Keith hasn’t asked for much from downrange. He pretty much has all of his basic needs met and took quite a collection of things over to keep himself entertained. So, when he does ask for something, I try to get it for him.
The one thing that he has requested the most is pictures. I have done a pretty good job of providing pictures of the children, but when it comes to sending pictures of myself….not so much.
My biggest problem is that EA and MC have not mastered the delicate art of taking pictures yet. And most days there the only people I see, well, except for Will and he REALLY has not mastered the art of picture taking.
I also have a problem with asking others to take my picture…it sounds a little vain. It isn’t and I know they would understand that I want them to send to Keith…I am trying to overcome this.
Yesterday during our phone conversation Keith said that he would really like to have some new pictures of me, so I attempted to take them myself.
First I tried using the self-timer on my digital camera. It was fairly easy to understand how it SHOULD work. But I had a problem with placement. I had to find just the right place to position it to I could stand in front of it and be at the right height. After several tries, I gave up. I either had to stand on my tipey-toes because the camera was to high or I had to kneel down and it just looked silly.
So, I tried standing in front of a mirror and taking a picture of my reflection. I took the flash off of the camera, but I kept getting this weird light thing in the pictures. Also I couldn’t find an angle where it would work to crop the camera out of the final picture.
Finally, yesterday afternoon, I decided to try using the self-timer again. I found that placing the camera on top of the microwave in the kitchen was gave me the position I was looking for. I had a terrible time with focusing on my first attempts, but I finally discovered that if I stood in front and looked directly into the lens, focusing all of my attention there, that the focus would be right, most of the time.
During all of this experimentation, the girls had a grand time. They thought it was so much fun to watch Mommy set the camera up, press the button, stand in front of it making faces and then say “cheese” or something else really cheesey as the camera snapped her picture. I tried taking some pictures with them, and they REALLY enjoyed that. Will even joined in on the fun. Mary Catherine said, “I like this game, Mommy!!”
I’m not sure that it was my favorite game, but I was able to send some pictures to Keith this morning. If there is ANYONE out there that can offer up some advice on taking self-portraits with a digital SLR camera, it would be much appreciated!
Oh, and I just have to add that I LOVE Photoshop. I have an unbelieveably HUGE fever blister on my lip that took up a good portion of my face on the picture that I sent to Keith. I can be totally honest with myself with him and of course, I figure he wants to see me just as I am. But for you, my dear friends, I was able to take that hideous thing right out with the spot healing brush.
Pat says
I think this was a great picture and you look fantastic! You seem beautiful inside and out and I know Keith will enjoy showing you off!
Chaplain Andrews says
I did love the self portraits! I actually enlarged them to life size with the map printer and hung it in my office. Now it seems like you are always here.
Just kidding.