Monday Q&A | Blueberries, Music and Shooting in Raw
Several of you were wondering where my blueberries came from. Here's what the side of the box says:
I think my friend that picks them up buys them from a middleman (a middlewoman in this case, actually), though, so I'm not positive that you can buy them straight from this farm.
I was just curious as to know what kind of worship music or artists you and your family listen to. In addition, what kind of music (Christian or non-Christian) do your children like to listen to? As a public school teacher I find it hard to find appropriate music for my 5th graders to listen while working. Thanks!
-Holly
Our most favorite Christian music is definitely from Sovereign Grace..their music is well-done and the lyrics are fabulous. Some contemporary Christian artists write very generic lyrics that could honestly be used by people of almost any faith, but Sovereign Grace's lyrics have great, specific, gospel content.
My kids, especially the younger ones, really enjoy the Seeds Family Worship albums and I think they're an awesome way to memorize Bible verses (you can read more details about the Seeds CDs in my review).
Oh, and we like Sara Groves' music too.
Of course, we don't just listen to Christian music...as long as the lyrics aren't objectionable, we have no problem listening to secular artists. 🙂 We listen to classical stuff, Adrian Legg, some pop music, some rock (Ok, Mr. FG likes that more than I do!) and Michale Buble, among many others.
Love your pictures! I'm pretty new to the dslr scene and would like to know more about post processing. Do you shoot in raw? If so, what is Picasa like in processing those files?
-Renae
I actually shoot in jpeg. <hides head in shame>
I know that people who are really serious about photography usually like to shoot in raw.
And they like to edit their photos in Photoshop (and not Photoshop Elements, either!).
But I have made peace with the fact that I'm really just not that serious (at least at this point in time). I mostly like to take pictures for friends, my blogs, and my family records, and for those purposes, shooting in jpeg and editing in Picasa is usually fine
(here's where I trot out my whole, "It doesn't have to be perfect to bless other people" thing).
I have shot in raw some in the past, so I know Picasa does import raw files. However, it doesn't have a nice raw converter like Photoshop does, so to me it seems there's not a lot of point in shooting raw without Photoshop (I have Photoshop Elements, and it does have a raw editor) or some other professional software.
(Readers, if you're all, "What in the world IS raw?", this article from Digital Photography School would be helpful).
Thank you for mentioning Sovereign Grace music. We attend one of their churches and I'm listening to a bunch of them (try Grooveshark - there's a lot!) and we've been very very blessed to have been a part of this. It was great to see this in my reader this morning.
Never EVER hide your head in shame for shooting JPEG. Most people shoot in RAW because they think it will make them a better photographer; it will not. People happily shoot in RAW and then spend hours converting files and trying to figure out how to get that slightly better contrast instead of getting it right the first time or bracketing a third of a stop up and down and moving on with your life.
If you're going to shoot in RAW, you may as well just shoot C-41 again. In fact, I'd much prefer to shoot C-41 over shooting in RAW. Of course these days I shoot E-6 slide film almost exclusively (Mama Kodak took my Kodachrome away) so I'm of the old school "get it right the first time" so I am a bit biased and snobby.
But to be completely un-biased as a photographer: If you aren't sure if you should shoot RAW or JPEG, shoot JPEG. RAW is an attempt by photographers and Digital camera makers to get back that flexibility that print film used to give. The difference is that you, not the lab tech, who has to get that print.
I could definitely stand to improve on that getting it right the first time thing. =P Digital can make me sort of lazy.
I just got a camera similar to yours and honestly other than turning it on and putting it on auto I've done nothing. I have a book to read on exposures but that is not high on my priority list right now 🙂
There's lots of time to learn.
Yay! For Michael Buble. He's on in our car most of the time.
The babes is a big fan.
If you do nothing else, try switching from the green auto button to the P button...that will keep the flash from kicking off every. single. time.
Yay! One problem solved 🙂
I shoot in P pretty often, actually, and it's always what I put my camera in when I hand it to other people. It's simple, but definitely preferable to that green setting.
I love Come Weary Saints. If you like Sovereign Grace music, I think you would really like igrace music (indelible grace). They are old hymns with new tunes. They are done by the college group in the PCA. I heard them during college and really liked them. Usually if it is a hymn I know, I like the old tune better. But there are a bunch of hymns that I had never heard before and I really enjoy learning the words to those.
I like some igrace stuff, but I definitely prefer SG. My tastes just run towards a more polished sound than a folksy sound. I also think some of the igrace singers aren't too great ( but that could be my not-folksy tastes coming through).
I do TOTALLY support what they're doing, though...love when people rescue good lyrics by fixing outdated tunes.
Thanks so much for answering my question! It was a big help.
I tried RAW about a year ago and didn't like it very much. I'm giving it another shot while I'm on vacation. I use GIMP for editing - if I edit. Its free 🙂 and does have a RAW add-on. GIMP seems to be a cross between photoshop and Lightroom - neither of which I'm ready to drop serious cash on. I'm with Battra92 - I want my picture to look good straight out of the camera. Maybe if I keep dreaming...
That's always my desire too...I'm super pleased with myself when I have a great shot that's straight out of the camera.
Most of the edits I do are minor...adding highlights or shadows, and cropping.
Holly, when I was a teacher (before having kids) I would play comedy during art class ie: Bert and Ernie, and appropriate Radio Free Vestibule songs and sketches. Yes -- Sesame Street even in grade 5. I was a big fan so it gave them freedom to like Bert and Ernie too. Seriously -- not a single kid minded (after the initial surprise) and they would actually request it.
During math I would play classical music. What I really wanted was a Christian instrumental so I could be thinking the words as the songs played and yet not offend anyone (since it was public school).
You could also find a soundtrack to a movie that you knew was popular with the kids (and had unoffensive songs). Or oldies! You could make a mixed cd of modern artists singing oldies.
Oh and if you want to go with comedy sketches check out Rhett and Link! They are also known as the Bentley Brothers who sing on "What's in the Bible?"
Oh so timely for me to be reading your post today! I'm on a personal mission to take better pictures and be able to upgrade to DSLR. It's nice to see someone out there taking great photos who is very real about it. I so appreciate that! Somehow, it takes the pressure off. Thank you for the reminder that it "doesn't have to be perfect to bless other people."
Wow. I just read the article on JPEG vs. Raw. I had never heard of raw, and after reading that, I don't know that I ever would shoot raw. I guess maybe if I was doing still life/nature and wanted to improve clarity and color. But since I primarily shoot kids, who has the time/energy/patience to shoot raw and convert? For now I'm perfectly happy letting my camera do all that work. My pictures are still 200x better (my made up statistic) than my old point and shoot.
~LeeAnn
Adorable photos. What summer fun!!
On another blog of a person who shoots professionally sometime, she even said that she prefers to shoot in jpeg for the sole reason of being able to get a zillion pictures on her SD card and downloads go much faster. And she teaches classes on photography! So I think jpeg is the way to go for me... glad you do it too!
Check out "Walking with the Wise" from "SovereignGraceKids" for more great lyrics. It's probably more suitable for younger children.
So excited to read that you listen to SG music. We are in a SGC and also love, prefer their music. 🙂 Do you go to a SGC? We are so blessed to have such gospel centered, doctrinally sound, music to listen to with our children.