3.27.2012

From my camera

Warm and sunny spring days means
I have my camera whenever I go out.

Here are a few recent shots.
(Click images to see a larger view.)

Rooftops in the setting sun, downtown Albany, NY.



Budding lilacs.




Our neighbors' hens and chicks.





3.26.2012

Off my hook

I've been busy making small items with my hooks and yarn.
So satisfying to finish a piece within minutes instead of hours.
I just end up making many multiples of the same things.
All are perfect for using up last little bits of yarn.


First, it was many colors of baby booties.
 I once tried to make them from a pattern that
worked in the round but this one made of straight rows
and then folded in half was so much faster.
And just as cute!


I've always loved these full and round rosettes
but never knew how they were created.
All you have to do is crochet 3 relatively simple rows
and then roll and sew to hold them in place.
They look great on hats or headbands
or anything you want to give a feminine touch.


With a nod to spring, I used some pretty cottons
to create textured scrubbies in granny square stitches.
They can be used to wash your face or your dishes.
I like them best to scrub vegetables, then toss in the laundry.

3.19.2012

Getting creative with the camera


I haven't blogged much in the past month,
but I have been learning more about my new camera.

My Canon EOS Rebel T3 has a setting called "Creative Auto."
You can change from the standard auto setting to options like
vivid, soft, warm, intense, cool, brighter, darker and monochrome.

I recently discovered that the "darker" setting was great
at my kids' pipe band concert in early March.
I always edit photos a bit in Photoshop Elements,
mostly minor cropping, sharpening and brightening,
but if I am able to do it in the camera, it saves me time later.

I like using the "brighter" option when outside in the shade.
Without it, I wouldn't have gotten the shot above.
The left version is straight out of the camera.
The right is after only minor editing, like mentioned above,
plus some extra sharpening of my boy's beautiful eyes and lips.
(Click the image for a larger view.)

I'm going to keep reading the manual and playing with the settings.
Who knows what I can come up with next.
A camera is only as good as the eyes (and brain) behind it.