Walk for the Cure of Diabetes!

Feel like volunteering or getting involved? Here's your chance! Join us April 9th for a Walk for the Cure of Diabetes! Busy April 9th but want to make a difference?? Any donations are accepted! Please see our team page PUMPed if you're interested!

We have a group of people walking so if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me either through here, or Facebook!

Max's 1st Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Maximus Ringley!! I CAN NOT believe its been a year already! Kids grow up so fast!!knows. Yesterday there was a party in celebration of Max's 1st Birthday! I have to admit, it was a fantastic day, which is to be expected with the Ringley and Weller clan... There's always, good food, friendly company, and a good laugh for everyone! 

One little candle, placed on the cake...

One first birthday wish to make!

Needless to say, today is officially Max's Birthday and from the bottom of my heart I want to officially say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX!

Aunt J-lo loves you. xoxox.

08. Gift from the Heart!

Best gift EVER :) This past Christmas my sister got me a RECORD PLAYER! I have always loved music, mostly country and oldies.... Mom and Dad had a ton of records saved  from their younger days, and it was a goal of mine to get to play every last one of them! Theres just something about the music, the pop and crackle, and that little ol' needle makin that big ol' sound that gets my heart singin!

Thanks for the best gift ever Baby Sister! I LOVE YOU!

camera tip for today:

BABY STEPS TO MANUAL MODE THE WILLETTE WAY
Let’s take some baby steps to REALLY use your digital SLR....and i realize that i’m throwing a ton of info your way with this...so read it several times if you have NEVER attempted to shoot in manual mode.

07. Generations!

Since, this is difficult, because everyones scattered, Ill have to come back to this assignment!

Why put it off until tomorrow, when you could do it today...

Found this photo posted on my friend Emily's Blog, I don't think it could be better said....

Sometimes people run through life... not taking one single moment to look around and really take in the beauty of this life! I personally try to look at the bright side of EVERYTHING! Anyone that knows me would agree. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING, from life, to death, relationships, failures and lessons from life itself. I personally, love life :)  But this photo couldnt have said it better!

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning,

but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

-Maria Robinson

06. Who THEY Love!

Today's photo challenge was to photograph someone our loved ones love! Mom, obviously loves Dad. haha :) I think this picture is cute! I focused on the selective focal points today since I didn't on day 5!  Also because the challenge was to continue to focus on metering and selective focal points! There are no new tips for the day! 

05. Love to Hate!

Running a lil' late on this post! But, its better late then never! The challenge was to photograph something that your loved ones do that drives you crazy... My pet peeve, is when I go to do the dishes, and theres a napkin inside the cup!!! Because by the time I get to it, its nice and soggy. I guess you could say its not my cup of tea... haha.

I was suppose to pay close attention to metering as well as selective focal points. I worked on the metering, but wasn't sure how else to show that dag on napkin in the cup.... So I skipped selective focal points and used it in The Joy of Love's day 6 challenge!

camera tip for today:

Selective focal points and metering
I recommend learning how to use your camera’s selective focal points. You need to read in your camera manual how to do this. Even point and shoot cameras have this ability. Using the selective focal points is more accurate than focusing and recomposing because you are positioning the focal point OVER the exact spot you wish to focus on.

I also recommend using spot metering for portraits. Combined with the selective focal point, you will have the winning combination for a great exposure since the spot metering will be metering off of your subject’s skin and face

04. What they wear!

I had a breakthrough today! I learned all about metering, and for the first time, thanks to Willette {Classic Childrens Potraiture} instructional challange. And Susan Fowlers {Fowler Photo}'s step by step photo discription on her blog, it FINALLY really sank in on how to set the metering on my camera Manually! Yay, I feel so acomplished. Thanks so much for yalls help! :)

For today's assignment we had to photograph what our love ones wear... The first thing that popped in my mind when I read the email were MY cowboy boots :) And since I firmly believe that before you can truly love another you have to love yourself, I decided to photograph something I love about me today for The Joy of Love. My boots, THEY ARE ME... we have a relationship. Call me crazy, but its so true haha. I LOVE MY COWBOY BOOTS!  

“You must love yourself before you love another.

By accepting yourself and fully being what you are,

your simple presence can make others happy.”

Today's Helpful Hint:

METERING  Look up METERING in your camera’s manual (not matter what kind of camera you have). Play with the different metering settings with your camera and take a photo of the same thing using the different meter options.

Here are my examples!

     Under Exposed                         Medium Exposure                          Darker Exposure

03. Then & Now!

Sorry for being a day late! I had no idea how to work on this project considering I don't have a scanner, so I chose... Max as today's subject BECAUSE I had both photos already saved on my computer. So Its sort of cheating, but I really had no other choice... It will only happen this one time! Ill still post the assignment and advice at the bottom as before. If you're interested in getting in on the fun check out Willette {Classic Children's Portraiture} OR click here for their Facebook page!

Its really crazy how much he has changed in less then a year! It really gets me every time I see him :) They just grow up so fast... haha.

Here's today's Mission:

CROPPINGTry cropping in really tight for today’s assignment. Fill the frame with your subject’s face or just a portion of his or her face. By cropping in tight with your camera you can eliminate distracting backgrounds. You can either crop “in-camera” which means to get in really close while photographing, or you can crop using photoshop, picasa, elements or whatever photo editing program you use.

02. Who they are!

Today for the Joy of LOVE we had to practice position! Really getting on the same level as who, or what you are photographing. I chose my mom. We really had to portray who that person is... I knew the instant I read the email I had to either get her laughing OR annoyed. haha. :) Here she is!

POSITION

Pay attention to your body position when you photograph. If your subject is little, make sure to get down on his or her level. Have your camera on the same plane as they are. AND, if your subject is taller than you are, then elevate yourself a bit so you are not photographing his nostrils. To capture these of my husband, I stood on a stool so that I was slightly higher than he was. Your angle makes ALL the difference in your finished photo. When I photograph babies, I lay down on the ground so that I am on their same level.

Day or Night?!

This has got to be the most insane thing I  have EVER seen! This photo was taken at night, but look is looks like its day! If you look closely you can even see the stars shine. I'm going to call this "Operation Illusion"  which is now on my list of things to accomplish with photography!

If you want to see more of these photos just click on the photo above!

Thankfully, a fellow photo lover has offered her advice on how to accomplish this breathtaking image! I can not wait to test it out! I hope to wait for the right conditions to fully begin "Operation Illusion", for example the temperature.... :) As well as the right company, my dear friend Emily, who herself, has AMAZING photographing skills.

Ill be sure to keep everyone updated!!

01. What they do!

Its day one for The Joy of LOVE... my FREE photography class :) Today we had to photograph someone or something, doing what they do best. I chose the cats! In particular, Pudgy, my sisters cat. Poor pudgy, the only thing shes good at is sleeping and meowing. She is however, pretty talented when it come to hanging on the door!

The project helped me focus on lighting! When shooting in color my photos usually have a "washout" effect. Not that its always bad to use the effect, but most of the time I don't want my photos to washout! Hopefully now, after seeing the email and doing the homework I'll catch on faster then figuring it out on my own!