It rained today.
And we really, really needed it.
Our pastures were seeded a few weeks ago, and without rain, there will be no new grass.
So the rain that rolled in late this afternoon was a most welcomed sight.
We all sat on the back porch and watched.
After the rain passed I grabbed my camera.
And instead of taking along any of my kiddos, I went out solo.
I decided I’d rather shoot something – anything – that wasn’t going to move.
Or ask for M&Ms.
And let’s just say, it was refreshing.
These were shot on my Nikon D90 with my 50mm 1.4 lens. My settings for the first shot were ISO 1000, 1/100 sec, f/3.2. I was trying to look for interesting perspectives… the author of the book I’m reading says that everything in the frame should be purposeful, so I moved around to find the perspective I liked best in each of these. My eye still has a long way to go, but practice supposedly makes perfect, right?
Because of the Memorial Day holiday, I’ll leave the link-y open until Tuesday night, to give y’all time to link up if you’d like.
If you’re ready to 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. May’s Snapshot sponsor is SnapShops.
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.
Yvette says
Oh I love the last one!
tish says
most lovely!
Sophi Belle says
Wow, Stefanie, I love them. The first one is my favoured. I love going out by myself as well and just take pictures, without having to pay attention to anything. Just me, my thoughts and my camera. It’s awesome. 😉
Grace says
Love these! I agree that taking photos of objects that are not moving is wonderful. 😉
Amy Murphy says
These pics are beautiful!
Annie says
I loooooove that last picture!! Beautiful… for some reason it reminds me of a beautiful dress…
emily says
BEAUTIFUL pics!!!!
Nancy says
These are totally GORGEOUS shots!!! LOVE the colors!
Sennie says
Lovely photos!
Amber says
Love the photos, especially the last one–breathtaking! Hope you had a wonderful memorial weekend!
Gayly says
Stefanie,
I love these! We live in a part of the country that gets very little rain so we often don’t have beautiful plants and flowers unless you water. I love the first one and the last one. I didn’t completely understand until the last few weeks the powerful effect of using you f-stop and focal point could be. These are awesome!
Jacquie Olsen says
Hello Stefanie. I’m new to your site and love it for several reasons. You are a godly woman. You love and understand adoption. (My husband and I adopted our son and daughter from China last fall.) And you are a photo enthusiast – an excellent one at that. I’m so impressed and am really in the very beginning stages of learning. I also have the D-90. Could you share what book you are reading that is inspiring you to take better pictures and/or are there any other resources such as books or websites that you would recommend to someone brand new? Thanks so much.
NiHaoYall says
Hey Jacquie!
Thanks so much for your sweet comment. I just recently purchased my first photography book, and I really am enjoying it. It’s called Photographically Speaking and it’s by David DuChemin. Check out the reviews and description on Amazon and see if you think it would work for you, if not, I bet there are some good ones out there 🙂