Faith, Hope, Love & Photography

Yet another giveaway - Lands End Backpack

2010-08-04T23:37:00.001-04:00

Ok, its sad I know that all I have blogged about anymore is giveaways. But really I have been SO busy this summer. I have been posting over on the photography blog, so you can go check that out. But for now here's another giveaway. Beth at I should be Folding Laundry is giving away a Lands End Backpack. LaneyBug starts kindergarten this year and would TOTALLY love this bright pink one they have with pretty pink flowers on it!

Check it out here http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com/2010/08/its-giveaway-day-lands-end.html

Another Newborn Posing Guide Giveaway

2010-07-31T10:10:00.003-04:00

They're doing it again! Someone is giving away a newborn posing guide, and I want it. (ok I'm really not as willy wonka whiny rich girl.. what was her name... as that sounded.. but I do want it!)

Check out the giveaway at Inspire Me Baby

Newborn Posing Guide Giveaway

2010-04-23T16:25:00.003-04:00

For a while I've been trying to find books and information on newborn Posing techniques. I love the squishy sleepy baby poses, and I want to be able to do them without roughing up the baby too much! I stumbled upon this newborn posing guide today and would LOVE to win a set of these cards. Check them out... they're pretty cool!

http://4theloveoffocus.com/blog/new-vendor-win-a-newborn-posing-guide/

How do I serve? The photography edition

2010-03-17T21:40:00.005-04:00

"Tell us how you love, serve or inspire other people in your life, and what attending the workshop might mean for your photography journey. You don’t need to have a business to enter. Whether you are a pro, semi-pro or hobbyist with an SLR, I am so, so excited to hear your story!"

I've been putting this off for a long time. I don't know what to write. Sure, I could write a laundry list of ways that I've helped people, inspired people, taught, loved, listened...

But I won't.

I {can't}.

I've never been the kind of person to be able to talk myself up. During an interview, I get nervous... not the "can I really get this job?" type of nervous, but because I always dread that one question... "What makes you stand out over anyone else?" I don't like talking about myself. I don't like feeling like whoever is listening to me is thinking that I'm bragging and have a big head.

But since this contest is all about telling how we serve and {inspire}, I am going to try. Here is my official entry.

My journey with photography didn't start like most. I didn't grow up with a camera in my hands. In fact, I have very few photographs that I took when I was young.I never even had a camera until I was 22. My first camera was, at the time, my favorite toy. A wonderful little 3.2mp HP Photosmart Digital P&S camera. It took wonderful photographs and I still have some of them for sale in local businesses. I would take the occasional snapshots at family gatherings, but that was about the extent of my photography interest even then.

It sounds silly, but it was batteries that got me into photography. I was working at a local campground and was irritated that my camera's batteries weren't staying charged for very long. I was told by someone at my local office supply store that they would stay charged longer if I would let them drain all the way, charge them, and let them drain again... over and over, 3 or 4 times.

So I did.

And I loved it.

Finally one day a guy I worked with, who happens to be a photographer, started giving me tips for taking better pictures.

And that was it.

I was hooked.

I enrolled in a local college class. I decided I wanted to be a photographer. I wanted to take portraits. I wanted to do it all.

And I DIDN'T want people to have to put up their first born for my services. I wanted to be affordable. I wanted people who couldn't afford the expensive photographers in my area to still get great photos!

And you know what? I took a lot of flack for that. I've heard it all, too. I've heard the "you'll never make it if you charge that", the "well good lucks" with an eyeroll....

But you know what else? I did it. Together with my mom we've made enough money to upgrade some of our equipment, furnish a studio and keep going. This summer we have 5 weddings and a ~~funeral~~ (sorry, I couldn't help it) good handful of senior portraits scheduled... and I can't wait!

I love working with the people I work with. They are so down to earth, so real. I love seeing the look on their faces when they see their portraits and know that they are just as good (or so they tell me!) as the expensive photographers, and I love the look in their eyes when they are relieved that they don't have to worry about how they are going to pay for their portraits.

I'm not even sure why I decided to enter this contest. I decided at the last minute, and all my writing here has probably just been rambling. I'm sorry for that. I do know that the world of photography is an ever changing one and that we, as photographers are always learning. Since taking that first photography course, I have completed the Course in Professional photography through the New York Institute of Photography, but I have so much more to learn.

It has been my dream for a long time to attend a photography workshop, especially here in Michigan. I don't get to work with many photographers, as there aren't very many in my area. To network and socialize and learn with other members of the photography community and not have to go very far to do it would be wonderful.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! If you'd like to read more wonderful stories, click here. I hope a link is ok... I couldn't get the button to show up!

I'm a millionaire!

2010-01-21T14:07:00.004-05:00

Or so says the Microsoft Email Lottery Committee, headed by one Mrs. Janet Sharp, stationed in England.

Wow! What to do with my newfound wealth?

Well, for one, I will buy a house, with a beautiful back yard and a nice large studio space out back. Yeah... that'll work. Then I'll pay off my car....

But wait.. it wouldn't be right if I didn't travel to Englad to thank Mrs. Sharp. I mean afterall, she is the head of this lottery. She is the one who took so much of her personal time to notify me in a 6 paragraph email that I had won her lottery. It must have been a pain for her to type all that gibberish about ticket numbers and cashier's cheques. I would feel bad if I didn't personally thank her.

But then again, maybe I'll just wake up, go back to work and delete the trash out of my spam folder... yeah.. that sounds good.

Do people seriously believe that stuff? What are some of the crazy/weird trash emails you have gotten lately?

The one where I am happy, sad and royally annoyed!

2010-01-17T22:27:00.005-05:00

It has been a whirlwind of emotions for me lately. If not for all that has been going on, I would swear I am Bi Polar.

If you follow me on Facebook or follow my Photography blog, you already know that I opened my photography studio. I am so friggen excited about this, you don't even know. I have been busy getting things ready, which has also turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

You see, on Monday, I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends in the world. Pardon me while I step away to cry... I thought after a week, I would at least be able to type that, afterall, I have been OK with saying it. Around Christmas time, my awesome little Scottish Terrier started limping. Thinking he'd slipped on the ice, we took him to the vet... just in case. They took some X-rays, gave us some anti-inflamitories and told us it was probably just his arthritis acting up. Even then though, I knew it was something more, but I figured he had just pulled a muscle or something. After a week and a half when did didn't get better, we took him back. The vet told us that since the meds they gave us didn't work, they wanted to try steroids. Still nothing, so back to the vet on Monday. They wanted to put him out so they could get better X-rays.

It took them only about an hour to call back... He has cancer. I knew right away that we would not be bringing him home. I guess its a feeling I had had all along, even with the first vet visit... that our time with him was coming to an end, but that still doesn't make it any easier, and any less shocking to hear what was actually causing his problems.

So we decided that we couldn't take him home and watch him be in pain. It was bad enough watching him limp around when we thought it was just a bum leg, how do we watch him hobble in pain every day, knowing this could kill him at any instant (I mean, it got to the point the day before we took him in the last time that he'd have to lay down and rest 2 or 3 times from the living room to the back door to go out and pee!). The vet also told us that usually if they have it in the bone, they have it in at least 3 or 4 (sometimes as many as 6!) other locations throughout their body. She told us we could take him home, put him on pain medication and he could stick around for 4 or 5 months, we could bring him back in a few weeks or we could bring him back the next day because it was so bad. So we decided it would be best to let him go.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you question if what you are doing is the right thing? Yup, totally happened. They had him all ready, had an IV in to give him the drugs.

They.

Wouldn't.

Go.

In.

They actually had to take him in the back, start another IV and start the whole process over again. The fact that he never once made a peep and could have cared less that they were sticking a needle in his foot (he absolutely HATED having his feet so much as touched) was the only thing that kept me knowing we were doing the right thing. My boy, the fat boy that I picked out of the litter when he was 3 months old, silently slipped from his pain with his head in my hand.

Not having him here has been hard. I cry at the stupid things (like when mom got a bowl of ice cream (THAT... along with the cheetos in the cupboard will have to go!) or when I almost stepped in puppy poo today!) and haven't had one night that I've gone to bed without crying. I never thought I would ever be so emotional about an animal. I tell ya what... he was my baby... I love you, Winston.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Last week I got the lettering done on my studio door! Yay.... Not.

You see, it was wrong. It was too big, it was not the font I had chosen, it wasn't even the correct color. I'd like to know what happened to proofing? Did that go the way of the VCR?

My thinking is that when I do a job for someone, I want them to be happy with it before its set in stone so I don't have to redo it, wasting my time and money to correct mistakes that could have been avoided.

Apparently not everyone thinks this way. That saddens me.

I brought it to the attention to the guy who made the lettering. This was our conversation.

Me: I do have a couple of issues with the lettering. The font for our studio name is great. It's exactly how it should be, however, ShutterBugs should be all one word, which it is not, and also the word "photography" and the phone number are huge, and are not the font I chose.

Letter Dude (henceforth referred to ad LD): Well I did the font bigger so it could be seen from the street.

Me: *thinking* with that font, it'll be seen from the expressway. *actually saying* well it's very overpowering. I'll see what it looks like tomorrow after the backing comes off, but I'm not sure I like it (I've since decided I can settle for it.. mind you, that doesn't mean I like it). Also, the ones you did for our cars... on was supposed to be gold and one silver (they were white).

LD: I don't remember that.

Me: Yup. We decided that because mom wanted Gold to match the gold on her car and silver to match the silver/gray on my car.

LD: Oh Yeah. Well my computer.. making up excuses about his computer not working and that the lettering program was the only one he could get to work right....

Me: *wanting really badly to say* Well if you would have sent me a proof like you said you would, we wouldn't have any of these problems now, would we?

So bottom line. I'm getting my gold and silver lettering... someday....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yesterday there was an article in the newspaper about My studio opening. I don't read the newspaper much. I get so annoyed with errors in text, both spelling-related and grammatically. My theory is that if you went to school for 4+ years to learn how to write, you should know how to write. But apparently that isn't the case anymore, and apparently they don't teach journalists how to check & verify their sources anymore, nor are there any editors anymore.

I read the article and the first thing I notice is that she only mentioned that *I* was an EMT, not mom. Ok, no biggie, I guess. Then mom calls me from work "did you notice the address is wrong. Nope, I didn't. But that doesn't surprise me. At least they said where it is and most people know where it is.

Then last night, as dad is reading the article he says "your phone number is wrong." Since we'd already told him about the address, I thought he was being smart. Oh no... our phone number.. pretty much what we rely on for our business (other than our website, thank god they got that right!) was wrong. Freaking great...

So I emailed the woman who wrote the article. Here is her reply.

Word.

For.

Freaking.

Word.

"Sorry for the mistakes. Will talk with Beth and see what we can do to fix it. Do you have another picture you can send me for your business? Could put it in paper with address and phone info corrected. Either way, will let you know how it will be fixed and get back to you. Thanks, Kristin"

I'm not kidding.

I wouldn't make this stuff up!

Now I understand how she messed up the article. I should go back through and spell check it. I guess I just don't understand how someone, acting as a professional could write an email like that, especially an apology. It baffled me. "Sorry for the mistakes"? It sounded more like "sorry I took the last cookie!" and whatever happened to the word "I"? As in I will... or I could... or again... I will...

Seriously...

We shall see what happens with that... I'm totally not done with her.

Oh yeah... did I mention that my brother-in-law may need a heart transplant? His heart is only beating about 24 times a minute at 25% capacity.. nice!

So that's what's been going on in my world. So far 2010 has been a whirlwind. And just so I don't have to leave you sad, I will leave you with a couple of Chunky Monkey's latest amusing tales....

Tonight I went to my sisters to help her hang pictures. When I walked through the door LaneyBug starts telling me a story... Chunk chimes in with "Achow, I aw arah at tasie's" aka "Rachel, I saw Sara at Stacie's"

Later, he was running around the house, so I quickly ducked down behind the counter. He comes out in the kitchen, stops and asks my mom "air's achow?" and keeps saying "air's achow" Finally, he comes around the corner and I jump up and yell "BOO!"

He looks at me and goes "Achow! Ewe Ared Me!"

CM has one of those big Tonka trucks that he likes running around the house pushing. When my dad came in from the garage, CM comes running out and says "PAPA awtch dis!" and proceeds to tear around the house with the truck... all I could think of was him in 20 years out in the boonies with his friends and a big truck saying "Hey guys, hold my beer and watch this shit!"

New Year, New Opportunities to... fail?

2010-01-03T12:46:00.003-05:00

With every New Year, brings the dreaded R word... Resolution. This year I am not making resolutions, but rather I am going to set goals. Do new things, meet new people... and have fun doing it! This way, if it doesn't happen, if I fail... I am not as disappointed.

This year, I will...

1. Be Healthier. I am not going to go on diet. I am however going to wake up in the morning and work out. I love Tae Bo. I Just got out of doing it. I am going to start again. Every morning before I go to the studio, I will work out. I will also stay off my bum all day. I got in the habbit of sitting at the computer playing and working all day. This year I will be more active, both physically and mentally. Even if it is as simple as organizing my studio or taking the computer down there to work at the desk. I will be out of the house.

2. Speaking of my studio... have you heard? I am opening my photo studio! This is something I have dreamed of since I started my journey in Photography. Right now I am moving in and organizing. I am taking appointments, and booking for later this month. I am hoping to make this year the most successful in the history of ShutterBugs Photography.

3. As of Next Tuesday I will be a member of the Little Traverse Choral Society. This is something I have ALWAYS wanted to do. I don't consider myself to be socially anxious, however I do get nervous in new situations. I have no problems performing in front of people, but it's that initial contact that gets me. I'm always afraid I will be late because I don't know where I am going and everyone will ridicule me, or that I'll make a fool of myself by falling in the parking lot, or showing up at the wrong time. But I have a friend who will be there with me this time, so hopefully all will be ok!

I'm sure I'll add to my list as the year goes on. This isn't a set in stone sort of thing, nor is it an absolute promise that I'll stick to everything. I like to set realistic goals, though, and I think these are definitely things I can make happen.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, 2010 should be a great year!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

Published!

2009-12-21T12:31:00.009-05:00

**HOPEFULLY THE LAST UPDATE**
The articles are all back on the magazine and the site seems to be working well. There were many articles missing. Thanks Laura for letting me know you couldn't get there this morning so I could let Brent know. All the links to the magazine, article and gallery should work correctly now.

**UPDATE AGAIN**
It has been brought to my attention that the link to my article no longer works, and that it isn't listed in the contents of the magazine either. I've got a note into Brent about this and hopefully it will be fixed soon. The good news is the magazine seems to be working better now. The heavy traffic from a couple of very popular blogs yesterday overloaded the server and caused it not to respond correctly. So while you're waiting for my article to come back, go read some of the other great information included in this issue!!

**UPDATE**
If you tried to get to my article today and had problems, try again now. The site got overloaded due to all the traffic from MckMama's Blog!!

**Original Post**

A couple of weeks ago, after I wrote this post, Brent Riggs sent an email out saying he wanted to do a photography issue of Serious.life Magazine to be published before Christmas. He and I exchanged a few emails, and the issue published today,including my article on Posing Hands.

Check it out, if you get the chance. I also have a small photo gallery in the magazine. Be sure to go through the whole magazine as it has a ton of great information from some other really great photographers (including one many of you probably will recognize), as well as a lot of other fun and interesting articles.

Thanks again Brent!

Christmas Memories

2009-12-17T23:09:00.003-05:00

So there is this contest on another blog that I entered. She's giving away a cute little apron and chef's hat. Wouldn't LaneyBug just look adorable in that!?

In order to enter the contest, you're asked to leave a comment with your favorite Christmas Memory. I have a lot of wonderful memories of Christmas. Really, I don't have any {bad} Christmas memories... ok so there was one Christmas I was sick, but still, it wasn't THAT bad.. I mean, by dinner time, I {was} able to eat mashed potatoes.

After reading some of the comments I am reminded of other great Christmas memories.

Going to the Christmas Eve candlelight service. The whole dynamic of Church changes on Christmas Eve. The kids are quiet, yet excited because they know Santa will be there soon. The chatter is minimum as everyone takes in the wonder of what it must have been like that night so long ago in Bethlehem. But I think the best part of the night is the very end of the service, when the lights go down, candles are lit and we all sing silent night. There is something about the quietness, the stillness as everyone quietly sings those verses that I just love.

After church, we'd all come home, quickly change into comfy clothes, jump in the car and run down to the gas station to get hot chocolate (or as we got older, cappuccino... or if you're like me.. hot chocolate {mixed with} cappuccino) to take on our Christmas Lights ride. We'd all (Dad, Mom, my sister and I.. and even LaneyBug the year SHE was born) ride around town, looking at all the light displays. And even though every year they were all the same, and we knew all the people who lived in the beautifully lit up houses, it was still magical.

When we got home, we'd all come in and just sit in the quiet. There's just something about Christmas Eve.. the TV can be on, the Scanner (in our house the scanners and pagers are ALWAYS on) and still there is quietness in the air.

Every year, mom would buy my sister and I pajamas for Christmas (this year, she even let us pick them out on our Black Friday excursion!). Finally, one year we were able to convince Mom one year that we needed to be able to open the package with our PJ's in them on Christmas Eve, so we could wear them on Christmas morning. So that became a tradition.

When it was finally time to go to bed, it was just too much to sleep.. yet at some point we must have, because I would always wake up in the morning to a brand new stuffed Christmas animal in my bed (ok... so usually by the time I woke up, the poor thing was on the floor because I am a wild sleeper!) To this day, I have a hard time going to sleep on Christmas Eve.. the magic is still there. I always blame not being able to sleep on the fact that we always left the Christmas lights on, both on the tree and outside. Don't tell anyone, but that's not true ;) Even though I do sleep much better in the dark, those lights always remind me of the magic of the night and I can't help but NOT fall asleep.

Our Christmas morning tradition was always to open our stockings first. After that, mom would go out and put the Cinnamon rolls in the oven. They were always done just as we finished opening our gifts. After we ate, we'd call friends and family or wait for them to call us, then the rest of the day was full of playing with all the new things until it was time to have our steak dinner. Because our large family always had our Christmas about a week before, when everyone could get together, Christmas Day was just a day to lounge in our new PJ's and enjoy the day together.

Over the years, things have changed but some of our traditions still remain. Now, Christmas Eve is spent chatting over homemade pizza with the kids running through the house. We exchange gifts then, and head over to eat dinner with Grandma at the care facility.

But no matter what traditions we hold, the heart of the day is still always present. And there are a whole new set of traditions to form, and memories to be made.

What are some of your favorite memories? Post them in the comments, and also be sure to head over to the Indy Photography blog to enter her giveaway!

Friday Fourteen - Just because I can!

2009-12-11T19:09:00.002-05:00

1. How old are you: 27

2. What is your favorite color: Pink (if you didn't get that from looking at my background, you must be color blind) and purple!

3. Who was your first crush and when was it: My First crush was David Lascher from the Nickelodeon show Hey Dude... He also was the only reason I ever watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch and I have to admit, I got a little excited yesterday when a movie was coming on Lifetime and it said he was in it... I never did get to see him though, I ended up having something to do! Bummer!

4. How many blogs do you have: 2

5. Do you have a Facebook: Yep 2, one personal and a fan page for my photography

6. Do you have a Twitter: Yep

7. What's your BFF's name: Laura & Amber

8. What are your favorite clothing brands: I don't have any really.. but I'm kind of into my Rider's dark denim stretch jeans.. I bought them for "good" but have a hard time resisting them for every day jeans!

9. Do you put mascara on in the mornings: I don't wear any makeup at all, except for the occasional lip gloss.. but that's usually just when I'm going out or shooting a wedding.

10. What size shoe do you wear: It used to be exclusively 9. But either my feet are shrinking (which wouldn't bother me) or they changed the sizes, because I can wear a lot more 8 1/2 now.

11. If you had to pick one singer or band to meet who would it be: Reba McEntire!

12. Who is your crush currently: The canon 50D! ;D

13. When do you post on your blog: Whenever I post on it!

14. Tell us something random about yourself: Some BIG things are happening in my Photography world. Check back here often!

Yup! That's all I'm sayin'

I tag:

I just tag whoever wants to do it! :-)

Merry Christmas... well, almost.

2009-12-10T17:51:00.003-05:00

There was a great tutorial over on iHeartFaces today for making a Christmas card. I thought I'd show y'all my finished product. this was a photo I took a couple years ago for a Christmas card... the card didn't turn out nearly as nice as this! Head on over there to see the tutorial and make your own card!!

It's Official

2009-12-05T17:15:00.004-05:00

It's official. 3 days after our last 50 degree day and 10 inches of snow later, winter is finally here. For those of you, especially those of you who have kids, who live in "the south" or "out west" and long for snow even though you don't get to experience REAL winter...

Here's how winter really works!!

You've been sitting in the house all day with your kids. They have cabin fever, you know.. the whining crying, hitting, jumping on the couch, bouncing off the walls that happens this time of year. So you decide that since it FINALLY GOT TO 15 degrees today, to take them all outside.

Let's just say for the sake of fun (and the fact that this post was originally written as a comment to one of my favorite mommy bloggers who happens to live where it doesn't snow... Sorry Michele, no matter how much broccoli I can harvest in December, you couldn't pay me enough to live in the desert!) that you have 4 kids.. ages 5, 5, 5, and 4.

So you get them dressed. Two pair of pants, two pair of socks, an undeshirt and sweatshirt on your kids. Then put snowpants, boots coats, hats, mittens and scarves on EACH child...

IF you are lucky it will only take a half an hour or so, and they'll still be able to move... barely.

AND THEN someone will have to pee!

Guaranteed.

SO! Said child will get undressed while the others wait fairly patiently. He will then go in to go potty, taking his sweet old time while the others begin to squirm because they are getting hot, tired, and plain old sick of waiting. You'll tell them they can take off their hats so they stay cool.

They will all take of their gloves... the same gloves that took you 20 minutes to get on because nobody knows how to spread their fingers apart and PUSH!

Potty child will come back out. As your rushing him to get dressed, he'll get one foot half in a boot, forget to zip his snow-pants and his hat will be on crooked.

But you don't care!!

Because at this point you yourself have been dressed for 30 minutes. You are hot, tired, sweating (which will NOT be good when you get outside), and cranky.

FInally, you're all ready to go outside!!!

You get out there, get the sleds out, start a snowman...then 5 minutes later, it happens again.

One (or if you're LUCKY more than one) will have to pee.

EVERYONE BACK INSIDE!

Undress, wait your turn, hurry up, don't forget to flush, quit whining, wash your hands, dry them good so they don't get chapped, zip you pants, hurry and get your snow clothes back on, zip your pants, put your goves on, don't forget your hat, got everything? Good.

Finally you make it back outside. ONLY to discover someone left a hat or glove inside on the last potty break. SO back inside you all go to Retrieve the lonely piece of clothing. By the way... EVERYONE has taken their gloves off again.

But this time... the gloves are soaked! Their hands are soaked, swollen and red and it takes TWICE AS LONG to get them all back on! And really... they're not even all the way on.. the little heels of their hands are sticking out, but you tell them "just keep your coat sleeves pulled down and you'll be ok."

You make it back outside again... 20 minutes later...

"Mommy I'm cold"

"Ok everyone, who's cold!?" you shout across the yard. 3 kids look at you or come running, one wouldn't come inside if his hand was black and falling off!!

"5 more minutes and then we'll all go in. It'll be dark by then anyway!" Sounds like a good compromise right?

NOPE!

EVERYONE throws a fit. The 3 that are cold want to go in NOW, the one who's not ready is going to spend his 5 minutes sulking because he doesn't want to go in, rather than making the most of his time.

So you all go back inside. Kids get undressed while you're saying over and over and over "hang up your coat, put your mittens away, keep your boots over here so you don't get snow all over (because there is NOTHING worse than stepping on a pile of cold, wet snow in your socks!! just sayin')...

One child can't find his socks because they got stuck in his boots, one can't find her mitten because another picked it up, someone whacked someone else in the eye pulling off their snow-pants, so now we're all crying righting AND trying to undress. Then it happens...

One gets hit in the back of the head by a boot rocket because NONE of them can take off their boots without flailing a foot to shake it off. And he's about to go on the attack.

After breaking up the fights and making sure all their clothes are off, you are done right?

HA!

They go running off into the house... leaving you standing in the middle of a sea of winter clothes...

The ONLY benefit to taking kids outside in the winter:

Something about the winter air makes them SLEEP LIKE A FREAKING ROCK!

I blew it!

2009-12-02T22:52:00.003-05:00

NaBloPoMo was a rockin'... failure here at Faith, Hope, Love & Photography. Although I did do better than I thought I would. I only missed 5 days, and they were pretty much random days. Not like I just disappeared for a whole week!

Still...

I blew it!

Oh well... maybe next year.

Or not!

iHeartFaces Challenge - "WeHeartTooshies!"

2009-11-29T23:07:00.001-05:00

This week at iHeartFaces, they're taking a break from beautiful eyes and pearly whites and focusing on...well... the buttock! The bottom! The TOOSHIE!!

Here's a small version of my entry. To view the larger photo click Here.

Tis The Seaason

2009-11-27T21:03:00.003-05:00

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Brian Fairrington - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

This Year I did it. I went to bed early, got up at 4 a.m. and hit the After Thanksgiving Sales. I went with my mom and sister and we all got some pretty good deals. Although I think there will be some other good sales this year, it was fun to spend time with them like that. We went out to breakfast after, then we all came home and took a well deserved nap...

Shopping is hard work!!

You Capture - Food

2009-11-25T20:58:00.010-05:00

It has been AGES since I participated in You Capture. But how can I resist this week's theme... food?

It just so happens that I was in the kitchen today... and of course I photographed it. So this week's You capture is a combination entry/recipe.

Enjoy!

Turkey Cake Balls

Many of you have probably seen or heard of the Cake Ball, a concoction made famous by bakerella. This week I decided to try my hand at the yummy looking treats. They're quite easy, however they are very time consuming.

What you'll need:
1 cake mix, your choice of flavor
1 container of frosting, again your choice*
Almond bark or chocolate, melted (if you aren't making the turkey's, feel free to try the vanilla flavor or white chocolate melted)
candy corn
Peanuts, halved
Chocolate covered peanuts
A bit of icing (you can save a little from your container, you'll only need about a tablespoon) or white chocolate, divided and colored red and black

First make a cake... it can be any flavor, choose your favorite. I did a red velvet cake mainly because I'd never had it before and when I started I was planning something different than what I actually did... for what I did (and will show you.. just sit tight) I would have rather had either a Chocolate or Vanilla cake.

Let the cake cool completely. Since I spent most of the day yesterday baking, I just snuck my cake in then. Then I let it sit over night.

After your cake has cooled, crumble it in a large bowl. Add an entire container of frosting.. *I used cream cheese, and honestly, I will never use it again. It is WAY too rich once you dip the cake balls in the chocolate. Next time I'll just use vanilla.

Roll cake mixture into balls. If you are just doing balls, I'd make the quarter sized. I made mine golf ball sized and they were perfect for decorating.

Chill for several hours. You may put them in the freezer to speed up the process.

Melt your chocolate and dip the balls in once they've become stiff. Lay on wax paper to harden.

Dip chocolate covered peanuts in melted chocolate just enough to generously coat the back and attach to cake balls. Do the same with the candy corn and attach as feathers to the back of the ball. Dip just the ends of the peanut halves in the chocolate and attach to the underside of the ball. After the balls have set up, there should be a little indent that the peanut halves will slide right into.

Mix some reed food coloring into half of your frosting. Mix the other half to look black. Use a toothpick (or very small hole in a pastry bag) to dot on eyes and a gizzard.

Let the chocolate harden and enjoy!

Honestly I'll probably never make turkeys again. They are A LOT of work... I'll stick to something simpler next time!

What I Like About You - The LaneyBug Edition

2009-11-23T22:42:00.006-05:00

LaneyBug,

You are a beautiful spirit. A funny, inquisitive, intense little bit of a 4 1/2 year old. Your mind blows me away. The way you will ask a question about absolutely anything and then rationalize the answers in your own way.

I have always been honest with you. You have given me no choice. You will not take simple answers. You will not accept lies, or skating around the truth. When you ask why we have to wear our seatbelts, I don't tell you stories about how the police will take you away like some grown ups would. No, I tell you that we wear our seatbelts so that we are safe if we happen to have an accident; and that if we do not, the police would not be happy with us. When you asked me a million other questions I had a million other real life, honest to God answers. And you accept them so much better than lies, baby girl. I like to think that someday you will thank me for that.

Though you did not come from MY womb, you remind me so much of myself. Your determination to make something work, your passion for what you are doing can only last so long until you finally lose all sense of patients and blow your top. But you know what? You always try again, and to see the pure joy on your face when you get it... that is something I will never get over; something I could never, in a million years teach you if I didn't make you try (remember the day I asked you which way we should turn? You said right, but you meant left. You got so nervous that we were going the wrong way. The pure joy in your voice when you discovered that we'd made it to our destination is something I will never forget. You learned that day to trust... and I'll bet next time you say "left" too!).

I was there for every moment of your birth. I was scared when I thought I might miss it the first weekend you tried to appear. I laughed with mommy as you hiccuped inside her tummy at the hospital the second time you tried to come. And I cried as a watch your hair appear, and as I cut the cord, giving you a life of your own for the first time ever...all 5 lbs. 14 oz. of you! And I was worried and sad when you had to be under the billi light for a while, even though I knew it was the best thing for you.

I was there to see you sit for the first time, crawl for the first time... I was sitting right next to you when you pulled yourself up in my laundry basket for the first time. I took a picture when you knocked grandma's plant over, scaring the living daylights out of your poor little body!

I was even there when your mommy rushed you through the door after you'd knocked your teeth out sledding. I stayed strong while you cried, laughed when you said "I was sleddin' and I went under da snonodeel twailow an' I fordot to duck!" and I cried when you left. When you came back from the doctor, you were your normal self... until you saw a picture of yourself. I laughed trying to explain your missing teeth, but really I was trying not to cry over the fact that you were so upset about it... your first moment of vanity happened that night. It was the first time you realized that something about you was different and it was the first time you didn't like it. But you bounced right back, my girl. Just like you always do. We looked in the mirror, talked about how it was ok, they would come back and even that the tooth fairy would come, and you were fine.

I love coloring with you, playing babies with you, watching movies (your favorites have always been Shrek, Curious George and Monsters, Inc. (aka the monster movie) and reading with you... oh how I LOVE that you love books! I'll never forget the time I took your books away... you were about 18 months old and devastated that your beloved books were beyond your reach. But you know what? You never threw, stepped on or chewed on another book after that. You have a great respect for the things around you, and I love that about you.

I can see a lot of me in you baby girl. Your quiet nature, your willingness to step aside when your brother needs to be the center of attention...which happens quite a lot, I know! You are shy, you are sweet, but goofy and stubborn at the same time. Don't ever lose that, but stay strong, LaneyBug. Never let anyone push you aside or walk all over you.

You may not have had the greatest entrance into this world, and you will always have hurdles to overcome, but I wouldn't have it any other way, baby girl. You are my joy. You are the strong, sweet, GOOFY little thing that I always hoped you would be. I only hope that with each day that passes you will stay strong, sweet and goofy. You will have a long road ahead of you. Life will not be easy, but I have every faith in the world that you will succeed.

I may just be your Auntie, but I love you as if you were my own. I can't wait to see what the next years bring. We have so much left to discover, so much left to learn. You are my girl, LaneyBug and I love you SOOOOOO MUCH!

Love,

Rach

If you want to hear God laugh...

2009-11-22T21:55:00.002-05:00

I've been dreaming about owning my own photography studio for well over a year now. I've been imagining how vacant spaces in my town would be "the perfect place for a studio." I've been picturing in my mind one particular building with backdrops hanging from the walls, tripods with cameras mounted, a viewing and ordering desk in the front of the building, the GORGEOUS newborn portraits I would create by the HUGE window with awesome natural light.

The only problem? My dreams and visions don't produce any of the funds required to make them come true.

I have no money.

Then when I lost my job in May, I thought... maybe this is it. Maybe this is finally my chance to a) find the perfect space at the perfect price for a studio or b) find a great job that pays more than I was making at the day care center, allowing me to save more, much more quickly and open my studio sooner.

So for 6 months I've perused the classifieds, typed more resume's than I can count and made phone inquires on dozens of potential employment opportunities.

And you know what I have?

Nothing.

Still no money. Still no job. Still no studio.

And if that weren't enough, yesterday while I was scrubbing the floors my mom calls from work (she happens to own the building next door to prime photography studio location numero uno) and says "guess what?"

Me: uumm???

Mom: The building next to me is rented.

She didn't even have to tell me any more. I already knew. The building... my perfect photography studio had been rented...to another photographer. Now at this point you must understand that I live in a small tourist town. A small town with one street... less than a block long that houses 75% of the businesses in it. There is NO way two photography studios can survive here.

Our dream was to open the studio. Place some of our gallery prints in it for the summer tourists to purchase, but to shoot portraits to make a living. To shoot portraits at affordable prices. To not totally rob our neighbors, our fellow business people, our friends who cannot afford to have their portraits taken by the "big name" photographers.

At that moment I swear I heard God laugh. A deep, roar of a laugh.. taunting and teasing saying "see what happens when YOU think you know what you want? Your plans are nothing compared to mine."

"But God, I never asked you for that specifically. I talked about it with my mom, my business partner. I shared the dream with my friends, family. I poured out my desire to people at church and in online Photography Message boards... I asked you to help me find whee I am supposed to be in life; what I am supposed to be doing, but never once did I ask You to 'please give me a studio.'"

All I have ever asked is to show me what His plan is for me. And I guess my thoughts that maybe I lost my job for a reason... Maybe those buildings have been vacant for so long... Maybe I haven't found another job yet... were all because he was still working it out. Still showing me the way to figure it all out. Giving me the help I needed to make the jump. To open my studio.

Now I can only all but wonder if this is all part of His plan... or did I screw up? Did I wait too long? Did I miss something? Did God get tired of waiting on me, so he moved on to someone else? I mean a building can't stay vacant forever can it?

I'm working through my pity party. I have faith that God knows what is best for me; that He has it all planned out, and everything will happen in His time. I believe he has my best interests in mind, and even though it is hard to be patient, what more can I do? So for now, I'll continue to concentrate on finding a job while doing shoots and drooling over potential studio space. And at the same time I'll hope and pray that my day finally comes...

The day when God finally says "Ok. Here it is. Seriously. No jokes."

Lightroom is My New Friend

2009-11-21T20:46:00.002-05:00

For a while now, I've heard people raving about Lightroom. I had never heard of it before and had no idea how it worked, what it did, and how it was different from a lot of the other photo programs out there. I figured it was just another expensive, photoshop-like program that I would never be able to afford, so I never really looked into it. That's just what I needed... another photo program that I didn't know how to use that I spent and arm and a leg on sitting around taking up space on my computer.

I don't know why I never thought of it before now, I've done it with countless other programs, but today I finally downloaded a trial version of the program. Let me tell ya, after 5 minutes I was looking at prices. 10 minutes later, I was ready to order.

The program is easy to use. I had no idea what I was doing, but after about 10 minutes I had, what I consider a pretty good edit going on. And I'm sure after I know more of what I am doing, it won't take nearly as long.

I haven't done it yet, but the program lets you bring in a whole set of photos, so you can work on a whole shoot at one time. There are presets that you can get and it seems to be pretty easy to make your own presets. All of the work is done by using sliders, or typing in numbers. It is not an image creation or Graphic design program, but it is a photo editing program. Think of it as the quintessential digital dark room.

I still have a LOT to learn, but let's just say Lightroom, and the Lightroom Classroom in a Book have both been added to my Christmas List.

Here are 3 versions of a photo I took this summer of Chunky Monkey to show you the difference:

This is the original. Pretty dark, kind of blah! I really liked the photo, but it needed a little work. So after I took it, I edited it as I usually do in photo Impact.

I lightened it, may have even done some editing in RAW, sharpened the eyes in Portrait Professional, added some warmth and color to his face and softened it a bit. Here is the result:

I loved it. It came out just the way I wanted it to. nice and bright. You can see his eyes, although they look blue and I know they are not, nobody else did (uumm... well... until now that is)! And by the way... my sister's walls are NOT lime green!

Then today I took the original into Lightroom. I LOVE the result. I always try to go for natural skin tones, and sometimes it comes out a little too red. I love the coloring on his skin, although I do have to admit it did take a tiny bit getting used to. I love the overall soft look (I did do softening in photo impact when i was done, but even the straight out of Lightroom version looked good) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that his eyes are their natural color. I still did sharpening with portrait professional, but most of the rest of the editing was done in Lightroom.

I can't wait to try more photos! Fix it Friday is going to be LOADS of fun next week!

Fix-It Friday #37

2009-11-20T09:02:00.003-05:00

My Fix-It-Friday post is up on my photography Blog, complete with all the how's and what's that went into the fix. Here's a sneak Peek!

Click the button to the left to visit my photography blog to see more of this week's fix and a complete run down of exactly what I did to fix the photo.

Practice Makes Perfect!

2009-11-19T22:11:00.003-05:00

I posted over on my photo Blog today!

Enjoy!

I got glass in my tush today

2009-11-18T20:38:00.007-05:00

Maybe it's because I'm bored. Maybe it's because I haven't done one in a while? Maybe it's because I'm a loser who likes surveys... ok maybe not... yeah, maybe. But I'm still going to do it! Consider it my gift to you that you'll know a few more things about me that you didn't (unless you did) know before.

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you. OJ Simpson... yeah, really.

2. Where was your first kiss? Out in my driveway, against my car... now don't get all "ooohhh" on me.. we were talking about how he'd fixed it once before where the lady who owned it before me hit a deer.

Yeah... Sexy!!

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property? Maybe... I don't know... If it was, it wasn't anything serious.. obviously since I can't remember.

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex? Not seriously. Just playing around. Looking back though, there is a time... and a guy... that I wish I had.. oddly enough it is the same person mentioned in question 2!

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people? A bazillion times... yup, I've kept count! And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell ya 30 miles North of here.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about your preferred sex? His overall demeanor. If he looks like a jackass, he probably is... And his hair. I love me some cute, curly blonde hair!!

7. What really turns you off? Cockiness.. and even though I love being a smartass once in a while, and don't mind someone who can throw one right back, it bugs the crap out of me when everything that comes out of his mouth is a snide remark.. oh yeah and someone who doesn't listen to what their told... it especially ticks me off (but also makes me laugh my ass off) when a guy doesn't listen to what he's told, screws up, knows he screwed up, EVERYONE knows he screwed up... and he still tries to blame it one something or someone else!

Yeah... Real good way of making friends, hot shot!

8. What do you order at Starbucks? Yeah... like I can afford Starbucks? Can we say Un-Em-Ployed?!

9. What is your biggest mistake? Is or was? My biggest reoccurring mistake is assuming someone around this house may clean up after themselves... you know what they say about assuming?

No?

Oh... well, sorry.

10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose? Have you ever stuck a pencil in your eye on purpose?

Seriously...

11. Say something totally random about yourself. I got glass in my tush today climbing around on a car that had rolled onto its side!

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? Cousin It

13. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows? Yup, sometimes because I have to...

14. Did you have braces? No

15. Are you comfortable with your height? Sure... at least I'm taller than Laura!

16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the preferred sex has done for you? Bought me a coke just because, rubbed my hair.. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the little things!

17. When do you know its love? I'll tell ya when I find out for myself.

18. Do you speak any other languages? I can sign.

19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon? No. I used to use mom's tanner in her shop when she first got it, but that didn't last long. Its so boring its not worth it.

20. What magazines do you read? None, really

21. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Ya know what? I don't think so!

22. Has anyone you were really close to passed away? Yes. My Grandfather when I was 12, a friend of my mom's a few years ago... a really good friend of our family a couple years ago... but the worst was just into the second semester of my freshman year of college a friend of mine passed away. I still miss him!

23. Do you watch MTV? Once in a while I'll watch.. what's that show where the parents get to choose their kid's date because their kid's bf/gf is a total loser?

24. What’s something that really annoys you? Picking up day after day after ADULTS who aren't capable of picking up after themselves.

25. What’s something you really like? Snuggle time with the babes.

26. Do you like Michael Jackson? I don’t know Michael Jackson.

27. Can you dance? I can... but you wouldn't want to see it!

28. What’s the latest you have ever stayed up? Oh good god... does 36 hours count?

29. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room? Not as a patient. But yes, I have been in the back of an ambulance as it has rushed to the ED before.

From the Mouths of Babes

2009-11-17T23:55:00.003-05:00

Laneybug: Brother, you can't have all the ranch!
me: LaneyBug, he isn't going to take it all.
LB: But he's THINKING about taking it all!!

The other day chunky Monkey goes running into the bathroom. Mom tried to get him to come out but he flat out refuses.
Me: CM, do you have to go potty.
CM: Poop!
Me: Ok lets go!
He goes in, I pull down his pants, he takes them off sits up there and pees, then poops.. his eyes get huge. When he's done we flush and he says "bye bye poop!"

LaneyBug: Brandon hit me in school today.
me: Why did he hit you?
LB: (all matter of factly) Because I hit him.
me: Why did you hit him?
LB: Because he was on the puter and it was time to clean up. I told him (she says in a sassy voice) "brandon it is time to clean up" but he wouldn't.
Me: So you hit him then he hit you?
LB: Yeah
Me: It isn't nice to hit people. Next time you let the teacher tell him its time to clean up. She'll talk to him about it. That is her job.
LB: Yeah, it's not nice to hit people....a 5 minute lecture on why we don't hit people ensues... complete with examples, reasoning and 3 minutes of rambling that really don't have anything to do with hitting people.

The other day while driving into town I had to stop at a red light...
Chunky Monkey: Rachel!! Go!!!!!
Me: I can't!
CM: Rachel!!!!!! GOOOOOO!!!!!
Me: I can't. The light is red and there are other cars in the way.
CM: Cars! Go!!!

After picking the kids up at day care yesterday, when we got to the end of the road
Me: Ok LaneyBug which way do we go
LB: Right!
Me: Are you sure
LB: Yes.
Me: (knowing that's not what she meant, but also knowing I can get home going either way) Are you really sure?
LB: Yes!
We turn right
LB: No! I want to go the other way up the hill!
Me: You said we should go right.
LB: (after a couple minutes, obviously distressed at the thought that we're going the wrong way) Rach... I don't want to go this way. I want to turn around and go the other way.
Me: Are you afraid that we're lost going the wrong way?
LB: No.
a few minutes later...
LB: (much more stressed) Rach. I want to go back the other way. Turn around, please.
After explaining to her I knew how to get home going this way, we finally make it to the post office.
Me: Do you know where we are now?
LaneyBug: (laughs) yes!!!

See my dear... I do know what I'm doing ONCE in a while!!!

iHeartFaces Challence - "Autumn Beauty"

2009-11-16T23:48:00.003-05:00

I've been busy this weekend. But before I show you what I've been working on, I've posted my entry for the iHeartfaces challenge over on my photography blog. Take a look by clicking the button on my sidebar!

I've been bad

2009-11-15T22:00:00.002-05:00

This weekend has been crazy. The kids were here yesterday and today so I didn't get to post lastnight... yup, halfway through the month and I'm already breaking the rules.

I am still here, I am still dedicated to this whole NaBloPoMo thing. I'll be back tomorrow!

Fix-It Friday #36

2009-11-13T11:49:00.004-05:00

The Original

Fix #1

Fix #2

This week, in keeping with the spirit with learning, I also posted my fixes over on my photography Blog. So if you would like to see larger versions of the photos and read about exactly what I did, check them out by clicking here.

New Girl In Town!!

2009-11-12T15:59:00.004-05:00

There's a new girl in town! She's been around for a while. She showed up a short time after LaneyBug turned 3, and she's been hanging around ever since.

When she first showed up, there wasn't much to her.
We even had to have help sometimes identifying parts of her.
LaneyBug was a big help in this.

One day, she brought along some friends.

But usually she comes to play alone.

But one thing is for sure...

As the days go by she gets easier and easier to recognize.
And more cute, too.. I mean, look at those curls!

Whether she is small...

Or large,

We love her just the same.

Even on the days she needs a little help coming together.

Politically Incorrect

2009-11-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Has anyone seen the latest Facebook Poll? It asks if you agree with the president that the Huge tall pine tree outside the White House, who's name has always been Christmas tree should be changed to Holiday Tree instead.

I for one, do not agree.

Should we begin calling the Menorah a "holiday candelabra?"

Or what about having a "winter candle holder" for Kwanzaa instead of a Kinara?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm all for saying happy holidays as a genera greeting. It's all encompassing, especially when talking to a diverse group or someone you don't know well enough to know what (if anything) they celebrate this time of year. To me saying "happy holidays" can mean Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, happy Hanukah, happy Kwanzaa.. Or if you're little heart desires happy Festivus.

Everyone is so caught up in political correctness these days so that they don't offend anyone. But why should we be so worried about stepping on someone's toes that we'd outright CHANGE what we should call tradition? I for one am offended that anyone would think it ok to change the name of a symbol that represents ANYTHING.

But hey, what the heck… just for the sake of making my point, I'll jump on the bandwagon.

How about we start with the following.

The star of life - should now be called the star of life and death. I mean, we wouldn't want to offend those who we in the medical profession come across who are no longer with us.

School - To call it a school would imply that there is a great deal of learning going on. Now we all know that between budget cuts, teacher cuts and punk little kids who don't do their homework there is much less actual learning going on. So now they should be called "institutes of learning, nonlearning, socialization, athletics and day care"

As not to offend the 5 year old spotted children, Chicken pox will now be referred to as
varicella-zoster virus (or VZV for short) to not only scientists and physicians, but to the general public as well.

Sound ridiculous? I agree… its about as ridiculous as renaming the Christmas Tree.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for people celebrating what they believe. If you want to build and attend a temple, more power to you. If your faith draws you to light candles and celebrate for a week or two, go for it! If you want to put a 6-foot pole in your living room, what the heck?!

However, what I don't understand is why is it always the American and Christian holidays, beliefs and traditions that have to suffer through the name game? Why is it we have to accommodate the minority?
The last time I checked this was the United States of America, a country founded on Christian beliefs and principals. And the last time I checked Christians celebrated Christmas… with a Christmas tree.

So when I put my tree in my living room, I will call it a Christmas Tree. When I see the trees lit in my family and friends houses, I will call them Christmas Trees. If I visit Washington DC and see the large tree on the lawn, I will call it a Christmas Tree.

And for the record, if I visit an African American home, I will let them know that they have a lovely Kinara. I will watch with pride as my Jewish friends light their menorah. And when I see a stranger on the street I will smile and say "happy holidays." Because I am considerate. I am open minded. I am a Christmas tree loving Christian and there's nothing anyone can do to make me change my mind!

I really don't feel like posting

2009-11-10T21:48:00.003-05:00

I really don't feel like posting.

I don't have any desire to talk to anyone.

I don't have anything to post about.. ok, that's a lie. I have 3 posts waiting in the wings, but they aren't complete and I don't feel like completing them.

Today I was mad. Tonight I'm mad.

Ok... not true. I'm pissed.

At myself...nobody else.

I'm over it. I'm over it all.

The only reason I am is because I told myself I would do this post every day in the month of November thing.

Is it sad that I can't remember what it's called? But then again, what else is new. I can't remember anything anymore.

So instead of continuing with my pity party, I will stop. I will come back tomorrow in a better mood with more to post about.

Home Run!!!!!!

2009-11-09T21:59:00.004-05:00

What does it say about a person when one can be so overcome with joy, so stirred with emotion at the thought of another human being whom you have never met?

Tonight a miracle occurred in Boston. A game winning Home Run was hit by a team that nobody thought would score. No, I'm not talking about the Red Sox. I'm talking about a team of doctors.. and a family, and their precious little miracle boy.

Tonight, after a lifelong battle, a struggle that began before the sweet little boy was even born, Stellan is completely and utterly SVT-free!

Yeah... you heard me.

Stellan's once-scheduled, changed-to-emergency, pushed-back-by-doctors-who-were-unavailable, started-this-afternoon, completed-before-his-daddy-could-get-there ablation was a COMPLETE SUCCESS!!

He still has a long road ahead of him. He'll have tests and studies in the coming days to determine if in fact his "extra pathway" that was causing all the trouble is indeed completely destroyed, but tonight his family, along with thousands around the world are rejoicing in the knowledge that today was successful and that God is Good!

Honestly

2009-11-09T08:46:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd start the week by being completely honest. I have a few things to whine about, I have a few things to brag about and I have a few things that, while they're not my most glorious moments, I'm going to share them anyway. Honestly!

Honestly... as much as I complain about it.. I really do like snow. I like PLAYING in the snow (on my terms.. when I'm done, I'm DONE!) lol and like watching it come down when it's the big fluffy soft flakes. If it weren't for the nastiness of the roads and the people who don't know how to drive on them, cleaning off cars, shoveling walkways, chipping chunks of frozen slush off the tires, wearing 8 layers of clothes and still not being warm, waiting for the car to warm up, not having time to wait for the car to warm up, freezing my bum off on 3 a.m. EMS call, freezing my bum off in the middle of the day, having the 20 below wind take your breath away and having the snot freeze inside your nose 13 seconds after you set foot outside, I really wouldn't mind winter.

Honestly... I really wanted the last job I applied for. I am so sick of putting in application after application and not getting so much as a phone call. It's really getting old.

Honestly... I was super excited to find some of the cutest little Halloween costumes still on clearance at Walmart today. I bought 6 different ones to use for newborn/infant photo shoots, and I can't wait to use them. The best part. They were only $2 a piece!!

Honestly... I just wish I could afford to buy this house that has been on the market FOREVER. I wish I could buy it and open an in home day care and have a photo studio in the family room addition on the home.

Honestly... I wish I had more photo shoots scheduled. I am DYING to do a maternity and a newborn shoot! And I just want to be busy with my photography so I don't have to worry so much about not having a job.

Honestly, I didn't realize how much I missed being with kids every day until I babysat last night. Even with a hyperactive 5 year old and a 1 year old who cried all night, I wished I could still be doing it every day!!!

Honestly... I'm worried that I will never find a job. That I'll be stuck here forever and never have a life, family or anything.

How's that for Honesty?

Yikes!

2009-11-08T23:10:00.002-05:00

I almost forgot to post today. Actually its been a really busy day and I just turned the computer on a couple of hours ago.

I spent today helping mom clean out the garage and then we went down to the apartment (she has one above her shop that she rents out) and put tile up on the wall behind the sink. The walls are old lath and plaster and are starting to chip. We had put up contact paper, but it wouldn't stick to the walls, so we tried the peal and stick floor tiles. We're going to caulk around the edges to seal it well from water and hopefully they'll stay up.

Needless to say I'm tired and sore.

Also I wanted to remind everyone to keep praying for Stellan. He went to Boston over the weekend. The plan was to have him admitted today, wean him from some of his medications and have an ablation on Tuesday. About 45 minutes before he was to be admitted this morning he starting having SVT again, so they sent him up early. Right now he's again on a ventilator and they are trying to get it under control. He'll most likely have the ablation tomorrow morning rather than waiting until Tuesday. Please pray for him and his family and the doctors who will be caring for him.

Banana Bread

2009-11-07T13:35:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I made myself some banana bread. I spent an hour online looking for the perfect recipe. I wanted something very soft and moist and very heavy. I found a great recipe, so I thought I would share it with you.

Banana Nut Bread
Makes 1 loaf

2 very ripe bananas (I made 2 batches and used 5 bananas... you can add more or less for your taste)

6 tbsp melted butter

1 tsp vanilla ex

2 large eggs

1 1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare your bread pan by greasing it with butter. You can use crisco if you want. I used butter because it was a flavor already in the bread and I had some left on the stick from where I melted my butter. Then lightly flour the pan. Dump any excess flour out.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Mash the bananas, melted butter and vanilla extract together in a separate bowl.

Lightly beat the eggs together in another bowl, then add to the banana mixture and mash together until smooth and well blended.

Pour the banana mixture in with the dry ingredients and add the walnuts.

Fold the ingredients together with a spatula (do it this way so you aren't whipping in a bunch of air) until you can no longer see any flour. Don't overmix it.

Pour into the bread pan and bake for about 55 minutes. When a toothpick is inserted, it should come almost clean. This will ensure your bread is moist and heavy. You can bake for a few more minutes until the toothpick comes out completely clean, but I like it better the other way.

Lastly, enjoy!

Fix-It Friday #35

2009-11-06T12:02:00.003-05:00

The Original

My first fix. I sharpened her eyes, played with curves and sunlight, and cropped in close to even out the photo.

After I turned the photo, I added black and white, sepia and a vintage tone using B&W and changing the colors. I like both the horizontal and the vertical edits pretty much the same.

Check out more great fixes at iHeartFaces

Buying a New Camera - Part 4

2009-11-05T10:19:00.002-05:00

Part 4 of my series on purchasing a new SLR camera is now up on my Photography Blog

Check it out for information on where to buy and what to look for in an ebay seller.

Buying a New Camera - Part 3

2009-11-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

Part 3 of my Series on Buying a New Camera is up over on my photography blog. I hope you have enjoyed following along.

Click Here to view the post.

Buying a New Camera - Part 2

2009-11-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Here's part two of my series on buying a new digital camera. Click Here for more.

What accessories do I need/want?
After you decide how much you can afford, you should really look into what exactly you want in a camera and what you want to purchase WITH you camera. In doing this you should know what you plan to use the camera for. If you are looking for something to take great pictures at birthday parties and Christmas, you’ll probably be fine with purchasing a somewhat lower end (for example something like my Canon Rebel XT, or the newer Canon Rebel Xsi) camera/lens combo kit. These cameras are marketed more toward the novice users, who want a little more fun with their cameras than something professional. The kits are assembled by the manufacturer and usually sit right on the store shelves. If you are wanting to refine your photo taking ability, even possibly looking to make a little money from your camera, you may want to get a little more with your camera, and even think about going a little higher end in your purchase. Something like the Canon 50D, which is what I am looking into.

Photo Q&A - Buying a New Camera - Part 1

2009-11-02T08:00:00.004-05:00

Today begins my series over on my photography blog on buying a new digital SLR camera. Here's a short sample of what we covered today.

It probably has something to do with the holiday season, but lately I’ve been asked quite a few times about purchasing digital cameras (just to clarify, the cameras I’ll be talking about here are DSLR cameras) and equipment. It is no secret to my friends and family that my beloved camera was purchased on Ebay. A combination of knowing exactly what I wanted, a great package at a good price, and being at the right site at the right time gave me what I believe was a great deal on a package chock full of enough goodies to keep an aspiring photographer happy for a good number of (or in my case 3) years.

Now that I’m in the process of ~~looking at~~ dreaming about a new camera, I thought I would take you through the steps I used, and am using in my search for the perfect camera for me.

I’ll touch on different topics and split this into a number of parts. If I posted it all at once, it would likely cause your retinas to bleed. And since the whole idea of purchasing a new camera is to be able to take photos, and in order to take photos, you must be able to see, I have a feeling you will appreciate my not posting the whole 10 pages single spaced at one time. "

To read more visit my Photo Blog. If you have any questions feel free to post them over there.

Am I out of my freaking mind?

2009-11-01T20:29:00.002-05:00

I came across this NaBloPoMo thing tonight and I'm going to try my darnedest to keep it up for the whole month.

The idea is that You have to Blog.

{Every} day.

For a month.

The entire month of November! That's the next {30} days!

Yikes!

Well.... at least there aren't 31 days in November.

so, consider this my first post. I did have a few ideas for blog posts that I wanted to do. I guess this is my motivation to actually write them!

Photography Q&A

2009-10-30T21:23:00.004-04:00

At the request of some friends, I am working on a post with information on buying a new DSLR. If you have any questions or are looking for information, feel free to post your questions on this post. I'll be writing this weekend and publish the post after Sunday.

I'm also planning to publish more informative posts in the future, so if you have any photography related questions, or if you have seen anything here that you'd like more information on how to do, feel free to ask that here too!

Fix-It Friday #34

2009-10-30T14:46:00.003-04:00

Wow! It's been a while since I participated in Fix-It Friday. But I'm back this week because the photo was absolutely irresistible! Although I DID fix them (just toned them down a little), I loved the bruises on the little girls legs. It shows how active and fun she must be.

Ok, so here is the original:

And here are my Fixes: Below each photo I've listed what I did to edit them.

Fix #1:
1. As always, I sharpened her eyes in Portrait Professional.

2. I Cropped away the background to bring out her eyes even more.

3. I used the touch up tool for the bruises on her legs. Even though they are totally natural for a child her age, they were a bit distracting and even made her entire leg look a different color from the rest of her skin, so I just toned them down a little bit.

4. Then I saturated and warmed the color just a bit.

5. After that the color still looked a little off, so I took into raw (yes, you can use a raw editor to edit jpegs) so that I could change the colors individually and have a bit more control.

Fix #2
1. kept all the same edits as above, then added a vignette
2. Desaturated the color quite a bit (about -65)
3. Changed the color to make it look "vintage"

I hope you enjoyed my fixes. To see more great edits, head on over to iHeartFaces by clicking the button below.

Newness!

2009-10-29T13:26:00.006-04:00

So I told you in my last post that I had some new things coming! Well, I'm happy to announce that they are here.

First, if you've been following me on twitter, you've seen that I stared a Facebook fan page. This is just one more opportunity for mom and I to show off our photography. By becoming a fan, you'll get the latest on upcoming events (we have a lot we want to do!!), new products & services and special promotions, some only for Facebook Fans!

Head on over Here to become one of our Facebook Fans!

Secondly, you may have noticed the new button in my sidebar. I'm very excited to announce that we've started a Blog specifically for our Photography. This will also be a place where we will announce specials on products and services, appearances, and an all around place to keep you updated on the latest happenings of ShutterBugs Photography. I'm also really excited to have a place to post previews of sessions for our clients!

Don't worry though. I'll still post plenty of pictures here! When we have a shoot, I'll post one or two photos here, then you'll be able to go to the photo blog to view more!

I'm hoping by creating a photo blog, I'll be able to keep my clients more in touch with the goings on in the ShutterBugs Photography world, leaving this blog to be more personal for my readers.

I'm very excited to have a dedicated photo blog. The template I have chosen allows us to be able to show off larger preview photos. This is something I am very happy about, and I think you will be too.

So that is what is going on in the photography world for now. Head over to our photography blog and become a follower to stay updated on our happenings and to view all of our great shoots, then become a Facebook Fan to get the absolute latest updates.

Also, please continue to keep Stellan in your prayers. Today is his 1st Birthday and he is not doing well at all. Thanks.

Prayers needed for Sweet Stellan

2009-10-28T11:18:00.003-04:00

I know it has been a while since I posted last...I have a few things in the works that are good. They're just not ready yet. But right now I wanted to post quickly to gather prayers for a sweet baby we all know and love.

Stellan is in the hospital, once again struggling with SVT (a very, very, fast heart rate). He went in lastnight, and long story short is is NOT doing well at all. He is intubated, sedated and up until about a half an hour ago, nothing was working to get him out of it.

MckMama tweeted about 20 minutes ago that for now he is out. Let's hope it stays that way!

Please pray for this special family.

Father, we ask that you keep Stellan in your sights at this time. Please keep Stellan's heart strong right now. His little heart is at decreased function right now, and along with beating too fast, is not sufficiently doing its job. Please grant healing for his heart and wisdom for his doctors, so that they can do what needs to be done to help him. Also please give peace to his family, so that they can continue to care for him and his brothers and sisters the way they need to. Grant them the peace in knowing that YOU are in control and you will take care of their son. Amen.

Alex, Carly & Baby S

2009-10-20T16:58:00.013-04:00

Sunday's photo shoot was a rare treat with a twist! We shot A & C's Senior portraits, but also did a mini shoot of the two of them with their adorable son, S. When we got together, poor S was asleep in the car. He did remarkably well for a little babe that was awakened from his slumber. The only thing I wish I had done was take a pumpkin with me. S was so animated and fun to shoot and it would have made for an awesome prop for him. I may just have to call them back to get a few shots of him with one.

Using Texture

2009-10-16T12:45:00.005-04:00

Lastnight I stumbled upon a tutorial for using textures. I got playing around and thought I would share my results as well as what I did. So, consider this little tutorial my gift to you today.

Here is the original. Nice, I think, but I'm going for a vintage look here. So first, I opened the photo in Photoshop. Yup, I'm actually using photoshop here. But don't worry. I'll be using Photo Impact later. You didn't think I'd actually go without using it, did you?

Here's where you get to be creative. Go exploring. Find some textures you like. Some ideas include rust, brick, carpet, even a nicely textured book cover. For this photo I used some texture I already had on my computer. It was a rust texture that came in a digital backdrop set I purchased a couple years ago.

So, now that I have my photo and my texture both open in photoshop, it's time to merge them together. First I rotated the texture because it wasn't going the same direction as my photo.

The first thing you are going to do is to copy your texture and paste it onto your photo. If your texture does not completely cover your photo, use the Free transform tool (Edit> Free Transform) to stretch the texture until it covers the photo.

Next you're going to change the opacity of the layer. On the Layers Palette, click "soft light"

For my photo, I then duplicated the texture layer, flipped it 180 degrees and changed it to "soft light." After that I played with the opacity (it's right next to the menu you clicked on to create the soft light) of the two texture layers until I liked what I saw...I set it around 65% for both layers. You can play until you get what you like.

Then I selected my photo's layer, clicked Image > Adjust > Hue & Saturation. Because the background of my original photo was completely black, my texture wasn't showing up there. I wanted the texture to be visible on the entire photo, so I bumped up the lightness some... to about 6 or 7 just so the texture appeared on the background. You don't want to go too far or the rust will start to show and it won't look like just a texture anymore. I also took the hue down to -32 and the saturation down to about -5 to give it a more vintage look (we'll enhance this later).

After I saved it, I opened it in Photo Impact and added a textured frame to make it look worn I also changed the color a bit for a more vintage feel. If you know how to add a frame in Photoshop, go for it.. I don't. Just a word of advice... Because the "frame" will shrink your photo some (it's just like tearing part of the photo off) there will be a background behind your photo. Make sure your background color is set to white to avoid trouble in the next steps.

I saved it again and opened the now torn photo in photoshop. I used the burn tool to make it look like it had been.... burned! I could have done this in PhotoImpact, and I actually tried, to save a step. But the burn tool in Photoshop is a little more accurate and forgiving. I definitely like it better than PhotoImpact's burn tool.

Don't worry about perfectness in this step. In some areas, I made the burn marks very dark, some very light, some thick, some thin... the idea is to make a natural looking burn pattern. When paper burns it doesn't do so evenly, so don't be too perfect here.

After I burned my photo, I selected all of the white area using the magic wand tool. The nice thing here is that after you burn the edges of the photo, your magic wand won't pick up on any of the photo, just the white. Then click on Selection > Inverse (or invert) to select the photo. It may not look like it did anything, but it did. Instead of the white being selected, your photo is now selected.

I then created a new layer with the photo, found an image of an old looking piece of paper online, pasted it under the photo and voila.. the result is below.

After I had made this photo, I thought it was a little too red. So I opened it in RAW and adjusted the single colors (red, blue and green) until I got the finished photo below.

Don't be afraid to play with different textures. Wood grains would be cool, swirls, even grass may work on certain pictures. Have fun and if you do any, share the results by leaving a comment on this post!

New Website

2009-10-14T15:49:00.002-04:00

It's finally Done. ShutterBugs Photography has a new look. I've also added new photos in the Children & Family, the Wedding and the Seniors albums. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Mommy, what's a Bible?

2009-10-13T11:21:00.002-04:00

Tell me. Would you have ever thought you would hear those words come out of a child's - especially a child raised by Christian parents - mouth? I never thought so either, but after Sunday, I am not so sure I will ever go my lifetime without hearing it.

You see, our world is changing.

"Duh, we knew that already. Tell us something we don't know."

But seriously. Things that once were commonplace (ahem.. the Bible, a real, tangible book) are being replaced by things that in my humble opinion just do not belong. I'll get to that later, but first let me first tell you that I am not totally opposed to change. I just think that SOME things (like a Bible.... in a CHURCH) just shouldn't be messed with.

Ok, Rachel.. where is this rant coming from?

Ok, Ok, so here goes...

Sunday was a BAD day. It started the second I sat down in church, when the lady sitting to my right in the choir loft (ie our alter, ie the pulpit, etc... yeah, it's a small church) leans over me to tell the lady sitting to my left that she "had a touch of the flu yesterday." UUMM and with all that is going on with "the flu" you decided it would be a good idea to come out in public and share your germs? How nice of you! Thankssomuch!

Being called Laura Ingals by the same man 20 times in less than 10 minutes didn't help either. And no.. there is nothing wrong with him.. other than he doesn't know how to mind his own business.. and I think he just likes to be annoying. This is the same man who reminded the same 5 people all of 5 times that the pecans they were buying from him have been the same price $8! For the past 5 years! Gee, what a salesman!

His favorite words are dissonant, which I don't even think he knows what it means.. he just likes to say it once in a while at choir practice... mostly when he isn't paying attention and needs an excuse as to why he was singing the wrong part, or off key, or talking, or just not paying attention... and "judas priest" which is his equivilant of "oh my goodness!" or "I can't believe it" or "holy crap!"

So anyway...as church started... when, not the pastor, but a layperson stood up to greet the congregation I was a little confused. I mean... isn't that the Pastor's job? I let it slide.. no biggie... but after a half hour of hymns, reading of bible passages, and greetings where the pastor didn't do much at all, I was starting to get irritated. What was going on? Is our pastor doing ANYTHING anymore? Let me clarify, our pastor is an amazingly sweet woman. I love her, I really do. I just think some things should be left in her hands... not the people. Like the offering. After the ushers bring the offering to the front, the pastor has always presented it. She didn't. A man, who is not even a member of our church (he's a member of our "sister church" a church our pastor also preaches at) presented the offering at the alter, I almost lost it. That is just not right.

Now back to he Bible and the moment that just about shot me over the edge. On Sunday afternoon our choir participated in a yearly event to raise money for the United Methodist Committee On Relieve, which is an organization that helps in times of crisis around the world. All was well until the very end. The district supervisor of our church conference gets up to speak. As he walks up with a book and a phone, I thought.. "Judas Priest (OK I didn't, but I bet old man did!) he couldn't even put his phone down for 5 minutes to talk to a CHURCH?!"

Then he started reading a bible passage...

From.

His.

Phone.

Seriously! He was reading words from a sacred book in a church from his PHONE! Is it just me or is there seriously something wrong with this picture? When our lives have been so convenienced by society and technology that it is acceptable to read the bible from your phone in church, something is wrong. And the fact that he sounded more like a TV evangelist than a real life pastor in a church didn't help either.

I don't know... maybe I'm making too much of this whole terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day... maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist. Maybe I am a prude, but things are changing, and not in what I consider the best of ways.

Tiffany

2009-10-05T20:19:00.005-04:00

I have been bugging a friend of mine to come up and let me do a photo shoot with her for a while now. I've known Tiffany since I started college and she was just starting 6th grade. During the two years (ok so really, it only took about two weeks) we became more like sisters than friends and I love her and her parents just like my own family. I spent almost every weekend (that I didn't come home) at their house, went to Tiffany's school functions and even went back down when she graduated high school. It was an honor to photograph her. She is a beautiful woman and a natural model.

Thank You, Tiff for coming up. I know your legs got cramped in the car and it was a long day, but I truly appreciate it beyond words!

Here are a few teasers. I'll have the rest ready for you soon!

(this one was Mom's... I LOVE it!)

Digital Scrapbooking

2009-10-03T17:14:00.004-04:00

I've never really entertained the idea of being a digital scrapper... that is until today! Sure, I've dabbled in it a little with my cards and collages, but today I became a digital scrapping addict... it's just too bad I'm a print snob and a 12x12 print from my lab is $4. I'll have to find another nice, cheeper version for my digital scrapbook pages.

Anyway, back to today. I was visiting one of my favorite creative blogs, KevinandAmanda.com and she'd posted this awesome kit! So, here are a few layouts I did of LaneyBug. I love the way they turned out, and even though the two are quite similar, all three will be going in her scrapbook!

To see other great scrapbooking goodies head on over to KevinandAmanda.com

Thursday 13 - My UN Favorite things

2009-10-01T08:00:00.003-04:00

So, I have posted before some of my favorite things. This week I thought I would post my Not so favorite things. So here it is. My 13 {most} unliked things.

13. Bad drivers - This category is all inclusive... stupid drivers, too old of drivers, too young of drivers, drivers on cell phones that don't pay attention, drivers who are {texting}, drivers who generally aren't paying attention, tourists who come to the great white north thinking they own the road, locals who think they own the road, and on and on and on. Have you seen the video below? Seriously, this should be shown in EVERY driver's Ed class.

12. Two lanes that merge into one - This kind of goes along with number 13. It's not the {roads} I actually don't like. There is nothing wrong with roads that have merging lanes. It is the stupid people who are driving on said roads. Two in particular in my area come to mind and it is the same problem at both. People in the left lane, minding their own business being cut off by people in the right lane who think {they} have the right of way... It's simple, really, people. Those of us in the lane that is NOT being cut off have the full and total right to be where we are. Those of you in the lane that IS being cut off. Stop your car, turn on your blinker and WAIT YOUR TURN...see.. easy.

11. the economy - No job. No money. 'Nuff said.

10. the state of Michigan - Anybody see this? Isn't it wonderful to think that by helping a friend or neighbor you could be in {violation} of the law? Totally makes me sleep better at night!

9. Liars and stupid people - I don't think I have to elaborate on this one much!

8. HP - They... are.... liars! I purchased a new printer a year ago. In that time we have gone through at least 5 or 6 packages of ink... and MAYBE printed 60 8.5 x 11 sheets of photos out of that ink. That is 30 ink cartridges (our printer takes 5) so in essence, we've gotten two sheets out of every cartridge we purchased. After getting upset with tech support, having a supervisor call me, I got a {new} printer to try... just to make sure I didn't have a faulty printer. I put the ink in... go figure it didn't even register that there was ink in the printer. Nice job, HP. Good to know you've got my back!

7. Movie theatre prices - I took LaneyBug to see a movie last week... $25 later we saw an HOUR AND A HALF long movie, shared a SMALL popcorn, each had a Coke and {shared} a box of candy... geesh!

6. Telemarketers - at least 3 a day.. thank God for caller ID

5. Mistakes - I hate making mistakes. Especially when I get busted on it. Especially when I get busted by a {client}.. how friggen embarrassing!

4. Sad Blogs - Ok, so anyone who knows me (or looks at my sidebar) can see that I am ADDICTED to these! What I hate is the fact that they have to exist. I hate that Olivia's mom had to lose her little boy. I hate that Stellan and his family have to go through his illness. I hate that Kayleigh had to leave her family.

3. colds - Seriously? The stuffed nose, that even though you can't {breathe} through it still runs like a sive, not being able to eat because you can't breath while chewing, the coughing, aching, headaches... who likes that?

2. The furnace - let me make this clear...

I

{HATE}

THE

FURNACE

It is loud, it is annoying, it is hot (at least when Mr. TV gets his hands on the thermostat) I hate the smell of it the first few times it comes on in the fall. I hate that it gets so stinking hot in here when it comes on. Seriously I would rather sit around with a sweathshirt and a blanket on with a cold nose than have the furnace come on.

1. Winter - I love love love summer. The warm air, the beautiful breeze, the smell of fresh cut grass... I love it warm!!!

I hate winter. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate winter! the {shoveling}, brushing the car off, cold, snow, icy roads, dirt caked snow mounds in every parking lot, snowblowers, starting the car 15 minutes before you have to leave in order to keep from freezing to death on your way to your destination.... layers, snow, {winter coats}, boots, heavy socks, cold feet, no heat in the bedroom, 18 blankets on the bed, snow, winter tourists, cold, being sick, bitter wind, freezing your butt off, mittens, hats, numbing temperatures, seriously 20 below, too cold to snow temperatures, not being able to go outside because its too cold, shoveling, snowblowing, driving through {snow} so heavy you can't see the front end of your car, driving 5 miles an hour because its so icy... need I say more?

How about you? What are your least favorite things? Let me know in the comments of this post.

Sarah & Garrett - Beach Wedding

2009-09-28T15:33:00.008-04:00

Finally, I have finished editing the photos from the wedding we photographed a couple weeks ago. Sarah and Garrett had a beautiful day. The temperature was perfect and there was hardy a cloud in the sky. They were an absolute blast to work with. So laid back and easy going. Sarah had as much fun posing photographs as we did, and she was full of ideas. Thanks again to both of you for allowing us to photograph your special day. It truly was fun and an absolute honor to be a part of this time in your life.

Not Me Monday

2009-09-28T08:59:00.000-04:00

This past week was long and boring. When 4 EMT's from a volunteer fire department with a total of 10 EMT's all go out of town (two of which happen to be my "roomates" (ie parents), together, at the same time it makes a lot of work for those of us left behind. It also doesn't help that I've had a cold all weeks, so needless to say I didn't do a lot of sitting around the house this week.

I didn't spend a majority of my time working on wedding pictures and playing Farm Town. I would never spend that much time on the computer.

It's not like I'm an addict or anything.

When I'd read all my blogs, planted all my crops and edited until my fingers were numb, I didn't go through and check all my blogs just one more time over and over just to see if anyone had updated yet.

It's not like I'm a stalker or anything.

I didn't call my sister on Tuesday BEGGING to take the kids because "I need new photos for my website and I want to use the kids as models." Ok, so new photos are ALWAYS nice, but the real reason I wanted to take them wasn't because I was bored out of my freaking mind.

It's not like I couldn't find something to do on my own or anything.

While doing LaneyBug's studio shots, I wasn't getting totally frustrated because the pictures were coming out really bad. Even though I set everything up the same way I always do, they weren't coming out way too bright. I didn't finally say forget it and chalk it up to "stupid lights" and decide only to use outdoor shots.

Later, on our way home from town, I didn't totally have a revelation that maybe the dial on the intensity of my lights had got bumped and turned up. That could never happen and of course that is something I would have thought to check. I wasn't totally mortified when I came home, checked and found that that was exactly what was wrong with my pictures.

It's not like I wouldn't think to check that if I were having problems or anything.

The second reason I wanted to take, especially LaneyBug, wasn't because I needed an excuse to go see "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs." The movie didn't look totally awesome and I wasn't dying to see it.

Afterall, I am a grown up and it's not like I'm into kid movies or anything.

On our way into town to do her pictures (and to see the totally awesome movie), LaneyBug and I stopped at McDonald's for lunch. We had some extra time so we ate and played in the play land. As we were getting our food out, two little boys came running in, one of them resembling LaneyBug's cousin JD. When she mentioned something about not seeing JD in a while, I said "yeah that boy does look like JD." To which the woman who brought them in replied from across the room "that is JD."

It's not like LaneyBug and I don't know who our own family is or anything.

I didn't take LaneyBugs pictures in a parking lot just because the wall of a building that faced said parking lot was absolutely beautiful. I wasn't dragging her around while people stared out the doors of other businesses around the lot probably wondering what the crazy lady with the little girl in the pretty dress was doing.

It's not like I care what people think of me or anything.

I didn't keep telling LaneyBug "just one more picture." I also didn't lay on the guilt trip saying "well, don't you want pretty pictures?" to which she finally didn't reply by giving me the look, sighing and saying "one more and THAT'S IT!"

It's not like I would ever push her over her limits for my own satisfaction or anything!

While we were watching the completely awesome "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" I didn't spill half of our snowcaps on the floor. I also didn't leave them there. And I absolutely DID NOT tell LaneyBug it was OK because it was someone's job to come in after the movie is over and clean it up. I would never leave a mess and I would never ever tell a child it was ok to leave that mess for someone else to clean up.

It's not like I'm inconsiderate or anything.

Friday was Chunky Monkey's Special day. After double checking my lights to make sure they were set properly, I didn't do a series of shots of him, then tell him "all done." I didn't then tell him he could find something to eat, let him pick out a pop tart, get him situated in his high chair, break the pop tart in half for him..... then decide at the last minute I wanted one more shot. I didn't take him out of the high chair only to result in him crying.

It's not like I enjoy seeing him cry or anything.

On Thursday night we had cake and ice cream for my sister's boyfriend. Later in the night we all went outside to play on the 4-wheelers. When it was time to put the kids to bed, I didn't start laughing hystarically when I saw that the leftover birthday cake and streaks through it. Apparently LaneyBug didn't help herself to some of the icing on the cake after she'd gone potty earlier in the evening. I also didn't help to re-spread the icing and I certainly didn't keep my mouth shut about the incident.

It's not like that is absolutely disgusting or anything.

So how about you? What didn't you do this week? Visit MckMama's blog to read more Not-Me's.

I love my job!

2009-09-25T18:02:00.013-04:00

For the last two day's I've been busy building my portfolio. I had "special days" with my Niece and Nephew where we set up the backdrop, took a road trip to a cool picture spot and just had fun! LaneyBug went first yesterday. We had ~~user error~~ technical difficulties with the lights, so unfortunately her studio shots didn't turn out, but that's ok because her outdoor shots turned out awesome!

I took a drive the other night to find a unique spot to do the kids' photos. I had a spot in mind where they had painted a wall on the outside of a building after they tore the neighboring building out quite a few years ago. I was hoping it was still there, and BOY was it! It was beautiful and so are the resulting photos of LaneyBug. She was really working it for the camera!

Then today was Chunky Monkey's day. I had a little better luck in the studio with him than with LaneyBug, so we did a few here and then headed out. Obviously I couldn't take his pictures in front of a flowery bistro painting, but luckily the alley right behind the parking lot offered much in the way of perfect portrait locations!

iHeartFaces Challenge - "completely candid"

2009-09-21T12:10:00.011-04:00

So I was completely stoked (yeah... I just said stoked) to see that Rebekah Westover was the judge for this week's iHeartFaces photo challenge. Rebekah's is one of the first photo blogs I started {reading} when I started {reading} photo blogs. Her style is exactly what I love, strive for and hope to be someday.

Anyway, this week's challenge theme is Candid... right up my alley! I LOVE taking candid photos more than anything else. Anytime, anywhere, so the hardest part of this challenge was choosing a photo.

I don't just whip out my camera on a whim to capture a cute shot (sure, I do... just not all the time)... but instead, I find myself saying more often than not "no, you don't have to make her look at me. This is what I'm going for" when shooting kids (yes, even on a "{real} photo shoot) or "no, don't look at me. Just keep doing what you're doing." for Senior portrait shots, and even at weddings! Yes... even during the formal shots.

The photo I chose for this challenge was taken a couple of weeks ago at a wedding I was shooting. The groom's daughter was the flower girl and absolutely adorable! I could have posted 10 pictures of her for this challenge, but since I can only choose one, I chose one of the new happy family all together. The wedding was at a campground, along the lake and while we were doing the formal photographs, "K" had been playing at the playground. When we'd finished the shots we wanted along the lake, we all wandered over to the playground to get a few fun shots there. "K" had been great about staying out of the way (ok... so I was pretty good at dodging her with the camera too) and finally daddy was able to pick her up. It was the perfect opportunity to capture that special moment between daddy, daughter and a woman who loves them both enough to now be called mommy. Even though "S" glanced my way just as I took the shot, the sweetness of the moment is not lost. It's one of my favorites from the day.

To see more great candid moments, head on over to iHeartFaces by clicking the button below. You won't be disappointed!

Oh, and on a side note if you don't go through some of my favorite blogs, you should check out this one. Kelley Ryden is a newborn/infant photographer, and she took a few photos of her niece. OMGoodness, the second one.... so, so sweet!

Do-it-yourself Jewelry

2009-09-16T16:24:00.006-04:00

A couple months ago I found a really great outfit at JC Penney on sale. Then I found a cute 3/4 length shirt, both of which I bought with the intention of wearing for an upcoming wedding I was shooting. I'd wear the outfit if it was warm, the shirt and a pair of brown pants if it was cool. The only problem... I had no jewelry to match the shirt.

So, one day while I was in the craft aisle, I found these really great strings of beads. I really liked the design and knew it would be perfect for the shirt. I also found a set of beads to supplement to make my strings longer and make a necklace out of them. I ended up making two necklaces, one long and one short and a bracelet. I didn't finish any earings, but I will be making those soon.

Here's what I did:

First I laid out the beads in a pattern I liked. Since I did like the pattern on the strings of beads, I pretty much left them as is, and just added some more in between to make the necklace longer. I used the edge of my neice's little tykes table so the beads wouldn't roll away, but you could also use a piece of paper folded into a V shape.

Then I started stringing them. Since I wanted a pendant to hang down, first I strung a small black bead to the center of my string. Then I put my two ends together to string the pendants. Finally I strung the rest of the beads, added a crimping bead (use the crimping beads to make your ends nice and secure without having to tie them) and clasp to each end and crimped the string so it would be secure.

For the small necklace and bracelet, I used a similar pattern and did the same thing. I ended up getting another set each of the strung beads and the package of beads, but even with all of that the two necklaces and bracelet only cost me about $10 - $12, and I have a ton of beads left over to make more.

Here's what they look like:

Sarah & Garrett Sneak Peek

2009-09-15T21:58:00.004-04:00

I'm about halfway through editing the photos from the wedding Mom and I shot on Saturday. What a great couple. I'll have more photos to post soon, but I {just} finished this series of photos, and I {had} to share a sneak peak.

Yup, I'm a tease!

Enjoy!

Not Me Monday

2009-09-14T17:32:00.002-04:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I've done a Not Me Monday post, so I've had a lot of time to Not do a lot of things (and also to not witness a lot of people not doing a lot of things).

First of all, let's set the record straight and establish that I absolutely didn't let LaneyBug stay up til 1 a.m. one Saturday night, waiting for her mom to pick her up. Mom wasn't supposed to be home by 10, so I didn't decide to not put LB to bed because she wouldn't be home before long anyway.

At 11:00 of our up all night adventure I didn't have my favorite 4 year old sitting at a table cutting shapes out of a catalog. Because ya know, learning time is reserved for hours before 8 PM in this house, and it would just be cruel to make her do such things so late.

I didn't laugh the next day when my sister called and said that after she picked the kids up Chunky Monkey was awake til 230 after they got home. I am not that evil, and didn't think it at all funny that she had gotten him wide awake when they left, in turn giving him enough of a nap for a second wind in the middle of the night.

A few days later I didn't fail to give the groomer a proper time to pick up my beloved pooch when I dropped him off. He didn't have a 930 appointment, so I didn't assume, he would get right in and I would get a phone call a couple of hours later.

I wasn't totally miffed when, at 2:45 when I called them to find out where my dog was, they said he still wasn't done. I didn't at all feel bad about not leaving them a tip.

When I finally was able to rescue my baby, I absolutely did not slam his tail in the car door. When he gets in he doesn't sit on the floor of the car, waiting until I walk away to jump on the seat. I didn't hear him 'screaming' inside the car and immediately run to release him as if he were a child with his fingers stuck, then proceed to love on him like I would one of the kids.

On our way home, I didn't stop at DQ and buy him an ice cream to make up for shutting his tail in the door!

On Saturday, I shot a wedding at the beach! I didn't keep my shoes on for all of a half hour and then proceed to walk around barefoot most of the rest of the time after the ceremony.

I also totally didn't have the bride and groom doing such silly things as climbing on monkey bars, bridges and in trees to get good photos. And just for the record, climbing in the tree and going down the slide were not at all the Bride's idea. I would never allow such child's play on such a sacred day!

The bride and groom are both Deputies with the County Sheriff''s office. Their cake was not completely made of donuts, and I, of course being the most professional photographer that I am didn't suggest to the bride and groom that they should have a donut eating contest. The bride didn't totally love the idea (it didn't happen due to time, and I wasn't totally bummed!)

The groom, and his officer-friends, however didn't make up for the lack of fun by having a syrup drinking contest. A friend of the bride and groom makes homemade maple syrup and the Groom and 4 other guys didn't proceed to drink an entire (about 3 oz.) jar of maple syrup, just to see who could guzzle it the fastest.

The Chaplain who officiated the wedding absolutely was not a participant.

He also, absolutely did not win & throw his hands in the air in victory!

One of the friends (who actually makes the syrup) isn't a diabetic. He absolutely was not feeling poorly later on in the evening!

The bride and groom didn't enter the ceremony to the tune of "Bad Boys" (the theme from cops) and I absolutely did not get photographs of the bride 'searching' the groom by their patrol car.

I absolutely did not love every minute of it, and in turn will not be posting pictures of this or others from the wedding later in the week.

For more not-me-Monday fun, don't click here to visit MckMama's Blog.

iHeartFaces Challenge - "contemplative"

2009-09-14T17:20:00.001-04:00

This week's theme for the iHeartFaces Challenge is "contemplative." I knew right away which photo I'd be using for this one. LaneyBug had found a "wormie" at the park and who knows what she was thinking while looking at him.

To see more great entries, visit iHeartFaces.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!

2009-09-10T14:32:00.029-04:00

Explosion Rocks Freezer, Blast Heard Round the Kitchen

Thursday September 10, 2009

The scene on the West End of the Freezer
where a Coke can exploded early this afternoon.

In developing news this afternoon, an explosion has rocked a small Northern Michigan Freezer. We have the exclusive story, but be warned. Some of the photos are quite gruesome.

Authorities say the blast occured at aproximately 12:15 this afternoon, when a lone can of Coca Cola blew its top near an ice cube serving tray on the west end of the freezer. Emergency workers were on scene until 2:30 cleaning up.

"We have the point of origin contained to a single can of Coca Cola." Said the lead investigator. It is not known at this time whether the Coke was responsible for the blast, or simply an innocent victim, but authorities are treating the event as an accident at this time.

The Coke can did not survive the blast. It was pronounced dead on the scene. "Unfortunately the can simply sustained too much damage to it's top and along with losing more than half its Coke volume, there was no way it would have survived to be consumed." If it is any consolation, to those involved, it looks as if the UPC code is still in tact and the can should be returnable to the store for its 10 cent refund.

The innocent victim, a Coca Cola can

was found at the scene, with frozen
Coke still oozing out of its top.

A 1/2 gallon of ice cream, which was on the shelf above the Coke can states the Cola may have been placed in the freezer more than a day ago. "I don't remember exactly when the can came in" stated the ice cream, "But it was at least a day or two ago."

Two loaves of bread were rushed to the sink and cleaned. It is reported that they were returned to the freezer shortly after with only minor thawing. "It doesn't look as if any of the coke penetrated the wrapper at this time." said a volunteer who helped to clean the mess. "But we won't know for sure until it is ready to be consumed."

One witness outside the freezer stated she heard a loud noise around the time of the explosion, but she thought it was just ice shifting inside the freezer. "It does that from time to time" she stated. Other witnesses stated they saw Coke flying about two feet. Photos from the scene confirmed that the explosion covered approximately half the freezer and frozen Coke was hanging from the wire shelf above where the can was sitting. The tab from the disfigured can was found a few inches away in a pile of frozen, brown debris.

One jar of home made Strawberry Jam, 2 ice cube trays and a package of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups were also washed and returned to their place in the freezer. Authorities say they were not damaged, nor did any of the coke penetrate and they should be fine.

One ice pack sustained complete thawing during extrication and clean up, however it was returned to it's shelf and should be fine. Talk is swirling that a lawsuit may be filed because the ice pack was left unattended and allowed to thaw for nearly an hour. One lawyer we spoke with stated the ice pack didn't have a case, and he'd be surprised to see anything come of it.

Disaster was avoided today during the explosion and many freezer dwellers are counting their blessings. "There was an empty ice serving bucket sitting right next to the Coke can" authorities said. "If it had been full of ice at the time... I'd hate to even think of what this could have turned into. We would have had many casualties, that I can tell you. I just thank God there weren't any Ice Cubes in the tray at the time."

The investigation into how the explosion happened is ongoing. But for now it seems it was just a matter of dumb luck. "It looks as if someone simply forgot the can of coke was in the freezer. As the frozen coke expanded, it had nowhere else to go and that is when it exploded. It looks as if this is simply a case of forgetfulness and we're all lucky nobody was seriously hurt."

The last one!

2009-09-07T15:51:00.005-04:00

I've been a student at the New York Institute of Photography for almost 3 years now. When my mom and I began the course on Professional Photography, we thought "oh we'll finish that quick and have our diplomas in no time."

HAHAHA.... WRONG!

But, yesterday we finally finished our last assignment. The photos we have to submit include architectural photography and glamour photography (what a combination... I know).

Since one of the portraits we have to submit must be of someone we've never submitted before, we called upon the assistance of my sister. She was a great model, as modest as she is and here are the two poses I chose to send in for my final assignment.

I also learned that setting your white balance to "flash" when actually using flash is a great idea. Yeah... it only took me 3 years to figure that one out.

I can't decide which of these two I like the best. I have to choose one for my website, since it would be pretty lame to put two of almost the same picture up. Help! Tell me which edit you like best.

I love how this black and white turned out. It being so dark reminds me of a yearbook photo from the 70's or something. the color and contrast is just groovy man!

I used my wonderful 50mm 1.8 lens for these. I love, love, love that lens!

Let me know what you think. Are they glamorous enough?

Week 34 - "Before & After" Challenge

2009-08-31T00:24:00.007-04:00

When I first started the adventure of portrait photography, I was happy to get a photo that showed all of the subject (or at least their face) and was centered. Life was good. Editing wasn't so much used to make a good photo great, but more to make a good photo look different, to enhance it. The digital darkroom.. in the sense of making my photos really pop.. didn't really occur to me. My photo programs were just there for me to play around with cool looks for my photos.

Boy have things changed since then. While I still do some creative effects to my photos, I've also learned that in a lot of instances, less is more. And for good-almost perfect photos, a little bit of 'tweeking' can make all the difference in the world. Who would have thought that I would be able to take a photo, not knowing what I was doing and make it look great? Not me. Not then.

Here is a photo I took in May 2007 when Laneybug had just turned 2. The orriginal, because I took it in the shade (remember I had a P&S camera then and had no idea how to use its controls) had a blue tint. My solution... Black and white, with a little color selection thrown in for good measure. And just so we don't forget just how completely awful my idea of sepia was back then... I'll post that too.

Original Before

With Color Selection... cute, but not the ONLY solution
I could have gone with to get rid of the blue.

My sepia circa 2007.... YIKES!!!!

Now, not only have I learned to play with camera angles, settings and cropping (both while taking the photo and during post-processing, but I do believe my editing skills have improved tremendously!!! Check out these photos of Chunky Monkey, taken this month.

The original of this pose is much more interesting than the one above (even though that is still one of my favorites of LaneyBug). It's already got much more to work with than the first. Just a little bit of editing, and it'll be perfect!

All I did here was warm it up a little to make his skin look more natural. That's it. I've definitely taken on the less is more philosophy.

Another thing I've learned (and I've mentioned it many times before, is I don't like the black and white "monochrome" button in my photo programs. I use it. But then I go in and warm it up just a touch, to get rid of the blue hue. It makes it much softer, and much more interesting in my opinion.

I also found a wonderful combination of color that I use to create my sepia tones. No more "two color" feature that makes my whites look like someone urinated in the snow (seriously... I would post that picture, but the computer screen doesn't do justice to the printed version!).

So I hope you enjoyed reminiscing with me. How about you? Have you improved on your photo taking and/or editing skills? If so, share them with us by clicking the button below!

Fix-It Friday #26 - Beauty

2009-08-28T13:00:00.015-04:00

Gorgeous!!

That was my first thought when I saw this weeks fix-it photo. I was excited to start working on it, and immediately a hundred different fixes were running through my mind (not that it needed much actual fixing). I'll spare you the bleeding retinas and only post a few, but this Beauty was so much fun to work on!

Here is the original. Isn't she beautiful? Did I mention this beautiful young lady is a triplet? And she has 6 brothers and sisters... I visited her mom's blog and I'm jealous. She has 7 beautiful children to perfect her photography skills, and from the looks of her photos, she's done some serious practicing. This picture was great Straight out of the camera.

So, as usual the first thing I did was sharpened her eyes. I also saturated her lips just a bit while I was in Portrait Professional.

The first thing I did in PhotoImpact was to straighten the image so that the bricks were straight. The uneven line was distracting. I love that PI6 has a straightening tool. I just line up their line, with my uneven line and it automatically straightens the photo for me. Then, all i have to do is crop out the white that's left.

Then I used the sunlight feature to soften the photo. I loved how her dress already had that dreamy look, so I just emphasized it some. I also bumped the sunlight bar down and nudged the bar on the warm/cool slider over toward the cool side to get rid of the greenish tint. Then I took a little more of the green out to get the photo below.

Fix #1

I also cropped it.

Fix #2

Then it was time to play! Below are my creative fixes. Most of what I did is pretty obvious. The black and white, I warmed some. Added some text, etc. Hope you enjoy!

Fix #3

Fix #4

So What do you think? Let me know by leaving a comment. Then Check out more great fixes by clicking the button below.

Before & After

2009-08-27T15:00:00.005-04:00

It is no secret that I am obsessed with the iHeartFaces Blog. This morning I joined their network, and have already been a part of many discussions.

I met a woman there who was interested in information about a program I use. We then talked some about editing, and she wanted to see some before and after photos of mine that I've edited with my favorite photo programs. (BTW Sarah, PhotoImpact is MUCH less expensive than Photoshop!)

So there is the inspiration for this post. Here are a few of my favorite before and after photos and what I did to them (as far as I can remember.. some of them are quite dated). Some of them you've seen. Some you have not. And if you want to see more before and afters you can always check out all of my fix-it Friday photos.

Enjoy!

This photo is an example of a quick and easy way to do color selection. If you aren't picky about what gets selected you can easily do this in PhotoImpact X3 by using the Hue & Saturation tool. Simply take all or most of the color out, and this is what is left. It's the quick and easy (albiet, not as precise) workaround for the Photoshop method. It was also cropped.

A lot of the post processing work I do on my photos happens while the photo is still in it's RAW format. You may remember my elation at discovering what RAW is all about in this post. I'll change the saturation, brightness, and even sometimes the color balance to either correct an in camera mistake or sometimes just to be creative. This post of my photos of the Mackinac Bridge above, is an example both of the work I did in RAW format and the changes I made to the White Balance in camera. Check them out to see more great examples.

As for this particular photo, after I did the work in RAW format (I brightened it a little, and sharpened it a little) I took it into photo impact. I turned it black and white, then in my FAVORITE edit (the Sunlight menu) I just bumped the warmness of the photo up some to get the nice warm tone... not quite sepia, not quite black and white... perfect!

You can see this photo of Chunky Monkey is quite a change. I did this photo a long time ago, so I honestly don't remember if I did anything to the RAW file or not. I may have brightened it some, but I honestly don't remember. But I, as always used Portrait Professional to brighten his eyes.

Then in PhotoImpact, I cropped the photo, to get the blinds out from behind him. Then I used.. you guessed it, the sunlight feature. I bumped up the saturation some, I think I left the sunlight where it was (default is 10, I usually don't go any higher than that, and more often than not I'll even take it down some.. many times I even take it down to 0). Then I bumped up the soft focus some. I LOVE soft focus in Photo Impact. It is my favorite feature.

Of course that doesn't help that background. See that beautiful blurry wall? That is thanks to my friend the Canon 50 mm f/1.8 lens. But as far as editing, that's all I did.

This is one of my favorite photos of Chunky Monkey. He was actually in Time out, which explains the total look of his disgust with me.

I took this photo straight into PhotoImpact since the color was good and I wasn't really worried about his eyes (I was actually using this photo for a tutorial I did on giving your photos a vintagy look).

I turned the photo black and white. Then I did the sunlight feature to bring in some brown tones, just enough to give it that old, vintagy look. After that, I added a vignette. You can play around with the darkness of the vignette and the brightness of the picture to get a look you like.

This is one of the first photos I did in sepia in PhotoImpact X3. To get the look, I turned the photo black and white. Then instead of using the sunlight feature (because I hadn't figured that one out yet at the time) I adjusted the color.

There is a menu called "adjust" and then you click on Color Adjustment. I changed the numbers to -7, 7 and -32 respectively and voila! Now that I've started doing it the other way, I like the photos above much better, but this is still a good way to do a lighter version.

Also if you leave the photo color, desaturate it and then do the color adjust, you can get that old look while still leaving the color in like this photo of my grandpa. You can see an example I did here for this fix-it Friday. So there's how I do some extreme editing. I hope I didn't make your head spin.

For general - not doing anything extreme, just making a set of photo shoot proofs look good, - editing, I have a standard regimine where I do the following.

1. After I've chosen the photos I am going to present to my client, I'll pull up the raw file and make any adjustments I need to to the brightness, white balance and sometimes I'll kick up the sharpness a little.

2. Then I pull the photo into portrait professional to make the eyes nice and bright. (if you want to learn how to do this in Photoshop, Read this. Jennifer is a great photographer, with some great down to earth, anyone - can - do - it tutorials. Following those directions works pretty well in photo impact too if you know where everything is in the menus.

3. Then I put the photo in PhotoImpact and along with any extreme editing, I'll usually go into the Sunlight feature, and play with the sliders until I get something I like. I like natural, warm looking skin most of the time for regular portraits. I don't like the photos too desaturated, or too blue. If I took it in the shade and didn't have my WB set correctly, I'll fix it in raw, if something happened where the skin tone isn't nice and warm, I'll fix it.. I HATE blue skin... let me say that again... I HATE BLUE SKIN. It might have something to do with being an EMT and seeing blue skin in it's "narual" (ie, cyanotic) form, but to me its not cool in pictures. Fix it!

Now that I'm off my soapbox, I hope I didn't confuse you too much. Its hard for me to say exactly how I edit photos, because every time its different. But usually the same guidelines apply. I just play until it looks good. Sometimes I go to the extreme as in the example below, sometimes I don't do anything.

I just edit til I like what I see. The most important thing is to just have fun. Have fun while you're shooting, while your editing and you'll like what you see.

How To - Make a piece of tape

2009-08-25T22:06:00.007-04:00

Every once in a while, especially when I am looking for inspiration for an upcoming photo shoot, or need something different for my website, I like to go exploring on other photographer's websites. I don't try to copy them, but it's fun trying out different styles, especially when I find, try and use something I really like.

While checking out some of my favorite photographer's websites today, I came across one who's photos had pieces of tape on the corners. I've always wanted to do this, so I set out to find a graphic of a piece of tape. What I found was way more than I expected, and I thought I would pass the knowledge on to you.

I was going to type it all out, but really I like to give credit where credit is due ~~and let's face it, I'm lazy~~ so I'll just include the video I used to make my tape.. and of course, my results.

*In the video he is talking about making a "grunge" looking piece of tape., and he crumples his up. Really, it's just the effect he is going for. I did try it, and while with the right photo it would work, it wasn't the effect I was going for, so you'll notice my tape isn't crumpled.

And here is my result

I still have some tweaking to do... I actually think this would look much better with CLEAR scotch tape than with the frosted kind, but it's what I had. And I am going to take better pictures of the tape next time. I was a little rushed this time.

Brandon

2009-08-21T13:34:00.004-04:00

I always seem to draw the quiet, don't-really-wanna-be-doing-this, causal, I-don't-care-what-you-do-just-get-it-done-and-over-with type of seniors...

Wait, maybe all seniors are like that...

Ya think?

Oh well.. cuz ya know what? I love it! I love trying to make them laugh so I can get a good, natural smile. I love telling them jokes and threatening them to get them to grin. I love the look on their face when I tell them "just do it for your mom."

Anyway, I recently photographed a fun-loving outdoors boy. He even has a horse! And you all know how I feel about horses. No? Well, I love em! So here is a preview of Brandon's Senior Portraits. He did a great job, even if this was the last thing he wanted to be doing on a Saturday afternoon.

Also, just in case you may be interested, I have just finished uploading the updates to my website. Lots of changes have been going on at ShutterBugs Photography, and I hope you'll hop on over there to take a peek!

3 - Minute Chocolate Cake

2009-08-19T14:46:00.004-04:00

The other day I stumbled upon a recipe for a chocolate cake that you bake in the microwave. Since I like the Warm Delight brand cakes, I thought I would try it. Since it pretty much gets my approval (I'll get into that after I share the recipe), I thought I would share it with you.

3 - Minute Chocolate Cake

What you need:

- A coffee Mug (the larger around the better)
- 4 tbsp Flour
- 4 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Cocoa
- 1 Egg
- 3 tbsp Milk
- 3 tbsp Oil
- A splash (I used the cap) of Vanilla Extract
- 3 tbsp (optional) Chocolate chips, Nuts, or anything else you'd like to use... a glob of hot chocolate in the center would be yummy too!

What You Do:

1. Add dry ingredients to the coffee cup and mix well
2. Add the egg and all wet ingredients; mix thoroughly
3. Add the chocolate chips or other goodies and stir gently
4. Cook in microwave on high for 3 minutes. Don't be alarmed if the cake rises over the mug.

I found that the cake was very spongy. I think next time I will not use as much, if any oil. Otherwise it was very good... and rich... and big! Seriously, this cake is HUGE (to give you an idea, that's a sandwich plate in the photo above)! The next time I make it, I will definitely be sharing it with someone.

Enjoy!

From My Front Porch - Week 5

2009-08-19T03:00:00.000-04:00

This week's photo of Chunky Monkey was taken Monday when he was in time out. He looks so sad, does he not?

Yeah... don't let him fool ya!

I've started the time-outs with him, mostly when he runs away from me. It drives me nuts when I tell him "come here" or I go to get him and he runs away. If you want to make Aunt Rach mad REAL quick, run away from me...

I was playing with it in PhotoImpact and loved the result, so I to use it this week!

Now it's your turn. Take a photo from your front porch... or your yard. Make a post about and and come back here and link to it so all of us can see it, too. To view the complete rules, please click here. Please read the rules before you post. It makes it easier and more fun for everyone!

Remember, do your best and have fun. This is meant for you to not only share your memories, but also to learn more about your camera. Experiment with your camera. use features you have never used before. Post process them in your favorite photo editing software.... do what you like and then share it with us.

Good luck & Have fun!

What a Boy Does

2009-08-17T21:26:00.005-04:00

This is what a boy does when he's playing in

the water table and finds a rake.

This is what a boy does when he sees a "Big Truck" go by!

This is what a boy does when he sees his sister

dumping water over her head.

This is what a boy does when his sister is

splashing him from the water table.

This is what a boy does when he is in time out for running toward the edge of the yard and doesn't stop when he is told to, causing Aunt Rach to chase after him and in turn have a heart attack.

This is what a boy does after spending the day
playing in the water table and his big sister
is playing dress-up.

This is what a dressed up boy does when he finds a phone.

This is what a dressed up, phone yielding boy does
when he finds a make-up brush.

This is what a tired boy does after a long day of fun!

Mighty Mac

2009-08-16T18:54:00.005-04:00

Last night, Mom, Dad & I went to watch the fireworks. A town not too far from here has been having a fireworks display every Saturday night this summer. While a very nice display, the proximity of the barge shooting off said fireworks to us + the rapid sequence of bombs bursting in mid air didn't make for condusive picture taking conditions. I did get a couple of OK shots, but I will spare you.

Instead I will leave you with these gems.

After we left the fireworks we went down to the park along Lake Michigan to try and get some night time shots of the Mackinac Bridge. When we couldn't get anything good there, we drove across to Mom and My favorite picture taking spot in Mackinaw City (no, I am not going to tell you where). I have MANY MANY MANY....(you get the idea) photographs of the bridge, but my goal has always been to get photos of the bridge at night.

And boy did I ever!

It was VERY hazy last night. The mist/fog coming off the water was awesome. It gave the photographs a surreal look, I think. And even though the water wasn't completely calm (there was a very nice breeze up there... I didn't want to come home for that reason only) I got some very nice reflections.

It's amazing what you can do with white balance and shutter speed. That was all I changed on the camera last night. Lets just say I took more shots of the bridge than I did of the senior we photographed earlier in the day (previews coming soon of that success as well....which, if you know me, isn't a surprise.

And yes... all of these photos were taken within an hour of each other. Same night, same conditions... yet COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY different.

And the fact that most of the shots look the same, but just a little different, but are all amazing and duplicates will not be deleted shouldn't surprise you either.

Ok, ok so I won't make you wait any longer. Here a few of the different photographs I got last night.

Sneak Peek

2009-08-14T23:03:00.006-04:00

I've been doing a lot of redecorating on my Photography Website. One of the new features I am going to offer, is Custom Portrait Collages.

When we take your photos you'll have the option of purchasing either a Custom Portrait collage that you can put in your scrapbook or hang on the wall (they look really nice framed), or you can have us design a Custom Collage Album for you.

I'll have my website updated soon, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peek of a collage I designed tonight. I LOVE the way it turned out.

Fix-It Friday #24

2009-08-14T11:42:00.007-04:00

For this weeks fix, I did pretty much what I usually do... brightened the eyes, evened the skin tone, softened the photo. I also took most of the ~~crumbs~~ (I was informed by this little guy's mama, that he actually has an allergy that causes him to break out. makes me feel even better about being able to make his face look so awesome!) off the little guys face, then played a little with the skin tones. Hope you like!

The Original... crumbs and all!

After Portrait Professional to brighten the eyes and get most of the crumbs off. Oh yeah... I cropped too... Obviously!

I saw potential in his rosy cheeks.... Not sure I liked how this one turned out. He looks a little... weird. I also softened the photo here, too.

I wanted to play with the color some here. It's ok... not my favorite. I think I like it better than the one above though.

I love black and white photos. I've found a way to make the black and white a little more real. I've found that when I just use the "monochrome" or "black and white" button on the photo editing software, the hues are too strong, too sharp... so to soften the color a little, after I turn the photo black and white, I've just been warming it a little.. it still looks black and white, but doesn't have the harsh blue cast to it. The photo above is definitely my favorite of the bunch, and I'm excited to use the technique on my next photo shoot! Also if you warm it a little more than I did here, it gives it a nice bronze tone... not quite sepia, but a step up from Black and white... Gorgeous! And of course I couldn't leave you without an example, so here ya go...

I hope you enjoyed my fixes. To see more great versions of this photo, visit the iHeartFaces website by clicking the button below.

From My Front Porch - Week 4

2009-08-12T11:09:00.006-04:00

The other night my Mom was letting the dog our when I heard her call for me. She's not a spider person so I figgured there was a fairly large one somewhere in the back room. When I got out there, there was a huge toad outside by the door... of course I had to take pictures!

Not Me Monday

2009-08-10T22:43:00.005-04:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week has been pretty uneventful... either that or I just don't remember much...which is entirely possible. But here are a few things I CAN remember.

I didn't totally not even realize that my invitation design portfolio was missing until I went to show it to a client tonight. I always keep track of all of my things and would never not remember where I left it.

After said client ("D") left, I didn't say to mom "didn't we leave the portfolio with D when we took A's Senior Portraits?" She didn't confirm my suspicion, so now I will not have to remind D that she in fact has the portfolio that I was going to show her.

I didn't sit in the car for 20 minutes today with the A/C on trying to keep the groceries cold while Mom got her teeth cleaned. I also wasn't so starving that I dug out a box of triscuits and munched on them until Mom was done.

I didn't at all feel guilty about leaving Dad to sleep through two rescue runs ~~lastnight~~ this morning. Mom and I weren't so pumped to go on the second one, which was actually not a medical, but fire call... that we checked in before an actual fire truck was en route. I didn't wonder after we'd done that if any Firefighters were actually going to check in, and imagine myself having to tell Dispatch that they'd need to set off another set of tones so we'd actually have a Firefighter on scene. We then didn't wait along side the road for a fire truck to pass us so they would get there first, since afterall, they ARE the fire truck and we're just the lowly rescue truck.

I didn't totally go nuts and buy 12 new books at the library book sale this weekend. My desire to read said books wasn't fueled simply by the fact that the author is related to one of my friends. The books are not stacked on top of my desk because I have no earthly clue where I am going to put them.

I didn't dress Chunky Monkey in a diaper and training pants to play in the water table yesterday. He always wears swim trunks, and I always call my sister ahead of time when we are going to have such fun. I would never decide at the last minute to play in the water just so I wouldn't hear dad yell at the kids because he was in a bad mood, therefor resulting in dressing Chunky Monkey in such an unfashionable way.

The aforementioned fun most certainly did not including me spraying my two beautiful babies with the hose... many, MANY times! They, of course... ok Chunky Monkey ...didn't laugh every time he got sprayed. Alayna.. not so much. I would never laugh at LaneyBug for getting so mad at me.. I'm not ~~that~~ mean.

So what haven't you done this week? Post and link your own Not Me Monday and then use the MckLinky on MckMama's Blog so everyone can see.

Fix-It Friday #23 - "Sweet Boy"

2009-08-07T14:11:00.010-04:00

The first thing that caught my attention in this week's Fix-it Friday photo was this sweethearts BEAUTIFUL blue eyes, and that look on his face... it says trouble! Of course the first thing I had to do was to make those eyes pop!

I put it in my Portrait Professional program and sharpened those baby blues. I usually don't accept what Portrait Professional does to the skin for Fix-It Friday. I want it to look the most natural I can... but this week I like what it did, so I left it.

Since blogger decided to be a pain and not save my post, I'll try to remember what else I did...

Lets see... I played with the light levels to bring more of the color out. I didn't like the haze on the photo, so I just used that to make it pop. Then I used my favorite feature.. sunlight to soften the photo and add some saturation in. Then I softened it quite a bit. To me, it looked like the boy had found a meadow in the middle of the woods, and I wanted to add to the effect of the light coming through the trees and softening the boys features.

After I got done, the green area in the photo was screaming "give me text", so I did that too. Hope you like. And be sure to check out other great photo fixes by visiting the iheartfaces blog.

How To - Creating your own Sepia tone

2009-08-07T13:01:00.006-04:00

I have a friend who is really into photo editing and is always asking me how to do things in her photo program. Sometimes its difficult because we don't use the same photo programs, but usually we can work it out.

So I got to thinking.. everyone talks about photoshop when they are doing a tutorial. Well, if you're like me, you can't afford photoshop. I got lucky and received it as a Christmas gift one year, but really my favorite photo program is actually one that came free with a laptop I purchased when I started college.

I like and use PhotoImpact the most, a lot of people like Paint Shop Pro... whatever your choice, sometimes its hard to learn the features of your photo program. I've found that many of your lower priced photo programs have similar features, so I thought I would try writing a tutorial once in a while that some of us, who don't normally use photoshop can use. Now, keep in mind they may not work for you if you don't use the same photo programs as I do, but hopefully the techniques I will show you will help you to better use the features of your own photo editing software and give you ideas of how you may be able to acheive a similar look on your own photos "manually".

Last week's fix it friday photo was a ton of fun to do and actually gave me a lot of inspiration for this post. I love sepia, and it took me a LONG time to find just the right combination of colors to make a nice looking tone. I use photoshop once in a while.. mostly for doing things that require layers, or if I want to use different brushes that I find online... but my favorite photo program is PhotoImpact, and unfortunately there is no "sepia" button in photoImpact.

When I first started using version 6, I used the "two color" feature under the effects menu. It worked... once. I was able to achieve what I thought was a beautiful sepia look. The only problem? I couldn't do it again. Because there was no way to save the colors I'd used, I didn't know how to get that look again. But over the course of time, I was able to find a better, easier to remember way to create the look. So I thought I would give you a few ideas on how to create your own sepia tone if you, like me, do not have a quick button to create it for you.

I have two versions of photo impact, that I use most of the time together to create just the right look. The oldest version I am more comfortable with when it comes to basic editing, and the newer version I use when I want to get super creative and it also has some features that the old version does not. I will give you the best directions I can on how to create a sepia tone in both programs, just in case you have similar features in your own photo program. I will start with PhotoImpact Version X3 (or 13). I find this to be the easiest, more precise way to create the sepia look.

First you're going to find a photo you like, then open in your photo program. Above is my original. Cute as is, but we're going to give it even more interest by making it sepia.

Next, you'll want to turn the photo black and white. If you're using X3, simply click the Express Fix button, click monochrome and then switch back to full edit.

Now you're going to change the colors in the photo to make it sepia. In X3, click on the Adjust menu, then click Color Adjustment. Now, if you don't use X3, this is where you'll have to find your own color control features (I'll explain a little more about that below).

In X3, I can play with any of 6 hues (cyan/red, magenta/green, and yellow/blue). If your program doesn't give you this much choice, use what you have. Usually I'll set my colors so that the numbers are as follows:

For the cyan/red control I want it to be more red, so I type in a 7.

For the magenta/green, I want more magenta, so I type in -7

Since the brown tone in sepia is more of a yellowed color, we want lots of yellow, so I type in -32 so the bar goes more toward the yellow end of that control. This gives me a nice brown on white tone that looks beautiful.

Now let's pretend you don't have this much control over your color. In PhotoImpact 6, I have this very problem, but here's a way around it...

Again the first thing I'm going to do is turn the photo black and white by going to Effect> All> Monochrome Then I'm going to use my color menus until I find a good combination of color. Here's where you'll probably have to play a little more than if you have the setup I described above.

Usually I'll use the color balance option in the format menu. This doesn't give me the creative control that the color adjustment menu in x3 does, but it still works.. you just have to work a little harder. If you didn't notice, the actual key to creating the seipa tone is turning the photo black and white. This gives you a clean slate of sorts, it gives you the two-tone colors you need to start creating sepia. You just need to find the right brown tone and you're done.

This is the photo I turned sepia in PhotoImpact X3.

This is the photo I turned sepia in PhotoImpact 6. Not too bad if I do say so myself!

If you want to keep a little color in your sepia tone, don't turn it black and white. Instead desaturate it. Your photo program probably has somewhere a "hue and saturation" option... simply take some of the color out, then change the colors to give it the old fashioned look. Not all photos look good using this technique. I don't care for this one much, but the one I did for Last week's fix it Friday really looked nice.

Play around with your own photos and your own photo programs to see what works for you. Don't be afraid to play. Remember, if you don't like it, you don't have to save it. Close it out and start over. Good luck!

iHeartFaces giveaway - Tamron Lens

2009-08-05T21:50:00.004-04:00

Most of you know I LOVE the iHeartFaces blog. They have a ton of great information on photography, great photo contests and carnivals and AWESOME giveaways!!

This week is no different. Right now iHeartFaces is teaming up with Tamron to give away a great lens. Mom has been looking to buy this lens, so how great would it be to win it?!

Wish me luck!!

From My Front Porch - Week 3

2009-08-05T11:38:00.004-04:00

This weeks photo was taken a couple weeks ago. We had some extra celery, so I showed LaneyBug how to make Ants On A Log. She loves peepiar (that's LaneyBugaese for peanut butter) and liked the celery mom put in the macaroni salad, and she likes raisins, so I figured she would like it. She said she liked it, but didn't eat much, so who knows. She had fun making it, anyway.

Good luck & Have fun!

Woman's Intuition... or not

2009-08-01T15:56:00.008-04:00

Well here I am, yet again without a job. This time by my own choosing though...well, sort of... maybe.

Is this right?

From the very beginning, the first day I started working in the studio... actually the day I went to fill out the application... I wasn't sure about it. There was just something that wasn't right, but I couldn't figure it out. It wasn't the work... I can handle work. It wasn't the photography... I love photography. It wasn't the customers... I like working with people. It wasn't the hours... ok, so maybe a little (seriously? One day a week? And a 1/2 hour commute each way?)...but that, and the annoyance of redundant paperwork really wasn't enough to make me want to quit.

Was it?

There was really no clear reason why I didn't like the job. Afterall THIS is what I want to do...I want to own my own photo studio. I have never had any doubt about that... not even once this week. So why did I feel like I couldn't...not just didn't want to, but COULDN'T work there? I still haven't really figured it out, and I can only attribute it to one thing... ahem, one person...God.

Why can't I do this?

Seriously, I've had jobs that I've hated, jobs that even though I dreaded getting up and going to work every morning, I've done. I've taken it in stride and done what I had to do. But this was different. On top of having a TON to learn and not caring for the way the company was all about the selling, there was something more. Some nagging feeling that this wasn't the place for me. Don't believe me? After the first day I cried... I have no idea why... nothing bad happened. I did everything right. I learned what I was supposed to learn.

So why is it so hard to be here? To be doing THIS job?

I figured it out yesterday... but only AFTER I'd told the studio manager (who happens to be a friend of mine) that I was not going to continue working there.

About 10 minutes after I told her, the phone rang. She was on the phone for a while, and when she got off, said something like "well that's nice." Long story short, two other managers had conspired to get the district manager fired and want to get two other studio managers fired, one of them being my friend.

On top of that, studios are closing left and right with no warning and our numbers had been WAY down lately, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the studio closed soon.

Yup, mission accomplished, suspicion confirmed!

Sometimes you just know when something's not right... even if you don't know why, there's just this nagging feeling that you shouldn't be doing something... people contribute it to intuition, instinct, a 6th sense... I call it God. Only He knows what's best for us. He has a plan for us and even though we may not be able to see it in its entirety, He's always working to make that plan come full circle.

It's all starting to make sense.

Take for instance, baby Stellan. His mom posted on this very subject earlier today. While everyone was working so hard to coordinate her son's transport to Boston, where he would need a 2nd very risky surgery, God was working out his own plan. Stellan, for now, no longer needs a trip to Boston. He is doing very well, weaning from medications that are no longer working, that he no longer needs, getting used to medications that will, with hope, keep his hear beating the way it should until he is older, big enough to have the surgery without so much risk.

While Stellan's family, friends, blog readers and even his doctors were preparing for a surgery that everyone thought he NEEDED, God was working to prove that He is in control, and only HE truly knows what we need.

Really... I'm serious...don't mess with God!

A couple days ago, my mom came home saying that the bank in our town (yes, we only have one) had bought the old post office; that they were fixing it up and renting it out. Of course my first thought was "that would make a great photo studio." Obviously someone else was thinking the same thing, because the story didn't stop there.

The branch manager, whom our family has known FOREVER came into Mom's shop across the street and they were talking about the building and our wanting to open the photo studio. Well Gloria thinks it would be a wonderful idea and said "we'll talk" about rent and a business loan.

Seriously, God?

No... Really?

I have always been they type to not get too excited about anything, because I've had a lot of disappointment when it comes to getting my hopes up. Dad would tell us he'd take us fishing, we never did. We'd plan to do something special one night, it wouldn't happen. But I can't help feeling this might be right... this might be the right place; the right time.

Show me where I'm supposed to be.

For weeks I've been asking God to help me figure out where I'm supposed to be. Help me to see what is best for me and my life. I can't help but thinking that maybe finally I am starting to see it. I only hope the end result isn't disappointment.

Could this REALLY be IT?

Only time will tell... and only God knows... all I can do is wait.

Fix-It Friday #22 - "Southern Belle"

2009-07-31T22:44:00.003-04:00

I've taken the last couple weeks off from Fix-it-friday. One, because I've been busy with other things, two I've been too tired, and three I just wasn't into the pictures that were posted for it.

But this weeks picture was right up my alley. From IheartFaces: "This week's photo (what a lovely time period capture!) was submitted by Vika Jones who was interested in editing this photo to make it look like it fit into the time period of the little girl's clothing better."

The Original

I love sepia and old fashioned tones. Especially now that I've found a good combination of color to make the sepia tone (I don't have a fancy sepia button in my photo programs. I have to make it myself by mixing colors). This week, though I didn't want to go for a straight brown on white tone. I took some inspiration from the photo of my grandfather in his military uniform and wanted to leave a little of the color in.

So the first thing I did was to crop it. I wanted to keep some of the old house and the steps to keep the feel of the time period she wanted, but there was just way too much house.

Then I desaturated it quite a bit... I prolly went somewhere around -50 on that. Then I just adjusted the color until I liked it.

After that, I just played with the color until I found something I liked. I cook like this too... I never use a solid recipe... I just do it til I like it.

Then I did something I haven't done in photoImpact before.. but I will be doing it again... I added a vignette. I stretched it so that it went to the edges, so that just the corners were darkened a little. I did darken the vignette some, and voila' the result is below.

After I did that one, posted it and decided maybe it was a little too yellow, I played some more. Here's another one.

I'm impressed with how they turned out, really, especially since I didn't really spend a TON of time on it! Let me know what you think and check out all the other great fixes at iHeartFaces by clicking the button below.

From My Front Porch - Week 2

2009-07-29T05:04:00.004-04:00

It's time once agian for us to post about what we see from our front porches. Last weekend, my family from North Carolina was here. The picture I chose isn't the best I've ever taken, but I wanted to tell the story... and since it's my blog, my caarnival, and my rules... I can do that!

This photo was actually taken ON my front porch. My Aunt & Uncle, Cousin and his wife were here from North Carolina for my other cousin's wedding. After the wedding on Saturday, my aunt and uncle from a few towns away, another aunt, and my aunt and uncle who life next door came over for a makeshift family reunion. This photo is of my Uncle Rick as he first saw the cake we got him to celebrate his retirement from the Army National Guard. He is military police and a chaplain in the Guard and has served for almost 25 years.

Now for the cool story....

Earlier Sunday morning my mom and I had gone into town to pick up a few things for the cookout. Since my birthday had been the weekend before, and we had a TON of people over, mom told me to pick out a cake to go along with the cake we were also going to get as a surprise for my uncle. Mom had picked out a cool cake with a lake scene on it and a little toy boat and fishing poles....

As I was looking through the case, I came across this cake that was decorated in camo, had palm trees and a Humvee on it! I yelled across the deli "MOM stop, don't let her decorate that cake." The lady working probably thought I was crazy, but we couldn't believe I'd found that cake.. it was perfect... it was meant to be.. and he loved it!

Now it's your turn. Take a photo from your front porch... or your yard. Make a post about and and come back here and link to it so all of us can see it, too. To view the complete rules, please click here. Please read the rules before you post. It makes it easier and more fun for everyone!

MckLinky Blog Hop #5 - Favorite Kid Photo

2009-07-28T20:10:00.005-04:00

The rules for this week's Blog Hop state that you can showcase as many photos as you'd like... but really, if I did that, you'd be here all day! So I finally did narrow it down to 2 photos. One of LaneyBug and 1 of Chunky Monkey. These aren't necessarily my absolute MOST favorite, but they are definitely in the ranks.

This one of LaneyBug was taken a couple of summers ago. The barn cats had just had kittens and she was fascinated with them. i especially love her pigtails in this photo. So tiny... I love little toddler pigtails!

This one of Chunky Monkey was taken back in early June. He is so expressive and has such a great personality. You can always tell what he's thinking just by looking at him, and he loves putting on an act for anyone just to get a laugh.

Check out some of the blogs in the MckLinky below to see other great kid photos!

This Just Sucks!!

2009-07-26T23:13:00.003-04:00

If you follow my twitter, you've probably seen me tweet about Stellan needing prayers... well my faithful friends, we need to pray harder than ever before.

Stellan went into the hospital again on Friday Night to try some new ways to control his SVT, which had started to get out of hand again.

Tonight he is having a rough time of it. He's been in SVT most of the day and his little heart can't take much more.

Please pray like you have never prayed before. Pray for this latest bout of SVT to break, that his wonderful doctors can find a way to curb this.... SOON. Also pray for peace for his family.

Fix-It Friday

2009-07-24T21:46:00.004-04:00

I didn't spend a lot of time on the fix this week. I thought the photo was pretty good as is. The only thing I did was fix the color a little, since it looked a little green to me, and added some soft focus.

Original

My Fix

So now it's your turn. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. Then visit iHeartFaces to view more great edits. You can click the button below to get there!

Maybe?

2009-07-23T21:19:00.004-04:00

So, maybe things are starting to go my way? I guess we'll see, but I did get a job today. I'll be working in the Picture Me photo studio at wal mart. Not the most glamorous photography job in the world, but it's work, it's experience, and I can still do my own photography on the side.

We'll see how it goes. Today it took me nearly 40 minutes to get there because the traffic was rediculous. In the winter, driving is going to suck. It's low paying, no benifits, part time... well you get the idea, but it's experience. It's a little bit of money.

So, we'll see. I start tomorrow. Work all weekend. Fun.

The joy of working toward a dream, right?

From My Front Porch

2009-07-22T02:00:00.004-04:00

As I was finishing the last coat of paint on the back room windows the other day, I looked across the street and noticed this cool old truck sitting in the neighbor's driveway. I knew I just HAD to get a picture of it.

Then I got to thinking... how many things are in our yards around us that we can take pictures of?

Thus is the dawn of a new Blog Carnival: From My Front Porch. Every Tuesday I'll post my photo, along with a MckLinky so y'all can play along too.

Just take a picture, make a blog post about it, then come here and link so all of us can see it, too. To view the complete rules, please click here. Please read the rules before you post. It makes it easier and more fun for everyone!

Most of all, do your best and have fun. This is meant for you to not only share your memories, but also to learn more about your camera. Experiment with your camera. use features you have never used before. Post process them in your favorite photo editing software.... do what you like and then share it with us.

Good luck & Have fun!

MckLinky Blog Hop #4 - Favorite Recipe

2009-07-21T16:59:00.010-04:00

It's time for another MckLinky Blog Hop. This week we're posting our favorite recipes. I have a lot of favorite recipes, but this Cheesecake recipe has got to be the easiest, most versatile, most tasty recipe I have.

But first as a side note, come back tomorrow to participate in My first Blog Carnival ever. From My Front Porch is where you get to take pictures of whatever you want. The only catch? You have to take it from your yard. Click here to find out more about this event and how to participate!

Ok, back to the recipe....Seriously, it can't get any easier than this, folks!

Here's what you need to make the creamiest Cheesecake in the world:

- 1 8 oz. Container of whipped topping
- 1 8 oz. Package of Cream cheese
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Your favorite pie crust (home made or store bought)

Yeah... that's it.

Combine all ingredients and mix until it's all blended together. Spoon into your favorite pie crust and chill for a while and voila'. You're done.

I've eaten many a cheesecake in my day (it's my favorite) and this one is definitely the best (and easiest, and fastest, and has the least amount of dishes to do when you're finished... if that doesn't convince you to try it, I don't know what will)!

You can also add anything to this cheesecake. I've added mint flavoring, food coloring and mint cookies to make a minty treat. I've added chopped peanut butter cups.. yuummm

Some other ideas for things to add:

-Chocolate Sandwich cookies (also good with mint flavoring)
-Sprinkles
-Caramel (you could melt caramels or use a thick syrup to make a caramel swirl cheesecake)
-Hot Fudge...obviously not heated, to make a fudge swirl cheesecake
-Brownie pieces, then top with fudge
-Chocolate chips

The possibilities are endless!

If you liked this recipe, check out some of the blogs in the MckLinky below to find some more great recipes.

From My Front Porch... the rules & Info!

2009-07-21T00:00:00.013-04:00

Just like everything in life, our 'From My Front Porch' Carnival has to have a few rules, so we can all play nicely and fairly. Also, I will include a few tips and tricks of the blog world for making your post picture perfect!

Here's where you can also get the official 'From My Front Porch' banner and sidebar button. You don't have to, but what's a Blog Carnival without pretty buttons and banners?

So here are the official rules and everything else you need to know for the 'from my front porch' carnival:

1. The photo must have been taken by you. If you did not take the photo, please say so in your post. We like to give our photographers their due credit after all.

2. Your photo must have been taken from your yard. It can be of anything.. flowers, trees, buildings, bugs, kids, toys... whatever your little heart desires. It can be in the front yard, back yard, on the house, in the sky...something on the street, across the street, down the road... as long as you took it from your yard...no sneaking into the neighbors yard to take a picture of their cat allowed!

3. If there is a weekly theme, please stick to it. If it's kids week, People are coming here to see your picture of kids playing in the yard, not your hanging basket.

4. Use your post's permalink to enter on MckLinky. Please do not link directly to your blog, but to your Front Porch post only, so we can all find it easily. You can do this one of two ways. If you do not have the pretty custom fonted post titles (like mine), you can simply right click on your post title and click "copy link location" (firefox) or "copy shortcut" (IE). If you have the pretty font titles, simply click on your post's title and copy the address from your address bar. After you've copied your permalink, paste it into MckLinky... simple, right?

5. Please be sure that when you enter a title into MckLinky that you use your name or the name of your Blog. Please also use spaces in your title. MckLinky doesn't like long names with no spaces. He gets mad and kicks everyone else's links out of the way to make room for the long title, and sometimes it's hard to see the other links. Please don't make MckLinky mad!

4. MckLinkey will be available for you to post to from 12 am on Tuesday until 11:59 pm on Wednesday, so make sure you get your entries in before then!

5. You must include a link back to My Blog in your post. I have created a pretty banner and a cute little button for you to do this. Of course you could link with words, but what fun is that? Below are my banner and button. Below that, I'll tell you how to add them to your post.

To add the banner to your post, copy the below code anywhere in your post.

To add the button to your post, copy the below code anywhere in your post. To add it to your sidebar, paste it into its own HTML element on your sidebar.

You can also right click on either the banner or the button and save them to your computer to use when you post your entry.

Remember, your photo doesn't have to be perfect. Do your best and have fun. You don't have to use the latest camera equipment or an expensive lens. This is meant for you to not only share your memories, but also to learn more about your camera. Just use what you have, use features you have never used before. Post process them in your favorite photo editing software.... do what you like and then share it with us... and most of all, have fun.

It is my hope, that we'll all learn a little more about our cameras by doing this. Hopefully it will give everyone different ideas for photos to take, different settings to use on your camera, different editing techniques. Just have fun with it.

Happy Shooting!

iHeartFaces... the feet edition

2009-07-20T21:22:00.010-04:00

*UPDATE*

I have changed my blog address. Thank you to everyone who went through all the links to get here. I appreciate it! And I'm sorry to the ladies who left the wonderful comments. I didn't realize they would disappear if I changed my address.

*ORIGINAL POST*

This week at iHeartFaces there is a twist. It's all about feet. Here is my favorite foot foto (sorry, couldn't help it). This one belongs to LaneyBug. It was taken during her first trip to the beach. She had just turned one and we were camping.

Another towel cake

2009-07-17T13:07:00.004-04:00

Here's another Towel cake Mom and I did. This one is for another cousin who is getting married tomorrow. We have family coming up from North Carolina, so it'll be a full house here the next few days.

This one didn't turn out as nice as I'd like. The towels where so fluffy and bulky that we couldn't fold them as small as we wanated... especially the top one. Then the wash cloths are just an added thing. If we didn't have them to begin with, I wouldn't have run right out and bought them just for the cake. I liked it better before we put them on. Overall, though it turned out nice.

MckLinky Blog Hop #3 - 3 Things You Didn't Know About Me

2009-07-14T14:45:00.002-04:00

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to participate in the Blog Hop last week, but with my computer being in the shop, it just wasn't going to happen. I'm excited to be participating this week, and hopefully I won't miss a week again.

This week's theme is 3 things you didn't know about me. So without further adieu, here goes:

1. I love doing projects around the house. Especially painting. Right now I'm working on the windows in the back room. We just had two new windows put in, and I just finished caulking, filling nail holes and sanding. next up is paint, when the caulk dries.

2. I like to write, but I don't do it nearly enough. When I was in school my favorite class was English and I liked writing papers (just not always the subject matter). I also used to write articles for a NASCAR website, and I think that's a lot of the reason I started blogging.

3. As much as I want my own place, I get scared at night when I'm alone. It's gotten a lot better than it was a couple of years ago, and I'm fine as long as I'm awake doing something, but all the little bumps in the night sometimes freak me out!

There ya have it. Three things you didn't know about me. Now it's your turn. Visit the MckLinky website and copy the code to use on your own blog. Write 3 things about yourself, and link your post, along with everyone else. Then visit some of the other blogs on the MckLinky list and you just might learn a few things about other people and make new friends.

Not Me Monday

2009-07-13T17:32:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I haven't been around my blog to post for Not-Me Monday for a while, so these Not-Me's might come from the past couple of weeks.

After successfully lining up our 4th of July Parade, Mom and I took our place at end of the line in our golf cart. Being the upstanding citizens we are within our community, and knowing of our prestigious positions on the fire department, we most certainly did NOT go along the parade route like a couple of teenage kids in daddy's car. We most certainly were not speeding past the fire trucks only to slam on the breaks, squealing the tires for 5 feet. And of course we would never turn donuts in the middle of the road while trying to throw candy to hundreds of hungry parade spectators. Not us!

While not performing such antics, I did not wonder that if Mom gave me whiplash from her quick turns and stops, if I could file a Workman's Comp claim since technically we were working for the Fire Department that day.

On Thursday, when the kids came over, LaneyBug did not enthusiastically shout out to my dog "Winston, you scared the hell out of me!" She would never do that, because she is a sweet little girl, a perfect little lady who would never say such things. I, of course did not bust out laughing. I would never laugh at such a thing, because swearing is wrong. I didn't subsequently tell her that saying that word is wrong and in turn begin to laugh my head off again. While swimming in the lake, LaneyBug wanted me to lift her in the air and plop her in the water. She absolutely refuses to go under water. So, after ~~begging and pleading with her~~ encouraging her to do so without success, I did not lift her in the air only to lose my balance on the way down. We, of course, did not topple to the sandy bottom of the lake, and she absolutely did NOT go under. I also didn't spend the next 5 minutes convincing her it was ok, that I had also gone under, and now that she had done it, she should do it again.... you can bet that went well... or not.

A few minutes later, on our way out of the water, Chunky Monkey decided he didn't want to ride in the floaty anymore. The water only came to his bottom, so I decided he could hold my hand and walk the rest of the way. After a few steps into our journey to the shore, Chunky Monkey and his ever so stable legs (he never trips and falls, he is always ever so careful, never runs and always watches where he's going) did not end up under water just like his sister did not a few minutes earlier. I did not have a complete heart attack seeing him under water... although I must say.. he handled it ~~just a little~~ better than his sister.

After arriving safely and with both kids still breathing back on our blanket, I didn't grudgingly discover he had had a BM (seriously I swear this kid poos 20 times a day). I, of course, most certainly did NOT proceed to change his stinky right there on my purple blanket for all the world to see. It of course, didn't take me 5 minutes to take the soggy, wet, stinky, dripping with lake water diaper to the trash can 20 feet away because I had to wait for Chunky Monkey's stubby legs to keep up. I would never allow myself to look that ridiculous!

After leaving the beach, as we were coming around a curve, LaneyBug didn't suddenly announce that she didn't have her seat belt on. I didn't immediately pull over, a little miffed that she'd chosen the precise time that we'd reached the s-curves in the road to make said announcement. As I was buckling her up, I didn't suddenly realize that it was my fault she had no seat belt on because I hadn't buckled her in in the first place. I didn't decide that I must have assumed she'd done it, because she did it herself when we left for the beach. I would never make that kind of assumption, and I am always careful to make sure the kids are safe and sound in every way. I also didn't get passed by a woman on a bike, going uphill while readjusting my sweets in the back seat.

I didn't get all excited to go out and shoot some pictures Saturday night. I didn't drive all the way into town, down to the waterfront to play around taking pictures of the waterfall while waiting for the sun to get a little lower. I wasn't totally devastated to find a family reunion going on in the park right in front of the waterfall. I didn't then pull into DQ on my way home only to discover I'd left part of my money home. I didn't come home, get it and drive back to DQ... nope because I wasn't that obsessed with getting a blizzard. I also didn't get the dog a bowl of ice cream and eat half of it because he doesn't need that much. It wasn't absolutely yummy, even though I didn't curse how much it cost.

I didn't neglect my duties as resident housekeeper this weekend while the parental units were out of town. I didn't leave the dishes in the sink for two nights, leave newspapers on the floor or computer odds and ends on the couch. I didn't proceed to spend all of Sunday morning cleaning it all up before they got home!

And last but not least...

I most certainly, absolutely, positively, no way, without a doubt did not go to town this morning with my mom, spending 3 hours, taking clothes to good will, picking up blinds for the windows, some groceries, dog food and lunch only to come home and remember that I was on call! I didn't leave my uncle stranded for 3 hours and have a panic attack when I remembered that I was supposed to be running with him. Nope, cuz I'm a good girl and I have a WONDERFUL memory and I would never forget something that important!

Nope, not me!

The Blood Song

2009-07-11T15:18:00.003-04:00

This adorable video was posted on another blog I read, and I couldn't help but share it with you all. It is the most adorable video ever! Selah never sounded so good! Be sure to pause my mp3 player on the left before you play the video.

A little bit of everything

2009-07-10T22:44:00.012-04:00

I finally have my computer back, in working order and am ready to post pictures again! It's amazing the difference in screens. The poor monitor on my mom's desktop PC is simply laughable. It's good to be back in business. Especially when I have pictures to post. Do you know how hard it was to not do Fix-It-Friday because I didn't have anything to edit with and couldn't stand the look of a picture on that screen?

Anyway, here's what else has been going on...

You'll notice a few changes... I made a new banner, and added my picture! Yup, anonymous I am no longer. And I'll apologize now for the crack on your computer screen. Just don't scroll down too far, and you won't have to worry about it. *wink*

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I don't know why, but it always has been. I think it may be because when I was little I always thought it was cool that I got to be in the parade. Since the parade is put on by our fire department, and my parents have always been a part of the department, I always got to ride in a fire truck with my dad. Now, I'm in on the action and my mom and I spend the morning running up and down the road in golf carts registering everyone.

Now, technically it's illegal to shoot off fireworks in Michigan. However you can still buy them at the Indian Reservations, and the authorities around here really don't make a big deal about shooting them off on the 4th of July. Mom and I contemplated going to see the fireworks, but decided to stay home. Luckily for us, there were two sets of fireworks being shot off on the river. I didn't get many pictures, because just about the time I got to one side of the yard to take pictures of one set, they'd end and the other would start. It was very frustrating. But I did come out with this one:

Thursday I had the kids. It was also my birthday. After LaneyBug ~~shreaded the envelope of my card, threw it away and brought it back to me~~ gave me her card, my sister and I stood there talking with LaneyBug standing by the chair. All of a sudden, my dog (a scottish terrier) came running in. LaneyBug turns around and yells "Winston! You scared the Hell out of me!" just as serious as could be.

All week I'd been hoping for a nice day Thursday because I wanted to take them to the beach. It was an absolute gorgeous day, and we had a blast playing in the water, digging holes and filling them with water and just hanging out. We spent 2 1/2 glorious hours on the hot (very HOT) sand and in the lake.

After the beach it was time to come home. LaneyBug was mad because we didn't have time to stop and get ribs for supper, but she was cute anyway. On our way home, she says to me "Why don't we have time? 'Cuz we have to go to the party?"

I said "what party, babe?"

LB: "the birthday party."

Do you have any idea how hard it is explaining to a 4 year old that yes, it is your birthday, but there is no party. It doesn't work. I was prepared for a fit, but was greeted with silence. After a few seconds of pondering how in the world a person could go without a birthday party, she says "well, maybe we can have a party another day."

Yeah, baby, another day. I won't tell her that I ate a piece of cake later that night.

LaneyBug had fun playing on the shore, and Chunky Monkey ate his fair share of ~~sand~~ uumm goldfish. And seriously... do you SEE those eye lashes... gorgeous if I do say so myself... that was after he took his dunk in the lake, so they were wet, and sticking straight out!

I can't wait to take them back to the beach, except next time I'll have to get someone to go with me so I can take pictures of them in the water. I wasn't willing to risk my camera to get pictures of them in the water.

MckLinky Blog Hop

2009-07-03T14:34:00.008-04:00

The theme for the first MckLinky Blog Hop is to introduce yourself and your blog. So here goes...

I'm Rachel and this is my Blog. Here you will learn more about me than you probably ever needed (or maybe even wanted) to know. I am a photographer, and love what I do... I wish I had the opportunity to do it more, but I'm slowly changing that by booking more sessions. I started this blog as a place to rant, but it has turned into much more. Here, you will get a glimpse into my life as well as into my photography.

I love posting recent pictures from photo shoots, as well as pictures of my friends and family.. especially LaneyBug and Chunky Monkey, my beautiful, spunky, funny niece and nephew.

To get to know more about me, to view my photos, or just for some fun you can browse my archives and even search my blog! Have fun, and don't forget to leave me a comment to let me know what you think. If you do, I'll visit you and leave a comment in return.

Oh, and don't forget to use MckLinky to add your blog to the list for everyone to see.

July 2, 2009

2009-07-02T21:21:00.005-04:00

I logged on to Blogger tonight and literally did a double take as I looked at the date. July 2, 2009.

First off, it's just the beginning of the month, so it's still funny not seeing June. But it SO DOES NOT FEEL LIKE JULY! It's been downright cold this week. It feels like April. Today it got to 65, and that was the warmest day all week. Tuesday didn't even get to 60.

To top it all off, I think I'm getting a cold. I have a headache, and I have that weird feeling in my throat. I guess I'll know in the morning. How sad is this?

Strikes and Pez Dispensers

2009-07-01T13:18:00.006-04:00

I'm on strike.

Yup, you heard me...

I'm

on

strike!

I absolutely refuse to post any pictures on my blog until I have MY computer back in working order, and can see my own pictures in all their ever-beautiful-full-color glory. Seriously people, I should take a pictue of this computer monitor with a picture up on it to prove to you how bad it is!

What?

You'd like that?

No, sorry... I just can't do that to my precious pictures. Just trust me!

Not to mention this computer doesn't even have so much as MS Word or any of my photo programs on it.

Luckily I was able to fix my pictures up on my computer lastnight and get them sent off (a process that literaly took an hour an should have only taken 5 minutes)

Thank GOd I got them done... I'd hate to think of my precious images being edited in MS PAINT! (Ok, so I wouldn't have edited them in MS Paint... maybe Picnik. But then again I think this computer is too slow for even that.)

But seriously, do you have any idea how long it has been since I've used Paint? Yeah, me either, but I'm guessing it was probably middle school! And no... not telling how long ago that was. Sorry. (really, I'm not, but it made you feel a little better didn't it? What? No? Oh, sorry. Really. I am.)

So until the wonderful people at HP have returned my computer to me, I will ~~bore~~ amuse you with my online finds and other antics. First up... the Pez dispenser... who knew it was a camera attachment? I am SO buying one of these the next time I'm at the store.

Ok, what in the world are you talking about?

So glad you aksed!

Check this out!
Isn't that awesome? I can so see this on my camera getting the kidlins to smile during a photo shoot... Can you just see the babies reaching and the glazed-over, sugar-coated stares of toddlers? And getting candy at the end? Oh yeah.. bribery is sweet!

Oh, by the way... it took me like an hour to type this post... yeah... sad.

Alec

2009-06-30T15:10:00.005-04:00

This weekend Mom & I had a senior portrait shoot with a young man I used to babysit. Talk about feeling OLD! I can remember him as a 4-year-old whirlwind! He's grown up into a pretty cool guy, and he was fun to photograph. Here are some of the ones I've had a chance to edit. Hopefully they look ok. They looked good on my computer, but my wireless network card took a dump, so I am uploading them on my mom's computer... boy do they look BAD on here!

My Sister

2009-06-26T23:21:00.004-04:00

I have a photo shoot on Sunday, so I wanted to get a little practice with my new lens (have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE this lens?). Since the only subjects I've had the opportunity of following around aren't more than 3 feet tall, I wanted to do some work on an adult subject. Here enters my sister. We went out in her back yard today. I got some good practice, got to see how the lens would do (great, by the way), and she got a couple of good pictures out of the deal. Here are a few of the good ones.

Fix-It Friday #18

2009-06-26T13:51:00.012-04:00

Ok, so I went ~~a little~~ way overboard in this week's fix-it Friday. I did a LOT of edits! But how could I not?! This little guy is sooo cute and that face! You just want to kiss all over him. So I won't waste time and space with words, I'll just get right to the pictures!

Here's the original. Isn't he cute? And that tear... oh it breaks your heart!

Ok, First I rotated the picture just a bit and then cropped it in photoImpact 6.
Then I brightened his eyes and did a little playing with the lighting in portrait professional. I usually don't do much more than eyes/blemishes in PP, but I played a little today.

After that, I took the photo into PhotoImpact X3 and Duplicated the background from the top right corner and pasted it behind the baby in the top left and the left side to make an even background. I then added a little warmth and softened to get the image above.

After that, I softened some more and desaturated to get the above image. Then I converted it to black and white, then sepia to get the next two images.

Then I played around with the Curves, Levels and highlights, midtones & shadows in my lighting menu. I'm usually a fan of softer looking images, like the ones above. I don't care much for the super bright, hard images, but I do like the way these turned out. I especially like the way it emphasized the corduroy in the baby's coat. I also converted the below photo to black & white and sepia.

Finally I went back to the photo that I'd played with the lighting. I wanted to see what it would look like flipped, so I flipped it. I didn't care for the way it looked, so I rotated it some, and liked it a lot better. I think the tear being on the lefthand side of his face does something more for the photo, but I do like the angle that his head is at in this one. It makes it look more like he's looking right at you.

So now it's your turn. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. Then visit iHeartFaces to view more great edits. You can click the button below to get there!