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photography

    Full Moon

    The last time I took photos of the moon was at a soccer game in May of last year. One evening earlier this month, I was busy in the living room when I looked out the window. The moon was incredible! It was so big and so bright. David and I watched as it rose higher in the sky and a group of clouds drifted in front of it.

    I had a difficult time capturing what we saw, but got a few shots. (Maybe one day I’ll know all the ins and outs of our camera.)

     

    Full moon

     

    Full moon and clouds over apartment

     

    For this image I combined two photos with different exposures to show the detail of the moon:

     

    Full moon and clouds

     

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    Lightning Strikes

    We’ve had a few thunderstorms in Ankara the past two weeks. I love the storms because they bring cooler weather and clear the air!

    David gets excited when there’s a storm because he loves to photograph lightning. He shared a post during our first year in Turkey of lightning photos he took with his point-and-shoot camera. Since then, we’ve moved 9 stories higher and got a nicer camera. Here’s a few shots from the August 28 storm:

     

    Ankara lightning5 sec, F4, ISO 125, 18 mm

     

    Ankara lightning4 sec, F5, ISO 320, 18 mm

     

    Ankara lightning5 sec, F4, ISO 125, 18mm

     

    Ankara lightning30 sec, F18, ISO 400, 18 mm

     

    Ankara lightning5 sec, F4, ISO 125, 18 mm

     

    Ankara lightning10 sec, F8, ISO 400, 24 mm

     

    We have rain in the forecast for this week, too. Bring it on!

     

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    Schwinn and Vine

    David’s dad was cleaning out a barn and found an old Schwinn Hawthorne bicycle. Vines had grown in and around the bike frame and through the spokes. The vines became part of the bike. It would take a lot of work to cut everything out, but we’ve all thought it looks so cool that we haven’t done anything to it.

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    Schwinn Hawthorne bike with a vine

     

    It says Montgomery Ward on the Hawthorne sticker. Anyone have an idea of what year the bicycle was made? David’s mom thinks it might have been her’s, but we are also not sure if the seat and handle bars were added later or not.

     

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    Beautiful Kenley

    Vicki and I met in seventh grade. She has been one of my dearest, most precious friends ever since. We were locker partners in high school. She drove all the way to Arkansas to visit me in college. She introduced me to David. We were in each other’s weddings. Vicki is the type of friend who would do anything for you – and she does. She loves fiercely and gives so much of herself to everyone in her life.

    Vicki and Rusty had their first baby this summer. We were so excited to first meet Kenley! Vicki asked if I’d take a few photos. Kenley was only 4 days old for our photo shoot. I can’t get over how beautiful she is! My heart is so full of happiness and love for this sweet little girl.

     

    Kenley in a basket

     

    Kenley feet

     

    Newborn Kenley

     

    Kenley in a basket

     

    Vicki’s mom made this quilt for Kenley. It matches the curtains in her room:

     

    Kenley with her quilt

     

    Kenley with rings

     

    Kenley and dad

     

    Mom and Kenley

     

    Mom, Dad, and Kenley

     

    I love this family!

     

    Mom, Dad, and Kenley

     

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    Experimenting with In-Camera Double Exposure

    A couple of weeks ago I read an article by Sarah K Byrne Photography about in-camera double exposure. According to her blog:

    Double exposure is a technique that originated with film photography where you would expose the same frame of film twice (or more). Film can only be exposed to light so much before it will stop recording information. So the part of the film that was darker after first exposure will be most receptive to the light from the second click.

    I thought her photos were beautiful, and David and I made a few attempts in our apartment with our Nikon D5100. The lighting was never really great and the results just looked like two layered photos with lowered opacities. It was a super sunny on our day off last month and we decided to give it another try.

     

    Double exposure with lilacs. I did make color adjustments in Photoshop.

     

    Double exposure with pine

     

    Double exposure with flowers

     

    Double exposure with flowers

     

    Our camera doesn’t have all of the options the photographer talked about in her video tutorial, but it is still a fun tool to experiment with.

    The basic steps for multiple exposure with a Nikon 5100:

    1. Set your camera to either the M, A, S, or P setting.
    2. Hit the Menu button.
    3. Under the Shooting Menu, turn Multiple Exposure to ON. We suggest starting off with 2 shots. We left the Gain ON, but you can play around with this, too. (The manual says: “Gain ON is adjusted according to number of exposures actually recorded. Gain OFF is not adjusted when recording multiple exposure. Recommended if background is dark.”)
    4. Frame and take your first photo.
    5. You have 30 seconds to take your second photo (otherwise, the camera will automatically take the next shot). The camera will then merge the two photos!

    A few notes about using a Nikon 5100 for multiple exposure:

    • You must be in M, A, S, or P in order to use the double exposure menu.
    • Live view does not work with our model.
    • We found the double exposure worked best when the first picture was a sharp silhouette against a blown-out, solid background.
    • More detailed instructions can be found in the manual.

    Hopefully we can have some more fun with in-camera double exposure. I’d love to try it with the fall colors in Michigan sometime!

     

    How to create in-camera double exposure on a Nikon 5100

     

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    A Full Moon in Turkey

    Our girls and boys soccer teams had their big tournament in Gölbaşı last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The teams played hard and both won third place. We had several students named to the All-Tournament team and one of our boys was the MVP of the entire tournament.

    It was a lot of fun to watch the kids play. The weather was beautiful and when it got dark, we were treated to a full moon!

    I was able to snap a few shots of the moon during the two evening games. I’ve been learning a lot lately about photography. After the first night, I looked up the best settings for capturing the moon. Turns out, you need a very low ISO to compensate for the brightness.

     

    Full Moon Rising

     

    Full moon over a soccer field

     

    Full Moon Rising

     

    Full Moon

     

    Full Moon

     

    This was a Turkish full moon. Check out minaret silhouette of a nearby mosque:

     

    Full moon behind a Turkish mosque minaret

     

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    The Greatest Artist

    I was running around the apartment working on laundry when I looked out the window and noticed the sunset. God is such an amazing artist! At times it looked as though the sky was on fire.

     

    Sunset in Ankara, Turkey

     

    Sunset in Ankara, Turkey

     

    Sunset in Ankara, Turkey

     

    Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. – Psalm 148:4

    Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. – Psalm 105:2

     

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