WEEKEND COMICS: What The Duck

"What the Duck" is an online comic strip by Aaron Johnson. Viewers are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc.

Here's one I liked from this past week:



Don't forget to vote on the just for fun poll this week (It's in the right side column near the top). Just over a day before this one closes. :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Week 8 - After The Hit

Not that much picture taking last week. I did get the camera out to Ben's T-ball game. Usually the shots are of him NOT paying attention and playing the game, but I do sometimes get a few shots of actual T-ball action. ;) Here he is on his way to first base.

After The Hit

Thanks for looking and don't forget to vote in the poll this week!! Leave your comments in the corresponding post for this week's poll. :))

-- Lisa P.

WEEKLY POLL 15: What online photo sharing service(s) do you use?

Back in Weekly Poll #4 I asked how you share your photos. The number of votes was small, but when you turn votes into percentages, 60% of you who voted use online galleries for sharing photos. (Don't you just love stats?? heehee) :)

So for this week, tell us all what online galleries or photo sharing services do you use?

I have my own photo web sites (one for personal, one for professional) as well as a family web site and a facebook. Wow.....I think I spend too much time online... ;)

So I'll try to list the ones I know about and some of the more known ones, but if yours isn't listed, please add a comment to this post to tell us what you use.

And for everyone: Leave a comment with a link to your online galleries so we can all see your fabulous photos!! :))

OK....go vote vote vote!!

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POLL RESULTS:

Smugmug 2 (40%)
Flickr 2 (40%)
Photobucket 1 (20%)
Webshots 0 (0%)
Fotki 0 (0%)
Kodak EasyShare Gallery 0 (0%)
Twitter 1 (20%)
MySpace 1 (20%)
Self Hosted 1 (20%)
Other (Please add a comment to the corresponding post) 4 (80%)
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-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Week 7 - Colour

For me, photography will always be a continual learning process. There is soooo much to know and each client and situation is different. Each session, whether for a client or personal, ends with different results. That's what I love about photography. It's subjective, challenging and sometimes unexpected.

A week ago today I attended another session with Daytripper Photo. Bryan organizes great and informative sessions. This session was held at a local horse farm. Such a gorgeous place and gorgeous horses. Having grown up on a farm, I love being on one. I was even just happy enough to wander around and ask questions when needed.

There were 3 photos we were to capture during the session. They were: Time, Solitude and Colour. I had several for Solitude and Colour and only one for Time. That was a tough one for me. There's no right or wrong 'answer'. Something that represents time to me may not for someone else and visa versa.

For the photo of the week, I went with the Colour shot. I even had a couple of variations of this photo, but I think my favourite is still this one.

Colour

If you want to see some of my Photo of the Week 'Rejects', you will be able to find them on my Picture Your Life Photography Facebook Page later today. Go have a peek and become a fan of my page :)

Sometime in the next while I should be doing a blog post dedicated to this last Daytripper Photo session. It's my own personal 'stuff', so it always gets bumped down the list. ;)

Thanks for looking.

-- Lisa P.

WEEKEND COMICS: What The Duck

I had to laugh out loud when I saw this. With this being my 5 year old's second season of T-Ball, I can sooooo relate. You try to get cool action shots, etc. and you end up getting a lot of shots where your kid is sitting on the base, playing in the dirt/grass, picking his/her nose, etc. etc. etc. Gotta love T-Ball!! :))



I do have many many cool shots of Ben at T-Ball, but they are for another post. I go with my 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens so I can get some good close up shots of the action......and I get a lot of this....

From Last Season...."What's this for?"

From This Season....No Caption Required ;)

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"What the Duck" is an online comic strip by Aaron Johnson. Viewers are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc.

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MISCELLANEOUS: A New Photo Badge

I've made a small change today on the right hand column of my blog. Previously, I had one of my favourite nature photos display randomly on the page. Now, my web hosting service has made it possible for me to display an animated image badge which shows several images.

Here is a sample of a smaller version of what I have added to the right hand column on this blog:

So if you look over on the right side column, not too far down, you'll find it.

I really like it and I hope you do too!! :))

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. I love to get your comments and hear your feedback.

-- Lisa P.

WEEKLY POLL #14: Do you edit your photos??

So it looks like we're all comfortable with strutting our stuff in front of a camera in public :) I think outdoor portraits are some of the most fun I've ever had the fortunate opportunity to shoot. :)

I've been organizing my home office and somehow misplaced my list of poll topics (which is my excuse for being late with the new poll this week). But I did come up with something this morning while washing my hair in the shower. I'm pretty convinced that washing my hair stimulates the creative part of my brain, because it seems I get most of my ideas while washing my hair in the shower! LOL I did also get a couple of ideas last night from my Facebook Page followers. Thanks David and Matt! I'll be adding your suggestions to my list :))

So this week the question is pretty simple:

Do you edit your photos before showing them to your family and friends or do you show them straight out of the camera (SOOC)?

I pretty much edit all of my photos now because I shoot pretty much exclusively in RAW format. Sometimes I might just do a straight conversion to JPEG (which I consider to to be SOOC), but usually I'll do some small adjustment like boosting contrast or even cropping.

So go vote!! :))

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POLL RESULTS:

Yes, I edit before sharing them 3 (33%)
No, it's straight out of the camera for me 6 (66%)

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-- Lisa P.

WEEKEND COMICS: What The Duck

"What the Duck" is an online comic strip by Aaron Johnson. Viewers are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc.

Enjoy!! :)

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Week 6 - Sunrise at Mikisew

Last week we were in Northern Ontario camping at Mikisew Provincial Park. It's one of our favourite parks. Not too big, not too small. The beach is very nice for small kids and the trails are nice as well.

Last year I took one of my favourite sunrise photos there. (By the way....this looks really cool printed on metallic photo paper!!) :)

Sunrise at Mikisew Provincial Park - August 2008

So of course, I was hoping that I'd be able to get another really nice sunrise shot this time. The weather Gods were not very cooperative this trip. The skies typically ranged from white to dark dark gray clouds. Most days there wasn't much sunshine poking through.

But luckily, on a couple of the mornings, the skies did clear up enough. :)

I had a few different ones to pick from this week. The whole family liked the same one :) So here is this week's Photo of The Week.

Sunrise over Eagle Lake, August 2009 - Mikisew Provincial Park

Thanks for looking! And don't forget to vote on the poll over on the right, near the top. :)

-- Lisa P.

PERSONAL: In Memory of Brady

The dog of some close friends passed away today. Brady was pretty sick the past while with kidney problems. Even when you know that they are sick and going to die sooner rather than later, it doesn't make it any less sad :(

We just spent last week with Brady while camping up in Northern Ontario. He did have a couple of better days during that week, but he wasn't the bundle of energy he once was.

Unfortunately, I don't have very many photos of Brady. These are only some vacation snapshots I've taken over the past few years. But I still wanted to put something together in memory of Brady. That dog sure did have the 'sad puppy dog eye' look MASTERED!! :)

BRADY

*HUGS* you guys! I know you'll miss him lots!!


Thanks for looking.

-- Lisa P.

WEEKLY POLL #13: Are you comfortable having your photo taken in public?

There are so many options for photo session locations these days. They can be indoors or outdoors, more formal or casual. Weather can also play a big factor. Sometimes there is no choice but to have an indoor session.

Some of the most fun shoots I've done have been outdoors and in more public settings. Sometimes clients start off a bit apprehensive, but most forget that there are strangers around watching and we all have a really fun time! :)

Here are a couple of examples of outdoor, more public type shots I've done.

Along the side of the road - Bolton, ON

A bridge near Bolton, ON

Lakeside - Goderich, ON

The Goderich one was TONS of fun and we were killing ourselves laughing, wondering what the folks sitting on the park benches watching the sunset must have been thinking about a bunch of gals being somewhat silly with another one following them around with a camera!! ;)

These locations were relatively quiet from a passersby perspective, but still public. The bridge did end up having a fair bit of vehicle traffic since we arrived there during rush hour. ("OK guys....look all romancey......OK wait...the 18-wheeler has passed now" ROFL) But it added to the laughs and fun of the shoot :)

So this week I want to know........

Are you comfortable having your photo taken in a public place, or are you more of a private studio/location type of person? (and I'm not referring to shots like Boudoir!!) LOL

GO! Vote Vote Vote!!

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POLL RESULTS:

I'm comfortable having my photo taken in a public setting 7 (100%)
No way. Private studio/location only please 0 (0%)

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-- Lisa P.

WEEKEND COMICS: What The Duck

"What the Duck" is an online comic strip by Aaron Johnson. Viewers are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc.

Enjoy!! :)

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Week 5 - Fun at Dundas Square

I originally had a different photo selected for the photo of the week. It was this one: http://tinyurl.com/mjsnlc (this is a link to a photo in an album on my facebook page....I hope it works for everyone) But the more I looked at the picture below, the more I liked it.

Ben, who is the boy running between the fountains, was not pleased with me for taking away the colour from the picture. But I prefer this one in B&W.

So as you look at this week's Photo of the Week, think back and remember how much fun running through water was when you were a kid! ;)

Water Fun At Dundas Square - Toronto, Ontario

Thanks for looking and don't forget to vote in the poll over on the right side! :)

-- Lisa P.

WEEKEND COMICS: What The Duck

"What the Duck" is an online comic strip by Aaron Johnson. Viewers are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc.

This one made me laugh!



Hope you all have a fantastic weekend (a long one in Canada!)

I'll be 'offline' for a few days, but will have lots of updates to post after that. Can't wait!! :))

Thanks for visiting my blog and don't forget to vote on the poll!!

-- Lisa P.