A Thousand Words

Stop press:

melissa — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:06:23 +0000

I have moved my blog over to typepad with a new name:

http://snapshotsonlife.typepad.com/

Please update your links.

I hope to see you there soon and while you are visiting see my latest photo project:

“A day in the life”

building and baking

melissa — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:15:43 +0000

Good news: Will put on 100g this week which is great compared to his recent weight gain. He is still unsettled and screaming after feeds though and wakes up screaming etc. After a chat with someone whose baby has reflux (thank you!) I am going to take him to the GP and see about some stronger meds than mylanta.

Shayne has been busy on projects this week. He has completed the gate on our deck so finally we can eat in peace without Bella the overexcited lab joining us. The next project he has started is building a retaining wall/seat up at our bbq area and landscaping the garden behind it. I love having a big yard but it is a lot of work!

It was pretty hot out there so I stayed inside like a good wife and baked! (Shayne doesn’t normally let me in the kitchen…). I made a big batch of scones with jam and cream and we had them with freshly brewed lady grey tea. We both ate so many we didn’t need dinner! (I think I put on more than 100g in one day.)

Life at the moment…

melissa — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:55:54 +0000

We took Will to a chiro yesterday because we are having feeding difficulties and poor weight gains. He hasn’t been his happy self for a while now so I’m not getting much time to get the camera out unfortunately.

The chiro is a keen photographer and had some great black and whites up. They looked great!

We are off to a wedding tomorrow so I’ll take the camera along and see what I can shoot.

I’ll leave you with a shot of one of the flowers I got for Valentines Day.

See another shot

‘Competition’ entry

melissa — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:06:54 +0000

I’ve joined a beginners photography group and the first weeks theme is ‘Portrait’.

I decided to enter this shot below:

Lense 50mm f/1.8, Iso:1600 (oops), SS: 1/200, Aperture: f/1.8, Focal Length: 50 mm
Edited with an adjustment to curves, sharpened for web and cropped.

I am blown away by the quality of many of the shots. It’s great to get inspiration from people who are at a similar stage to myself in learning about exposure, light and composition.

melissa — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:12:41 +0000

I was trying to get photos of Will sitting in his new bebepod seat (on the table ’cause there was the most light there). I had to move my big Nigella Lawson platter off the table when I thought I might try a photo (or ten) with Will in there.

He wasn’t overly happy with the idea and I had trouble getting far enough away to fit it all in the scene but here’s what I got.

I processed it to try to get an ‘aged look’

melissa — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:14:00 +0000

I bought some black polar fleece from lincraft last week after hearing good things about using it as a backdrop. I took some photos of Will last week using it but it was a bit overcast. So I tried again on the weekend. I also got my new 50mm f/1.8 lens so had to try it out as well.

The backdrop worked well but not too happy with lots of the shots. Here are some of the better ones.

Will in his new (huge) baby bonds jeans:

iso 1600, f/1.8, 1/640

iso 400, f/1.8, 1/320

3 months and on the move

melissa — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:40:31 +0000

Happy 3 month Birthday to my beautiful boy!

At 3 months you are 5.3 kilos, 60cm long and a very alert little boy. It still amazes me how much love, joy and amazement such a little person can bring (not mention mess, washing and tiredness).

You are a bit of a stickybeak and love to sit up on mummy’s lap and check out the world. You also enjoy standing and bouncing up and down. We love to tickle you and see your infectious smile and try to make you laugh.

Last week you started rolling front to back, then back to front and eventually back to front to back! When you lie on your tummy you try to pull yourself forwards but you need to get those little legs involved – it won’t be long and you’ll be off crawling!

Thank you for the privilege of being your mummy and being able to watch you grow.

melissa — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:10:57 +0000

Thanks to Lisa I have been having fun making some storyboards using her template and instructions. I love the simple, classic layout of the template.

My favourite storyboard is this one of Will hiding under a blanket. He was lying on this blanket when he started pulling it over his face – I didn’t have time to get a perfect shot so they aren’t technically great but I love the moment that the photos captured.

template is here: http://eyeonlife.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/sharing-a-little-something-storyboard-template/

melissa — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:21:56 +0000

Bit of a blah day here – weather wise and with Will. Not much chance for photos since I have been stuck inside cleaning all day. An energy company salesgirl came to the door and I ended up transferring companies for the discount – for the second time in six months! I was mortified when she asked to use the table to fill in the paperwork. Had to move the mountain of clean (at least it wasn’t dirty) washing to give her somewhere to sit.

I tried to get a shot of the cat being swooped by the mynah birds but it was too miserable and I couldn’t get a fast enough shutter speed to catch them. So you’re stuck with a less dynamic snap of her.

Introducing Miss Ebony:

Rolling over

melissa — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:01:07 +0000

I had Will all setup on his tummy to take a picture and guess what?! He rolled over!

He’s done it twice before on the bed but this is the first time on the floor that he has managed it. He looked quite pleased with himself but of course I couldn’t get him to replicate it for the camera. He just went back to chewing the blanket!

First pic here is SOOC with a ‘warm up and intensify’ action (itty bitty):

Second pic I ran a bw conversion from itty bitty (light bw with a warm filter). Not happy with the contrast though.

Both pics could have done with sharpening which I forgot before I uploaded.