A bit of help

I was a little jealous that my husband got to go to Mexico for research. Not so much the research part, but he was able to take pictures of beautiful landscapes and animals. It was ridiculous, perfect shots were just handed to him left and right. And here I was, in the midst of midwest winter, and the only thing to photograph was dead corn fields. Not very interesting.

However, when he got home, he had a great gift for me. In a little bookshop in the middle of rural Mexico, he found a bunch of Time Life photography books. Yes, they are based on film, but the concepts are no different. I might even suggest every photographer take the time to read these. The ones he got me were "The Studio", "Special Problems", "Light and Film", "Great Photographers", and "Photographing Children".  I learned different techniques in lighting as well as the history of photography. I have to say I really enjoyed the history portions the most, learning about how photography and film came to be. I also really enjoyed learning about the view camera, and how you could change the depth of field by swinging the camera lens from  the mirror. I think I might like to build a darkroom in my home one day, I still love using film.  

Water Fowel

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I figured that campus would be mostly deserted, and no one would get mad at me for parking wherever.  I was right.
It was only around 25 degrees out, so being able to just park wherever was crucial so I didn't have to get my kids out.  I could just hop out and leave my car running.  I had planned to maybe take some pictures of buildings, bell towers, whatever.  But, nothing really spoke to me.  It was a cold day yes, but the snow was dismal and most everything just looked dead and brown.  Not too pretty.  There was however a pond that was filled with geese and two swans.  
So we stopped next to the pond and I got out to chase them.  Which turned out to be unnecessary, I guess they are pretty used to people.  Then let me walk  right up to them, and through them, and beside them.  I don't doubt they wouldn't have cared it I actually touched them either.  But it made it very easy to take a few pictures.  
I'm glad I went up there, I had been wanting to take pictures of the those birds for a little while.  But campus is usually too overrun with students glued to their iphones.  
I hope it snows or frosts soon, I love taking sparkling white pictures in the winter.  

The meaning of a name

I had no idea until I tried googling my own site, that Arastan was a real name.  Or a real word I should say.  It means "to decorate or embellish" in Persian.  Haha, how appropriate, right?  And here I am thinking I'm so clever mixing the names of my boys together, Tristan and Aramis….Arastan.

Apparently, it is also a store in India, a big decorative emporium.  Maybe I will have to visit it someday!  It certainly makes me feel like my chosen photography name is more legitimate.  Besides, ever since I was little girl, I have been fascinated by India, so to find out that is where the store is, is beyond awesome!

New Trick

I've been wanting a soft box to go with my flash.  It helps to, well, soften the flash!  Make the lighting less harsh.  Because, let's face it, everything looks better in a softer light.  It's just hard to make things turn out especially sharp when you don't have enough light on your subject.  But, I learned a little trick, and it involves a piece of white paper or a tissue.  You hold either one right in front of the flash, and it sort of works the same way.  The first picture is with the uncovered flash.





The second picture is with the covered flash.  You still get a pretty good quality image, but now my baby doesn't have to squint in the light!  It's a pretty good trick!  Although, I still would love to actually get a soft box some day!

Red Fall

Outside my kitchen window, there is this super vibrantly colored tree.  Once autumn hit, the leaves turned this stunning shade of deep red, and every time I found myself at the sink, I also found myself admiring the tree.  I finally decided to go outside and try and get a picture that would do the leaves justice.  

That is one thing I will say about Iowa, the fall here is very beautiful with lots and lots of colors.  Coming from Utah, it was very dry and arid, there wasn't a whole lot of natural vegetation outside of the city area or deep in the mountain canyons.  At first I wasn't too happy coming here, I really missed my mountains.  They are far more dramatic to photograph than corn fields.  But I am starting to appreciate the subtle beauty of the plains.  There are so many giant, majestic trees out here, and while everyone says it's super flat, and I took that literally, there are lovely rolling hills.  

In a photography course I have been studying, the instructor says great pictures can come from anywhere and anyone.  Its just how you perceive and see the world around you, and then try to capture it in a way no one has thought of before.  I understand that this image isn't incredibly dramatic, but I think it does justice to the color I love so much.

Missed Opportunity

Don't you just hate it when you go out, and see something worthy of capturing, and you realize you didn't bring your camera???

Today, after what has seemed like weeks of rain, I finally had the opportunity to go out and do some shopping in town without the kids.  The sun was shining, and it was gorgeous out.  It would have been the perfect time to pull over and get that shot of the windmills I have been wanting to get.  Sadly, I forgot my camera when I was rushing out the door. 

Of course, then I started seeing a thousand different things I would have loved to have gotten pictures of, and I kept getting more and more frustrated that I had been so silly.

From now on, my camera goes with me everywhere!!

Des Moines

Some days I just have the urge to go and take a picture of something.  I can see the image clearly in my head, exactly how I want the subject to look in the frame, the lighting, the color, everything.  And then I have to go and see if I can actually deliver.  This time, I had in my head a picture of the capital building in Des Moines, IA.  There's not a whole lot of things to take pictures of here, in the way of landscapes and other elements of nature at least.  But there are a few awesome points of architecture.  There are a lot of old farms, churches, Victorian inspired homes, and very regal official buildings.  I remember seeing the capital building when I was moving here, and just thinking the gold dome shaped roofs were gorgeous.  Since then, I have been wanting to capture it.

Now, what I saw in my head is very different than how it turned out.  I'm having a hard time transferring my inner creativity onto the canvas, so to speak.  I read somewhere that photography is so much more difficult than painting.  At least in painting you can imagine and be creative and skew reality.  With photography, it takes much more skill to transform something mundane into something original and extraordinary.  Like I said, I'm not great at it……yet!  That is m y goal.  My husband is a great help; everyone needs editing he reminds me.  

Jaunt to the Zoo

This is my first real trial of the D200. To be honest, I've not really used it before, and I'm embarrassed to admit I had no idea what I was doing! So it's a miracle that any of these pictures turned out because I only figured out how to change the aperture when I got home. Haha, oh well, it's a learning process, right??