Winners of the Candlelight and Nighttime Photo Party

Thanks everyone who linked up to the party.  There weren’t very many entries on this party.  I think this was a tough one, however, the links were awesome and I really enjoyed looking at them. 

This week our guest judge was Heather from A Peek At The Pehrsons. 

Here’s what Heather had to say.

I loved seeing how everyone ran with the idea of nighttime and candlelight pictures!

I had two top choices...

My first place pick is Katie from Little Things Bring Smiles.

I adore the angles of the lights attached to the tree. 

They make me want to go and throw a garden party. What a unique picture. If only I had a garden. *sigh* Oh, and I want to hang up her fireplace picture on my wall.

So beautiful!

My second place pick was Renee from Where the Grass is Greener. I especially loved the picture of the moon over the red rocks.

 As current Phoenix girl, I couldn't help but love it! I also go weak in the knees for a good sunset picture and her rendition is gorgeous!

Thanks for letting me do this! I look forward to the next challenge!!

Heather

Thank you Heather for being the guest judge for the party.  Love your choices. 

The next party is suppose to be angled photos based on the votes.  I will post more on it later, but it can be angled shot of your subject or tilting your camera.  Whatever you want.  You have almost 2 weeks so start taking photos and let’s try to have a bigger party next time! 

Here’s a button for the winners.

<center><a href="http://tracys-trinkets-treasures.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w136/tracyntx/blueribbon_edited-2.jpg" /></a></center>

Thanks again everyone.

Bread Box Love

My friend Amy @ All Things Home is the sweetest blogger I know.  Her home is full of beautiful vintage finds and her heart is full of God and family.  Her blog is a mix of both. 

Here is a hint of what you will find in her blog. 

How simple and pretty are these bottles?

Well lucky for us she has opened an Etsy shop so we all have a chance to purchase her great vintage finds. 

Wanna see what I got from her shop?  I ordered it and  was on my porch just a couple of days later. 

I never say squeal on my blog, but I am telling you when I pulled my bread box out of the box noises escaped.  Happy happy noises.  And then when I placed my wonderful box on my  hutch it was a perfect fit. 

Her prices are great too.  I can’t believe I got such a great vintage item for only $15. 

Alright let me just show you how wonderful it is.

Do you see the green sides?  Green!!!

And rusty worn metal.  My other favorite. 

Cool storage on top.

And bottom.

Love this little latch. 

I still have plans to paint this hutch, but a little hitch got in my way for now, but soon it will happen.

I know you wish you had my bread box.  Sorry.  You can go visit her Etsy shop and find your own treasure.  She treasure hunts often so her shop will always have new things. 

Click below to visit her shop.

Amy’s All Things Home Etsy Shop

Candlelight and Nighttime Photo Linky Party

It’s time for the party.  Did you get your cameras out?  I took a lot of photos this weekend.  I never tire of clicking away. 

I took my son skating Friday night and pulled off onto the side of the road and snapped some photos down the street.  I rested the camera on my steering wheel and held my breath. 

I was trying to get the streaking headlights on this photo.

And taillights on this one.

I am not sure what happened here, but it looks artistic.

Tonight I attempted a couple more candle shots.

 

Now for the good part.  I am really looking forward to seeing all of your shots. 

Our judge this week is Heather @ Peek at the Pehrsons

The party will end at 6pm Central on Wednesday, March 30th and Heather will pick her winner or winners.  I hope to post them on Thursday. 

Next party in 2 weeks will be angled photos.

Now link up!

Lettuce Bag

Years ago my sister in law lived in Canada.  All of her Canadian-in-laws swore by lettuce bags. They felt like the lettuce stays fresher longer.  She bought me one and I shamefully must admit I don’t use it.  I cheat and buy bagged lettuce, however,  I have been reading that bagged lettuce isn’t cleaned well.  I thought some of you may want to know about these lettuce bags otherwise known as Salad Greens Dryer. 

Here is the one I have had for years.

The directions are:

Wash salad greens and drain to remove excess water.  Place greens in bag, tie closed and roll up or place flat on bottom shelf of refrigerator at least one hour before serving.  For best results, do not overload.

I looked for these online and didn’t have much luck. 

Walmart had some dishcloths that seemed like they would work as a lettuce bag.

I sewed two of them together and left the top open.

I stamped “LETTUCE” on it with my Stazon ink and clear stamps.

It can be closed by sewing a tie on the edge of it or use a chip clamp on the end.

Or some clothes pins would work.

What do you think?  Would you use a Lettuce bag?

Linking to

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping It Simple

Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog

Simple Thing I Love. A Row of Trees.

One of my favorite places on my walking/running trail in my neighborhood is a row of trees.  They have beautiful blossoms on them right now.  I wanted to share them with you.

 

 

 

Don’t you just love spring?

Pt 2 Nighttime Photos

I hope you are all having a great week. Mine has gone by very quickly.  Hopefully, the weekend will give us all time to pick up our cameras and practice.  Do you ever look back at some of your old posts and see how much you are improving in our photo skills? 

I also hope you get some time to try some candlelight/nighttime shots so you can join the party Tuesday March 29th. 

A few tips for nighttime shots.

1. You will need to have a long exposure time.  Here is a great link for reading and understanding exposure and it also tells you about aperture. 

2.  Use a tripod or a table top to keep your camera steady.

3. Use the self timer to decrease camera shake.

4. Use increased ISO to help with unavailable light.

5. Don’t use your flash. 

6.  If auto focus won’t work then try the manual focus.

7.  Try dusk photos if night is too dark and won’t work. 

8.  Be artistic.  Try some photos with movement to see what you get. 

Here is an example of a movement photo that I took.  While my husband was driving I opened my  shutter for 10 seconds while he drove down the street and I held the camera on the dash.

I also took this photo from a car.  I used the dash to stabilize my camera.

So get those cameras out and find some cool ways to take night shots.  I can’t wait to see you back here for the party. 

Candlelight and or Nighttime Photo Linky Party Pt 1 Candlelight

Our next photo party is March 29th so be sure to mark your calendars. 

This post will be about shooting photos by candlelight. 

I had to do some quick shots to get them posted tonight because our kitchen light broke (speaking of candle light) and my husband kept calling me to hand him this or that. 

I took a bunch of tea light candles and put them in the shape of a heart on my coffee table.

I used different shutter speeds and experimented while my camera was on a tripod.  I used manual focus and the self timer. 

These were all taken with a 50mm lens.

This photo was taken with shutter open for 1 second,

2 seconds

3.2 seconds

4 seconds

Notice how the longer my lens was open the light rays or glow around each wick became larger.  The photo gets brighter as well.

  I used the TV setting on my camera so I could pick the shutter speed and the camera would pick the correct aperture.  One second on the view screen is represented by 1”.  You just scroll your wheel until you get to 1”.  I used an 800 ISO. 

You can also try your auto night setting on your camera and see how that works.  I didn’t have time to experiment with both.

I added my freshly showered son to the experiment.  He didn’t mind because he loves the glow of a flame. 

Here’s some tips for taking photos by candlelight.

1. Turn of your flash.

2. As I mentioned earlier, use a tripod or a table top.  Your camera MUST be very still.

3.  Your subject has to be still too.  Here’s what happens when your subject sneezes during the 4 seconds your shutter is open.

3.  Use lots of candles.  This is your only light source so it is helpful to have plenty of it.

4.  Spreading the candles out disperses your light and gives you a better glow and a less harsh image, however, as you can see I didn’t do this. 

5. Use reflective walls or a table.  I didn’t do this either, but you will get better light from white or light walls and tables because it reflects instead of absorbs your candle light.

6.  Get close to your subject instead of zooming in.

7.  I also read a good shutter speed is 1/15 of a second and an ISO of 400 or less.  2 more things I didn’t do.  I am such a rebel. 

8. Leave the candles in the shot or just use their glow for your photo.

 

9. If you are struggling then use a small lamp off to the side for another light source. 

10.  Have fun and experiment.  If you don’t get the shot you wanted post it anyway.  We can all learn from it. 

I will try to get a nighttime post ready tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you get your cameras out and get your creative juices flowing so you can join me for the party.