Thankful November 26th: Love

There are many things that we can live without: extra money, going to movies, a house as big as the Jones. There are some things we can’t live without: food, water, air, and love. Studies have shown that without love, newborn babies stop thriving. There are so many different ways to show love: spouses and partners, friends, family, even complete strangers. The Beatles said all we need is love, and to some extent, they were right.

Thankful November 10th: Family

I know that I’ve already mentioned my parents and my siblings in individual posts, but I have a lot more family. My husband’s family is very large (he is the youngest of eight kids). I have a wonderful group of aunts, uncles, and cousins. I inherited four wonderful children when I married my husband. And then there are people who aren’t blood relation, but are still family. Family is very important to me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Eyes

I just can’t get enough of these eyes. I’m also including a slideshow of previously posted eye images.

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For more from this challenge, visit Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Eyes.

A Photo a Week Challenge (late): From the Back

 

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With huge apologizes to everyone about the lateness of this post, I present this week’s photo challenge. Three years ago, at this same spot, I took a picture of a young couple for their bridal/formal wedding photos. This year, I was able to do the same for that bride’s father as he was preparing to remarry. This week I want you to find photos that tell stories showing only the back of your subject or subjects.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE ONE OR MORE PHOTOS WHERE THE SUBJECT IS SHOWN FROM THE BACK.

And just in case you were interested, here’s the original photo of the other couple:

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True love

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography. Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ and “Photo a Week” tags.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus

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A different point of view

On this shot, I love the in-focus flowers and the out-of-focus couple.

For more from this challenge, visit the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Cropping

Cropping is a very important tool in any photographer’s arsenal. Cropping can take a picture from okay to interesting. It can change the feeling or perspective of a shot. Cropping a shot from landscape to portrait (or vise versa) can help change the focus of your image. Cropping helps you tell your story in exactly the way you want. This week, have fun playing around with the cropping tools in whatever photo editing software you prefer.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE BEFORE AND AFTER CROPPING FUN.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror

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Our daughter got married this week. This image is from last December when she finally found the dress she wanted.

For more from this challenge, visit the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Mirror.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Silhouette

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We’ve explored some different types of lighting. This week, we are looking at silhouettes. This type of shot can be tricky, but also very rewarding. Backlighting is important. Taking care of what is behind your subject or subjects is vitally important. This couple really wanted a silhouette, and we found this amazing covered walkway that opened up to beautiful tulip gardens. You also want to play around with just how shadowed the subjects are. The slight lighting in this setting worked very well for what they wanted.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF SILHOUETTES.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: A Different Focus

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As  photographers, we try to be very careful about how, where, and what we focus on. We can spend large amounts of time getting the focus just right for an image. Then, there are the fun happenstances where what we thought we were focusing on isn’t what the camera thought we wanted to focus on. This image is from a recent bridal shoot where I purposefully focused on something other than the beautiful bride and her handsome groom, hoping for a feeling of intimacy and a bit of privacy for them.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF FORMS UNUSUAL POINTS OF FOCUS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.