Golden hour...

Shot at Richland College. I've never tried a sunset over water shot before. Was really happy with how it turned out...especially considering there's an ugly full parking lot on the other side of the creek in the background. Amazing what you can hide in silhouette. lol.

Fly away...

Love how you can see every little fly away hair with backlighting. ;) She's still working on that mullet, sweet girl. I really love the macro lens for portrait work. It's only good for head shots, cause you have to get so far away. But the clarity on eyes and the dof are great! Love my girls!

Architecture challenge, cont.

My 2 fave inside shots. The foyer is really TOO cool...all those lines and geometric shapes and the stark contrast of black/white. I love it. Had a hard time finding good angles, but thought this turned out well.

And a bit of experimenting. I tried to get some pics of the sanctuary which was pitch black. We didn't know where to turn on lights and didn't feel like we should anyway, so I took a lot of long exposures with the tripod. Had to use the flashlight on my keys for camera settings. lol. I was able to get good exposures, but had a really hard time composing good shots, because it was just too darn dark to see what I was shooting. But...then I looked to the right and noticed the colored light streaming through the stained glass in the balcony. I love how this turned out!

Architecture challenge...

We had to shoot architecture one day for the challenge, something I had never done before. So Kara and I headed down to her church (Park Cities Baptist)...a beautiful facility. I took a LOT of pictures...probably about 80 and most of them stunk. I did really like some of them tho' so I'll post those today and tomorrow. Of course, I had to get a steeple shot. Such a cool clock/bell tower!
And I'm loving the flare. I do still use my hood...but not ALL the time. Too much fun to play with the light.
And finally, one of my faves. Laid down on the concrete for this one to get a forced perspective. I was happy to figure out how to solve some of the technical issues in post processing. In camera, either the sky was blown out or I lost all detail of the column in shadow. I wasn't using a tripod, so couldn't do a bracketed exposure. So in post, I made a duplicate copy of a shot with the sky properly exposed and lightened the copy significantly. Layered the 2 photos and used a layer mask to reveal the properly exposed column underneath. Not sure I'm explaining that well, but it worked like a charm and didn't take long at all.

Summertime...

...and the livin' is easy.

Having a lot of fun playing around with light and vintage processing trying to create images that say "summer". Seems I've been shooting my feet a lot lately. Not sure what that's all about! :) It's taken me a while to figure out how to focus these shots...but I think I've finally got it. Of course the neighbors wonder what I'm doing. lol (Shot for the challenge "two of a kind"...feet... a matched set!)

Yankee Doodle Girl...

We had a great time together on the 4th of July. Hannah was lovin' her swing, as usual. She kept saying "up" so I thought she wanted me to push her higher. Then I realized she was pointing to the flag across the street. Ahhh.... She calls stars "up" because of "Twinkle, twinkle little star"...you know..."UP above the world so high". No wonder she was fascinated with the "up"....It was all backlit like this...

Cool....

Tree climbin' pirate...

Yay for little boys!

Boys...

Shot for the challenge "What little boys are made of". Yikes! I don't know a lot about little boys, being the mother of 2 girls. So I just went with every stereotype I could think of. Thankfully, my friend let me borrow her son for a while. They live on a creek lot, so Seth was a good sport and caught a frog for me...hunted snails, etc. BTW...I want you to appreciate how truly tiny that frog was. That's a macro in a child's hand. I took a million shots to get one in focus, since I didn't have my tripod.

I really love both of these, but the bottom shot is one of my all time faves ever. I'm not sure why, except that it reminds me a little of a Norman Rockwell. It just feels like a slice of Americana. I particularly like the fresh blood on his scraped elbow. He is ALL boy!

More boy shots tomorrow. That was a fun day! I could have followed him around all afternoon.

High key...

Shot for the challenge of "space". I decided to try a high key photo...very different for me. It was easier than I thought. I shot with a white foam board beneath and behind the subject and used clear plexiglass beneath for the reflection. My light source was a window. In post processing, I ran a Coffee Shop action "back drop fix" which helps whiten and brighten the background without blowing out the subject. I think some photographers do high key work with special lighting equipment. Since I don't have that (and don't want it anyway), this works for me. I have decided I really like images with a lot of negative space.

Puppy love, pt. 2....

The one on top is my fave!

Puppy love...

Meet Millie, my student's new puppy! Instant love! I had fun watching them interact. Caroline's uncle had been out mowing the lawn and was naturally sweaty. Millie gave him a nice little bath. :)

Perspective...

Shot for the challenge "Upside Down". Makes me a little dizzy looking at it. :)

Cone flowers...

I really love these flowers. No matter what stage of growth, they just look COOL.

Black-Eyed Susans...

These are beautiful all on their own, but I decided to add a little texture.

Fuzzy...

I shot this in my friend Karen's beautiful garden. I just love all the fuzzies you can capture with macro. More flower pics over the next two days.

Folk Art Patterns...

Shot for the challenge "Patterns". That one was a hard one for me, because I see patterns EVERYWHERE...even in music. Tough to choose...so I decided to shoot these little folk art characters. I really love coordinating patterns like dots, plaid, stars etc found in folk art (like quilts). Added a texture to create a little more interest.

Penguins...

It was so much fun meeting Jenny and Hannah at the aquarium. It was Hannah's first time for that kind of trip. It was hard for her to see some of the animals that were more camoflauged, because she didn't really know what she was looking for. But she LOVED the monkeys and penguins. She's been learning about animals in books, so it was cool to let her see them in person. She laughed a LOT. Wish you could see her sign for "penguin"...Cutest sign EVER. She puts her hands at her hips and wiggles her hips back and forth (like a waddle). Hilarious!

Dallas World Aquarium...

A few weeks ago my niece Jean came to visit us from Arizona. Yay! We had a great time visiting the Dallas World Aquarium. I didn't get many pics, because it was so dark and CROWDED indoors. But I'll post a couple today and tomorrow. We loved the jaguar and I thought this turned out pretty well for being behind glass.
I loved watching the octopus with its florescent colors and creeping movement. Thought it might be cool to try a slow exposure to capture the movement. Kinda cool...And SOOC (straight out of the camera)...no enhancing those amazing colors.

Under the surface...

Just for fun...my first underwater shot this season. Can't really do too much of that with Hannah, because she doesn't go under yet. lol.

We're happy to announce...

We could not be any more thrilled! Doctors didn't think Hannah was possible and now to be given a second blessing...there are no good words. I'm sure Hannah has no idea how much her world is going to change. Or the rest of us, for that matter! :) Due date is Jan. 11 which will put Hannah and baby 25 mo. apart. I'm laughing at myself because one of the first things I got excited about is my opportunity for a "do-over" on newborn shots and the possibility of artistic belly shots of Jenny. I bought my camera the day before Hannah was born and all I knew how to do was point and shoot on auto. This should be fun! and not just for pics. lol.

H is for happy hearts...

Shot for the challenge "begins with H".

(Explored)

Daisy, Daisy...

Shot for the challenge of "opposite". Several opposites going on here...focused/blurry, black/white, top/bottom, right/left, big/small, etc. Overkill...I know. I shot this on a piece of black foam board with a second black piece behind. In post processing, I added an Coffee Shop action called "back drop fix" which helped make the black truly black. I used the same action frequently for white backdrops too. It works really well to get a very crisp black or white.

(Explored)

Swimsuit model...

I'm SO glad I bought that little lawn chair for Hannah. She just loves it and it provides a place for her to sit relatively still for pictures. lol. She's working on her molars so those fingers are spending more time in her mouth lately.

Still a very happy girl!!

The Red Shoes...

Shot for the challenge "fairy tale or fable". Have you ever read "The Red Shoes"? Don't read it before bed, cause it will give you nightmares. I can't believe some of the things written in stories presumably for children. lol. This is kind of a quirky shot, but I still like it. Kara was shopping and saw the shoes and wanted them for herself, but they didn't have her size. Sweet kid tho'....since they had them in my size, she brought them home for me. :)Part of what I like here is the subtle texture in the shoes against the marbled tile. Of course, there are also the veins in my feet....but lets not go there. lol.

I dream in yellow...

Shot for the challenge "yellow". I think I could have been more subtle, but I had this beautiful gerber daisy from a bouquet one of my seniors gave me and it was begging to be photographed. lol. I used my macro and played with finding the shallowest dof that could possibly work...just enough in focus to make it recognizable. I love this shot. Love how dreamy it looks.

(Explored)

Summer has filled her veins with light...

I've been experimenting more often with different light situations lately...trying to learn how to plan an image instead of just shooting and hoping for something good. I've been playing with lens flare and sunbursts. Tried this for the challenge of backlit and was pretty happy with how it came out. Definitely a more interesting image than what I normally would have done. I wish I could have captured larger lens flare, but this was shot at high noon....WAY too much light for the open aperture I'd need for that kind of flare. I'll have to try again sometime closer to golden hour. Shout out to my student Caroline for being my model!! :)

(quote by C. Day Lewis)

Senior Recital...

My student Julia gave a beautiful solo recital a few weeks ago. So proud of her! She played a complete Mozart Sonata, a Bach Prelude and Fugue, a Chopin Nocturne, and one movement of a Prokofiev Sonata (which we affectionately referred to as "the beast"..lol). Only a few more lessons and then I'm going to have to let her go on to Moody Bible Institute where she'll study music. It will be hard saying goodbye after 11 years. Sigh...

Anna Kate, pt. 2...

Anna Kate, pt. 1...

I had the opportunity recently to do a portrait shoot for our dear friends' little girl. She hadn't slept well the night before and got a little tired and cranky, so I didn't quite get what I was hoping for. We sure had fun tho' and it was great experience for me. Anna Kate was 10 mo. old at the time. She's a little miracle baby and her mom calls her "God's exclamation point" for their family. I love that. I thought I'd try some vintage processing for a couple pics.

Fascinated with a doodle bug. :)

Waiting for Daddy...

She's not used to leaving the door open. She was really confused that day, thinking Nathan must have gone out to get the mail, tho' he was at work. She would play for a few minutes, then stop and look for him. She's signing "daddy". So cute...

And I love this toddler stance. They outgrow it all too quickly.