Monday, August 29, 2011

And onto something different.

I've been working on a long, sentimental, sappy blog post for a little over a week and feel like I'm getting nowhere with it. It's probably for the best as I'm sure I would bore everyone with my childhood memories, so at this time, I'm putting it to rest and moving on.


Is she not one of the most beautiful babies in the world?! The other one being my Sarah...


Summer is almost over. I'm relishing in my last two days of summer break before I head back to work for the school year.
The air is cooler, it's breezier, and the sun is setting a bit earlier. Fall is on the way.

I hate to see summer end.


We've so enjoyed ourselves...

I love our memories.





Lastly, I spent some time with my closest friend the other night. She has such a beautiful family. There is so much love between the three of them and I think this picture captures it so well.



...I promise I'll be back again soon...;)









Tuesday, August 23, 2011

PSA: I will be back!

I upgraded to CS5 this past weekend and have been drowning in the possibilities it holds. I've Googled what seems like hundreds of tutorials and feel like I'm grasping way more than I ever did in PSE9...go figure. I'm loving the change and have actually been using CS5 more than Lightroom lately.

Anyway, I'm drowning in editing trying to finish up a senior shoot I did a few weeks ago before I take on another in the next few weeks. I'm loving it, but it's keeping me busy!

I have so many pictures to share and hope to get them edited and posted within the week! :)

Monday, August 15, 2011

Okay, one more post!

Micah came home from work and surprised me with this:


Antique Brownie...1939

...which is completely and totally awesome! I was so surprised and excited to own a vintage camera...and supposedly it works. I'll need a roll of film (or two) and then I'll take it out for a spin!

Anyway, I snapped the above pictures, and realized when I uploaded that I had completely forgotten about several others I had taken over the past week. Notice a trend? Yeah, this sort of thing has been happening a lot lately. :(

So, I present in pictures and words, our week:

I decided to try out the Bone seamless. Hannah, as per usual, was not a fan and sat for one picture, which I quickly snapped and prayed was in focus. Luckily, it was. Not tack sharp, but I'll take what I can get for the .02345983 seconds she sat nicely for me.
This tutu and leotard called my name at Target and I just had to have it...much to Micah's disdain.

Sarah sat a little nicer for me, but was much more interested in watching Hannah flit about than look at me and smile.

After naptime, Sarah and I like to sneak up to Hannah's room to greet her. This usual evolves into a sweet playtime between the girls. I love that.






The many faces of Hannah:





Hannah does a great job of entertaining her little sister.
I love this.

My beautiful, brown-eyed girl...

And finally, bathtime last night. Hannah didn't want to get her picture taken. Excuse my Dad's blue gym shorts. Hannah insisted he be in the bathroom during baths. She loves her Pap. :)


Happy Monday night out there! :)

Running on No Sleep...

This will be quick, as my eyelids are shutting as I type...problem is, it's 11:45am. Not the best time to need a nap. Oh well.

I downloaded a free 30 day trial of CS5 this weekend. I followed multiple tutorials and decided to play around with a few of the things I've learned.
Here's a simple "postcard" I created quickly. Don't laugh, the little pictures are not sized correctly, so if you look closely, you'll notice distortion. I'll know better for next time...

The girls...via postcard...


Eyes shutting in 3...2...1

Monday, August 8, 2011

Fun with Actions.

My new seamless paper arrived...Savage Coral and Blue Mist. I'm eh about them right now. I can't stand the horrid color casts they throw. I'm not sure if there's a way around this other than editing (which I hate). More research will need to be done in this area.
See the pink color cast? Blech.

I tortured the kids by making them sit on the paper and have their pictures taken. Sarah is always a willing subject, most likely because she doesn't have a choice...;) Hannah, on the other hand, has decided recently that she does not like or want to have her picture taken. She's been rebelling against the whole idea of it, actually. Most shots I have are of her crying, starting to cry, looking straight up at the ceiling when I've begged asked her to smile, or of her back. What can ya do?
Hannah, look at Mommy and smile!

Sarah modeling on Savage Blue Mist...I'm taking advantage of this before she realizes that she also has better things to do than pose for a picture!
I absolutely love her face in this one!
So I played and created a preset...like?
Vintage-y, no? I'm still deciding if I like it, or if it needs a bit more tweaking.

I have several more to post, but I'll have to do that at a later date.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Card Dump.

I love finding a memory card in my camera bag. I love it even more when I find that I've forgotten to upload it's contents. It's like finding a gem. A day's memories all but forgotten...then rediscovered when uploaded to the computer.
Today I found two cards...both holding treasures from several days ago.
Lunch is always fun
I love my pink kitchen (totally kidding) because it creates the most horrific color casts on my subjects when I bounce my flash off of it's walls. This girl was too lazy to mess with the white balance, etc. to get the color improved on the above images.

I found an awesome chair on Craigslist that I scored for $10. It's a vintage (I'm guessing circa 1950's or 60's??) wooden chair that I used for a senior shoot I did last week. Hannah was my model while I tested it out!
Sarah sat in the family room just taking it all in...
I know she's mine, but seriously...how cute is she?!

End of 4gb card...beginning of 8gb card...
Aha...I knew these pictures were somewhere! Alas, I have found them...on the 8gb card that was hiding in my purse.

Sarah fell asleep on my Dad last week at our FHGI meeting. I guess the soothing sound of her Daddy playing the guitar and singing was relaxing enough for a quick catnap. Needless to say by the look on his face, Pap was melted by his girl. Seriously, love...distortion and all.

After worship that night, we ventured outside to watch the amazing awesome firework show that our neighbors put on every year. Seriously...the grand finale probably cost them more than my car...
All hand-held at very low shutter speeds...because I was too slow and lazy to get my tripod...
P.S. Composition? What is that?! :wink:
I could kick myself, though. I had adorable pictures of Hannah and Sarah watching the fireworks...being passed from person to person to catch the best view. Unfortunately, I didn't upload those pictures and went to my senior shoot without an empty card...I had to pick one to empty, so it was the one with those pictures on them. That ought to teach me a lesson to upload my pictures after every day. I'm sorry to have lost them. :(
But, I must say that Hannah greatly enjoyed her first fireworks show, and still talks about them. "Fireworks go BOOM BOOM!" She says.

Completely out of focus, but it's a Mom shot of Sarah, and I love it. She's chewing on a piece from their medical kit...future doctor? Still not sure. ;)

And...I found Hannah this ADORABLE shirt at the mall a few weeks ago. The smallest size they had was a 3T (and my girl is 22 pounds at 2 years...so that's a stretch) but I bought it and decided I'd make it work!
Not only does it fit, she loves it! And really, how much more perfect could it be?!
Although she likes her camera shirt, she does eventually grow tired of my camera in her face...
Proof that you can still get yucky pinlights in your eyes with a speedlite. This was a result of the overhead lights in our hallway.
Hiding in Sarah's room.
Behind the curtain in the spare bedroom.
Random bathtime picture. Excuse the food on her face.
My little bookworm...

New seamless is "Out for Delivery" today! Yay! Thank you, Amazon gift card! Prepare yourself for what I'm sure will be an obnoxiously long seamless post within the week!

I currently have a child under the desk at my feet and one napping in the swing. I keep wondering where my computer mouse is off to, only to find Hannah pulling the "fwing" (string) under the desk.
Best to be done before equipment is damaged!

Enjoy your weekend!