Well, winter in Colorado sure sucked. No real snow, at least where we live so spring is in full affect and it’s only mid-march. The all-mighty farmers are predicting the worst drought since 1894. Yikes. So, with spring here, I decided to do an “all-in-one” blog. I am quite the blogging freak, blogaholic, what have you. I wanted to put all of my ramblings into one so I wouldn’t loose my mind ( and so others didn’t think I was crazy!) My other blogs can still be found, just without updates. All blog posts from now on will be posted in categories such as: Life, Love and Photography…hmmm wonder how I came up with such a catchy blog title?!? haha Ok, on to the good stuff…writing my NEW blog!
Add some pizzazz to your camera! February 4, 2009
Check out these two cool sites for some sweet camera gear! I’ve really been wanting some color for my camera…black is so dull, depressing and boring. If my camera were green, yellow, orange or pink…I would wear my DSLR like an necklace and constantly be shooting photos every where I went (which is what I should be doing anyways)!
At least these straps are a start!
Have more to add? Leave me a comment! I’ll check it out and see if it’s “cool” enough! 
…You give your 2 year old a camera! January 19, 2009
Well, it’s nothing special! It’s a teeny tiny Philips Keychain Camera that has two buttons on it and a slide out “view finder”. I didn’t buy this for him…I wouldn’t go there yet. Maybe his 5th b-day he’ll get a better one. Anyways, it’s an old Christmas present that I’ve never used. I really don’t recommend this camera (except maybe for a 2 year old!) It is perfect for his little hands! Maybe only around 1.5 or 2 MPs?!? Super crappy quality photos but what does he care? He knows that he gets to clip the “am-a-ra” (as he calls it) on his jacket and click away! It takes 20 photos and then I can download them to the computer. Here are some of his recent works of art!
He is quite the “minitographer”!
…You have a fun day at the camera store. With your friends! January 19, 2009
Actually, it wasn’t too fun because it’s a neighborhood mom n pop store that’s closing. 
But, four of us met up there and shopped for 2 hours!! Then had lunch!!
I am a strong supporter of shopping at local camera stores even though they are way overpriced, however, the internet shops are stealing all of the income and customers. It sucks. Eventually I’ll have to buy online because there probably won’t be any local stores left!! Anyways, here is what I got. I really wanted a Canon 50D but they were selling it for the same price as most online stores. Blah!
-Hurricane Blower- reg. 11.99,on sale for $5
-External flash LumiQuest Gels- reg. 19.99, on sale for $10
-2 5×7 Art Profolios- reg. 5.99 ea. on sale for $6 total
-Books:
“The Art of Photographing Children” reg. 24.95 On sale for$5
“Flash, The Most Available Light” reg. 24.95 on sale for $5
“The Perfect Digital Portfolio” reg. 29.95, on sale for $10
“Stock Photography Business Forms” reg. 18.95 on sale for $5
-A helmet cam for my hubby, reg. $119.99 on sale for $78
And…the main thing I went there to get…
-5 in 1 ReflctorDisc, reg. 89.99, on sale for $50!
Wo-hoo!!
T.O.T.L hits 5,000! January 15, 2009
Think Outside the Lens has reached over 5,000 hits in less then a year! Wo-hoo! Thanks so much to all of the readers and commenters! I appreiciate it and you are the reason I am here!
HDR photos, poor man style using Picasa 3 January 12, 2009
Ever heard of HDR? It stands for “high dynamic range” which means that there is a larger amount of range between light and dark areas in a photo. Usually, it is a pretty long process. A photographer must choose a location, set up a tripod, be very careful not to move the set-up then, take 3 photos all at different settings (correct settings, blow out the highlights, and saturate the shadows). Then, when post-processing, it usually takes time to layer the images correctly and morph them into the final product.
Picasa has just simplified this for you:
pmHDR (or “poor man’s”) HDR is simple and easy with a couple of steps!
- Open Picasa and choose an awesome photo (landscapes work wonders!) and export it to a folder. Name the folder HDR
- Open the HDR folder and choose the photo you want to edit (title it ORIGINAL), save a copy of this photo in the same folder.
- Click on the copied photo “Tuning” tab and increase the fill light to your liking (the higher, the better but don’t blow it out). Sharpen the image to your liking. You can also mess with other settings like blur, glow and warming. Save and title the photo HIGHLIGHTS
- Click back on the original photo and save another copy.
- Click on the copy and then click the “tuning” tab and now increase the shadows to your liking (dark but not black). Save and title SHADOWS
- Highlight the two edited images (Highlights and Shadows) and the click on “Create Collage” (click here to learn how to create a collage )
- Choose the “Multiple Exposure” option. This should give you an HDR effect.
It takes some time to get used to the settings you like, also, no two pictures are the same. Some might look good with a blur effect, others need to be sharpened more. Here is a before and after of my first pmHDR:
Before
After
New look! January 11, 2009
I decided to change the blog look and feel! It’s a little different so if you can’t find something, just leave me a comment! Thanks!
UPDATE: Picasa 3, how to make a collage January 11, 2009
After a recent question from a reader, I was asked to provide step-by-step instructions on how to make a collage. So here goes:
If you don’t have Picasa 3 yet, you can download it here!
- Next, open Picasa.
- Import photos to Picasa if you don’t have any. (Simply click on “Import>Select Device>Folder” and choose the location of your photos.)
- If you already have photos in Picasa, find the folder of photos you want to use
- Select/highlight the photos you want to use in your collage. I would suggest somewhere between 4-12 as a starting point. Hold down the Ctrl button while you click on multiple photos. Photos are highlighted if they have a blue border around them.
- Click on the “Collage Button” at the top of the folder view OR click on “Create>Picture Collage” at the top menu in Picasa 3.
- Now a photo collage page opens. Here you have the opportunity to play with the type of collage (Picture Pile, Mosaic, Frame Mosaic, Grid, Contact Sheet or Multiple Exposure)
- You can also adjust the Grid Spacing between the photos, the background options, page format, shuffle pictures, remove/add pictures and more!
- When you have something you like, click on “Create Collage” and it will save the file. This file will be a large size depending on what page format you used. Text can also be added to the collage in the normal editing window.
Big Huge Labs-fun Flickr toys and more! January 5, 2009
Make a Flickr Profile Widget, photo puzzles, cd covers, slide shows and more! Check out Big Huge Labs to see their entire selection of cool toys for photos!
I like the Flickr Profile Widget! Here is what you do:
-Login to Flickr
-Click here
-Enter your Flickr name
-Choose the setup you like
-Copy and paste the generated code into an html area of your website.
Here is the result:
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