You know you're a photography geek when...

Last week, I went to Disneyland for part of a day. At the end of the day, I was stopped by a cast member taking a survey wanting to know how many rides I'd been on that day. Keeping in mind that on the day I went the place was as empty as I've every seen it, I went on... 6 rides in 6 hours. However, my photo count for the day was 178 frames. That's 30 pictures an hour, or one every 2-3 minutes. The photos I'm about to post are boring. They are of the parking lot. But, they did provide a chance to stand in one place and tinker with photo settings until I got the photo I wanted. :)

I started with the camera in Program ("P") mode because I knew I definitely wanted to keep that pesky flash from firing. A shot in that mode is useful to know what the camera picks so you know what to start changing. For all these photos, I was using an improvised tripod by setting my camera on a railing. (And lest you have a sympathetic heart attack about the camera sitting on a railing 4 stories above a street, you should know the strap was still around my neck!) Here's what I got, and really, I was happy with this photo as a snapshot:

Geeky details: ISO 1600, Exposure 1/60th of a second, F-stop f/4.50

Then I started to play around a little because I wanted to see if I could get a cool effect with the moving cars. I can't remember if I switched to Shutter mode ("TV") or Manual ("M") for the rest of these shots. If I was in Shutter mode, the f-stop was selected for me by the camera. If I was in Manual, I set it myself. I do know that I increased my exposure time, and reduced my ISO, and this is what I got:

Geeky details: ISO 800, Exp 5 sec, F-stop f/22

I don't remember really looking at this image on the camera screen too much before bumping my exposure up again. At the top of the ramp, just about dead center of the photo, there are headlights, but 5 seconds was just not long enough to get the effect I wanted. So here's what I got next - WARNING: Sunglasses required!!!:

Geeky details: ISO 800, Exp 10 sec, F-stop f/22

It was when I saw this image that I realized for a long exposure I needed to change my ISO, so I dropped it all the way to 100. Ah, much better:

Geeky details: ISO 100, Exp 10 sec, F-stop f/22

Now I'm getting close! I have some long trails of headlights, and the exposure isn't so bright that I feel like I'm going to get a headache. I increase the exposure time once more to 15 seconds, and shot a couple more frames, and this is the one I like the best:

Geeky details: ISO 100, Exp 15 sec, F-stop f/22

This is still not perfect as it's still a little bright, but I had fun and learned something, so that's what counts, right?

Coffee Card Challenge | Hybrid

I've definitely been busy scrapping this month, and my poor blog has been neglected. I'll do some catching up soon! One thing that kept me busy was creating my first card template for a challenge over at ScrapMatters. Anyone who knows me knows that I love my coffee, so what could be better than a card shaped like a coffee cup?

Check out more of my projects in my Hybrid Project Gallery

Interested in giving it a try? The template download includes PSD, TIF and PNG files for two different cards - the shaped card like the one in my photo, and one that has a coffee cup on the front of a traditional rectangle card.

Visit the ScrapMatters It's In the Cards challenge forum to get the download link!

New Obsession

The Graphics Fairy. Fabulous free clip art, mostly vintage and all fabulous! Go check it out!

Peacemaker Card | Hybrid

This is for the It's In the Card's challenge at ScrapMatters. Check it out to download a free template and give hybrid a try! I was inspired by the bird element in this kit, and created the word art in combination with the kit's alpha. I cut out several copies of the bird to create a 3-dimensional element on the front of the card.

For credits and more projects, please visit my Hybrid Gallery.

Sea Babies Shower Invitation

Oh, sad, neglected blog! I have LOTS of catching up to do! But for now... posting current instead of what's already past!

I designed this baby shower invitation for my sister-in-law who is co-hosting this shower for her sister, expecting a boy! The request was for something to match her chosen nursery theme, Sea Babies, as seen here:

And here's the invitation I created:

Congratulations, Sarah! I can't wait to meet baby Joey!

Font Friday: Pharmacy MMX

I love this font... I first spotted it in use in some Stampin' Up! products, and loved it! When I found it, I grabbed it right away, and ended up using it for a "ReboScraps" logo, which you can see in my current blog header. :)

To me, this font feels a bit classic and retro, but it's also fun and whimsical. You can find Pharmacy MMX here.

I also recently spotted an interesting variation of this font. You'll need a program that can use font as a photo or image to make this kind of change. I started with this, the word Christmas:

Then I transformed it into an image instead of text (if you are using Photoshop Elements like me, right click the layer and choose "Simplify.") Then I "smooshed it" - a very technical term - making the letters shorter. The result is another look for this font!

One other thing to notice in this font is that a few of the letters are different. The first "Christmas" is written in all caps, and you can see the "R," "M" and "A" are different in this word than in the one below. The other letters that differ in upper and lower are "E" and "N."

Font Friday: Pupcat

I have a couple different alphas based on this font, and I've been trying to find it for-e-ver. Then, surprise, just surfing dafont.com one day - there it was. :)

Pupcat