Christmas a bit early

I know I know it is a bit early but the kids were super excited this year to start our decorating. I only have a few more weekends with them before Christmas so why not.

Taking advantage of the unusual weather

Since we are not bundled up in snowsuits and boots yet I took my girl out last weekend for a mini shoot, with two outfits. She so does not like having her picture taken right now.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

but sadly it is only the middle of October. This is just a quick snap I took off my back step while making supper.

The beauty of fall

I was bored last night so I grabbed my camera (50 mm lens) and went for a walk. I am just loving this weather and am blessed with beautiful scenery all around me. Now if we could just get rid of the mosquitos all would be good.

This is the field adjoining my yard.

Our leaves are not totally red and yellow yet. I played with the saturation and colors in the picture to make them pop more.

Kids, dogs, tutus oh what fun!!!!

My friend came out for September long weekend. She brought her dogs (Ally and Zinnie) with her. We had a lot of fun, celebrated my birthday and took tons of pictures.

Gone for too long

Sorry that I haven't updated my blog latley. Life took over for a bit but now I am back. So here are a few pics from my summer.

I was able to go to Greece for 5 weeks.

Why do the boys always get blessed with long lashes....

I finally got my 35mm 1.8 and did a few test shots yesterday. I also took pics of Isaac in his uniform so I could make a collage to put up on the wall with Savannah's that was done in Feb.

I must say it is a nice, sharp lens.

Here is the collage

Mother's Day and something new

We finally had some nice weather yesterday, beats the snow we had Thursday and Friday. What a mess that made.

It was so nice to get outside to take some pictures. I went out with my kiddos just after 1 so we were shooting in full sun unless it peeked behind a cloud or we moved to the shade of a tree or building in the yard.

I am also trying out a new watermark.

A new hobby......

This one is not mine. My son started taekwondo a few weeks ago and we travelled to another town for a lesson today. He was also able to get his uniform.

I ran into a few challenges while taking photos today. The main one is the foam floor alternates green and red so I had major color casts coming from the floor, mainly the red. The windows, I loved the windows since I was able to shoot with just natural light but everything was backlit so I had the background blown in a lot of the photos. My lens was my next challenge, I just have my 5omm and when they were at the far end of the studio it was not long enough. I really want the 85mm 1.8.

Color or black and white?

Sometimes it is such a hard choice.

Removing imperfections

OK so I use photoshop to edit my pictures and I am still learning the best way to do this. Now of course photoshop can do many many things and there is always talk about what is too much, of course who wouldn't love to lose that double chin and 10lbs LOL.

My DD was blessed with dark circles and bags under her eyes. You usually don't notice them but at times and esp in pictures they show up more than I would like. So I asked for help on one of my photography boards and had numerous volunteers give me a few ways to diminish these circles under her eyes.

After a few plays this is what I came up with. I am pleased with the result. The original picture is in the previous post.

Since we missed Easter pics here are a few springish ones

Tried to get some spring pictures today but my little miss had other ideas. Of course in most pictures when one is looking the other is making a silly face. No bribes worked for smiles today.

I did use my new backdrop, it is a king size velux blanket that I nailed to the wall. It was overcast so the reflector didn't work well and I had to pull out my sb600. I am still getting used to using a flash and not just natural light. I cannot wait until it stops snowing and we can do pictures outside again.

I was going through them again and missed this one the first go around. I actually captured a true smile.

She wanted to change her outfit but still would not smile. Isaac snuck in for this one but I didn't notice his choice of footwear until it was too late.

Unexpected visitors

My brother and his girlfriend made an unexpected trip up to my area this weekend so they came to visit me for the first time area. We braved the soggy and wet conditions of my yard to do a totally impromtu photo experience. I even had my brother snap a few shots of me. I am so excited that the weather is warming up and we can be outside to take pics once again. These are all in my yard.


The couple:

Some individual pictures:

I guess I will post a few of myself.

A month gone by......

I haven't been around, the weather has sucked and I have lacked inspiration to take pictures. I am hoping once our mounds of snow disappear I will be able to get outside and try a load of new things. I am really interested in adding a reflector to my outdoor pictures this year.

Other than some hockey pics I took for a friend my camera was off in the corner all month. Sad, I know. I did see my niece this month and had my point and shoot with me. I captured this picture as we were leaving the hotel.

The importance of snapshots

I admit, now that I am "into" photography I forget to pull out my camera and just capture the life and moments around me. There are weeks that my camera sits in its bag in the corner. This is not great at all. I am going to make it a goal to take it out a few times a week and just takes snaps, not every picture needs to be portrait quality.

Isaac and Savannah were snuggling on the couch this afternoon and I quickly grabbed the camera. I tend to get yellowish pictures in my living room so I did turn them into black and whites.

We had a very important event this week. My princess turned 3 and we celebrated her birthday today.

Her purple ballet slipper cake that she requested.