Diamond are a girls Best Friend!

Well It's day two of this week and I'm already wanting it to be over.  Sean Leaves tonight for a week long Rodeo trip and I'm gonna be super lonely.  I guess me and the Chocolates will kick it at my in-laws since our AC is still broken. 

Last Saturday, Mom and I went to the Diamond Mine in Murfreesboro for a photography clinic.  I hadn't been to the Diamond Mine since I was a little girl and thought it would be fun to go take some photos, learn a little more about composition and let Mom learn a little more about her Canon Rebel. 

Did you even know that Arkansas had a Diamond Mine?  You can learn more about the Crater of Diamond State Park Here.  It is the only Diamond Producing Mine in the world that is open to the public.  The last Diamond was found on June 30th!  There's almost one found every day!  Last year someone found a 5 carat diamond.  The largest ever found was in 1975 and it was 16 carats!
Here are some of the Photos I took, Momma had a bunch of good ones too!

These two kids above and below were brother and sister.  He was carving a knife out of a rock and she was building a home for animals.  They were precious.

I was informed that this guy is at the Diamond Mine Daily.  I asked him how many Diamonds he finds and he says 8 to 10 a year is his average!  Wow!

This Is an actual mine shaft that is really old.  It's no longer working and you can't go inside.

Mom, showing off her photo skills.

This is how you sift for diamonds.

Well hope you enjoyed!  Have a great Tuesday! 

Hey Check it out, I went and put this in black and white.  This could totally pass for a really old photo!   cool huh?

Look what I got

I've been absent for awhile...I just didn't really have anything to blog about until today!  The exciting thing to blog about is this baby...

What's that you say???   No big deal just a photo of your camera?

BaBam Baby!!!!   I Got a 7D  AHHHHH!!!!    18megaPixelsADuelProcesser8framesPerSecondspeedandHDvideo....oh be still my heart... i've fallen in love.

*sigh*

It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.  I bought it yesterday and it set in the box until this afternoon because I was so nervous and intimidated by it.  I was shaking as I pulled it out of the box and I'm almost afraid to use it just yet.

The first photo I took....

The most beautiful crisp box and BestBuy bag I've ever seen.

I then took more meaninful photos.

*gasp* It takes my breath away..Such crisp beauty such vivid color...oooh I can't stop staring!

I immediately search for the Chocolate Children but they were no where to be found...swimming I'd imagine.  So the chickens got their photos taken.

This is the Hen

And I'm still unsure of this one's sex.

oh I'm off to take more photos!!

More of Birdie

It's Wordy Wednesday!!!  


Hosted By Seven Clown Circus..  I've posted before about Bird's inability to take a good photo...but I finally got one!!

Dear Birdie,
This Beautiful photo is SOOOOO good of you...

...that It totally cancels out all these bad pictures of you...

Aw girl, I'm sorry, you just aren't very photogenic..But you're beautiful and I love snuggling with you at night, even if you do shed like a dog :)

Photo Tips

It's Not so Wordless Wednesday hosted by  Seven Clown Circus and I haven't participated in a few weeks because I've been way too busy.  I decided to join back in this week since things have semi-slowed down...Oh & I've peppered this post with Random photos from this weekend of our Cousin Kinley...It really fits into this post's theme in no way whatsoever except that it needed some eye candy :)  And if you'd like to see more of her, go check out her Mamma's Blog.

Here's a sweet Photo of Kinley eating beanbeans  (greenbeans)

Most of you who visit my blog know that I have a 365 blog where I post a photo a day...or at least try to :)   My Friend Laura, who is also a photo lover, ran across an article and thought she'd send it my way since it's all about 365 blogs and she knew I had one.  I thought it was so Great that I would share it with everyone!!

So if you've have a 365 blog or thought of doing one here are some tips....also Go visit my 365 blog and give me advice, tips, or ya know..praise.  Really though critique me, I love the knowledge!!

These tips came from the article 11 Tips to Succeed   by Jim Goldstein

1. Maintain A Heightened Awareness

Every second of your life keep your eyes opened for a photo op!  Look for the obscure moments or observations that you normally wouldn't notice.  Training your brain to always look for a photo op is a great way that your 365 project can help you improve as a photographer. 

2. Always Have Your Camera With You

This is something I've had to learn the hard way!  When I don't have my camera I ALWAYS see a perfect Photo opportunity!  Remember, if you don't have your camera, you can't take a picture...pretty obvious :)

Kinley feeding Leah Mac and Cheese.

3. There Is No Time Like the Present

Oh I've totally disregarded this point and regretted it so much. 
Never say, ‘I’ll take a photo of that later.” or “I’ll take a photo of that on my way back.”   Take the photo NOW because the next time you see the object the lighting may not be same or the object may be gone and you miss that perfect shot.

4. Train Your Eye To See Light
"Learn how to get the most out of the light whether sunny, overcast, or any thing in between. Learning how to get the most out of high contrast and low contrast lighting situations is a great way to broaden your photographic opportunities."

I'm learning how to do this...and even though I may get 100 horrible photos, I figure out what type of lighting works, what doesn't work, and what settings to use.

Kinley Tried to feed me Mac and Cheese

5. Experiment! Don’t Stay In Your Comfort Zone

Take photos you have never taken before...Take a risk, if the photo sucks..delete it, no harm done right!  Taking the same photos over and over again won't improve your photography and won't increase interest in your work. 

6. Make Use of Weekly Themes 

Oh I am totally going to start doing this!! I'm running low on ideas and this is something that would totally help me.  Just Think... I could do a "Cowboy" week and do all cowboy shots...or "Chocolate Children" week and do all of the dogs!  Oh I could go on and on and on...

7. Plan Ahead & Write Down Ideas

Rather than wait for inspiration to find you plan ahead and write down ideas for future photos in a notebook. This is great practice for normal photo shoots and will reinforce creative thinking.  

I also read on somone's blog...though I can't remember whose it was... that it's a good Idea to snap a photo of the paper you wrote your ideas on.  The photo will always be in your camera so you can refer back to it on your viewfinder during a photo shoot and you don't look like a amature to your clients by carrying around an "Idea book."

Kinley Loved Melissa's Necklace

8. Edit & Post-Process Every Week

In order to avoid backlogs edit & post-process you photos weekly if not daily.  For many taking photos is the easy part, but editing & processing the photos is the challenge.  This isn't a problem for me because I love to edit photos but I guess some people don't...gasp!

 
9. Add Notes to Your Photos
 Tell the reader why you took the photo, what the photo means to you, and the EXIF Data...thanks to Tammy I now add the EXIF data!!  Anecdotal stories are also great information to look back on. Understanding how, why and when you photographed your subject provides insight to your creative thinking that you can’t get from EXIF data.

10. Get Into A Rhythm & Have Fun
Make sure to have fun during your year long photo project. The second it becomes work...it quits being fun.  Rember..take your camera with you everywhere!  Take photos on your lunch break or give your self 10 extra mintues on your way to work so you can stop and take a photo of something interesting!

11. Start Today

Who cares if you start January 1st??? Start ANY day of the year!! Start today and let me know so I can link you to my 365 Page!!

Dad Gave Kinley some Cool Whip...She was about to smile but I caught the initial expression, which was shock.

Thanks for reading my long post! Have a great Week