Photo Lab 2

Photo Lab 2

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Here are a few more pictures that I took to practice using my cameras for my big trip coming up. I am going on the Journey in the fall, and I heard last week that it is best to practice taking pictures before you go on trips. I think this is good advice, especially for me because I don't spend a lot of time taking pictures. In fact, I had a plan to take pictures, of my family, on Sunday, the 26th of June. I remembered a few times during the day, but kept thinking it would be better to take pictures later. Then, I completely forgot! So not only is practicing picture taking good for leveling up my photography skill, I also need to practice the art of remembering to take pictures. I have two cameras the first is my phone a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge , the second is my Nikon Coolpix S570 camera, which I love because I can point, shoot and get great pictures! So I'm taking pictures with both so that I am comfortable with each.

Grant of Land - Phone

The pictures I took on Saturday are of pictures or framed things at my parents house. I mainly did this because I'm a bit nerdy and I love family archival stuff. This one below is a picture of a Grant of Land to my Greatx4 Grandfather John Clark. He purchased land in Scott County Indiana. The cool thing about his document is that it is signed by Andrew Jackson. Though from my knowledge of signatures, sometimes these documents were signed by the president's secretary or a stamp. It's still cool in my opinion.

This next picture is a photo of my Dad in high school. It is in my sister's old room and she has it next to a snow globe of a piano? Wait I think that might be a vanity...um that's weird. I think perhaps the snow globe was a gift. But wasn't my dad adorable!

Dad and Snow Globe - Coolpix

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

On Tuesday, I took some photos on my way from my work to my gym. The first picture I took was of a door. My cousin Bre, who is practically the best photographer I know went through a period of taking pictures of interesting looking door. On their trip to Alaska there were quite a few. Since she is a good photographer, I think perhaps, she knows what to take pictures of. So I tried to. This door is at the Dioceses in Phoenix. The whole building is pretty, but it's hard to get the entire building in a photo, so I just took a picture of the door! 

Door Photo - Coolpix

Then I continued walking and I took a picture of this street sign. There are usually street signs around the city that change from time to time. But the ones around Phoenix currently are quite confusing to me. They read: "The door is open." There are a bunch of them that say this, but nothing else. I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean, but I guess it runs in the theme of the door photos for the day. Also, I think there is a quote from Mother Theresa about Happiness and the door is open. So I think that it fits with the diocese photo as well. Which was not my intention, but kind of fun now that I'm see it!

The Door is Open -- Phone

After I went to the gym, I walked to my car, before I got inside. I saw this iconic sight from my garage. It is a Camelback Mountain, called such because it looks like a camel. Even though camel's died in the Americas thousands of years ago, I guess America doesn't forget! The mountain has an amazing hiking trail and a great view of the city. So if you are ever in Phoenix you must check it out...actually, I advise only visiting the hiking trail in the fall, winter or spring, in the summer it can be hazardous and quite a visitors get overheated and stuck while climbing. I also thought it would be a good picture to take, because if there is a haboob, a dust storm, this summer this spot will be a good place to get a picture of the wall of dust. So hopefully, I can get a picture of that.

Camelback Mountain - Coolpix

Daily Photo Lab

Daily Photo Lab. June 22, 2016

I heard a great tip about photography and travel today. The tip was that you should start taking pictures before your trips. If you get to your location with your camera still in the box then you can be sure that your pictures will not be as good. Now I have two cameras, one on my phone and a camera by Nikon called Nikon Coolpix S570. My cousin Bre who has a bigger photography passion than I do recommended it because it was an easy "point and shoot" camera. Which is exactly what I need. The camera is not right out of the box, however, there was a long period where I couldn't remember which cord I needed to charge the battery. I decided to figure that out a few weeks ago. So I finally charged the camera. The memory card held pictures from my picture to San Miguel! Which was you might remember was basically the first trip that I blogged about, at least the first one that I blogged about and finished! If you don't remember here is a link: Day 1 in San Miguel. It was in March of 2012. So that has been a long time for me to have a camera and to have not used it. Therefore, I must practice before The Journey, my trip to Ireland and the United Kingdom. So, I'm going to try to take a picture a day with both my phone and my camera. Hopefully that lasts. I will try to post the photos up, but may not be daily.

One more piece advice I heard was the best light for photos is in the morning or afternoon and not in the middle of the day. So I will try to take the photos in the correct light, but I don't know much about that. Maybe photographers can give me advice, after I have some handle on it!

Today's photos...

Photo of Jojo - with toy, Taken with Galaxy Phone

Photo of Unnamed Rooster, Taken with Coolpix

Day 2 Photo June 23, 2016

So on this day I woke up thinking that I should take pictures of things that people take pictures of while on trips. Most of the time people take pictures of their friends and family which is great, but on trips people tend to take pictures of buildings, landscapes, art, as well as family and friends! Therefore, I had that in mind and went to work with my camera. A dust storm came in at the end of the day, which made for cool lighting. So I took a picture of that. I also took a picture of a bunch of metal bugs. They are at the convention center. I have seen people take pictures of them before, so I think they are something travelers take pictures of. So I decided that I should as well. See below:

Dust Storm, ASU Downtown Phoenix - CoolPix

Giant Bugs, Phoenix -  Phone

Day 3 Photo June 24, 2016

This day I planned to take my camera to work so I could take a picture of my lunch. I know that people take pictures of their lunch especially while traveling. I knew I was going to eat with some of my friends at work so I thought it would be a good chance to practice take picture of food. However, I did not bring my camera, I did have my phone with me, but I decided against it. Food porn makes me blush! So, instead I decided to take pictures of art I have at my house. I know that people take pictures of art when they are on trips. So I thought I should practice. The lighting is okay, but I think the lighting on art that is on display will be better. I chose these arts because they are arts that I have think of as mine and not a hand me down of pictures that my parents didn't want anymore. I have a few other arts from when I was a child that I think of as my art, so perhaps I will do that another day!

Art! - Phone 

Art! - Coolpix