Life according to my iPhone

I use my iPhone camera on a daily basis.  My primary subject, of course, is Porter.  However, I also take pictures of things I'd like to remember (like the library hours), things that are pretty (like flowers), and things that amuse me.  And those things, my friend, are what I will share with you now.  (See the first iPhone photo post here.)

 I have a continued obsession with bugs:

Looks like a mild winter!

This bug welcomed us home one day.

I love to photograph trees: 

trees:

and more trees:

This is just a sample of the tree pictures I have on my phone.
Perhaps my obsession is related to living in the desert for 11 years.

Porter and I walked past this house the other day and wondered how the people in apartment 2 get to that door.

Signs were a major subject of my iPhone photos this go-round.

I had to capture the dire warning at our local gun range:

The men at the office told us to feel free to walk around and explore.
We respectfully declined.

 With the recent election there was a plethora of political signs.  This one was the best:

Of course we ate lunch here.  

 We happened upon a "Tot Spot" playground that I thought would be fun for Porter to play at in the future.  Then I reconsidered.

 I'm debating buying a house on this street someday:

Every time I see this picture I can hear Miracle Max's wife:

I'm relieved to know we'll be safe in the event of a nuclear explosion:

I love this exit sign because they guy looks like he's running for his life.

Perhaps he's running to the fall out shelter just down the street.

And finally, I took photographic evidence of Halloween decor.  I don't remember so many Halloween decorations anywhere else I've lived before. (There are even Halloween parades here in PA.  Jealous??)  Most of the decorations are cute and child-friendly.  These two examples of holiday decor, though, I'm almost certain were made by adolescent boys.  Oh the things I have to look forward to!

If a picture says a thousand words...

...then I'm curious what my pictures say about me.

I love having an iPhone.  One of the reasons is because of the built-in camera.  No matter where I am I can take pictures of people and places.

Apparently I also like taking pictures of random things that make me laugh.  Most of the time I take those pictures I think, "This will make a great blog topic."  How many of those pictures have actually made it to my blog before now?  One.  It was the snake.

My little sister was flipping through my pictures one day and she kept looking at me as if I'd gone crazy.

Perhaps it's because I seem to like bugs...

I took a picture of this bug so
I could look up what type of bug
 it was.  Did I? No.

This was just a really cool cricket.

I liked the dragon fly's big blue eyes.
Too bad he was dead.

Or maybe it's because I take pictures of random toilets.  Like the double toilet I found in a local Arby's.  I was glad there was a deadbolt on the bathroom door.  I didn't feel like company.

Then there are pictures I take of signs that make me wonder about what led to the sign being necessary in the first place. 

Check out the note underneath the dog.
I'm glad they clarified to size of the dog.  I was worried.

Maybe she was impressed by the picture I took to prove how amazing my ability is to endure cold temperatures.  This picture was taken on Halloween.

Yes, it says -76 degrees F.

Or she may think I'm crazy because I take pictures of random hand-made bumper stickers:

Who is John Gault?
I still need to finish the book to find out.

Whatever the reason she looked at me like I was crazy, she's probably right.  But I enjoy having the random pictures to give me a laugh from time to time.  I hope you enjoyed them.  If not, you can look at me like I'm crazy the next time you see me.  

April Fool's

The weather was absolutely beautiful today.  I gathered with the tourists around Temple Square and began snapping photos. This way, when it snows on Sunday, I'll remember the cruel joke nature played on us today.

You know when

You know you're in Utah County when you're asked how many kids you have and after you say "none" the next question is, "Oh, are you newly-weds?"

You know its been freezing cold when the temperatures that made you shiver six months ago now make you contemplate wearing capris.

You know your car is dirty when it makes you giddy to wash it.

You know you go to the local hamburger joint too often when the owner recognizes you and asks what happened to your husband's splinted ankle.

You know it is winter when the best pictures you've taken on your new camera are of fire hydrants because they're the only things outside that aren't brown.

You know you've had a great weekend when you post about it on your blog.  We hope you had a great weekend, too.

Photography Lessons

I've been wanting to take a photography class for quite a while.  I love looking at pictures on other blogs and websites.  The pictures are in focus and the colors are great.  On the flip side, most of my pictures end up looking like this:

Brad's Homecoming.
Unfortunately, I was the only one with a camera.

Well, most of my pictures aren't as bad as the one above but they could definitely be better.

A few weeks ago I registered to take an introduction to photography class through our school district's community learning program.  The class description states, "This class will cover basic techniques that will help take your photography to the next level.  Learn composition, lighting, exposure, camera controls, image editing, and more."

Lighting and exposure?  Sounds just like what I need.


Nate has a nice SLR camera he bought when we were in high school and so it uses film.  Last night he walked me through the basics on the camera so I would  at least look like I knew what I was doing when I got to class tonight.

"To focus on an object, you turn this," he said, turning a ring on the lense.

"If you want to make the flash pop up, you click this button," again demonstrating.

Nate also explained the mechanics of how the camera works.  "You see," he said as he removed the lens so I could look into the inner workings of the camera, "there is a mirror behind the lens.  The mirror reflects the image through a prism and then up into the view finder for you to see.

"Now, when you take a picture, the mirror lifts up and if there were film in the camera, it would be exposed, thus capturing the image."  He demonstrated by clicking the release.

I looked at him in shock.

"You mean there's no film in the camera?" I said, worry evident in my voice.

He laughed nervously.  "No."

"But I've been taking pictures with it!"

That's right, folks.  I've been taking pictures of decorated cakes, art projects, and delicious meals all with a camera that did not have film.  Nate bought me film a few months ago so I could start tinkering with the camera.  I assumed he loaded the film in for me.  Oops.

I need one more basic technique to be covered in this class: how to recognize when a camera does or does not have film.