Avoiding Dishes!

Growing Up Means Losing Teeth

2008-11-03T12:32:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-09-30T22:54:00.005-05:00

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

2008-09-27T08:59:00.002-05:00

Georgia Family Reunion

2008-08-31T23:41:00.008-05:00

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

2008-08-23T15:28:00.000-05:00

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!

2008-08-23T15:27:00.006-05:00

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!

2008-08-23T15:21:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-08-23T13:49:00.005-05:00

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!

2008-08-23T13:13:00.005-05:00

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

2008-08-23T12:50:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-17T22:00:00.007-05:00

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

2008-07-14T06:47:00.000-05:00

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

2008-07-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

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.

Summer Snapshots

2008-06-14T22:04:00.001-05:00

Some photoshop fun: I applied the watercolor filter to the above picture to get this pretty effect:

Photos of Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

2008-06-05T09:30:00.001-05:00

Garden of the Gods is a spectacular place! We recently visited there and I had a blast snapping lots of pictures.

I loved the orange and blue contrast created by the rocks jutting up into the sky.

I had fun with this large window at the visitor's center. Because the sun created a great reflection, I was able to photograph myself with the landscape of Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak behind me.

We visited the park in the late afternoon. It was beautiful, but I wanted to go back and get a couple of pictures in the morning sun. These were taken in the morning light:

What majestic beauty. I envy the people who wake up every morning to see this out their window. God's creative work is beyond description!

Blur Filter

2008-05-24T19:53:00.001-05:00

I recently posted on Sweet Tea Pleas e this picture of my kiddos with the neighbor kids and their dog.

Since I am still learning how to use Photoshop Elements, I am excited about any and everything I learn to do.

I took the above picture, created a duplicate layer by hitting ctrl J. I then applied the Gaussian Blur filter on it. Here is the result:

It kind of hurts your eyes to look at it doesn't it? I changed the opacity of this layer to about 50% before proceeding.

Next, I chose the eraser tool and enlarged the size of it until it was a size I liked. I pointed it on Shadow (the dog's face) and clicked. This erased the blur on the selected area, making the dogs' face the only part of the picture in focus.

I really like the effect. What do you think? I can see how this effect could really increase the interest in some pictures.

P-Bug!

2008-02-29T16:02:00.000-06:00

Having just recently acquired photoshop elements, I am slooowwwly learning how to use it! Some of the things I am playing around with are black & white, the sketch filter and opacity of a layer. So here are the results:

This is my niece, nicknamed p-bug. This is the original photo (not taken by me):

Unfortunately, I don't remember the steps I took to get each of these effects, but its fun to experiment. In the following, I was messing with the opacity of a layer:

With this one I was messing around with the sketch filter..I can't remember all the steps.

This was created with layers, masks, etc. I guess I should write down what I do while I'm playing if I plan to blog about it, huh?
I know this isn't a helpful or informative post by any means. But at least you got to see my beautiful niece!

camilia tree

2008-02-24T14:55:00.001-06:00

Not too long ago, I posted a photo of this beautiful tree shedding its leaves to create a fabulous carpet beneath it. Today on the way home from church, I saw this tree's red carpet. It was so pretty, I went home to get my camera so I could take some photos.

The Eyes Have It

2008-02-15T11:41:00.001-06:00

I just acquired Photoshop Elements on my computer. And even though I already have enough distractions from my everyday duties (I'm always looking for ways to avoid housework), I am now addicted to figuring out how to use it. Its a slow process, and the dishes are piling up!

This morning, I took a picture of my daughter so I could play around with the eyes. She has beautiful eyes, and I wanted to try out a technique I had read about on Pioneer Woman. Since this blog is my place to put all my fun without boring everyone who reads my "regular" blog, I will now post the results of my playing:

Before playing:

After playing:

What do you think? I think the second picture really showcases her awesome eyes and even highlights the cute freckles on her face.

Did I adjust too much? Do the eyes look unnatural?

My camera

2008-02-15T11:39:00.000-06:00

This is my camera:

It's a nice camera that my hubby bought me a couple of years ago. I love it. It takes good pictures. It's digital (which my previous camera was not), and it is small enough to fit in my purse.

But, its just a "point and shoot" and has limited megapixels and optical zoom.

I told you all of that as a HUGE disclaimer! I love to take pictures! I love to take pictures of the things I see everyday. I love to post said pictures on my blog. But as much as I would love to be a professional photographer, I'm not. I'm sure my pictures lack a lot that you knowledgeable ones notice. But I'm gonna post 'em anyway....cuz I like to....and I want to torture you....and I can..cuz this is my blog.........and I like pictures.......

So, today I noticed a beautiful Japanese Magnolia tree (or Tulip Tree, as I like to call them) near a local church. I couldn't resist stopping and taking some pictures. And I'm posting them here cuz I can and I like to torture you.....you get the picture.