The Smitten Mintons

Tuesday, May 8

Hot Air Balloon!

Since Doug and I moved here, we've been trying to get on the free hot air balloon that Irvine offers! We have probably gone 5 times but it was either completely full for the day or there was inclement weather. Well, we decided to try again last weekend and to our surprise, we actually got to ride on it!

I am afraid of heights, but for some reason I didn't even consider that this may scare me....until I actually got on it! The minute it started going up in the air, I sunk down and sat on the floor...and told them to tell me when we got to the top!

I told Doug to take some pictures while I was on the floor. Y'all, how is it possible to take pictures this badly!? How does he not see the pole directly in front of the camera!? Ha!

Once we reached 400 feet, I peeked over the edge and it wasn't too scary!

Again, this is FREE! So if you're in the Irvine area, go check it out at The Orange County Great Park!

Monday, May 7

Photography 101

Last month, I bought a Living Social deal for a photography class and yesterday was the big day. It was for beginners, and we were taught 'the basics' of photography...exactly what I needed!

I have had my camera for almost a year and a half (I have a Canon Rebel T1i) and I have yet to take it off of Auto. So I figured it was time I take the plunge and start learning!

Krystal Donovan taught the class, and I have to brag on her for a minute...she was AWESOME! We were all amazed by how much we learned in just one day. She was so patient with us while we asked her over and over, "what does aperture mean again?" and she picked the perfect location for the class. We met in Laguna Beach, so there were great photo opps everywhere you looked. (She also teaches classes in San Diego and San Francisco....check her out! And she has no idea I'm writing this about her...I just felt the need to tell y'all how great this was!)

Obviously, I have a loooooong way to go, but here are some pictures I took:

(learning how to adjust the aperture)

(adjusting shutter speed to get the bee in detail)

She taught us this really cool thing that took me forever to learn...if you zoom in right as you are taking the picture, you can get this effect! Her face is supposed to be in perfect focus, but hey, I'm working on it!

Same with the cars, if you follow them with your camera and take the picture just as they are in front of you, you can get it in focus while the background is blurred....I haven't quite mastered this one yet!

Creepy, creepy pigeon.

She had us take a picture of her assistant....

Then had us take another one with the flash on....look! No shadows on his face!

(playing with aperture again...my favorite :)

When I got home, I wanted to take some action shots of Maisy since I knew how to use the shutter speed correctly! They are very hazy because the sun was about to set and I was shooting directly into it, but they are still better than I've ever taken of her! Usually she's one big blur!

I feel like she should be wearing a cap in this picture. Super dog!