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family

Baby Shower, It’s a Girl!

July 23, 2012 by info@3QuartersToday.com

I recently had the honor, and selfish fun of throwing a friend a baby shower! Excited, oh yes. To think that someone told her that a Mom should only have a shower for their first born and not a second baby.

Baby showers are just as much for the friends as the new Mama. In fact for those of us closer to being a Grandmother (no ideas kids) than being pregnant, we revel in babies. The thought of cuddling, spoiling, buying cute baby clothes and toys knowing that when the crying starts we can had them back has a TON of appeal to me right now.

Baby Shower for a girl
Baby Girl Shower

Found the rubber duck punch and LifeSaver pacifiers on Pinterest, yes there will be separate posts for those. I had just too much fun.

Initial photos were run through Lightroom, about 45 of them in about 30 minutes, then put together this simple template in Photoshop

Related articles
  • Rachel’s Baby Shower (dailydoily.typepad.com)
  • My Friend’s Baby Shower (banheethespectator.wordpress.com)
  • Oh! Baby O! (kmckphoto.wordpress.com)

Filed Under: Events, Photography Tagged With: babies, Baby, Baby shower, celebration, children, Entertaining, family, infants, Mom

You Fly to Work, in The US Airborne

June 27, 2012 by info@3QuartersToday.com

In continuing story of my Dad’s Korea War 82nd Airborne experience here is an ad I found in a large envelope where he kept clippings from his time in the 508th. After doing  a little searching I found this was published in Modern Mechanix magazine.

1950s Army Airborne Ad
1950s Army Airborne Ad

The original is yellowed, badly wrinkled, and the bottom corner torn. Since my dad graduated from Ft. Benning in June 151 I can only think he saw this ad and was proud of being part of the finest fighting outfit in the world.

“The Mark of A Man!”

The paratrooper’s wings of the U.S. Army Airborne are the mark of a man! Those who wear this distinctive insignia belong to the finest fighting outfit in the world.”

August 1951

Related articles
  • Honoring My Dad, the Paratrooper (ndjmom.wordpress.com)
  • Fort Bragg paratroopers participate in D-Day anniversary in France (waronterrornews.typepad.com)

Filed Under: Family, Military Pride Tagged With: 82nd Airborne Division, family, Fort Benning, history, korean war, memories, military, paratrooper, soldier, United States Army, World War II

Photo Restoration: 1960’s Era

June 25, 2012 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Photo Restoration 1960s
Photo Restoration 1960s

I’ve finally removed hundreds of old photos from nearly a dozen “magnetic” glue photo albums. Not quite acid free. My Mother thought she was doing a good thing in the 1980’s by organizing and putting them into albums, when in actuality they would have been better off in the desk drawer in the original envelopes.

There aren’t many photos of me when I was little, so I want to preserve what few photographs I have of my childhood. They were so stuck I had to use the pointy end of a fondue fork to pry them off and carefully unstick the back. The paper came off on some, but at least now the family memories are back in a shoebox, in a cool dark location in the closet so I can start on the photo restoration part of the project..

At first glance the photos look to be in pretty good shape, but it only takes one scan and a white correction on levels to see how far these photos have faded. I am using Photoshop to adjust the color and white balance to bring back the vibrancy. The white border is the perfect point to select in either layer curves or adjustment levels.

I have just started scanning the snapshots, but the really old photos from the late 1800’s and early 1990’s I’m going to have professionally scanned at Hamilton Color Lab, where I work, they do professional photo restoration. My home scanner will only capture so much detail and they are too important to trust to a Best Buy over the counter scanner.

Photo Story: Here I met my brother for the first time. We were both adopted through Children’s Services of Connecticut. As you can see, although my brother Lance was a baby, he wasn’t a newborn when he went to our parents. My birthday is Sept. 21, 1965, yet I didn’t go to my adoptive parents until January 20, 1966.  Along with photos I now have my adoption records, certificates, and letters from the agency. Still don’t know if I will search or not. Even after witnessing my husband and his son’s adoption reunion.

Related articles

  • Photographic Memories (thebackbedroom.wordpress.com)
  • My Personal Project – Photos (basicorganization.wordpress.com)

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: 1960's, adoption, Albums and Frames, Connecticut, family, history, memories, photo restoration, photograph, Photoshop, restoration, scanning, vintage

Summertime Sports Photography

June 7, 2012 by info@3QuartersToday.com

I am always trying to expand my photography skills and shoot different topics, events, and subjects.

It isn’t often I have full permission from my  daughter to take my camera (Canon Rebel  XS) to her softball game. So when I got the chance I took it, and did I ever experiment with night action sports photography. Not easy, but I finally did get the hang of it.  I set my camera on manual and just played until I got it right.

Summer Softball- photography lesson

The above picture was taken with at 1600 ISO, 5.6 F stop, and a 1/160 shutter speed, 75 mm zoom with a continuous burst with the camera file size at small for a faster response.  With the exception of the graininess at the high ISO I’m pretty happy with the results.

Pitcher concentration
Pitcher concentration

Again graininess with 1600 ISO, but right now I can’t see anyway around it, 800 was too dark with the needed shutter speed. The second photo was on large/RAW file size and was a little dark in the original image. With the lens resting on the fence I shot through the chain link at 300mm focal length, 1/160th of a second at a 5.6f

I increased the exposure in Lightroom, cropped the original horizontal shot to vertical, decreased the white and decreased the shadows. Don’t like how the grain distorts the background player, but couldn’t figure out a way to compensate.

Day of Softball and Summer
400 ISO,  1/125 sec, f10 focal 105mm  Aperture Priority

The last photo was obviously taken earlier in the night before the sun went down. All I did here was decrease the exposure, increase shadows, and warm the white balance. My camera tends to shoot cool (blue) and a the sun was glowing on all the players. I try really hard for realism in my editing and this is what my eye saw.

My daughter has played softball since T-ball in preschool starting at Elmwood-Murdock, then Lincoln Y-league, Eagle, and the past three years for Louisville. The Louisville team joined the Omaha league a few years ago and the first year they didn’t win a game. Competition was a little harder than their previous league and the girls had to try a little harder. The record the next year was about a 50:50 record.

A lot of the girls play on two teams, most of the teams are Select and have the intimidating matching travel bags, and “muscle” jerseys.  Most play school ball, but it doesn’t matter what they look like, can they play? My daughter loves the game, she only plays during the summer and she has a mean steal and isn’t afraid to use it and slide to where she wants to go.

Photography Tips

  • Anticipate your shots, know when the pitcher is going to throw.
  • Push your ISO as high as you need to get a 1/200 speed exposure
  • Use a lower aperture, backgrounds will blur, but you will accent your subject.
  • Use a tripod, monopod, or rest your camera on a steady surface. Fence gaps work well
  • Get the “personality” shots, the concentration of the pitcher, or first base.
  • Shoot in RAW for “still” shot, JPG continuous for action
  • Use your longest zoom for outfield shots, even 2nd base is a long ways off

I’m a big proponent of shooting in RAW, but there are many instances that a regular JPG photo will work just fine, especially if you taking the photos for yourself and just going to post to Facebook and share with friends. If you’re goal is to enlarge the photos, post them for sale, or use them commercially, then a camera with a wider range of options is necessary.

How to Photograph Night Sports

  • Understanding ISO Sensitivity (nikonusa.com)
  • Photography and the “Big 3″ (joshmsmith.wordpress.com)
  • ISO – What is it and how do I use it? (joestechthoughts.wordpress.com)
  • Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority: Exposure Lesson #1 (digital-photography-school.com)
  • American Legion Baseball (3QuartersToday.com)

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Aperture priority, camera, canon, canon rebel, family, Film speed, Focal length, Nebraska, Omaha, Photography, Shutter speed, softball, sports, sports photography, summer

Marine Corps Dress Cover

May 23, 2012 by info@3QuartersToday.com

I’ve loved this photo ever since I took when my youngest son graduated from Marine Boot Camp. A Marine in his dress blues is the epitome of pride, honor and commitment. They also look very handsome.

United States Marine Dress Cover
United States Marine Dress Cover

Every part of the Marine Corps uniform is thought out to the smallest detail. The cover issued to boots have a cloth crown (shown above) , some Marines later opt to purchase a white vinyl crown which is more durable. Military uniforms have a lot of history, yet the United States Marine Corps seems to be the one that everyone recognizes as being the best design and the most iconic.

Little brothers of Marines enjoy dressing like their big brothers, pint size dress blues costume to school on veterans day, Halloween, dress like your hero day. I think it’s really really cute and a great way for them to show their support for the military.

Don’t get the idea that an adult could wear it though, that would be called stolen valor and is greatly frowned upon. Don’t do it, EVER!

Dress Blues Costume for Kids

Kids 3 Pc U.S. Marine Corps Dress Blues Replica Uniform MediumYoung Heroes Marine Dress Blues Costume, SmallStuffed 10″ Dress Blues BearTalking Sgt R. Lee Ermey 12″ Action Figure

 Information on Marine Corps Uniforms

Marines To Wear Service Uniforms Every Friday

MARINE CORPS SUPPORT FACILITY NEW ORLEANS — Beginning Jan. 4, 2013, all non-deployed Marines and sailors assigned to Marine units, regardless of component, active or Reserve, will be required to wear the appropriate seasonal service uniform …
Marine Corps Electronic LIbrary | Writer’s Guide to …

… does the Marine Corps manage operational stress? What did Marine Corps uniforms look like in the early 1980s? How would a Marine disarm a mine? Description: The US Marine Corps is pretty open with their publications, …
SUNROTC_Marine Corps Uniforms – ProProfs Quiz

This quiz will test the student’s comprehension of the correspondence material covering the U.S. Marine Corps Uniform Regulations.
Appropriate times to wear uniforms? – Leatherneck.com

I was wondering when the appropriate times/occasions/places/etc you are allowed or most common to wear certain uniforms upon graduation from Recruit Training. I believe these are all the Marine Corps uniforms, but I may …

Filed Under: Family, Marine Corps, Military Pride Tagged With: #warriorwednesday, cover, dress uniform, family, hat, marine, Marine Corps, marine corps uniform, military, Photography, reflection, troops, uniform, USMC

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