December Photo Hunt

Here are my pictures for the December Photo Hunt. I really enjoyed the themes this month. Many of them came to me right away. Others I had to give more thought. If the photo was edited it was done in picnik. I haven't started using LR3 yet. All we taken in December except where noted - just one. I also used my kit lens for all the photo unless otherwise noted.

I'm not sure if the hosting site will continue on after this challenge. If not I'll find something similar to participate in. You can follow this link December Photo Hunt to see other entries. If you do be sure to check out Ashley Sisk - Ramblings and Photos. She has one on my favorite photo blogs.

Amy

1. Holiday Lights


2. Holiday Spirit - Lite 98 plays nothing but Christmas music during the holiday season.


3. Holiday Treat - Chocolate Crackles


4. An Ornament


5. Gift-wrapped Package - My Pandora bracelet!


6. Window Display - Our window (I wish I could redo this but we just finished taking down our decorations.


7. Winter/Holiday Icon


8. A Tree


9. A Tradition - Christmas pajamas


10. Something that says Noel


11. Something Precious - This is an old photo. Harvey seems to be growing up so fast. This was taken at just a few days old with my Sony cybershot before I knew anything about photography.


12. Something Peaceful - I used the new 50mm. This is SOOC (straight off of camera) except for straightening and a small crop. The histogram was a perfect bell shape and I cannot believe how well the white snow blends in with the white screen - at least here while I am composing this post. I'm proud.


13. Something Hot - The back of my snowman tart warmer.


14. Something Cold


5. Something Red


16. Something Green


17. Motion Blur - Harvey's reaction to the first snow of the year. Ha! This was an accident. The night before I had been practicing Christmas tree photos. I was a school/work day and I was in a hurry. I didn't check so I left my shutter speed really slow. I wanted to capture his reaction and I guess I did just that.


18. Black and White with Selective Color - not a fan of this technique but I do love my LR3 (I've used the trial before) so I have to love this picture. The selective coloring was easy to do. Maybe one day I will get more creative with this technique.


19. Infrared Photo - I LOVE this photo. This is my favorite out of all the photos I have ever given an effect.


20. Macro Shot

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas was perfect. It was a pure joy to see my son, Harvey enjoy Christmas. We celebrated at our home with my family for the first time. It was a pleasure to cook for everyone. We were all fairly healthy - my husband, Casey has sinus issues. We all got along great. We attended a Garden Festival of Lights at the local botanical gardens one night and another night we all piled in the car to look at neighborhood lights. Then we had snow Christmas day afternoon. Usually after Christmas, I feel sad, but this year I felt completely satisfied. It was a good holiday.

I received a lot of photography stuff this year. My mom and dad got me the 50mm f/1.8 along with a lot of accessories and an external hard drive. They also gave me their monitor to use for editing photos from my laptop. Casey got me a tripod and an external hard drive. He also got me a Pandora bracelet from him and Harvey. For myself I got Lightroom 3 and Scott Kelby's LR3 book.

I tried out the 50mm yesterday. I'm not sure what I think. It does well outside but inside the house I am struggling. I flipped over to my kit lens several times. It will probably be awhile before I figure out the monitor. I'm not sure how good it is to begin with but my laptop screen is sometimes difficult. I installed LR3 late last night and I have read the first 15 pages or so of SK's book. I have a hard time with storage organization so I want to get my hard drive set up before using LR3 so my work flow will be consistent and complete. I love the tripod!

I have been working on the December Photo Hunt. I am really excited about my photos for the challenge. I'm also working on Memories, Dreams, and Reflections - a look back at 2010. So those should be up next week too.

I plan to start my family blog for the new year. I really want a watermark before I start so after I get my work flow sorted out that will be the next priority. I don't think I can handle a 365 but I may do a 52 blog.

It's a good thing not much goes on at our house these winter months, I'm gonna be busy!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

Amy