Daffodils

Sadly the daffodils have already all wilted away in our part of the country, but I was able to capture a few daffodilly (totally a word!) photos a few weeks ago. I looked all over for some daffodils that weren't in someone's yard and I managed to find some blooming outside a broken down house on the edge of town.

I had to basically force them to pose together. This was as close as I could get to smiles, which quickly dissolved into this...

I cannot look at this photo without laughing. Oliver's face KILLS ME. KILLS!

Project 365

Another catch-up post of my Project 365 photos. I've been sticking with this, huzzah! Now I just need to start posting my photos again every Sunday. 

Paint Hands!

Water Baby!

Just a little post bath crazy people time!

Amelia on picture day at her preschool. This makes me laugh every time.

Violet looks so confused!

An excellent eye roll, if you ask me.

Our windowsill garden. We're growing daisies and sunflowers.

Project 365

I have been keeping up with my Project 365, but I haven't been posting them on here. Shameful! Now that we're all settled into our new home I'll get back into the routine of posting my photos weekly. Until then, these are some of my favorites from the past month or so...

Project 365 - Week Two

Day Eight - The Missing Tooth

My nephew Braylon's missing tooth,

Day Nine - Brotherly/Sisterly Love

My sweeties, being their crazy selves.

Day Ten - Joshuaverine

Joshua's Wolverine hair style just before I cut it all off.

Day Eleven - Gums

Violet's toothless little mouth.

Day Twelve - Mama's New Hat

I found this hat a thrift shop and absolutely love it.

Day Thirteen - Boots

Amelia's snow boots reflected in an icy puddle.

Day Fourteen - Winter Bliss

Nothing says winter like catching snowflakes on your tongue.

Photoshop: Before and After

I do post-processing on almost every single photo I take in Photoshop CS5. I am not the most versed in Photoshop, so I depend on actions for almost all the edits I make. I am a huge fan of Paint the Moon actions and use them almost exclusively for my photos. They are awesome for portraits!

This is my before shot of Oliver playing in the snow this afternoon. It's a decent photo on its own, but I wanted to kick up a few details. 

And this is my after shot....

I used three different Paint the Moon actions to achieve this after photo. I knew I wanted to bring out Oliver's face, the texture in the hat, the texture of his coat and I wanted it to be more obvious that the snow was still falling when I took the picture. 

First I used the Intensity action from PTM's Fresh Wonderland TWO. That deepened the texture in the hat, but made the coat and buttons even darker than before. Next I ran the All Together Now -Vintage action from PTM's Picture Perfect Portrait. Finally, I cropped a wee bit off the right side of the image to help center Oliver in the image and ran the Soft Burnt Edges action from PTM's Picture Perfect Portrait set three times. Ta da!

The second image has more texture, detail and interest than the original and it only took a few mouse clicks.  The big challenge with actions is choosing the right ones for your image.  Two images taken seconds apart can require two totally different combinations of actions. Some images may even only require use of one action to make them great. It all comes with practice and becoming familiar with your actions. 

Project 365 - Week One

I'm a few days late posting these, but my first week of Project 365 was a success. I've done a great job remembering to capture a little slice of life every day. 

While I'm taking part in Project 365 to improve my photography, I mostly want to capture a little moment of our lives every day. At the end of the year I plan to have all photos printed into a photo book. 

Enjoy Week One!

Day One - Traveling with Violet

Violet waking up from a nap on a 3 hour drive to my Dad's house.

Day Two - New Snow

The first snow of the season and of 2012.

Day Three - Squishy Face

Need I say more?

Day Four - Playtime

Playing on the floor with Violet.

Day Five - Floating Away

Playing with my new wireless shutter release.

Day Six - New Shoes

My new shoes, taken by Amelia.

Day Seven - Shopping with Mommy

Just picking up some groceries with Oliver and Amelia.

<3

Violet's 1st Christmas

I just wanted to share some of my favorite shots from my "Violet's 1st Christmas" photo session I took earlier this week. I am in love with how they turned out! Merry Christmas, all!

<3

Sometimes a Bad Day...

Today has been foul.

Just a really, really foul kind of day, which is a shame. The weather was amazing for November. Windy and gray, but warm and just lovely. Josh got into a car accident (he's fine, but the truck is a little dinged up), my sister-in-law Cassie is in the hospital having complications with the pregnancy, I'm drowning in homework, I locked myself out of the house, our other car is crapping out on us and money is, as always, way too tight for comfort.

It's days like these I like to whip out my iPod and look through my photos. I take a lot of random photos with my iPod since it's portable and usually with me at all times, but I rarely go back to look at them after I've taken them. The little faces in these photos are what I live for. They make me happy when skies are gray.

Somehow Violet managed to be in all of my favorites. She's sneaky like that!