Are my photography classes paying off?

Well my photography classes are almost over and I put them to the test in taking Starla's senior pictures. We still need to take her soccer pics but here is what I have now. Let me know what you think! Good or bad as long as it is constructive criticism :)

Photography 101: Outdoor Landscape

This week we went to a beautiful park in Goshen across from Meijer. We learned how to take professional looking pictures and what makes a good landscape picture. It was a beautiful and relaxing evening.

Photography 101: Understanding ISO AND the different Scene Modes

The past two weeks have been very busy which is why I have not been able to post the last two classes. The first class was on lighting, specifically ISO and White Balance. ISO allows me to adjust it according to how bright or dark it is around the subject. It does not relate to the flash at all. It is what enables people to take pictures in places like museums where flash is not permitted. The different settings of ISO changes how sensitive the camera is to the surrounding light. I took these pictures in my dark basement in the back corner where there is only one little window. The only thing that chages from picture to picture is the ISO settings are 200, 400,800,and 3200.





White Balance is a setting in your camera where you tell the camera which temperature of light your subject is in. The settings of light include incandescent(light bulb),fluorescent, or daylight are the most common.If you set the camera on the wrong setting then your whole picture will tint a certain color. For example if you set your camera on incandescent and take a picture in natural daylight it will be tinted blue. And then when your camera setting is matching the same as what is on your subject the color is really natural.



The last lesson was learning about the different scene modes and what the camera is doing in each setting. I learned how to take better pictures especially in the action mode. To do this I had to adjust the shutter speed so that the camera wouuld take the picture faster but as a result the images are not as clear as they usually are.(there are other things but I don't want to confuse more than I already have) For practice I took lots of pictures at my little brother-in-laws soccer game today.

A Great Weekend!

This weekend we had the opportunity to have our two nieces Lauren and Kierstyn over for the weekend. It was very busy and a lot of fun!

Photography 101:Understand Apature and Shutter Speed

Today was Lesson #3 and it was mostly focused on photo editing using the program Adobe Photoshop. The main objective of the lesson is to understand the terms Apature and Shutter Speed and then take pictures that show our understanding. To help you further understand this I will tell you which kind of camera I have exactly.

It is a Nikon Coolpix P5100. It is digital and has a fixed lens. Because of the fixed lens it is harder for my camera to show the drastic difference between Macro Mode and Landscape mode when you are a certain distance from your subject. The ideal cameras for showcasing these features are the SLR (single lens reflex) cameras. Unfortunately there is approximatly a $500 difference in price at least. Thankfully to Adobe Photoshop I can edit the pictures to get the same great effect. Here are some pictures illustrating these camera settings.

This setting is indicated on most cameras as the flower. The camera automatically zooms to the position at the closest distance at which the camera can focus. My camera can focus as close as 4 cm.

This setting is indicated on most cameras as a mountain. The camera focuses at infinity. Sometimes the objects in the foreground are not always in focus. Meaning, sometimes the dog in the front would be out of focus while the dog in the back would be in focus. It is a pretty neat setting! Because I was so close to both dogs the camera picked up both of them clearly.

I used Adobe Photoshop to edit this picture because I did not like the background, i.e. the register, and so I blurred out everything except the dogs which made them really stand out.

Harley is the dog in front and Ervin's dog Lucky is the one behind her. They are so well behaved!

Photography 101: Exploring Your Subject

This week we met at Martin's Hardware Store in Nappanee. It was a challenging lesson. We learned how a camera works; what the functions are of the different parts of the camera. We learned about the depth of field and which settings you want the camera set to depending on what depth of field you are going for. The terms that we learned were f/stop, aperture, and shutter speed. It was frustrating and challenging trying to figure out what the instructor was wanting us to do until after she had critiqued my pictures and didn't have anything good to say about them. So being the anal person that I am I stayed after and took more pictures to gain her approval and to make sure I knew what I was supposed to be doing. So here are some of the pictures that I took. Enjoy!

For my homework assignment I decided to have my bike be my subject and here are a few pictures of it. I know there are a lot but it really is "a few" compared to the approximately 90 pictures that I took. It was really hard to narrow it down to 50 and I still have a lot of work narrowing it down to the 3 best that I have to turn in on Thursday!

Photography 101: The Rule of Thirds

Well today was the first day of my "photography classes". Me and 5 other girls from work signed up to take photography classes from a professional who also works at the Wakarusa Clinic. She is who many of us use for a photographer for family pictures etc. instead of going to JC Penney, Picture People, etc. Well earlier this summer we learned that she is planning on moving to Florida. We all were sad to see her go as well as her photography skills. We knew that she used to teach photography to 4-H kids and asked if she would teach us the basic skills that are needed to be a great photographer. She agreed and has developed a 12 week course for us; each week focusing on a different element of photography and by the end of the 12 weeks we will be shooting pictures in her studio. I am very excited about these classes. I see it as an investment for the future. One day if we ever have kids I will be able to take my own pictures and not have to pay any sitting fees or over priced prints. I now also have the connections to get professional prints over the Internet at the original prices (otherwise not the prices that are way over marked by photographers; i.e. a 5x7 picture that cost $1.29 but photographers mark the price up to $9.50). I also got a great photo editing program that I am very excited to learn how to use. Here are a few pictures that I took today that illustrates what I learned- the rule of thirds. I actually took a lot of pictures these are the ones that my instructor said were the best. Enjoy!

California Missions Trip

Camp Berea

The trip was a major success! It was a fun, exhausting time spent with approximately 40 kids, age range 6-12 years.The week was spent playing games, hiking up and down steep trails, and watching out for mountain lions and bears! A mountain lion was spotted on one the trails the day after we were on that trail. A mountain lion had not been spotted for years prior to. It was exciting but I was terrified to walk the trails with 12 little kids multiple times a day, let alone by myself; which I unfortunately had to do. Here are some pictures of what the camp was like.

(1) Girls Cabin (2) Look Out Point (3)A small part of the long, steep trail (4) The Main Building (5)Home of the Keepers of the Camp (6) Another cabin along the trail (7) Arts & Crafts (8) Story time with Buddy the Porcupine

***Interesting note: We walked passed the above cabin (6) daily, multiple times and if we saw that the trash cans were tipped over we needed to be extra careful and watch out for the bear. Thankfully we never encountered or saw any signs of the bear thankfully. The rumor is that last fall the bear was shot. The bear was around a lot last summer at camp, they even had blow horns that the counselors carried around when a bear was spotted. It just gives me the goose bumps thinking about it. I praised God daily for keeping us safe!!!

Highlights of the Week

This is a picture of Ricky and me. Ricky was in my trail guide group. He heard of camp through his grandma's friend. He has two little brothers that live with him at his Grandma's house. They have never gone to church. Until this week at camp he had never really heard of who Jesus is. Throughout the week Ricky and I talked a lot about who Jesus is and how much He loves us. We also talked about how He died on the cross to save us from our sins. How the topic of the in-depth discussion arose was when Ricky was scared one night and wanted to go home because of the one the scary camp stories. We talked about how Jesus protects us and is with us all of the time. I told him how we have to ask Jesus into our hearts and what being a christian means, how it is a big decision and something he needs to think and pray about before he makes that life changing decision. Well two days later on the last night of camp he asked me to pray with him and he prayed for the second time in his life to ask Jesus into his heart. It was beautiful to hear such an innocent voice pray the sinners prayer. He was so excited to tell everyone, we even ran half way down the trail laughing and cheering, we were making noise to scare any potential animals away, to tell Sam Carney another one of the counselors. It was a tearful goodbye on Saturday but we knew we would see each other one day in heaven. Also his grandma was asking about information on a church close to them. His grandparents are planning on attending church with the boys. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Another highlight from the trip is David, (bottom photo) who is one of the teens from Nappanee who went with us, accepted Jesus into his heart while on the trip. David and Starla both had made the decision to be baptized on July 6 at the NFBC church baptism. When we met for dinner Saturday night after camp had concluded David was sharing his new decision with Pastor Paul (Pastor of one of the Brethren Churches in California) he was very excited for him. He began to talk about baptism and what it means and what all it involves and then said "Heck we could baptize you over in that little pond" and David said that would be awesome. So Pastor Paul baptized David and then Starla said she wanted to be baptized too. It was an amazing time and Gods presence was felt by many. It was truly a unique and memorable experience.

Well as you can see it was a very exciting time for all involved. I think everyone came back a changed person. We all appreciate all the prayers and support that was given to us prior to and during this experience. Thanks for everything, we could not of done this without you! God Bless!

note: oh yeah, David fell off the railing of a deck and sprained his ankle, which is why there are crutches in the photo

California Missions Trip

California Missions Team 2008

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been very busy with work, church, family, and preparing for this very exciting mission trip with this group of teenagers. From June 14-22 we will be spending our time at Camp Berea, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We are all very excited for what God has in store for us. The team includes:(back) Tony Hasse, Ryan Smith, Samantha Carney, Molly McFerren, David Kronk (front) Starla Beachy, Breanna Yoder, Felisha Clark, Dani Huber, and me. There will definitely be pictures and more to tell when I return from the trip.

Angie Mattern R.N.

That's right...I passed my state boards and am now an R.N.!!! Thank you everyone for your prayers and support! It is such a great relief to move on with my life and not have to worry about studying!

Now that I am done studying I am going to take Harley Jane to classes to become a Delta dog. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is where Harley will be able to go the hospital and visit patients there. She has to pass a test and will be certified. I think she will be great at this job. She has already had some practice when she went to visit my grandpa, Menno Beachy Jr., in the hospital earlier this year. She really made him smile and lift his spirits.

January Update

Well Christmas is over and January is half way there! I can't believe how fast life goes! It has been one busy month at the Mattern house on Clark St. Here is the run down to get you up to date...

Christmas was another exciting and successful event. We made it to all of the families' Christmas parties and then some. Harley got lots of toys and even a Santa hat. Even though she wasn't exactly a fan of it she did look pretty darn cute in it!

I took my NCLEX in December and found out unfortunately I did not pass yet again. However, I did not let that discourage me. Ryan and I decided that it would be best if I went to Toledo to take an NCLEX review course. I was excited to take this course because it stressed the test strategy. Since I knew my content, after talking with several professors and reviewing my results it was determined that it would be best. So this last weekend and this coming weekend Ryan and I get to spend time in Toledo, OH. Ryan chose this wonderful hotel for us to stay in. It is a "newly" remodeled Days Inn.No, there is nothing wrong with you computer coloring, the Days Inn was the ugliest lime green I have ever seen! It was one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed in! There wasn't a fan in the bathroom and you could barely get in the bathroom and close the door! It was missing pieces of obvious furniture. Then when I went to Toledo University, which is where my class was held I was scared for my life! I have never wanted to own a gun in my life until then! I was convinced that I saw a man walking down the street carrying a gun! Ryan says its a cell phone, but it would of had to of been a very large cell phone! Thankfully my instructor is very nice and funny to make the class worth going to. He has given lots of helpful hints and suggestions.

Since all of the holidays are done and over with we are finally getting back into our routine, except for our two trips to Toledo of course. I get to play with Lily every Monday once again and have a blast. Here are a few pictures of Lily and Harley. Lily has really come to love "playing" with Harley.