Twelve weeks to better photography: week two

Week two's class {located here} is about ISO and shutter speed. Because I took a photography class in high school I knew a little bit about this, but again was not taught back then on DSLR cameras, so a refresher course was just what I needed!

Here's the short break down: The higher the ISO, the quicker the image will be captured and the less light that is required. The lower the ISO, the longer it takes for the image to be captured and the more light you will need. A little confusing, but basically for me it helps to just imagine myself outside and knowing that the more natural light I have, the lower my ISO number. And if I'm inside and need help with light to crank that baby up to a higher ISO number, although my images will be more grainy.

Your shutter speed is how quickly the shutter, or the little door that opens in front of your film or image sensor, operates. The numbers that you see representing shutter speed like 60, 120, 250, 1000 represent 1/60th of a second or 1/120th of a second, and so on. So the higher the bottom number on the fraction, the faster the shutter speed. The smaller the number, the slower the shutter speed.

As for this weeks challenge, we were to find our kitchen sink - (easy enough right?), then find an object to "block" the water. Turn your camera to the "TV" mode, and take 1 picture at 1/80th of a second, then at 1/1000 of a second. Here's my pictures:

{ISO 800, exposure time 1/80}
{ISO 800, exposure time 1/1000}

I don't have a tripod, so I couldn't participate in the bonus challenge... boo!

One last thing... I tried operating in the "M" mode for the end of the lesson where she was giving you 5 steps and talking about setting your f/stop, ISO, shutter speed, etc... and all of my pictures were black. I turned up the ISO number and it didn't matter, all of the images still came out completely black. Any of my fellow students have an idea why? I figured out how to change the shutter speed but couldn't figure out how to change the f/stop and I wasn't sure if that was the reason or not. I'm stuck.

See ya next week! :)

Right now ...

... My stomach is in knots and I think I could vomit. I am 99% sure my stress ulcer is back. Expensive to treat and painful to deal with. Not the ideal situation right now.

... I am appreciative for our great weekend with my family. Just what I needed. My mom + my sister = a sure way to make me smile.

... My house is silent. Really unusual {and a little eerie}.

... I have a weird mix of emotions about the possibility of a lot of changes happening in our near future.

... My heart feels heavy for someone I love. Lots of tough decisions and possible heartache coming up for her. So I am reminded to pray for her.

... I am getting to the point of realizing how freeing it is to truly trust God. Freeing indeed.

Beautiful sunshine.

This past Thursday was our first glimpse of spring and we took Jax outside to enjoy it, soak up the rays, and ride his trike!

I am free!

Free of braces!! Yayyy!

First... before & after pictures




It is so surreal to have straight teeth. I am 24 years old and have had crooked teeth obviously my whole life... it all dates back to when my "upper cuspid" teeth were falling out and my Dad took a pliers to them and tried yanking them out and couldn't get them out so we had to go to the dentist to have them removed. Haha, I'm kidding, but I do tease my Dad blaming him because those were the two teeth that "hid" behind my others and made it look like I was missing teeth. My parents offered to pay for braces during high school for me, but I refused to because I honestly didn't think my teeth were that bad and I played trumpet and didn't want to ruin my chances of being able to play (yes, you may call me a band geek now). Although I will never forget one of Tyler's friends saying that if it wasn't for my teeth I'd actually be pretty...lol. But once I got to college, things changed and I had a few friends that made comments to me from time to time about how I should get braces. All the sudden I started realizing everyone around me had straight teeth and I didn't... I'll always remember walking down the aisle on my wedding day not smiling as "full" as I should have been because all I could think about was how people probably thought I was missing teeth. I had to sit to the left of servers at restaurants because I was afraid of them seeing my left side of my smile, which was the worst side. I had to be on the right side of the picture in order to hide my left side. My teeth started consuming me and once we could financially afford it after getting married, I started looking into getting braces. Had 6 different consultations and 5 of the orthodontists said I'd need surgery to break my jaw, because my bite was so off. Found an ortho that I really clicked with and said "heck no" to needing surgery... 2 years later, my braces came off and yes I did indeed cry. Not because image is everything, but because I am finally comfortable and confident in my smile. I don't have to put my hand up over my face when I laugh in fear of people looking at my teeth, and for the first time ever, I wore lip gloss on Friday. (never wore it because I didn't want to bring attention to my mouth). Crazy, huh?

Getting braces off doesn't identify me and it doesn't solve all of my self-esteem issues that I have. And ultimately I know that God doesn't focus on our outward appearance. It is what's on the inside that matters most to Him. I am thankful for the opportunity and the way we were able to afford me getting braces, but even if I never got them and still had crooked teeth, I know it wouldn't matter in the end, when my life is over. But while I'm here, hopefully I can help someone who may be struggling with the same kind of issues... with confidence or self-esteem. And to use my smile to encourage people, and make others smile back in return.

One more thing... look at these beautiful roses my hubby bought for me on the day I got my braces off. I think he was almost just as excited as I was that day, because he knew how much it meant to me. I love him.


Proverbs 31:30 - "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting: but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

1 Samuel 16:7 - "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Wordless Wednesday

{ my sister and i }