Search Results for: blog depth of field

A Blog of Sharing

I’ve been blogging here at Families.com for a while now and I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit. It took a while for me to get my own personal blog going (of things mostly unrelated to our son) but I finally got it up and running a while ago. It became a resource for another side of myself (primarily the artist/academic side) and I really enjoyed what I was able to do with it. Recently I helped one of my professors set up his own blog site for the purpose of answering questions about his particular field and it has … Continue reading →

Ask a Homeschooling Blogger: Why Are You So Against Government Involvement Part 2

Note: As I have explained in my previous blog this morning, I have received an e-mail that I think articulates the opinions of many who do not home school and don’t understand why those of us who do might see government intervention as a bad thing. I generally ignore these letters because they are often riddled with poor language and have clearly not been thought out. For the original question in part, please see the first blog. This is a continuation of my response. Those Who “Claim to Homeschool” Every so often, we hear of a news story about a … Continue reading →

Depth of Field – Simplified Explaination

Depth of field is one of those photography terms that professionals use all the time but what does it actually mean? The depth of field is the distance in front and behind your subject that appears in focus. For example, if you take a photo of a flower with a short depth of field the foreground and background will be blurred eliminating surrounding distractions while just focusing on the single flower subject. Increasing the f-stop or f-number creates a smaller aperture (hole for the lens) which also creates a larger depth of field. Wow that was a mouth full and … Continue reading →

Vanity Fair Movie Review

Crafty Becky Sharp may not have been blessed with a good start in life, but she has her wits, her beauty, and her ability to speak fluent french, qualities she hoped will raise her from orphan to leader of society. Along the way, she laughs at society but years to be at its center, falls in love, but makes foolish choices, has a heart of gold at times and could care less in others. The film is an adaption of William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1848 novel, an undertaking, since the book spans decades of the early 19th century and is filled … Continue reading →

Gearing Up for a Plethora of Photo Ops

Dads, grads, and new pads. The coming weeks bring an avalanche of special photo opportunities, from graduation ceremonies to Father’s Day, weddings and summer moves. If your camera has been hibernating for the winter, now is the time to wipe off the cobwebs and get shooting. For those of you who received a new camera for Christmas but have been putting off using it, the upcoming holidays and special events are prime opportunities to experiment. However, before you get snapping, it’s a good idea to acquaint yourself with your camera’s many modes. For example, even if you don’t have an … Continue reading →

Bringing Spring Into Focus

We’ve spent the last two weeks basking in 80-degree temperatures. So much for spring; we catapulted straight into summer… with no complaints. During our March heat wave, tulips and daffodils started blooming; buds appeared on dormant trees; and our front lawn went from brown mud pit to luxurious putting green. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end sometime, and for us, sometime is today. Heavy rain moved in and the mercury slid back to the 40s. I can only imagine what a hard frost is going to do to all of the gorgeous flowers that thought spring had … Continue reading →

Go Pond Dipping This Spring!

Ah – it’s going to be spring soon, I can feel it! This year, use a small pond to learn about aquatic insects, and use pond invertebrates to learn about the health of a backyard pond. Whether you have a pond in your garden or you like to visit one in a local park, here are some tips that will help you explore this coming spring. Dancing dragonflies and speedy beetles – are they a reason to squeal in horror, or are they an important part of the pond ecosystem? Well, some might dislike them, but aquatic invertebrates are hugely … Continue reading →

Vacation Photo Ops

Thousands of schools across the country, from California to Michigan, New York to Georgia, are closed this week. Some districts call the break “winter recess,” others refer to it as “ski week” while others combined President’s Day with furlough days and simply told students to stay home. Here in Wisconsin, it’s business as usual (much to my 7-year-old’s chagrin); however, our friends, who live in Michigan, are enjoying a lovely pre-spring break in the tropics. Since they took off on Sunday, I’ve received no less than six links to their online photo gallery—-the clearinghouse for all their fab vacation images. … Continue reading →

Capturing Sweet Smiles

Valentine’s Day may be over, but that doesn’t mean you should stop snapping sweet shots of loved ones. Nothing brings a smile to my face faster than catching a glimpse of a framed photo of my young daughter smiling brightly on our favorite beach in Hawaii with the sun setting behind her. The photo is nearly two years old, but it still puts me in a good mood each time I see it. Snapping a frame worthy picture of an unpredictable child can be challenging, but if you go into the session remembering a few key tips, you should be … Continue reading →

“Lady and the Tramp” Released from the Vault

If you like to play the Disney Vault game then I have some important news for you: one of Disney’s most famous love stories, “Lady and the Tramp,” was freed from its locked depths this month. I’m not sure how long it will be available, probably for a number of months, but if you’ve been waiting to purchase this film now’s the time to do it. Of course Disney does a bit more than just let movies out of the Vault; the company always dresses up the discs in fancy editions with special content; whether or not the content is … Continue reading →