Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Military Life

Simple Guide to Bokeh Photos and Changing Your Depth of Field

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Simple Guide to Bokeh Photos

Simple Guide to Bokeh Photos and Changing Your Depth of Field

One of my most favorite type of photos to take is a bokeh shot.  I love the light, the bokeh circles and how much fun you can have with those types of photos. How the urge to take these photos get me to look for light and find new subjects to take pictures of.

If you don’t know what bokeh is, it is a Japanese word that means, “the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image, especially as rendered by a particular lens.” Or in other words, it’s a photo where you have a subject in focus and a background out of focus with good light in the back ground.

Simple Guide to Bokeh Photos and Changing Your Depth of Field

As you can see in this photo, the strawberry flower and leaf is in focus while the background and even the foreground is out of focus. You can see “bokeh” circles in the areas that are not in focus. This is a very popular thing to do to photos. Even Instagram has a feature where you can make part of your photo in focus while the rest is not. You can also add bokeh circles when you are editing your photos.

The great thing about using a DSLR camera is that you can easily do this just by changing your settings.

You will be playing around with the aperture settings. You will want to change your f-stop based on the type of photo you want to make. Larger apertures mean a smaller f-stop number. The smaller the f-stop, the less of your photo will be in focus. If you are planning on taking a photo of a group of people, you would want to use a smaller aperture. You wouldn’t only want one or two people to be in focus. The same goes for a landscape. When I am taking a landscape photos my f-stop is at least at 5.6 or even higher depending what the photo is of.

The larger the aperture, the more light you are letting in, the shallower the depth of field. The smaller the aperture, the less light you are letting in and the wider the depth of field.

I decided to take some photos of my growing strawberry plants to show you the difference. I used my Canon 50D with my Canon 85mm 1.8 lens. It is one of my favorite lenses.

I put my ISO at 100 because it was pretty sunny out. My lens was on 65mm for each of these shots too.

Simple Guide to Bokeh Photos and Changing Your Depth of Field

This first shot has the shallowest depth of field. I shot this with f/2.8 and shutter speed 1/1000. As you can see most of everything is out of focus except for the strawberry in the front. I also made sure the light was in the right spot so that I could get bokeh circles.

Bokeh CirclesThis photo was done at f/4.0 and shutter speed 1/500.

Bokeh photosThis one was taken at f/5.6 and shutter speed 1/250.

 

IMG_0066This one was at f/8.0 and SS 1/125.

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And this one is f/11 and 1/60 which is a little slow but it worked because of the light. As you can see there is more in focus in this photo then in any of the others.

When you are trying to decide what to shoot your photo at, you can play around with the settings. You might not like what the photo looks like when you use the largest aperture. This is why practice is so important.

The best thing to do is take your camera out everyday and take pictures of everything. This can be your children’s toys, your children, your plants, your home, etc. You can go on a photo walk or stay around your house. By taking photos every single day you will start to understand how your camera works and what it means to use different settings.

Photography

Bokeh photos

 

If you still haven’t taken your camera off manual, I encourage you to do so. You can do so much more with it and get pictures looking the way that you want. There are a lot of photography books out there to help get you started. One thing you can do is go to the library or a book store and look through what they have. See if anything jumps out at you.  I would recommend starting with Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. He really breaks everything down in a great way!

So now it is time to get out there and start using your camera. It is way too easy to just stay with your phone cameras but there is a whole world out there that is digital photography that you want to explore.

 

* This post does contain affiliate links! 

 

The Benefits of Living in Military Housing

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There are a lot of benefits to living in Military housing and it can be a very good thing for you and your family.

 

Living in Military housing can be such a great thing to do. We did it when we were in Germany and to be honest, if my husband had stayed Active Duty and we moved to another duty station, I would have wanted to do it again. There are a lot of benefits to living in Military housing and it can be a very good thing for you and your family.

By living on post you can more easily find yourself a support system. Everyone in your neighborhood is a Military family. You will have a ton of Military spouses on your street to make friends with. Your kids will probably go to school with other Military children and their teachers and staff will all know that the school is filled with Military kids.

It can be easy to meet new friends by just walking your kids down to the park or attending events put on by the housing area. Lincoln Military Housing does just that. They host a variety of events that help the community get to know one other and make friends. It can give you a chance to meet others, have your kids find kids to play with and feel like you are more apart of your local community.

You need a good support system as a Military spouse. People who truly understand what you are going through, who can be there for you during your more difficult days and know what it is like to be without your spouse for long periods of time. You can vent together, share good days, share bad days, get together for holidays and dinners and just be there for one another.

One summer, when my husband was deployed, I would meet friends at the local parks to have dinner together while our children played. It was the best way to get through the deployment, especially the evenings that seemed to drag on and on. Although we could have done this without all living on post it was so much easier to do it several times a week since we all did live so close to one another.

Another benefit to Military housing is that it is so close to everything. In a lot of places you can walk to a lot of the places you need to go. In some cases the service member can even walk to work. They can also easily come home for lunch during the day without too much trouble. Kids love having lunch with both parents when it works out to do so.

If you live on post, you might be able to save a little bit of money each month. This will mostly depend on your location, what your BAH would be and your family size. You should do a little research if you are curious about it and see if living on post can in fact save you money. Keep in mind that you will probably pay more for electric and water as well as more in gas if you choose to live off post.

What about you? Do you like to live in Military housing? Are you able to find a support system there?

This post is sponsored on behalf of Lincoln Military Housing

Chameleon Kids and The Military Kids’ Life Magazine

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Military Kids' Life Cover Issue 2

 

Have you heard of Chameleon Kids? It’s mission is to inspire kids in Military families. They have a wonderful magazine called, Military Kids’ Life that was launched in April 2015 and I was able to review a copy! This magazine an exciting mix of articles based on a quarterly theme to help kids find the adventure in their military lives.

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The target age is 6 to 14-year-old boys and girls in military families (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Active, Reserve, National Guard.) The magazine will come out quarterly and will cost $12.95 for an annual subscription and$3.95 single copy.

magazines for Military kids

I really enjoyed looking through this magazine. The articles were great. I especially loved the ones from the kids about living overseas. Those would be ideal for a child getting ready to move to a new location. There are also articles with recipes, about pets and other topics that would be of interest to Military children.

The magazine is filled with beautiful photos to go with the stories. It also feels like the price is worth the cost. There is enough in it to make it worth buying and not feel like you are paying too much for just a couple of pages.

Although it is geared for older kids, it is great for us moms and dads too. We can even share some of the stories with our younger children.

Chameleon Kids

Here are some links for more information:

Purchase a subscription for your military kids: www.thechameleonkids.com/magazine

Follow us on Facebook for more ways to encourage the bright side of military life: www.facebook.com/thechameleonkids

* I was provided a free copy of the magazine for review! 

Deployments and The Effect on Children

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Deployments and The Effect on Children

Deployments and The Effect on Children

After four deployments, our family knows what it is like to go long periods of time without Dad in the home. It can be so challenging for the parent at home to have to be mom and dad. It can also be really hard on the children who might not truly understand why their mom or dad has to be away from them.

Since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001, more than 2 million American children have had a deployed parent. Many of them have seen multiple deployments. This tells me that we are not alone and that all these children have gone through or are going through what my own boys have.

Our last deployment ended in 2013 and my boys were 9, 7 and 3. At those ages they only kind of understand what Dad was doing. It was a hard time for all of us as I helped them work through the time apart while trying to deal with the deployment myself. It can be difficult to know what will help them and what they are really dealing with.

The best thing to do is to keep the line of communication open with your children. Let them know it is okay to share with you how they are feeling or what they are experiencing. Encourge them to reach out to you if it becomes too hard. Sometimes young kids will act out when they are feeling frustrated about the deployment. It is important to keep firm boundaries in your home but be aware that some behavior could be because of missing one of their parents.

One idea is to have a recordable device that the deployed parent can set up to give to the child. Recordable teddy bears, along with other battery-powered devices such as recordable story books provide reliable comfort no matter when or where their parent is deployed.

Duracell has a great out all about how a Teddy Bear can help a child through a deployment. This video made me cry because it shows us how hard it can be for a child to be without their dad. It is nice that we live in a time where technology can help that divide and allow the child to hear their parent’s voice whenever they want. The film was inspired by a real Military child who was showed Duracell a Teddy Bear she had during her father’s deployment.

Duracell would like to raise $100,000 for USO’s Comfort Crew for Military Kids. Share the film and find out how you donate to the cause through the USO at http://www.uso.org/donate.

You can also find Duracell on Facebook and Twitter.

 

This review was made possible by iConnect and Duracell. I was provided compensation to facilitate this post, but all opinions are 100% mine.

 

 

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

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What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

We have lived in the Ft. Campbell area for over five years now. Although this part of the country is not home to me, there is a lot to like about it. I am still learning about the city of Clarksville and everything is has to offer.

Ft. Campbell is on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee, about 45 minutes from Nashville

If you end up here you have a lot of choices on where to live. You can live on post of course but you can decide to live in Clarksville on the Tennessee side or Oak Grove on the Kentucky side. Some people live further out in either direction and commute to Ft. Campbell for work. Some want to be closer to Nashville and others like living out in the country.

We live off post about 15 minutes from Ft. Campbell. This allows us to be somewhat in the middle of everything. We can enjoy some of what the post offers but also live in Clarksville so our kids go to the city schools and we can be a little more involved in that community. Clarksville is much bigger than Oak Grove. Since it is a different state, taxes are different which is important to keep in mind, especially if you have a Direct Sales business and sell both on and off post.

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

The area is really spread out. It would be hard to live here without a car. I have gotten more used to this but when we first moved here I couldn’t believe how far it seemed to be from the post to the mall. There is a lot of open spaces and don’t be surprised if you get caught behind an Amish buggy or a tractor of some kind slowly moving along to its destination.

There are a lot of parks in the city of Clarksville, however they are not really all that easy to get to from the neighborhoods. You do find that on post so it would be good to keep that in mind if you have toddlers and walking to a park is important to you.

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

Since we are just 45 minutes from Nashville, there is more to do there then closer to post. Nashville is also where you will find the airport you would use to fly home if you need to.

Ever since we have moved here, we have seen more and more growth. More houses, more restaurants, more Dollar Generals. Seriously, they keep adding new ones which seems a little strange to me. We have two movie theaters, plus the one on post. We have 4 Walmarts in the area but only 1 Target. We have a lot of the basic restaurants you would find in this part of the country. Several Starbucks and other little coffee shops to try. We have one city library and several city pools. We have gyms, walking areas and regular events such as Movies in the Park in the Summer and Holiday events by the river in the winter.

What You Should Know About Being Stationed At Ft. Campbell

The weather here can be a little frustrating sometimes. Summer can get very hot and humid but you can also have rainy and stormy days mixed in. You can go weeks with rain happening at least once during the day. Fall is nice but it never last long enough and the colors are simply beautiful. Winter is also very interesting to me. It gets cold and we do have snow and ice which can shut school down for a week. However, if you are from the North, you will laugh at the snow levels and wonder what the big deal is. Spring is a nice season but we tend to get a lot of rain and some really bad weather like tornadoes. It really depends on the year.

If you are getting ready to move here, know that there is a lot to get involved in

Post has PWOC, MOPS and lots of activities for young kids through the MWR and YMCA programs. Off post has its share of programs too and we have been overall pleased with the school system however it is not without its issues. It does seem like different people have different experiences with the same schools. Make sure to double check on the school if you are looking for a place off post, not everyone in the same neighborhood is zoned for the same school and it can get a little confusing sometimes.

The post itself is rather large but a lot of it is training areas. They built a new Commissary a few years ago and we have a PX with a little mall that contains a few stores, my kids are big fans of the Game Stop. We have a foot court that doesn’t feel as exciting as the foot courts in Germany did simply because you can get other food off post.  It is nice to have if you want to meet your spouse for lunch or take the kids for some ice cream.

There are always people deploying and coming home here. There are always people PCSing to and from. There are always new people to meet and get to know.

Have you been to Ft. Campbell? Getting ready to PCS here soon?

 

Want to write a guest post for me about where you live? Email me for more information 🙂

The Wounded Warrior’s Wife By Hannah Conway Review and Giveaway

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The Wounded Warrior’s Wife

I love hearing about Military Spouses that write fiction. As a big reader, it is great to be able to read a fictionalized version about something I have experienced. The Wounded Warrior’s Wife written by fellow Army wife, Hannah Conway is one of those books.

Based in Ft. Carson, Colorado, The Wounded Warrior’s Wife is the story of Whit and Collier, an Army couple. They go through a lot of challenges from Korea to a deployment to the effects of that deployment. As an Army wife myself, I could relate to some of this book because I had gone through the same type of thing. I related to some of Whit’s feelings of not being sure about how to handle everything that was going to come her way.

This book brings up the loss of life during the war, PTSD, having a baby while your husband is gone, friendships, sick parents, sick children, life on post, depending on God and more.

Although not every Military spouse goes through the exact same thing, this is one story that could have happened during the last few years of deployments and war overseas.

Even though this is Hannah’s first book, I have a feeling she is going to have a great career as a writer and looking forward to reading more of her novels.

Want to win a copy of this book? How about we throw in a $5 gift card to Starbucks too? That way you can get your book, get some coffee and have some much deserved me time 🙂

Just enter the Rafflecopter below 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!!
* I was provided a free book in hopes of a review. Book and gift card are provided by Hannah Conway

* This post contains affiliate links!

 

 

Summer 2015 in Photos

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I can’t believe our summer here in Clarksville, TN is over half over. A month from now we will be getting ready to send these boys back to school. I will have a 4th grader, 3rd grader and a Pre-K kid.

Our summer has been pretty low key overall. My oldest went to summer camp and had a blast. We have seen a few movies and spending a lot of time at the pool.

 

Clarksville TN IMG_0463

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How has your summer been going?

5 Ways Deployments Changed Me For The Better

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5 Ways Deployments Changed Me For The Better

Deployments! My husband has been home from his last deployment for about 18 months now. He got back a little before Christmas of 2013. It was his 4th deployment and it was a very difficult one for me. I am not sure if it was because I carried the weight of the other three, if I knew it was probably going to be his last one or if I never thought he would actually be going until two weeks before. It was stressful , but somehow I made it through those 6 months and came out the other side.

I have 4 deployments in my past and they will always stay with me. The good times, the bad times, soldiers lost, new friends found, finding the good in them, trying to handle the bad. I was forever changed by the years my husband was at war. I am a different person because of them. They are my past and will always impact my future. They have changed the way I parent, how I make friends and have clouded choices I make in the future.

Looking back I tend to cringe when I remember all the bad. The hard nights, the sad nights, the rough days, the breakdowns and all of that. But if I really look into it, I know I have learned and grown as a person because of them. I know that in some ways, deployments changed me for the better.

Independence

As much as I hate having to take care of the house when my husband is gone, as much as I hate having to be the only one making certain decisions, it has made me into a more independent person. I have had to become one. I had no other choice. This isn’t to say I never feel like I need my husband because I do, just that I know I can do things on my own if I need to. It is a little freeing. And a little scary.

Keeping Busy

Through all the days I spent without my husband home, I have learned how to stay busy. I feel like I work hard to create a balance of just enough busyness not to drive myself crazy. I can find stuff for us to do, I can make plans to fill the calendar. I am never ever bored because I always keep going. I can’t just not make any plans because that means we will start to get too lonely and I can’t stand that feeling.

I know how people get through impossible things

If I hear about someone losing a child, losing a home, losing a marriage…I never tell them I could never go through what they are going through. Why? Because although I have never been through those types of tragedies, I know that when you are in a very hard and impossible situation, you do what you have to do to get through it. You cry, you vent, you pray and you make your way to the next day. You get through it because you have it. You have no choice.

I can sympathize with others

If I hear someone else is getting ready to send their spouse off to war, I can totally sympathize with that. I can be a listening ear, someone to talk to about it, I truly understand how hard it can be to say goodbye. I get it and I can help someone else get through it. I have experienced different types of deployments too. I have been through long ones and short ones. Scary ones and more mild ones. I get it and I can offer support to others who might need it.

I am not going to take my husband for granted

I am not going to wish him away. I am going to enjoy the moments together. I will remember how hard it was to live without him. To spend over a year without him in our home. I am going to try hard to always remember that. It isn’t always easy. When my husband went away for his two-week training with the Guard, it felt impossible. I really had to give myself a talking to. I have gone so much longer without talking to him, I should be able to handle this.

What about you? What have deployments changed about you???