Blog | Terri Beloit PhotoBlog

February 6, 2012February 13, 2012 by Terri

Week FIVE of Fifty-two | {sun flare}

My apologies for being a day late with this post – between the Super Bowl yesterday and some errands and a fun session with a darling two-year old on Saturday – my computer time was limited…so now, I’m finally getting around to posting last week’s theme. I chose “sun flare” for my theme…which might seem a bit odd since it’s winter here and just two weeks ago we were covered in a thick layer of ice…on top of several inches of snow! Around the Pacific Northwest, we are sometimes blessed with a gift from Mother Nature during the winter months…and this past week has been just that! Sunshine and warmer temperature…and dry!! When we get days like that around here in the winter, it brings people out to their yards, in anticipation of spring (which could be months away), out for walks, kids are either coatless or even some wearing shorts and t-shirts. One of my favorite parts of the sun, is capturing some sun flare or my favorite…the sun star!! It’s funny as technically, you are suppose to avoid this sort of thing in photos by either shielding your lens by your hand or a lens hood…but, I LOVE using it as part of my photos. So here is some of what I captured this past week…to me, it’s a gift from nature – something that I love capturing it’s beauty….year round!!

Lens flare occurs when non-image forming light (usually the sun) enters the lens and hits the sensor. This often appears as a characteristic polygonal shape, with sides which depend on the shape of the lens diaphragm. It can lower the contrast of a photograph significantly and is often an undesired artifact, although some kinds of flare may actually add to your artistic meaning or vision of the photo.

Couldn’t share photos without a sun star…which, if you know me, you know that I OFTEN capture sun stars when the opportunity presents itself!!I even had the opportunity to add a bit of lens flare during my session on Saturday…this adorable little girl had so much fun when we got outside…as did I!!

Oh my, it’s me…something that many haven’t seen in quite a while. After my self portrait 365 from last year, I’m sure many were ready to take a break from my “mug!” I couldn’t resist adding some “flare” to myself on this sunny day last week!!

January 29, 2012February 13, 2012 by Terri

Week FOUR of Fifty-two | {detail}

Is it possible that we now have four weeks behind us already this year? Thankfully, the past week has been MUCH quieter and calmer than last week…we had more of our “typical” winter with just rain and even a couple of days when the sun peeked out, just for good measure! I must admit that after the storm last week, I sure appreciate our usual winter weather much more…even though I’m really a warm weather person…I’ll take the usual rainy winter over the snow and ice!

This week, the focus has been just that, very precise with my theme being “DETAIL” and I shot all of these with my macro lens. With macro lenses, you can really isolate details and parts of a photograph and blur out the rest, but you also must be “spot on” with the focus, or it just doesn’t work. The best way is to use a tripod for macro photography, which I did with most of these photos. So, here’s a series of detailed photos….

For each of you, I wish a week filled with happy times, good health and lots of laughter…and I’ll see you next week, with a new theme!

January 22, 2012January 24, 2012 by Terri

Week THREE of Fifty-two | {cold}

The third week of the year is behind us and besides having one more week in the project completed…I must say that I’m happy to have the week behind me! Normally, that’s not something I would say, but it was a rather crazy and unusual week in the Pacific Northwest, specifically, the Seattle area. We started out with snow and then a bit more snow, then a little wet snow and finally, ICE….which was not a good thing. Granted, snow in the area is not that normal, but we can deal with some snow, but when you add the ice on top…well, that isn’t exactly something that mixes very well around here…or anywhere for that matter! The ice caused some severe devastation in many areas, bringing down branches, trees and power lines…which caused power outages….for MANY! We weren’t exempt from the power outage, about a day and a half, which compared to many, who were without it much longer, or still are…that wasn’t bad, but it certainly is not something I’d wish on anyone…it’s not fun, nor is it easy to deal with! At our home, power is back on, the yard cleanup has began (we had a lot of trees and branches down) and we are warm and happy to not be seeing dark wherever we look in our neighborhood at night…it’s great to see the street lights and house lights at night and hear the furnace kicking on….and I pray that for those still without power, it returns SOON!!!

As for my theme, it was cold and some have said I “jinxed” the area and brought it on…if only that were the case, I’d pick sunshine or warmth for the week ahead’s theme, but I’m not so sure it would work! So…I have WAY more photos than I would have expected for the week and even limiting it to what I am posting was tough…despite the cold and devastation, it really was beautiful….so if you were affected by the crazy winter storm of 2012, I hope you are able to see that in all things, there is some beauty…

COLD

COLDER

COLDEST!!

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January 14, 2012January 24, 2012 by Terri

Week Two of Fifty-two | {texture}

Okay, it’s official, I’ve completed two weeks now, only fifty left to go! Phew, that sounds like a lot, but when I think about last year and the fact that I shot daily for the whole year, 50 is easy…no problem…and I am looking forward to it! So…week two is texture…and here is what I gathered this week to share with all of you! Boy, is there texture EVERYWHERE…all different kinds and to limit it to just a few photos was a challenge…so many options, it was tough!

On to week three…so a new theme next week and new photo(s) to share…until then, have a great week and if you happen to have some cold and snowy weather (which we sort of do right now!)…stay warm and safe!!

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January 8, 2012January 24, 2012 by Terri

New 52 Week Project ~ {Week ONE}

Wow, we are already a week into the new year and I’m inspired and motivated to start and maintain a new project for the year. If any of you follow me personally on Facebook, you know that last year I did a 365 Self Portrait project, where EACH day I took a photo of myself…that was a real challenge, but quite a learning and growing experience. Wanting something different and yet, something to keep me shooting often, just for myself and fun…I decided to take on this new project. With the 52 week project, I will have a theme for each week and have to shoot according to the theme…and try and come up with something to represent it. Now, it might be a single photo, or a collage, as I did this week, but there will be at least one photo. I have a list of ideas, but if anyone has some suggestions, I’m always open to adding to my list, so please feel free to suggest if you have something you think would make a great theme.

FRESH…given that we started a new year, I figured this would be a great first theme…so without further delays…here’s week one!

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December 24, 2011December 21, 2011 by Terri

Merry Christmas….

It hardly seems possible that Christmas is here already…it seems like just a short time ago we were enjoying some sunshine and summer warmth…what happened to the past six months? I must say, this time of year tends to sneak up on me, but oh, the joy of spending time with family and good friends during the holiday season is truly the highlight. Dinner with friends, baking of goodies, decorating, listening to Christmas music, watching some of the classic Christmas movies…oh, it doesn’t get much better than this!

One thing that is tough is getting together with everyone at the same time…with family spread around the area, it’s nearly impossible to be with all of them at the same time. I’m sure that most of you can relate to this dilemma. This year we celebrated Christmas a week early with our kids and their families – and what a wonderful evening it was, just hanging out, catching up on what’s been happening and sharing a great meal!! Of course, there were some gifts to exchange and unwrap…and I must say that our granddaughter, Jayden, made out quite well!! And next year…we will have two granddaughters as our daughter and her husband are expecting a girl in the spring…and let me tell you, we couldn’t be more excited – oh, we can’t wait!!! Our meal…oh my, it was delicious…with the highlight being prime rib…and I must say, we cooked it nearly perfectly this year…yum!! Dessert consisted of some homemade molasses cookies (family tradition) as well as some homemade caramels…another family favorite!

Here’s a highlight of our Christmas…I wish for all of you, a Christmas filled with love, joy and lots of wonderful memories to last a lifetime! My husband and I will be with my family and good friends over the weekend…how lucky am I that I get to spend more of the holiday with more family and friends!!

Jess and Sean…both showing off their cocoas they got…I foresee some evenings enjoying hot cocoa in the next few weeks!

Jayden sure loves her new pillow pet,which she quickly named “Pink!”

Oh, we couldn’t resist…little “Miss Perry’s” first Carhartt outfit…almost as much as for her as her daddy!

Josh got his girlfriend, Amanda, a new coffee mug, in honor of a Facebook page that she follows!

When you are six years old…something like this is about the best thing in the world you can open!!

Our daughter, Jessalyn, is a teacher…with a frog themed classroom….I couldn’t resist!!

Okay, maybe the Justin Bieber doll is a tad step above the princess dolls!!!!! She LOVED this!

My wonderful husband, Rick…some new clothes for a near year!

Josh’s favorite wine…and a cheese tray made out of the bottle to serve when they have some of the wine!

Is it Rudolph…or maybe Dasher…or maybe it’s just Sean…he’s looking pretty good with those antlers!

Aren’t they a GREAT looking couple!!!

And, here, is the newest member of our family…with an ETA of May 2012…we are all anxious to meet her!

Oh, Jayden sure loves playing with her Uncle Sean…they have so much fun together! And, sweet Maddie loves her Jayden…they are pretty darn cute together!