{christmas templates}

Merry Christmas Eve!

{stacked frames} w/more freebies!

I found this link from Carin for this vintage stacked frame which was a freebie from Melany and it is totally awesome! To process this picture I ran a defog action that I learned from a photog friend of mine (also free), thanks Julie! Then I ran an action called "Grungy" by Mulletgod's Action-A-Plenty which happened to be free. I reduced the opacity to where I liked it, then I ran another vintage action that I just love aptly titled "Vintage Love" by Autumn Love Actions, you can find her flicker group here, did I mention this action was free and finally I ran Totally Rad's, Demo TRA2-The Revenge "Slice Like A Ninja-(Sharpen)" which happened to be..., yep you guessed it, FREE. It was part of a sampling to entice me to buy the rest of The Revenge series, which I am totally tempted. Must save up for those though! Anyway, it pays to search for free actions on flickr and photoshop tutorials on the web. I've already learned a ton and hope to learn so much more. Enjoy!

{christmas photo shoot} an attempt anyway

This is a duplicate post from my family blog so if you visit both then sorry for the repeat. I originally wanted to post pictures that I tried really hard to make look good on this blog, but I decided that since I am new to photography and have much yet to learn I could share my feeble attempts at capturing the poetry of my family life here also.



****

Well, I am still learning alot about my old camera and it's settings, but it can be very frustrating at times. Like when you want to take your own family photo for Christmas cards which includes trying to get 7 people to look forward and smile without blinking or making silly faces. Not to mention trying to get the right settings on the camera in a low light setting and then having to use flash while trying to not over expose our faces or cause a glare from Jack's glasses. All the while running back and forth from the tripod to where I am supposed to sit after pressing the timer being careful to not knock over the camera in the process of getting into position after quickly making sure everyone is looking ahead and not at me and then brushing my hair out of my eyes before the camera "clicks". WOW, that is a challenge.


So....here are a few tries and the last one is the one we ended up going with even though Dan was alittle off to the side atleast we are ALL looking ahead, smiling and there is no glare from Jack's glasses. I only realized after I ordered the Christmas cards that I'd forgotten to change back into my red shirt I had picked out especially for the picture. Oh well, you can't have everything perfect.
These first two shots are SOOC, but the last one was sharpened over PW's fresh and colorful action.

{shining star}

This little beauty is not mine but belongs to a friend of mine. The star which happens to be the focal point of this picture (which was intended) does belong to me. It is actually the star that belongs on top of our christmas tree. We were having fun taking christmas pictures of her beautiful girls for christmas presents. More christmas pictures to come, it's my favorite time of the year!

{ring and water jug}

Just playing around with processing again.

{tagged}

Well, I've been tagged by Mindy over at Ladybug Farm. I'm not good at tagging people and since I don't think there are 7 people who read my blog I will just leave it open to whomever would like to play. If you do just leave me a comment and I'll check out the random book facts about you.

So here goes...I'm to leave 7 random or odd things about me relating to books.

1. I love the way books smell. I could literally stand in a bookstore and fan the pages before my nose and be in heaven.


2. I also love the way glossy book pages feel. I tend to rub the pages between my fingers while I'm reading.


3. I'm somewhat of a fast reader


4. I like fiction better then non-fiction


5. I'm a sucker for romantic books, but not the cheesy love affair kind


6. I got hooked on the recent best seller Twilight saga and am actually going to see the movie tomorrow night with my sister and a friend


7. I love the author Francine Rivers and would probably read anything from her

Well that's that...and since this is my photo blog I will leave you with a sunflare shot taken about a month or two ago before the snow hit.

{old and beautiful}

This is the picture that I entered in a contest on my flickr group. The picture had to contain a child with something at least 25 years old. So here is Grace with a sewing machine that is pretty old. It belonged to my husband's grandmother's mother (did you follow that LOL). His grandma is in her 80's and it was her mothers so the machine is well over 25 years old.

{ladybug}

Taken with my macro lens

{Veterans Day and Halloween pics}

I realize it is past Halloween but I just haven't had a chance to go through these pictures yet until now and since Adam was a soilder for halloween and today is veterans day I thought it would be perfect to start off this picture post with him saluting...Enjoy!

The {cookie monster} in me...

Yesterday I made some break-n-bake chocolate chunk cookies and then had some fun with my macro lens. I had to hurry and take these shots so I could taste these yummy treats and let me tell you they were yummy. I almost had to call my sister so she could talk me out of eating so many but I just couldn't make my self pick up the phone because I knew she would talk me out of it and I didn't want to be talked out of it. So I just stuffed my face and felt guilty about it later. I did save one or two each for the kids and Dan but quickly devoured the rest.

{my guitar hero} texturized

Sarah pretending to play the guitar. She does so quite well don't you think?

I am just loving this texture. I used it on the new header I created too. This shot was taken indoors on {M} mode f1.8 using my 50 prime. I had to turn the ISO up to 800 to get the right exposure which was fine because the texture overlay went well with the grain. For processing I used Courtney's beachy vintage on top of her funky vintage. Then I applied the texture using hard light and erased back her skin and topped it with Totally Rad's Troy which I totally love followed by a quick edge burn. What do you think? I made a new watermark as well (to match my header). The flower picture in the middle I created using Photo Impact and I thought it went well with the name since they kinda resemble daisies.

Let me know if I'm getting carried away with the textures. I tend to overdo things sometimes and since I am just learning I have a feeling that I am going to overdo every new thing I learn, but practice makes perfect right? Although I do need to practice more on getting the right picture straight out of the camera. Here is the shot SOOC

Any comments, suggestions, constructive criticism is appreciated. I know there are a couple pros who read my blog from time to time and I always look forward to their comments.

{another texture}

Here's another texture overlay that just rocks! I borrowed this texture from Carin and I am in love with it. It kinda looks old and scratched like a vintage photograph would. I can't remember which actions I used, but I know I used one of totally rads plus I believe one of courtney's vintage actions and coffee shops action to burn around the edges and then I used Carin's texture overlay. All these actions were free too and most were found on flickr.

This picture is my oldest son, Adam. We were vacationing in Canada at Old Woman Bay and my oldest daughter, Sarah tied these twigs together using all material found on the beach and spelled out his name.

{contest}

I entered this picture into a contest on one of my flickr groups. The contest was about your personal style and how you would describe that style in five words or less. My style description was part of my actual tag line....capturing the poerty of life...

Three winners were chosen and great prizes given away. I, of course, did not win, but I didn't expect to either. There were some pretty incredible entries. I didn't fare too bad though as I got two compliments and my picture was favorited twice! Meaning, two people thought my picture was good enough to put on their favorite pics list. I am so inspired by all the great photographers out there and it gives me the motivation I need to keep practicing and really find my unique style, a style that best fits my tag...because capturing the poetry of life is what I like to do.

{macro lens}

This is just a quick shot to show what my new lens can do. The lucky subject was my girls' Carebears Domino that was left on the table. Check it out, this was taken with my new 100mm macro lens, a special gift from a special person. Thanks again, you'll never know how much your gift means to me.

{another card}

Here's another template I've been working on using the same model, the cutie Coby. I had a fun mini session with him a few weeks back so I decide to pull up a picture to use for this greeting card. What do you think? The card could be used for birth announcements, holiday, etc... I've been thinking about designing our own family christmas card this year. I think it would be fun!

October Challenge {textures}

Here is this months Challenge brought you by Carin Davis from Create Workshop All about textures. I used my own texture (I just took a close-up picture of this crinkled paper) and applied it over my picture using the blending option of vivid light set at 61%. After I erased the texture from her face and neck I then applied a filter noise of gaussian monochromatic set at 7% and erased her face and neck again on 20% this time, which was exactly how Carin suggested on her site. I know I am not that creative yet to play around with the settings, but I am learning. Anyway, here is the texture I used and also the finished product. It isn't as dramatic as I would like, but it's my first attempt. Thanks Carin, for putting on these challenges!

{my nieces}kaylyn, jenna, lauren

Kaylyn Jenna

Lauren

Meet Charlie's sisters...My sister's three other beautiful children.

{my nephew} charlie

Isn't he a cutie? He is just a few days over 3 months old.

{christmas card}

Just a sample of a card I made using the same cute little model.

{more coby}

even though his face is blurry in this shot, I liked it because the focus was on his cute little butt. hee-hee!

{coby}

Just trying out some actions and practicing taking photos in manuel mode. I've got a lot to learn yet. It's great that I have friends and family with kids and five of my own to practice on.

{Tagged}

I've been tagged by Kim to list 7 things about me... I just did a similar list on my family blog (6 quirky things about me)

1. I love the way books smell. I have to smell every book or magazine I read.


2. I also like to feel book pages, my favorite is glossy paper. I like to rub the pages between my fingers.


3. I have to shake the milk before I pour it on my cereal.


4. I like syrup on my sausage, ham and bacon.


5. Sometimes I feel like sharp things are going to poke my eyes and I have to pinch the bridge of my nose or cover my eyes with something heavy to relieve the sensation.


6. I find that when I'm driving in the snow and nervous about pulling out in front of someone I lick my lips really fast.


7. I always rip off the end of the toilet paper in public bathrooms before I take some for myself.

And since my husband doesn't like it when I blog without including a picture, here is a b&w conversion of Ben. I used PW's fresh and colorful then a black and white gradient map followed by PW's lovely and ethereal set around 60%.

{kids}

These are mine..Sarah, Adam, Jack, Grace and Ben

{papers}

I've been practicing making my own papers for backgrounds like greeting cards, etc. This one was a bunch of doodles I made. Not sure about it though. It seems fun but my creative side is lacking something. What do you think for a first time creation?

{colors}

I've been practicing color popping actions trying to find one that does what I like. This one was a combo of sorts, what do you think?

{summer-captured} a challenge

Another challenge by Carin Davis Photography

Summer to me is climbing a tree....something I use to enjoy in my youth and now enjoy my own children doing. It's the first thing they ask to do when the snow melts, "Can we climb the tree?"

Summer to me is eating fresh corn on the cob...especially when it comes straight out of your very own garden. Grilled to perfection! YUM!!