my photography || pictures i've been taking lately

I've been really trying to improve my photography lately. I'm starting to use Manual only (which is kinda hard to use).
And since Jason (my brother-in-law) is not here anymore to teach me photography, I've also been reading some photography books that a friend (who is very good at photography) is letting me borrow! I'm really enjoying them so far and I'm learning a whole lot!!!!
So, without further ado, here are some pictures that I've taken recently!!!















 



 

which picture is your favorite?
do you enjoy taking pictures?
what kind of camera do you have/use?

bloom.

 

 

 

 

 which picture is your favorite?
do you like wildflowers?

life post // shopping trip + april fools

I haven't done a life post for quite a while. So I decided what better time than today!!! :)
(Sorry for the blurry photos. They were mostly taken on the phone)

If you read my last life post, then you might be wondering about our sweet cat, Thomas. Well, we had to put him down. He was such a sweet cat and I miss him a lot. We buried him under the shade of a tree where he liked to lay in the summertime.



The ladies in our church took a shopping trip about a week ago. It was a lot of fun!!!I got some good deals on some things. For instance, I got a jean skirt for $2.50 at goodwill!
I got a shirt at goodwill and another shirt on the clearance rack at the Loft, some lotion and hand sanitizer at bath&bodyworks, and a necklace at hobbylobby!!! I'm real happy!

We ate at Chick-Fil-A for lunch!!! I got a grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and a lemonade!! Chik-Fil-A has the best lemonade!!!

Jason took Ben and I out on a bridge to get some pictures of the stars last week. The sky was clear, but right when we got on the bridge and got set up, clouds started rolling in. So I didn't get any pictures of the stars! :(
I did get a neat picture of a car passing us though, using shutter speed. I snapped the pictures in Raw, and since our computer is so old, it wont read them. So I couldn't upload them on here to show y'all.

April first was such a fun day!! I had been planning pranks for a few weeks!!!
I made "brownies" for my parents and grandparents!! They were a little disappointed when they found out they were literally "brown e's!!!"

And then I put a paper cockroach in our living room lamp!!!

I got Ben really good with that one! :)

The weather has been beautiful here!!! I've really enjoyed going outside!! Ben and I started our garden. We planted our tomatoes, beets, sunflowers, and carrots. We'll finish planting in a few weeks, when it gets a little warmer. I'm planning on canning the tomatoes and pickling the cucumbers! Hopefully it all works out!!

Did you do any April fools pranks?
Are you doing a garden this year?

tea party // photography practice

Chloe turned six on Thursday. I cannot believe that! She has grown a lot, and she is such a sweet little girl! I love her so much! :)
Chloe wanted to have a little tea party for her birthday. So we (the family), went over to Jason and Katy's house to celebrate.
This picture really captured how Chloe was. She was so excited and was like a busy bee running around filling and refilling people's cups with new tea. I think she had fun! :)


After her little celebration, Jason and I went outside so he could teach me a few things on my camera. I learned a lot about aperture. He wanted me to do a little photo shoot with Napoleon. I definitely need a lot of practice. Jason let me borrow his lens and his polarizing filter.

The one above would have been good, but the focus point is on the right side of the bucket, and Napoleon is blurred. I was very disappointed that this one didn't turn out better.




These turned out a little better. Napoleon is in focus and the background is blurred. I think these turned out the best. I tell y'all though, taking pictures of dogs is tough. Especially puppies. Napoleon would not stay still. He's a little wiggle worm :)
Thank you, Jason, for helping me edit some of these!

I also got to take some pictures of Bella. I think some of these turned out ok. She's a good little model! :)

I would have liked this one a lot more if the house wasn't in the background. But I liked the lighting.


So they were a few of my favorites. I plan on starting Nikon School really soon, so I can improve my photography! :) I'm really excited about starting it!