{Picture Perfect Project // April & May}

Happy Friday Eve! Today I am joining in with some of my favorite ladies; Beth, Whitney, Stephanie, Liz, Desiree and Courtney for the Picture Perfect Project. Much to my surprise, this is the first time I have actually joined in. Not because I haven't wanted to, but because I can never get my act together in time. I am obsessed with taking pictures {as Mason told yesterday in this post} and then get overwhelmed with organizing them and editing them.

Anyhow, I have been trying to make a conscious effort to pick up my big-girl camera for picture taking rather than just grabbing my phone. For so long, actually longer than I care to admit, I have gotten too comfortable with just using my iPhone for taking pictures. {Nothing wrong with phone pictures at all, but if I have a DSLR I should be using it} Back in March I put a stop to that. Not only am I using my DSLR, I am shooting in full manual mode. For some reason manual does not come easy to me or without frustration {more so for my subject}. But, I have been trying. Any tips? Or helpful pins on Pinterest? I'd gladly take all the help I can get. I shoot with a Nikon D90 and a 50mm 1.8 lens.

Picking up the DSLR came at a perfect time. We had so much going on in our lives with soccer, spring bucket list things, camping, parties, amazing Texas spring sunsets and sunrises, dandelions, bluebonnets, etc. Many of those I have already shared on the blog. But some of my favorites are just here at the house with Mason eating ice cream on the porch, or blowing bubbles or whatever. Just being together and being outside is kinda our thing.

    



















18 comments

  1. How much will you charge to come to WI to take our family pictures??

    Love your photos as usual, friend!

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  2. I've been doing okay with manual mode, but it was a TON of trial and error in the beginning. And I always forget to change the settings when going from inside to outside and vice versa. I've also found that the general rules don't always seem to apply to what I'm shooting. So I just play around and go with whatever works. Your photos always come out gorgeous! The lighting in the ones of Mason playing with the bubbles is so pretty! Love these!

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  3. Such a cool kid always rockin those sunglasses!

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  4. Oh I just love those little sunbursts or whatever they are actually called. Manual is hard and YES, I know that exact frustration. For me the best thing has been knowing how to identify what I want to change in my photos and then being able to quickly adjust my settings. It takes a lot of practice and sometimes inside it still doesn't turn out the way you want it too :/.

    Thanks for joining the fun.

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  5. I need to get out of auto and start to use manual more. It's hard cause you want the pictures to turn out, but then you need to practice so you're going to get pictures that don't turn out. I think I need to just do like you do , and bring it everywhere to practice. Those pictures with the rays of light...LOVE!

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  6. You completely captured Mason's "essence" on film, that is a gift, friend! I'm so glad you got to link up with us this month :D

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  7. Love your photos as usual! Isn't it fun pulling out the camera every once in a while!

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  8. Absolutely beautiful pictures my friend. I mean it's a pretty great topic but your skills make it even better. ;)

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  9. You go girl! I love that you're using your big girl camera (as I refer to it) more and more and in manual too!! Your pictures turned out great! Thanks for linking up with us this month :)

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  10. Your pictures are always so flawless! I struggle with changes in lighting and feel like I'm constantly adjusting when I'm taking pictures. Plus my subject are not still...ever. ha

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  11. haha so many serious faces going on, and those shades =)
    You get great shots with your camera. I finally decided to bite the bullet and take some manual shots. But, it is hard. And I usually start out with auto just in case I can't actually get a shot with manual or Aria stops doing whatever it is. I don't have a dslr but mine does okay with manual but but it tends to overexpose so I always feel like I'm setting everything to get the ideal light instead of tweaking the different settings to get the right feel.

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  12. I use manual mode most times but I am not all that good at figuring out what I should change and when but I am slowly making process.

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  13. Ooooh I love those pictures with sun flare!!!!!

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  14. You usually take all of your awesome pictures with your phone? Wow! These turned out great. I don't have a real dslr, mine is kind of in between a dslr and a point and shoot in that it can be adjusted and used like a dslr, but I'm not good at that at all. I use it in auto scene detector mode. I want a dslr but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to use it!

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  15. Your pictures are always great. I need to take a course or something because I won't dare try manual. hahaha So way to go you! Keep taking great pics!

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  16. Crystal, you capture the most gorgeous every day photos. I love them all!

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  17. I have totally noticed how wonderful your photos have been lately! Keep at it! Manual only gets easier with practice.

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  18. These are all amazing! Especially love the bubble pictures.

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Thanks for the comments! Hope you are having an amazing day!!