I also figured out how to up the sharpness on my photos. They look way better. I took some great examples last night but I cannot post them because they are of the my hubby while he was cleaning the dishes. I didn't think you all wanted to see what my dirty dishes look like. Oh yeah, my hubby cleans the dishes. Is he the best, or what?!

If that was not enough; I installed Lightroom today. Not sure how I am going to use it in conjunction yet, but I'm happy to have it. I was just playing around with it and it is pretty cool. The built in presets work really well. It seems like it would be really good for people who are not quite ready to learn/pay for Photoshop.

Happy Learning,
BriannaNichole!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Shower Pictures

Don't worry it's not what you think! Here are some photos from my cousin Breanne and Allie's baby showers. Don't worry Breanne I have more from your shower I just got lazy. I will post some more later.

Breanne's Shower Pics

Me, Mom, sister and lovely little Ella.


Ella and grandma.






I love these pics of Elena and Hanna taking pictures of themselves, too cute.






Allie's Shower. Please excuse the funky flash. I had just gotten it and NO idea how to use it. A little secret; I still don't know how to use it.





I was so proud of all the signs I made for Allie's shower. They matched the invitations I made for her.


Mommy to be.


PRESENTS!!!






Allie and her mom.


Ok, the next two pics were at the end of the shower. I guess Denielle was a little bored.





Ok, two posts in two days, sweet!
BriannaNichole!

Camera Happenings

Yesterday I got the chance to attend a mini workshop given by the very helpful Erin Tukua. There she showed us how to take better photos. We talked about how to adjust the F-Stop/Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. I have to admit that it was a bit confusing at first, but Erin was a patient teacher and was willing to answer the same questions again and again. What was the most helpful was the two gorgeous models that sat for us. The two little girls were overly precious and were so patient with all pictures.

As the day went on my photos got a little better, but that wasn't difficult since my first pictures didn't start out that great. I did find out that I have a great knack for taking pictures with funky shadows, the sides of people's faces and of the back of their heads. YAY me . My pictures seem to have a lot of noise and they are just not that sharp. I would love to have a real pro take a pic with my camera and see if it is me or the camera. As much as I would like to blame it on thew camera, I am sure it is just user error.

I came to the conclusion that I do need a better camera/lens. I think I might want to get a Cannon or Nikon for my next camera. It seems like there are a lot more accessories and help for those models. I will have to really learn more about my camera and taking pictures in general before I even think about buying more equipment. I think that all I need now is more practice and some models to practice on.


Here is Erin showing us how to set our cameras. This is before I had changed any settings.



Ok, so I totally Photoshopped this one, I just like the sky in it.


One of our beautiful models. See, side of the face shot.




















After the photo session I got to head to the beach with my sister and her kids to take some pictures. I was a bit better with the lighting, but I still have a lot to practice and learn.









Even though I was unhappy with the pictures I took, it was almost nice to make the mistakes. It gave me a chance to see what the problems were so I could start working on improving.

Have a great rest of the weekend!
BriannaNichole!

Friday, March 6, 2009

When I grow up....

When I grow up I want to be Jasmine Star! I am so, so, so in love with this photographer right now. All of her pictures are so crisp and dreamy. I was reading through her FAQ's, yes she has FAQ how amazingly helpful is she?! Anyway, someone asked her how everyone she photographed had such creamy skin. I could not have described her photography better, everyone just looks so smooth and beautiful. I mean this is how you want to be photographed on your wedding day. You want to look amazingly beautiful but still like yourself. I just hope someday I can take photos that are half as good as hers.

Even if her photos don't make her amazing enough for you, she is funny too. I love reading her blog because she is so witty. She doesn't take herself too seriously and when she posts wedding pictures she talks about the wedding with such passion. It really makes you feel like she cares about her brides.

Speaking of photos; I am getting a chance to learn more about my camera this weekend. I will not talk about it too much since I am sure I will blog about the whole day later. Suffice to say I am super excited. I love playing around with my camera. It's such a fun hobby...and who knows maybe some day it will be more. I am going to just see where it takes me.

Happy Friday,
BriannaNichole!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Devin, Married...NO!

As you may have read in a previous blog post my brother Devin and his fiance Candice have gotten married!!! Who would have thought Devin had time in his busy schedule to put down the video/computer game to actually attend the ceremony? I jest.

It really has been such a joy to be Devin's sister. He is funny, charismatic, loving, smart and an all around amazing brother. This a guy who would wrestle with me, as a kid, and when he accidentally hurt he he would turn around and make me laugh so I forgot all about it. When I was still young enough to be embarrassed about having a period; he went to the store and bought me tampons. You can't ask for a better brother than that.

I was so elated when Devin called and said he was dating someone. You see, Devin dated some but they were never important enough to pull him away from his video or computer games. BTW he LOVES games. I can remember the call where he told me alllllllll about her. He was so cute. He talked her up so much that I was nervous to meet this vision of perfection Devin had made her out to be. After I met her I knew that Devin had found someone special. I remember thinking that she would fit right in with our family.

Imagine my utter surprise when after a few short months of dating Devin said he and Candice were getting married. I think the whole thing was a little hectic and rushed, but they seem to be genuinely happy that they are man and wife. We got toge her for a mini-reception dinner with immediate family from both sides. It was really nice to get to meet Candice's family. I loved seeing how well Devin fit right in with them. It is nice to know that your sibling has married into a family that loves him and cherishes his uniqueness.

Here are a few of the pictures that I got to take at the dinner.



My fav pic of the bride and groom!

I love how vintage this one feels


Devin and the Dads












My hubby took this one and complained that I put the telephoto lens on. I

kinda like it, it's funky.


Hee hee I love this pic.


I'm so sad this one is blurry!




Congrats Devin and Candice! I love you both,
BriannaNichole.