Growing Up Means Losing Teeth

Lost a tooth!


Lost another one!



Photos taken with Sony DSC-H7, contrast and color boosted with photoshop.
Used this technique with her eyes.

Good Morning, Son!

There was a little bit of "north facing light" coming through the blinds this morning. It was shining a soft light on our little man who was sleeping so peacefully. I couldn't resist the opportunity for a picture of my sleeping angel. I slowly opened the blinds some more to get just the right amount of light. The light woke him up. He opened his eyes, stretched....



then turned over and went back to sleep!


Ah! The peace of sleep!

Our Little Hunter

Georgia Family Reunion

Here are some random pictures I took at a family reunion on my hubby's side of the family.

our niece

our son loved his lunch so much, he smeared it all over his face! :)

(the ten-layer cake that my hubby ate and I drooled over)

another niece...I'm always threatening to take her home with me!

one of the family members

Beach Portraits: Vignettes

As in every family, there are fun stories and/or facts about the members of our family. While I was trying to get a good picture of all the girl cousins, I snapped this candid that I really like. Its not really a great quality photo, but it captures a story.

These girls are the first girl grandchildren in the family. And they were born nine months apart from each other(it was a busy two years in our family). The cousin on the left is the oldest. Nine months later my daughter (the one on the right) was born. Then nine months later,the blond in the middle arrived. Its been fun to watch them grow, dress them alike at Easter, etc. I look forward to lots of pictures of the three of them together as we watch them grow up.


This cousin, "B", was born right before my hubby and I got married. During the first years of our marriage, we lived near his family. As a result, I watched him grow up. Now that I have a son, I see so many similarities between the two of them. You may not see it so much in how they look (although they are obviously from the same genes), but the way my son acts just like his older cousin did amazes me.


This picture shows "B's" dad and older brother. While photographing all the kiddos, I glanced up to see these two standing next to each other. I swung my camera around to capture the like-father-like-son pose!

Beach Portraits: Here's What Everybody Really Wanted to Be Doing!

I was very pleased with how all twenty-two members of the family took a relaxed and cooperative attitude toward all the photo taking. But once the formal stuff was over, it was obvious that they'd been dreaming of playing in the sand the entire time.

Here's Uncle Ripp with his two kiddos:


Then the cousins discovered an abandoned sandcastle. They started their own digging and building projects:


And while these shots aren't really good, the kiddos had lots of fun doing it:

Beach Portraits: All The Grandkids!

Here's a picture of all the grandkids together. I've come to the conclusion that its impossible to get all the kids to be happy and cooperative at the same time! That's ok, I still like the photo!

Beach Portraits: Just The Boys!

This is my favorite of the boy cousins. I love the grass and sand. And aren't these handsome boys?


Here they all are taking a look at the ocean. The hands in their pockets make me grin; especially the younger boys. Its like they are trying to be so grown up.


Again, aren't they handsome boys!

Beach Portraits: Just the Girls!

It's fun to me that of the ten grandchildren in my hubby's family, there are five girls and five boys. My children love their cousins and have such a great time on the rare occasions they all get to be together. As you can imagine, any family photo opportunity must include pictures of the grandkids.

Here is a picture of just the girls:

Joel's sister, Dawn made the matching pillowcase dresses and his sister, April made the hair bows. I love how cut they all look! And the white and pink are perfect with the blue of the sky and sea.

I played with the black and white here. I converted the photo to black and white, then "erased" the black and white on the ribbons of the dresses to allow the pink to come through.


See the man walking the beach? I tried as hard as I could to shoot in a way to avoid seeing the other people on the beach. But it just didn't happen every time.

Thank goodness for photoshop! Here is the same photo after applying the "healing brush"(and a few adjustments to contrast and color).


Here's another edit in photoshop just for fun. Have I ever mentionned that I DON'T know what I'm doing? I DO know I'm having lots of fun!

Beach Portraits: The Whole Family

My hubby's family is a big one! He has four sisters all of whom are married with children. Add in Nana and Papa and that makes twenty-two family members. We are rarely in one place at one time, so a recent family vacation was the perfect opportunity for family pictures. I was very nervous about how these would turn out. After all, any photo attempt that includes ten children is trouble waiting to happen. As it turned out, everyone was very cooperative.

So here is our favorite of the group shots:


I can't just let the photo go. I'm addicted to playing with photoshop. Just for fun, I changed all but the water and sky to black and white. It's not something I'd hang on the wall, but its a fun picture.


And because I just had to play some more, this one is converted to black and white with reduced opacity. Just a touch of the color is coming through the black and white.

I don't pretend to know what I'm doing, but I sure do have fun taking pictures. Here are some of the tips I learned (with the help of my friend, Lynn) for taking portraits on the beach:

*Evening shots are the best.
*Use your tripod for best results.
*Put the sun behind you with soft, setting sunlight on the faces of your subjects.
*Don't use flash.
*Watch for unwanted shadows on faces.

*Before sun sets but still low in the sky, use Fstop between 3.5 and 4.5; ISO 100-200. This will make sharp and clear photos.

*As the sun sets, change Fstop to between 2.8 and 3.5; ISO 200-400. This makes a softer photo.

*After sun sets, use the lowest Fstop on the camera; ISO 400-800. These photos will have soft edges.

My Little Man and Photoshop

I just wanted to post some of the fun I've been having with photoshop. This photo was taken of our son a couple of Sunday mornings ago. This shirt has a pink stripe in it, which bugs my hubby. That's why I took the pictures of our son in it!

Anyway, the photo on the right is the original photo. The one on the right is enhanced by photoshop. I used the auto contrast, unsharp mask, adjust hue/saturation and omni light features.




















Here is the same photo converted to black and white.

Here's another shot: the original is on the left, the right is converted to black and white!

Portraits at the Beach

There is no better subject in my photos than my children. There aren't many better settings than the beach. So I took the opportunity during a recent stay in Destin, Fl. to photograph my children.

Beach Beauty

I love the beach! Of course, I also love the mountains, the prairies, the big cities, the farm and more. I am grateful that God is such a creative God that He created variety and beauty. He is so gracious that He allows us to enjoy it. I have been privileged to see a good bit of the U.S. this year: we have driven from south Alabama to Colorado and back, we've been to the beach in Florida as well.

Every time we travel, I am struck by the awesome power and grace of God. I can't resist trying to capture the beauty we see with my camera. I'm not a pro...its just for my own pleasure, but I want to share some photos of God's creation here. I hope you'll praise God for his creative power and grace as you look at them.