Little Lady in Red

From a Valentine's Photoshoot w/my daughter. Edited in Adobe Lightroom.

Winter Wonderland

Love this photo of my guys in a winter wonderland over Christmas break.

Face of 2010?

They are looking for the face photo of 2010 over at I heart faces.  And how can I not toss this picture of my son, Alec into the mix?  How do you resist those eyes?  I can't.

Orchard Photos

The theme at I heart Faces this week is orchards and I have some recent orchard shots!

I think this is my favorite picture with a face in it.

For more shots from our Labor Day weekend, check out this post! 

Baby Alec

I have to join in over at I {heart} faces this week, since it is baby week, and my baby is my favorite subject of late.  (Although, I don't think he loves the camera).  Here he is at 3 weeks old.  Editing done with Adobe Lightroom.

Barefoot--Soles 4 Souls

It's been a while since I've posted anything here, but when I read that I {heart} faces was having a barefoot (non-competitive week), I knew I had a few photos to share.

I took this picture, just a few weeks ago, of the bare feet of my brand new baby.

It reminded me of this photo I had taken nearly 6 years ago of his big brother's baby feet, and big sister's toddler toes. I actually used this photo on the birth announcement. Underneath the photo it read, "our home has grown by two feet." And although my boys have started out with pretty big feet for newborns, they just keep growing. I love that I was able to capture some of these fleeting details!

You can link up your barefoot photos at I heart faces and help spread the word about Soles 4 Souls, a charity that collects shoes and distributes them to those in need.

Castle on a Cloud--Places I love

I haven't had a lot of time to work on my photography/editing skills lately, but this week's challenge at I {heart} faces, got me thinking about the gorgeous places I visited in Europe a few years ago. I think these were all taken with my point and shoot, and as you can see from the smaller pictures, that didn't dampen the beauty around me. I'm just not sure they captured the other-worldly feeling I had there. Europe did not disappoint my expectations. So many times, I felt like I was in a scene from a fairytale, so to better capture my feelings about the places I visited, I have done some editing and added a bit of texture to the photos. I am thinking about doing a series to hang on the wall somewhere. What do you think?

Neuschwanstein Castle

It really was a castle on a cloud as we approached Neuschwanstein castle for our tour that morning. The original photo is below. I removed a few distractions from the foreground, played with the lighting, and added some textures above.

A different view of the castle. Not quite as artsy, but a little more texture for drama.

original:

This cathedral was in Salzburg, Austria. The sky was glorious in the original, but the building was too dark. I lightened it up, and again added texture.

original.

I loved Europe, and could probably find a dozen more pictures to work on, but for now, I'd love to hear your feedback on these!

Beach Day

This is probably my favorite photo (straight from the camera) from our Memorial Day beach trip. I don't think it counts for I heart Faces this week, since you can't see their faces very well. No one wanted to look at me when the ocean was on the other side. So I'm submitting this to I heart Faces but just for fun.

Sparks are flying

Love this photo, straight from the camera, I captured of my SIL and her new boyfriend! Perfect!

Sharing at I {heart} Faces this week &

Fix-it Friday

Just because I have nothing to do today (ha, ha), I decided I wanted to try participating in the Fix-it-Friday at the I heart Faces blog.

Here's the original. A pretty nice photo to start.

So I decided to go more artsy and went for a warm vintagy look. What do you think?

I edited in PSP X2, and layered a couple of textures I have created.

I heart Silhouettes

My daughter and friend on the trampoline. The theme this week at I <3 Faces is silhouettes. I was glad to catch the sunflare. In editing I intensified the color just a little to add some interest. I love your feedback!

I {heart} Laughing Children

This is my entry for this week's I {heart} faces photo contest.  The theme is laughter.  And the Pioneer Woman is judging!  This is a cute little girl I got to photograph at my workshop a few weeks back(see previous posts).  I appreciate feedback, since I'm pretty new to photography that isn't on auto, and adding texture, etc. to the photos.  It seems that my photos have a different quality when I post them here.  Should I be resizing them for the web?  Thanks for stopping by!

Handsome in a Hat

How cute is this little guy (my nephew) only a few months old?  I thought the hat was too adorable, so I'm entering this shot in this week's contest over at...

The theme is hats!

If you are visiting for the first time, you might want to check out my main blog--full of all kinds of crazy, crafty, and creative ideas.

Baptism finished...almost

Remember a few posts ago I was struggling with what to do with the text on this photo? Well this was my solution. I used only the first verse and played around with color, outline, font, and shadow, until I felt it was pretty legible. So I would call this project finished, but I have tried 4 times to upload it to Costco, and each time my browser freezes! Ah! The frustration! Can you think of anywhere else with a really quick turn-around that I can get them printed?

I Heart Her Face--Easter Pic

I posted a couple of cute Easter pics of my other children below, but I love this one of my baby girl, because it's a great pose and it is clearly Easter. I am submitting it to the Easter Edition of I heart faces photography competition this week. I had a bit of difficulty in editing her face since it is a bit shadowed by the hat, and would love any input you have to offer.


More cute Easter photos at 5 mins for Mom
If you are visiting my blog for the first time, you might be interested in my other blog:



Where I share all sorts of ideas about parties, crafts, home decor and projects, kids, etc.

Cute kids on Easter

I took these of a couple of my cute kids on Easter. I used two different texture layers on both of them. One to warm up the skin tones (shooting in shade) and the other to intensify and add dimension to the background. I'd love your constructive feedback!

I Like to Look for Rainbows--DigitalArt

My daughter is turning 8 and getting baptized this month. I wanted do something unique for an invitation. And this is what I have come up with so far.

We went to the park this morning and took this original.

I used lots of layers and textures to come up with this. But I wanted to include the lyrics to a favorite primary song:

I like to look for rainbows
whenever there is rain
and ponder on the beauty
of an earth made clean again.
I want my life to be as clean
as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can
and live with God again.
I know when I am baptized
my wrongs are washed away,
and I can be forgiven
and improve myself each day.
I want my life to be as clean
as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can
and live with God again.

So my dilemma is that I like the artsy look of the words over the photo in the first picture. Unfortunately, they are pretty difficult to read. So what do you think? Should I use a more clear text to clearly convey the lyrics, and lose some of the artfulness (is that a word?), or should the words be a subtle part of the overall picture.

Here's the version my husband likes that is easier to read. What do you think?

I'd love any other feedback you have to give. I am hoping to get these printed right away, so I need to make my decisions pretty quick.

I can't believe my baby girl is so grown up already!!! Doesn't she look sweet?

Photo Workshop Textures

We talked a bit about using textures at the photography workshop today. I love this picture and had fun experimenting with textures on it. Which one do you prefer? Please vote in the poll on the sidebar!
Picture A- Straight forward (a little moody blue feel)

Picture B-Subtle texture

Picture C-Lots of texture and warmth

I created the texture myself, but think it might be a keeper. What do you think.

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