Final Project - Movie

Our final project for class was to be a video/slideshow made on iMovie. I made the two earlier movies on MS Windows Movie Maker. I liked the iMovie program because I think it offers more options and more control. I don't think this was an easy program to work with, and I still don't understand some of the features. But even though I thought I was going to tear my hair out working on this project, I did enjoy putting it together. I think it makes a beautiful product. My movie was to be a slideshow using my photographs of Tim and our life together. I tried to make it reflect the events in our life from the point where I started to use digital photography. My first digital camera was a point-and-shoot Olympus which had been a birthday present from Tim. He really encouraged me to make the transition from film, I think he could see the developing trend and the possibilities, as he has always been more technically savvy than I am.

As I don't have video capability on my camera, I made several small movie sequences to insert in the slideshow. I know this is a very simple slideshow, but this was a labor of love as a tribute to my biggest fan and supporter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFrk-lfTmBE

Painting With Light

This was our last assignment for this class. The examples we saw in class last Tuesday (12-01-09) were interesting but I had no idea how to be creative to give this my own twist. That evening we took our granddaughter, Lila (2 1/2), to Tilles Park to see the Christmas light display. We had taken her last year in the Mustang so we could put the convertible top down and she was as fascinated in the top going down as she was in the lights, so we knew she would enjoy it this year. I took my camera and monopod so I could shoot some pictures as we were driving. I had to turn off the autofocus which made it difficult to get a good focus on her. I wanted her in focus and the lights to stream behind her. It was the night before the full moon so there was a big bright moon to add some more light. I enjoyed this, but by the time I got an idea of how to do this, we were through the display. When we got home that evening, I went out in the front yard and shot the neighbor's Christmas lights. I opened the shutter and zoomed or rotated the camera on the tripod. The moon was so big and bright, I tried zooming on it, too, and that made an interesting effect, but I needed more of a zoom. I played with my bicycle lights, which can be put into a blinking mode, to give a different effect to the light patterns. I then tried the zoom-thing again on some dining room table candles. This technique has possibilities...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorothyheplerphotography/sets/72157622956085922/

Portraits of Matthew, Hannah & Lila

Our nephew, Matthew, is a senior in high school this year and I wanted to try our "portrait studio" technique with him. We went to Tim's sister's house for Thanksgiving so I toted my portable studio with me. Our niece, Hannah, has helped me before with shooting some photos, so while Matthew got ready for his pictures, Hannah sat for me so I could get the lights adjusted properly. We had a small room, so it was hard to get far enough away from the wall to avoid casting shadows. My granddaughter, Lila, also came in to see what was going on, so we tried to get her to sit, which was very difficult. I did get one decent image of her and Hannah looking at a book. As for Matthew's portraits, I could see a big difference when I used the "sharpen-unsharp mask" adjustment. But I think that's a filter which should be used with a light hand, as it's too easy to go overboard with the adjustment.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorothyheplerphotography/sets/72157622822865555/

Bee Tree Park

Tim & I went to Bee Tree County Park on 11-07-09. It was a warm Saturday afternoon but getting late and Tim wanted to do a little fishing, as there would not be too many nice days left. Tim had not had too many opportunities to fish this summer, and the park is not too far from our home. Tim started fishing and of course, I took my camera, intending to find something worthwhile. As the afternoon became early evening, I decided to walk around the lake. There were several areas of fencing in the shallow water, apparently for protection of aquatic plants. I was fascinated by these little pens, and I've always loved water lilies. The fencing made for interesting shapes and reflections. I had to look for reflection against the dark trees, as it made a more contrasting image. During this walk, I found a milkweed seed pod which had been opened and the seed parachutes were displayed in a star shape. I was trying to get a lot of detail in the fine silky hairs of the seeds. Tim was still fishing as the sun was setting and so I tried to get some sunset reflections on the lake. I thought the flat water was kind of boring so I would toss a stone high in the air and wait for the splash to make a ring before getting the shot. Another subject I've always been trying to capture is spider webs. The one I found was not very big, but I liked the shape.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorothyheplerphotography/sets/72157622822850379/

Movie Assignment: Ladybug Tribute

I made this video over the weekend. The first video of the memorial service was more of a slideshow, so I tried to make this more of a movie. I used Microsoft Windows Movie Maker, and this time it was a lot easier. The ladybug pictures were taken at Bee Tree Park last Monday, November 2. Now, let's try that movie link thing again...


Here's the link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRi3JPkhobY

Movie Assignment - U City Public Service Memorial

This was supposed to be a movie assignment, but I don't have video function on my camera, so I used Microsoft Windows Movie Maker. This is more of a slideshow, but I still learned a lot about effects, transitions and "ripping" a track from a CD! I really enjoyed this assignment, and I can't wait to do more. What a great way to do wedding photos, vacation, birthday parties, etc. Now I have to figure out how to link my movie to this blog post. Well, here goes....



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfiY2cM-pT8

Movie Photos

For this assignment, we were supposed to shoot movie footage. However, my camera does not have this function. For an alternative, we could shoot continuous shots, a sort of a "stop action" series. My camera can shoot "high-speed" or "low speed" continuous shooting. I was looking for something with movement and since Tim was raking leaves, I did a series with him. I used my monopod for support, so the frames wouldn't be so jerky and adjusted the camera settings prior to my "shoot". This was a simple exercise, so I'd like to do more.

There was a full moon this evening, always one of my favorite subjects, so I decided to try this again. Also, the moonrise would be around the same time as sunset, so the light would be good. I had scouted out the overlook at Bee Tree Park this afternoon and thought that would provide a vantage point for a good view of the moon with reflection on the river. I returned in plenty of time to set up and waited for the moonrise, while the clouds piled up in the east. I feared the clouds would obscure the moon as it cleared the horizon, and when I finally caught a glimpse of the moon, it was far to the north, and my view was obstructed by the trees. I grabbed my equipment and ran about a half-mile through the park, until I could find an overlook which provided a better view. Of course, as I got set up the moon disappeared behind the clouds. It looked like the clouds would break up as the moon rose higher, so I started shooting every 10 seconds. I wanted to shoot until I got a good strong full moon image with bright reflection. It was getting pretty dark and I had to stop around 5:30 so I could get out of the woods safely. I am fairly pleased with the results, even though it wasn't what I had hoped for, as I wanted to capture the moon as it came over the horizon as it appears so much bigger and is usually a sort of pink/orange/yellow.