Surprise.
This Snapshot is all about Poppy.
And I have a good reason.
My goal is to improve my photography skills, and so I’ll need to try new things regularly in my picture-taking.
I also want to focus on those things I want to be able to do with my camera, but can’t.
And one thing I find myself regularly frustrated with? Seeing something beautiful, but not being able to capture that beauty with my camera.
All that to say, today I hoped to fully capture the beauty of Poppy…
specifically those eyes.
After being away from her while I was in China, I was reminded how simply stunning she is.
And how incredibly big – and beautiful – those eyes of hers are.
Not sure if I achieved my goal, but Poppy and I had a bunch of fun trying.
And the M&Ms afterward were a big hit, too.
My camera is a Nikon D90 and my lone lens is a 50mm 1.4. These pictures were taken in manual with the white balance set for ‘cloudy’ conditions. The settings were ISO 1250, aperture f/2.8 and my shutter speed was 1/800. I deliberately waited until the ‘golden hour’ – one hour before sunset – to take these.
I edited these in Lightroom and used the One Willow brush set and a Sarah-Ji preset, tweaked a bit.
This will be the fifth and last Sunday Snapshot in April. So far we’ve had four weekly Snapshot winners:
All five weekly winners will be entered to win a $50 gift certificate to One Willow Presets.
Wanna play along? Here are the Sunday Snapshot rules – in a nutshell.
1. Sunday Snapshot will begin weekly with my Snapshot post on Sunday (or Saturday night) and will close Tuesday AM.
2. It is open to anyone who wants to become a better photographer and have fun in the process.
3. Snapshot posts should have the photo to be considered AT THE TOP of the Sunday Snapshot post, and should include the Sunday Snapshot button as well as a link back here to encourage others to play along.
4. Share any photography tips and/or settings on your posts for others (like me!) who are learning – this is encouraged but definitely not required.
5. Each Snapshot entry will be reviewed by me. Then I’ll select a favorite photo to be announced on Wednesday.
6. The winning Snapshot will be selected based on composition, color, emotion, creativity and post-processing.
7. Weekly winners will be featured in a monthly Sunday Snapshot post which will be judged by y’all, the readers.
8. The winner of the monthly Sunday Snapshot will receive a photography related goodie donated by the Sunday Snapshot monthly sponsor.
9. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
9. Rules subject to change, as necessary, to keep this fun and fruitful for everyone.
If you’re ready to link up this week with your Sunday Snapshot, just copy the code under the Snapshot button and paste it into the body of your post where you’d like the button to be displayed.
When you hit ‘publish’ it should show up just fine. Then add your link below.
Happy Sunday, y’all.
These pictures are breathtaking. Gorgeous beyond words.
Poppy, I will always and forever gush over your eyes. They are simply stunning.
Jill
She is so very, very beautiful : ) I love that you are working so hard!
All of your children are BEAUTIFUL and each has a special quality, feature that shines through. Little miss Poppy is just STUNNING, especially after following your journey to her. To see how FAR this little blessing has come in such a SHORT time is just anotrher example of God’s AMAZING work! I hope the adjustment to adding her little sister is going well! Thanks for sharing your wonderful family, story with us! Hugs!
She is doing well with her new sister… not terribly fond of her about 50% of the time, but that’s to be expected.
Actually, she is doing better than I had anticipated, she truly has such a sweet heart, she can’t resist Tallula wanting to play with her and you can just see her defenses come down 🙂
I agree. This child is stunning. Beautiful pictures. God bless.
beautiful!
Just wanted to say that I truly enjoy following your blog. Thank you for sharing your family’s journey.
Poppy’s eyes are indeed gorgeous. LOL on the m&m reward – I will have to remember that one!
She does have beautiful eyes and you know that your Maonan girl has a special place in my heart!
Just one little photography tip — not that you asked but hopefully you don’t mind! You could bring your ISO down to 800 or even 400 since your shutter speed was so high. That would reduce the noise you get from the high ISO.
Thanks, Kristi! It’s funny.. I know that an ISO that high wasn’t necessary, but I didn’t take the time to get my settings just right… I just set the aperture, made sure the exposure was good and started shooting. I definitely need to take the time at the beginning to *think* about my settings more. I really appreciate the tip 🙂
Oh her eyes are amazing! these shots are beautiful!
(and like the person above me said, you definitely don’t need an ISO that high with your shutter speed so fast. Always start with the lowest iso possible, and only increase it if your shutter speed is too slow to get your picture in focus!)
Thanks, Jaymi… I’ll definitely think harder about my setting before I start shooting next time!
Stefanie, these pictures are just amazing! Poppy is truly stunning and I admit to being very partial to her because she is first child of yours that I followed on your journeys to China!
She really is so pretty!!
She is so beautiful and delicate!
And I adore the first pic, well done!
Ahhh – YES – I have grown to LOVE my 50mm 1.4! It does so much of the ‘work’ for you!
Beautiful photos – GORGEOUS girl!
OH THOSE EYES GET ME EACH AND EVERY TIME!!! What a beauty!!
Love watching you push yourself with your photography Stef!!! You are truly stepping outside of your comfort zone:)
Have a wonderful week~
xoxo,
Lisa
She is just beautiful, and you did a great job of capturing her eyes!
Oh my! Those eyes are so gorgeous and I would say you definitely accomplished your goal. poppy is so beautiful and these images are amazing. I especially love the last one.
I have slid so much in my photography. I feel like I have regressed in huge ways. I too noticed your high ISO and thought to myself …..wow…maybe I need to up mine more often because I am having trouble lately with a fast enough shutter speed. Many of my photos are out of focus and my ss is too slow. So, Jaymi’s comment was good for me to read too. It used to be second hand for me to balance that all in manual and I have gotten so out of practice that I feel like I am almost starting over.
So, I was reminded of some things today and I need to go shoot a bit to reinforce them. Thank you!
I can totally relate to this, Kim! The more I shoot, the more adept I am, and the less I shoot… well… I just need to do it more often 😉 You are a very gifted photographer with a wonderful eye for all things beautiful! Just dust off that camera and get shooting!
She is a beauty! I think you did a pretty amazing job of making those gorgeous eyes stand out and be the focal point. 🙂
How strange- I thought for sure I commented here yesterday Stefanie!
Anyhow- I love these. Pink is surely her color. What a beauty!!
You definitely achieved your goal! Beautiful pictures!
Poppy is so precious. And her eyes are amazing. Great job.
Wow, these shots are absolutely stunning…but so is that baby girl! She really does have amazing eyes.
Gin =)
Were those pics of Poppy there on Sunday?!! I must’ve been so eager to post my link/pic – I scrolled right past them!!! Absolutely love the pics. Did you put pink lipstick on Poppy? If not – your colours are fantastic!
The lip color is courtesy of the One Willow Brush set I used in post-processing 🙂 It’s sooo fun!
Wow…You definately highlighted her beautiful eyes! I’m not good with cameras at all, so I have no helpful advice, just admiration! Xoxo
So gorgeous!!! Poppy is beautiful and I love the way you were able to get her eyes captured. <3
Stunning work Stef!!!!! Really STUNNING!!!!!
Hugs,
DIana
I tell ya….I get lost in her eyes….there is something so powerfully unique about Poppy’s eyes (about everything Poppy, actually)….I’m so glad you are capturing every moment of her! hugs….Dita