Twelve Days of Christmas...

I am taking the Twelve Days of Christmas Photo Challenge and thought I'd share the pictures here. I have to take pictures of the twelve days of Christmas. Since it would be really hard to get a picture of a partridge in a pear tree, the instructors took artistic license with just a few things. So without further ado The Twelve Days of Christmas:

CMS_Christmastree
CMS_Hotchocolate
Day 7: Hot Chocolate
Photographer: Caitlin Savino
Shutterspeed: 1/15s
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 35mm

A cup of hot chocolate is much welcomed during the winter months here in our house!

I do have to confess that there is no hot chocolate in the cup. I just returned home and didn't have time to make some. My mom helped out and put a small cup under the whip cream in place of the hot chocolate!

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CMS_Lights
Day 8: Lights
Photographer: Caitlin Savino
Shutterspeed: 1/6s
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 80mm
Filter: Center Focus

I have decided that I love using filters! I used a center focus filter and love the way it played with the light.

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 CMS_Red
Day 9: Red
Photographer: Caitlin Savino
Shutterspeed: 1/200s
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 35mm

I stole a sprig of berries from our Christmas tree with a small bow of raffia and used the underside of wrapping paper for the background. Once again, I used my speedlite and love it!

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CMS_Nativityscene
Day 10: Nativity Scene
Photographer: Caitlin Savino
Shutterspeed: 1/15s
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 27mm

I didn't want to miss today, so here is my photo.

This was my great-great-grandmother's nativity scene. Heads have fallen off and pieces chipped over the years, but we still have it out.

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CMS_Music
Day 11: Music
Photographer: Caitlin Savino
Shutterspeed: 1/200s
Aperture: f5.6
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 35mm

Music. I love music, so I was expecting this one to be easy, but found it difficult to capture music without sound. It took me awhile to think of what I wanted to do, but I finally decided to use a few of our instruments.

If anyone is looking for a cheap background, I have discovered that the underside of wrapping paper works great, especially if you use a speedlite!

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CMS_TheChristmasStory
Day 12: The Christmas Story
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
Aperture: f3.5
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 19mm

The manger reminds us of Christ’s coming and the cross His ascension. Throughout the Christmas season we celebrate Christ’s birthday, but let us not forget the reason He came. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . .” (John 3:16).

Merry Christmas!