Spring - Free As Air

Spring is finally here!! Such a wonderful time of year.  Just when we thought we couldn't handle one more freakin' snow storm... it's warm again!  Birds are chirping, trees are blooming and most of us have broken out the shorts WAY too early.  But that's for another post.

A lot of wonderful things have been happening for me in the photography realm recently (more later) and I feel like I have been getting a lot of positive feedback for my photos.  Aka actual human beings are not only LOOKING at my pictures but they LIKE them, they really really LIKE them.  WHAT!? My husband would at this point mention he has ALWAYS said my photos were good (even when they weren't) and so his title as my biggest fan remains but y'all, people actually VISIT my blog!

Is this real life!?

Needless to say, positivity fuels positivity which means I am motivated to take more pictures!

The family went down to Belle Isle, an RVA staple, and walked around on one of our first wonderful spring weekends of 2015.  I started out pretty much trying to shoot "spring" but Belle Isle ended up speaking to me in a much different way.  The tiny island amidst the rushing waters of the James has plenty of natural beauty but there are also constant reminders of the sprawling city just a mile away.

This shoot developed into a juxtaposition between the beauty of spring and urban decay without me even realizing it until after I starting editing the pictures. Talk about an awesome unplanned surprise!

*ice*ice*

I feel like one of the hardest things for me about photography is just finding inspiration... after all, I can only post so many pictures of my dog! It's winter, and the family isn't doing much outdoors these days and the apartment complex I live in leaves something to be desired.  But today I attempted to make something out of the icy conditions and take a short walk to see what I could come up with.

I am pretty sure the hardest part of all of this was just forcing myself to bundle up and get out in the freezing rain.  P.S. Holding an umbrella while shooting is kinda hard... hand cramp!  Nikon needs a waterproof DSLR.

#hey

Grrrrrrrr.... pinecone.

favorite, feeling like a need a macro lens next ;)

Punkin Picking 2013 & 2014

Per usual, the Driskell's visited the pumpkin patch and got some pumpkins to carve.  Last year was one the first times I tried out using a fast prime lens and WHOA, what a difference it made!  The kit lens that came with my Nikon is a pretty limited zoom lens with very little ability to get the shallow depth of field and BOKEH that I obviously love.  At any rate, this post has photos from this year's and last year's visits.  And PS, I used manual focus for the first time to get that last shot ;)

This was a little to big for him :)

I am obviously obsessed with these wildflowers but who wouldn't be!?

Our pup's getting big!!

This was a complete accident and I think it is awesome.  

Our punkins!! From the left: Kimberly, mind, Hagan's (Stay-puft Marshmellow Man?), Geoffrey's, Derek's.  I didn't have my tripod so this was shot balancing the camera on the railing AND I USED MANUAL FOCUS.  

Fall is Here! *Belvedere Plantation*

Fall is my favorite season. Period.  Football, boots, crisp air, candles, cozy sweaters, changing leaves.  You name it, if it is fall-related, I want it and I want it right now.  And an on-going fall tradition for the Driskell family is visiting Belvedere Plantation.  So we went a little early this year and the weather was still warm, but it was a blast and we're all still obsessed.

Per usual, I brought my camera but because we went in the middle of the day and there was not a cloud in sight, it made taking pictures a bit tricky.  Hello heavy contrast and overexposure.  But I managed to pull off a few keepers so here they are...

 Does anyone else find it strange that corn looks like this??

 Finally some better light, so handsome ;)

 Gimme that chevron pumpkin!

Had to sneak this pretty girl in here, she's getting big!

Moonlight Ride

A few weeks ago, the roomies and I went out on Monument and did some experimenting while photographing Richmond's Moonlight Ride.  It's essentially a night bike ride where the riders dress up their bikes with lights and it made for a great excuse to do some different things with our cameras.  So we set out with tripods and beer and began shooting!  It was really great to try out using slow shutter speeds and night shooting!

Of course, Beth required diet coke :)

I realize these are blurry but hey, they look cool and I think it's interesting to see the progress as I get more practice!

The girls!

These last two were using our cell phones for light :)