Okay, so those were your settings. But why?

Last month, when I posted my thoughts regarding lenses to use in photographing your Disney vacation, I received some requests for camera settings for the photos in the post.  My friend and fellow photographer, Wendy, pointed out that while using the settings as a guideline is okay, it's important to note that it's near impossible to achieve the same exact results.  That's because the available light would need to be exactly identical in order to recreate the same exposure and the chances of that happening are slim to none.  So I thought that it would probably be more helpful if I explained why I chose those settings and what I could have done differently, in some cases.

To start, I want to remind you that I shoot in manual.  Others may not share this opinion but I feel that I'm smarter than my camera.  There's nothing wrong with using other settings as a stepping stone though.  I strictly shot on auto when I started out.  Shooting in manual can be frustrating but keep practicing and I promise that it will click.  (No pun intended.)

As I go through the reasons for my settings, try to think of ISO, aperture (which is the f stop) and shutter speed as a triangle.  A nice, perfect triangle is the correct exposure.  If one part of the triangle needs to be adjusted, so does another part of the triangle.  Suppose your shutter speed is too slow.  In order to change it, you'll need to either increase your ISO or drop down your f stop.  (Don't forget that "shooting wide" in aperture terms means a smaller f stop number, such as 1.8.  I usually say "f stop number" to keep it easy for everyone.)



ISO 200, f/4.0, SS 1/250

The lowest ISO setting on my camera is 100 but I usually keep it at 200.  A habit I need to break.  There's no real reason for the 200 setting except that I use my Speedlight a lot indoors and I figure that using an ISO of 200 won't be as taxing on the Speedlight.  My problem is that I notoriously forget to change my ISO.  You don't know how many times I've left it on some ridiculously high setting and ruined a photo.  I'm thinking of having little stickers made up that say, "Have you changed your ISO?"  I can keep one on the back of my camera.

For the above photo, the ISO was set at my usual ISO.  My "go to" f stop for photos of one kid is 3.5.  I'm not sure exactly why I chose 4.0 but it was most likely due to the fact that I was close to her.  As you can see, that f stop still produced decent bokeh (or background blur.)  In this case, it's okay for Rich to be slightly in focus.  The focus of the photo is obviously Emily.

I metered in the camera for the correct shutter speed.  I almost always use spot metering when photographing people.  (I do have a post discussing the different metering modes HERE.)



ISO 400, f/3.5, SS 1/250

It was rainy and overcast and the available light was weak on this ride (the TTA People Mover.)  I bumped up the ISO to 400 because I wanted to make sure that my shutter speed would be fast enough on a moving ride.  And it was.



ISO 200, f/4.5, SS 1/1000

This is a perfect example of my ISO not needing to be at 200.  A shutter speed of 1/1000 is super fast and not necessary for this type of photo.



ISO 320, f/4.0, SS 1/250

We were sitting right next to the windows, which provided wonderful, natural light.  The shutter speed could have been lower, which means that I wouldn't have had to have the ISO set as high as 320.  I probably could have dropped it to 200.  It was set at 320 because as the princesses showed up, I needed an ISO of 320.

For example...



ISO 320, f/5.0, SS 1/125

I decided to go with an f stop of 5.0 to avoid soft focus on the girls or the princess.

I wish I had that natural light for our princess breakfast.



ISO 2000, f/3.5, SS 1/50

A handheld shutter speed of 1/50, especially with people, is pretty slow, which means that if someone moves or your hand shakes, the photo will be blurry.  I also don't like shooting that wide (small number f stop) with a group of people but I didn't want to bump the ISO over 2000.



ISO 200, f/4.5, SS 1/50

The ISO was on my normal, 'go to' setting.  I set the f stop to 4.5 to ensure that all the girls and Duffy would be in focus.  Setting it to a lower number (such as 2.8) runs the risk of soft focus on one of the subjects since they all aren't on the same plane.  I then metered in my camera for the shutter speed, which was 1/50.  Again, this is a slow SS for hand held and photographing people but as you can see, it is possible.

Okay, so I feel like this post is dry and it's taking me far too long to finish.  Is anyone even reading this?

Let's change it up and talk about landscapes.  I tend to use middle of the road apertures for "who cares" exposures.  (I'm using terminology from Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure.  A great read, by the way.)  This means that any middle of the road exposure would have given me the results I was wanted.



ISO 200, f/8.0, SS 1/640

And here's another...



ISO 200, f/7.1, SS 1/500

Let's focus on low light now.



ISO 2500, f/2.8, SS 1/5

I shot this with my Tokina 11-16mm lens, which isn't considered a super fast lens.  It's widest f stop is 2.8.  The ISO capabilities on the D7000 are awesome but not grain-free which is why I didn't want to go higher than 2500.  I actually started with a lower ISO but the shutter speed was far to slow (no tripod).  Because I couldn't change my f stop (it was as wide as it would go), I was forced to increase my ISO.  Warning:  handheld with a shutter speed of 1/5 can be hit or miss.  It's extremely difficult to hold the camera still for that.  

That's all from me for now.  

Right now...

For some reason, I'm having major focus issues these days.  Focus issues = can't concentrate on blog posts.  I've spent the majority of my "free" time these past three days cramming in as many CPE credits as humanly possible.  I now only need 27 more credits in order to renew my CPA license.  I need to have that wrapped up by June 1st as I most definitely will not have any time after that.  How is Memorial Day weekend next week?  Things just feel weird right now.  Abigail's birthday will be here soon and I think it all feels different this year because I'm distracted.

Rich and I opted to not run that 5K this weekend.  I'm sure I could have run the 3.1 miles (although it wouldn't have been the wisest decision) but because we hadn't trained for it, we didn't really see the point.  In addition and more importantly, the CF (cystic fibrosis) walk was the same day and logistically speaking, it would have been extremely difficult to do both.  It was nice to spend a few hours with family and to honor Rich's niece, who passed away from complications related to CF when she was 13 years old.            

As for my running, I ran one mile on Friday as a test run.  My leg felt fine and remained that way so I decided to run another mile today.  The area of my leg that was messed up doesn't feel 100% back to normal but well enough to run.  I've been wearing compression socks too and I'm a believer.  Those things are awesome.

We hosted a big, group play date this weekend for five of the girls' school friends.  I can now say that I survived eight six years old for two hours.  They were actually pretty good.  Rich and I are getting to know the other parents and thankfully, our girls have gravitated toward good kids with good parents.

I'm working on a photography post that's sort of an extension of my lens discussion post.  I hope to have that up in the next day or two.

Vacation plans and dreaming and a slight rant, if you can call it that

Am I the only one who is constantly thinking about vacation?  We've had such an unseasonably chilly spring and my bones are craving some sun and warmth.  Last week, after an extra super crappy day at work, I began daydreaming of an extended vacation.  Or maybe an escape.  I imagined us packing up the van and heading south for a few weeks.  We would spend a few days in DC/VA.  Check out the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  Spend a few days in Charleston, SC.  Rich and I had always planned to vacation there but ran out of time before having kids.  The van would continue heading south to Florida, where there are beaches aplenty.  We would eventually reach Key West.

We are in the midst of planning our annual summer vacation to North Conway with requisite visits to Story Land and Santa's Village.  The girls are super excited, even more so as other family members will be joining us.  Even though a beach, frosty drinks and a book won't be involved, it will still be fun and I'm very much looking forward to it.  There will be time later (years later) for relaxing vacations.  Before we know it, the girls won't want to go to Story Land or Santa's Village.  I want to take advantage of these days while they're in my grasp.

And then there's Disney.  We haven't really discussed when our next vacation there will be.  There are deciding factors, such as who is working where, that won't known for some time.  I suspect we'll return in the next 12-18 months.  Sometime in the next few months when I'm not as busy at work (that'll be the day), when my CPA license has been renewed and when the closets and my pre-baby clothes are all organized (or donated), I want to start planning the girls custom outfits so that I have plenty of time for sewing.  The most difficult part will be guesstimating how much they will grow between now and then.  With then being an unknown date.  Meh, I'll just add a few inches and all will be good.
  
A few months ago, Allie and Emily drew these pictures of princesses and Grammy shared them online with a sewing group. 





(If you want to smile, check out the bunny next to Snow White.)

Someone gave the creative suggestion to turn them into autograph books, which is a great idea that I wouldn't have thought of myself.  I think we'll start with new drawings and I haven't exactly decided what to do yet but ideas are spinning in my mind.

Okay, so now it's time for my rant.  I couldn't talk about Disney and not mention this.  Have you read this article (here's a follow-up by CNN) regarding rich moms in Manhattan bragging about hiring a disabled guide for their Disney vacations so that they are able to "jump to the front of the line."  I'm obviously appalled but unfortunately, not surprised.  The world is full of those who feel that they are entitled for a variety of false reasons.  The fact that they ignore the obvious issue that they are ruining accommodations for those who truly need it is beyond disgusting.  

It appears, though, that I'm not the only one who thinks that maybe this has been written in an exaggerated form for the sake of creating a media frenzy.  Not that I don't believe these people cheated - they did.  For example, here's a direct quote from that article:

“My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” crowed one mom, who hired a disabled guide through Dream Tours Florida.

There are multiply oddities with this statement.  First of all, if the wait time for It's a Small World is 2 1/2 hours, you clearly are not as super special as you think you are because you are vacationing at Disney when the 99% un-entitled, underprivileged have to vacation there, like normal public (GASP) school vacation weeks.  The typical wait time for this ride is 5-10 minutes unless there's some type of malfunction with the ride and if there was some type of malfunction, no one, not even the super special, would be riding it.  Second, there is no way in hell that it only took you one minute to board that ride.  There are only two boats that are handicap accessible so you would have to have waited for those two boats and if the regular line was 2 1/2 hours long, the handicap accessible line would have been at least an hour long.

We obtained a GAC (guest assistance card) during our last trip to Disney.  In doing so, we were able to use Anna's stroller in areas where strollers are not normally allowed, such as ride lines.  It was a huge back saver for us.  HUGE.  You can read my post describing our experience here.  There's a lot more that I could have written but didn't.  Limiting information surrounding use of a GAC is a bit of an unspoken/unwritten rule within the Disney community.  This is done with the hopes that cheaters won't be able to cheat as easily.  

It's a common misconception that a GAC gives you front of the line access.  It most certainly does not.  For us, the wait for It's a Small World was much longer than the regular line.  For some rides, like Dumbo, we were redirected to the Fast Pass line, which still had a wait.  For other rides, such as Soarin', everyone was in the same line, GAC or no GAC.  Yes, there were times that we didn't wait as long was we would have had we been in the regular line but we certainly weren't skipping to the front of the line.  That's absurd.  The only ones deserving of that are the Make a Wish kids.    

If it would mean that my daughter didn't have to have spina bifida, I would happily wait in line all day.  I know I'm not the only parent with that sentiment.  

What's been going on here...

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  We sure did.  Rich wanted to bring the girls to visit with his mom that morning and told me I could take a nap while they were out and about.  A few days prior, Allie asked if they could bring me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day.  I suggested that we go out for breakfast so that we could all enjoy a meal together and have some "special family time."  Rich agreed and I was still able to take my nap after we ate.

I have to comment on how well behaved the girls were.  I was so proud of them and I couldn't keep from smiling (a slightly dorky smile, I'm sure) whenever anyone at the restaurant, a local breakfast joint, wished me a happy Mother's Day.  A few patrons asked if the girls are triplets.  It's funny because I feel like we went through a period of time where the question-asking had declined.  It seems to be back now.  Last week, Emily asked, "Why do people always ask if we're triplets?"  Rich and I chuckled.

My CPA license needs to be renewed next month and guess how many CPE hours I need?  Yeah, a lot.  I'm flat out at work so I've been trying to squeeze in some online training during my "free" (haha) time at home.  My brain doesn't function as well as it used to so listening to Barbie Princess Pop Star while trying to learn about CFCs was quite difficult.

My leg was feeling much better last week so I planned to test it out with a 1 mile run Friday night.  I had been messing around on Thursday doing planks, which left my leg feeling a bit wonky so I decided to pass.  A few more days of rest and that's it though.  This is getting to be ridiculous and I'm a bit bummed out because I think we may not run that 5K because of this. (insert sad face here.)

Anna is still finishing her antibiotics but she was a completely different child after 24 hours of medicine.   (Knock on wood.)  So far, no one else has a sore throat but we're not out of the woods yet.  I can't tell if Emily has a cold or if it's just spring allergies but Allie started up last night with a stuffy nose and a "thirsty" throat.  She was also complaining of being hungry right before bed even though Grammy said that she had just eaten a snack.  I think I only slept about 4 hours last night.  She was restless and crying out the entire night, which woke up Emily and Anna and then they wanted me to sleep in their beds.  Can I clone myself?  Needless to say, I am absolutely wiped out and quite surprised that I made it through the four meetings I had at work today.

You don't know what it's like to be a working parent until you're a working parent.  It doesn't matter if you had a bad night of sleep with your kids, you still need to get up out of bed and be productive.  You need to use your brain even when your brain just wants to shut down.  It can be draining on so many different levels.

Here's why I felt so bad for Anna last week.  Look at this sweetness.



(85mm, ISO 800, f/3.5, SS 1/80)

Her scabs are healing quite nicely.  Right now, she only has a pinkish area under her nose.  That scab was thin and fell off a few days ago.  I think it would have been much worse had she not been wearing a helmet.

One more thing before I sign off.  My doll house with the original furniture!  Can't beat the 1970s.

A circus act + a super easy skirt or 2 or 3!

We brought the girls to a circus show last weekend.  This had been planned a few months in advance so when I came across some circus fabric over at Hawthorne Threads, I had to buy it.  I had big plans for multi-layer twirl skirts but then I waited until the last minute to sew the girls' birthday outfits.  And then a few us became ill with another stomach virus.  And then I realized that none of my "neutral" fabrics matched at all and there was no time to shop.  And then there was almost no time to sew.

Let's talk about super easy skirts.  All you need is a rectangle of fabric



and an hour to create one.



Have two hours?



Have another hour?  (You better if you have three girls.)



That rectangle is the entire width of the fabric.  To determine the length, I added 3.5 inches to my desired finished skirt length.  I wanted the shorter skirts to be 12 inches long, which is knee length for my girls, so I cut the length at 15.5 inches.  The waistband is the same as that from my twirl skirt tutorial.  It's super easy!

I want throw out a heads up to read the instruction manual of your sewing machine.  I'm sometimes an example of Do as I say, not as I do.  I've had my machine for so long and because I was originally sewing curtains on it, I haven't gone back through the manual unless I need to look up a specific topic, like thread tension.  Well, I'm glad I stumbled across information on other stitches because now I have better options that a basic zig zig stitch on inside seams.  My old machine would have eaten the bobbin but hey, it works on this machine and it looks so much cleaner and professional.  Live and learn.

So here are the finished skirts before we left the house.  We were quite literally running out the door at that point.






A note on the maxi skirt - you need to make sure that it's not too straight, especially if you are using non-stretchy fabric.  You want your kid to be able to walk in it.

This was a Ringling Bros. show.  We did the Big Apple Circus three years ago when Bello was back.  I've heard that it's not as good without him.  The girls did enjoy this show but I don't think it's something we would see every year.



Emily was cracking me up.  She brought Little Lion so that he could see his Uncle Funkle, who apparently is a circus performer.  Little Lion's mom is a tiger and his dad is a dog so I guess it makes sense that his uncle is a tiger.



I had no intentions on photographing the circus but I brought my camera with the thought that the opportunity may arise to photograph the girls.  I really haven't been taking many photographs as of late.  It's not that my interest in photography has waned - quite the opposite actually.  Life sometimes becomes so crazy that there isn't time available for photography projects.  I'm learning that I need to create my own opportunities.  I'm glad I had my camera with me because I just love this picture.    



ISO 3200, f/3.5, SS 1/80