My Personal Ego Booster

One of the promises I've made to myself this year is that I'm going to complete the 2 Peas in a Bucket 12 Weeks to Better Photos course. I started it last year and only made it a few weeks into the course. But this year, I'm determined to get through it, and I know the results will be amazing. I've also roped a few friends into doing it with me (thank you, Marsha and Kristi!), so there's no dropping out now! Anyway, this week's assignment was focused (no pun intended) on ISO and shutter speed, and we were to take pictures water in the kitchen sink hitting a glass to see how different shutter speeds affect the water stream in the resulting shots. I won't bore you with those pictures. But the "extra credit" assignment was to go and shoot something in the ever-feared Manual mode. Eeks! That scary thing where you have to control everything yourself?  Yikes!  The prop I chose was this little statue (it's only about 2" long). When I bought it, years ago, it was described in the catalog as a "Personal Ego Booster," because when it's facing you, it looks like it's bowing down to you. Who doesn't need that kind of pick-me-up once in a while? Anyway, she was kind enough to pose on the edge of our (really gross, thanks to the recent rains) fountain in the back yard. I set my aperture so that you can't see how gross the water really is (or even that it IS water!). And I think it came out pretty well! I guess there's hope for me yet!

And as a bonus, here's a picture I took last night. I've always marveled at photographs that I've seen of the moon, and last night I went out with my tripod and some patience, and it actually worked!