I HAVE MOVED!!!

I have been working very hard on a new site that is just about complete.  It needs a final edit from my husband who is brutally honest, but in a good way.  I also have a gallery page that is just about ready to enable, but some thumbnails were still uploading.  The Blog page if fully functioning and there is a post regarding this image.  Please stop by if you have a chance and take a look.  Feel free to leave a comment and send me an e-mail if you have specific recommendations.  I'm crossing my fingers that everyone will like it.  You can find me at...

www.jessicavescera.com

4/52 "Unique Perspective"

I got all my goodies for my mini portable studio over the weekend.  I'm not getting the volunteers I need to sit in the chair still for a few minutes.  Since "ant-in-his-pants" Joe was my only willing subject for practicing, I decided to work on my Unique Perspective prompt for Let's Do 52 with Paint the Moon.  

For this shot, I set up a chair with a blanket near a window.  I got my hot shoe flash off my camera and put in on it's own tripod attached to the camera with a hot shoe cord.  I set up my diffuser to shoot fill flash where Joe's upside down face was underexposed.  I exposed the shot as it was first, then dialed down my flash just a bit and got it pointing right at his face.  Click!  I wish I play with it more...

First Winter Snow

This morning we had a dusting of snow that stuck to the branches of the trees for the first time this winter.  I dropped Joe off at school with his boots on only to find out that the next town over got NO snow overnight.  Joe said he was frustrated with the sun for melting it on him.  As I was driving home, I was noticing the sparkly trees (back in our town).  Leo and I always take a walk after everyone is where they need to be, so I grabbed his leash and my camera and we headed to a park across the street from us for a walk and some photo fun.  First, I missed my little people.  It's hard to find something to photograph without them.  

My favorite shot is the bench, because it has played a big roll in our lives over the years.  My older two boys have both sat on it with their teams for instructional baseball.  Justin has outgrown the field and is moving up this year.  I thought about how sad that really is.  But...there's still one more to go and Joe will be spending the next few years with his teams on this bench.  I was able to walk away with a smile, but I must never return without tissues once Joe moves on.

3/52 "White Space"

One of the Let's Do 52 prompts for this week is "White (negative) Space".  I took these two shots this afternoon, but decided to submit the one of Joe with the book.  Although, Leo's ears are a conversation piece on their own, I liked the light on Joe better.  Also, Leo's window shows all his bark spit that I'm constantly washing off.  Joe's window was more clean and clear.  

Red Gloves

I know I've gone overboard on the red gloves, however, it's been FREEZING here and I've been unable to photograph much.  I've been really studying up on Flash Photography.  I know I have to get my hot shoe flash off the camera.  The easiest and cheapest way to do that is with a hot shoe cord.  A couple of more expensive options were to get another flash, a flash stand with umbrella attachment and set up a master/slave system.  I looked into it, but had visions of setting up next to a shady rock outdoors and having the wind take the umbrella and flash right down.  Another option was setting up with flash triggers.  The Pocket Wizards were very nice and very accommodating for ETTL mode, however their price tag is more than most new flashes.  So, for now, I decided on a hot shoe cord, reflectors, a Gary Fong diffuser and a remote shutter release (since I'll be using one hand to hold the flash off to the side of the camera).  Can't wait to see the results.  For this shot, I was playing with fill flash.  

Fill Flash and 2/52 "Open"

I've been trying to come up with an idea for this weeks "Let's Do 52" challenge.  We could choose between "Open" or "Responsibility".  I decided to park and hike over to this little pond near our middle school.  Hopefully, Joe looks very small in the wide open landscape image.

Just a Couple More from Yesterday

Just a couple of shots from yesterday I wanted to practice with.  I've been practicing a whole bunch of things lately.  I used fill flash on a couple of these shots and I'm trying to get control of it.  I also have been drawn to a very natural background or a very loud textured background.  Two extremes.  I've been trying to come up with a watermark I can lock in on.  For these images, I used a combination of One Willow Presets and Paint the Moon actions.  I also added my own layers and adjustments to each image.