Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

Shot for the challenge of "cute". Now, you KNOW I had to use Miss Hannah for this one. Coincidentally, she's just discovered her reflection...also her shadow, but I'll save that for another day. I caught her admiring herself the other day and just HAD to capture it. Clearly, she thinks she's adorable...and I do too!

Which version do you prefer?

All lit up...

Shot for the challenge of "all lit up"...lol. Couldn't come up with a different title. I REALLY REALLY enjoy shooting by candlelight. I think it's magical. I need to do this more often. These were my 2 faves...Same set up, but different points of view.


You won't want to know how many matches I had to light to get the timing right on this last one. Lol. I nearly set off the smoke detector! I think this one could make a nice Christmas card.

Little acrorn...

Shot for the challenge "path". I cannot seem to stay out of my neighbor Robin's yard! I love the light there in the morning! lol. Thankfully, she's given me permission. This looks like an autumn shot, right? We have at least 2 more months before autumn...those dead leaves bear witness to the toll this heat wave is taking on our plants. At this point, I'm wondering if it will ever end.

I do my best thinkin' with my finger in my mouth...

Seeing a lot more of that while she cuts that last 2 yr. molar. The other 3 were no problem, but this one is stubborn. :)

Drum roll please....

For those of you who may not have heard yet...

It's a girl! Excited that Nathan let us find out sono results earlier this time...and excited that Hannah's little smocked dresses can be used again. :)

Up close and personal...

Shot for the challenge of "close". Thanks to my sweet model, Julia, who was willing to try whatever I asked of her. She's left for college now and I miss her already! I love how this high key b/w turned out...all mysterious.

Tea time...

Shot for the challenge of silver. I know it bothers mom that I don't use this silver tea service....so at least I took a pretty picture of it! :) I do love how this came out with the vintage tones. Hope you like it Mom!

Defying gravity...

Loved this little ladybug who appears to be spelunking. Lol.

High contrast...

I joined a new group on Flickr called "Get Pushed". You may remember my jump shot from a few weeks ago. Each week we're paired with another photographer who gives us a specific challenge to try something they don't see in our current work. My partner a couple weeks ago told me she enjoys my portraits of KC, so she asked me to do a high contrast black and white portrait of her. Thankfully, she was flexible and let me choose my subject. I used Kara's kitty Dolce because she has much more contrast in her fur than KC. She's a sweetie and these are my 3 faves from that day. I left one in color, so you can see how pretty she is.


PS: I missed posting this morning...first time in a long time. I usually have these set up a week or 2 in advance to post and I just forgot that yesterday was the last day I'd prepared. Someone actually missed it today...go figure! :)

We don't skinny dip...

...we chunky dunk...(although she has a lot less chunk going on than some babies!) lol!

Still in a retro mood. She loves to play on the steps...she goes up and down...always saying "up" since she doesn't know how to say "down" yet. :)

Swim day...

Hannah's loving the water. :) Most days, we dunk her one time...just to help her get used to it. On this day, there were no tears. Yay! And just for fun, a little retro processing. It says old postcard to me...I'm getting a "wish you were here" vibe. lol.

prune feet...lol

When I grow up, I want to be a Dutch painter...

Lol....actually we had a challenge to play with post processing to create an image that looks like a painting. I was a little heavy handed with the texture on this one, but that kind of seemed like the point on this challenge. How'd I do? Mom, you should recognize Grandma Helen's pretty dishware. :)

Fence bokeh...

The cosmos is on its way out...not surprising in this heat/drought. I'll miss it! Really love playing with dof to try to create something dreamy. I'm totally diggin' the bubbly bokeh...

Behold the ant...

So small, but it can lift up to 50 times it's weight. I'm just loving the macro...

Too much macro?

For the challenge of "too much" or "too many" I headed to my friend Karen's garden again. Too much pollen...too little time...

Too much detail to capture...

And my fave...too much camouflage...

So NOT Marilyn Monroe...

Experimented with slow shutter speeds for a challenge on the elements. I thought it might be cool to capture an image that might represent air. Not sure I actually achieved it, but the fans I had blowing on me did feel nice! :)

Rain, rain,, come to play!

I saw these boots the other day in Target and had to buy them for Hannah. They're at least 3 sizes too big for her, but I got them anyway. I could only think what cute photo props they'd make! (It's a sickness). Someday, I'll get pics of Hannah in them...in the meantime, I did a little "rain dance" with the hose sprinkler. Hope the rain comes before Hannah grows into her boots! At this rate, I'm not sure!

Bokeh bubbles...

Loved giving Hannah a bath that night. She wasn't too sure about it, as she's never taken a bath here before. She was very quiet about her splashing that night. lol. Had to get at least one picture...still playing with negative space (and textures...just to hide the less-than-attractive faux marble tub). She's busy watching G-Pa try to entertain her. :)

Puzzle play...

Last time we babysat Hannah she was obsessed with this puzzle. She's a little too young to do it by herself yet, but she loved taking all the pieces out. And she could lay the pieces over the correct hole, but needed help getting them in. I can't tell you how many times we did it together! So cute!

Kiwi love...

Cut open a kiwi the other day and look what I found inside...awesome!

Pretty please with a cherry on top...

Still loving textures...I think I'm addicted. And you have to love Rainier cherries! The BEST!

Who will you be?

It won't be long before we find out the gender of Jenny and Nathan's baby. Which hat will I need for baby portraits? :)

Balancing act...

Now, you know I had to pull that prop out again, right? Julia leaves in just a few days for college. Who's going to model for me now???? :)

Geronimo!

I joined a new group on flickr called "Get Pushed". Each week that I decide to participate, I'll be paired with another photographer. We are to look through the other's photostream and come up with a challenge intended to push the other to try something new. My first partner has a large collection of jump shots...and by large I mean over 100 shots. She's putting together a book, including jumps with her mayor, police chief, etc. Fun idea! So, naturally, noticing the utter lack of action shots on my stream, she issued a jump challenge to me. Thankfully, it wasn't a requirement for me to be in the shot and I was able to use students. Emma and Seth were such good sports to run and jump when it was over 100 degrees. Of course, they had to do it repeatedly until I got several shots in focus. :) I added my new photo prop in for fun. Don't you love this umbrella?

I actually put together a collage of several jump shots for the challenge, but I won't post it here because it won't show up well in this format. The pictures are just too small. If you'd like to see it, it's on my stream. There's a link on the main page of this blog.

Thirsty...

Poor plants cannot get enough water now! Everything is getting burned up from over 3 weeks of above 100 degree temperatures. We need rain!

For Eeyore...

Shot for the challenge "prickly". Good thing I picked up this thistle at the Arboretum last time I was there. I've since learned it's actually called a "sweetgum ball". Who knew?

The rear view...

One of the things I'm learning is to look for unusual angles or unique ways to shoot ordinary objects. Check out the back of a sunflower...with added texture...

and with the macro...I love the little hairs and the curly tendrils.

Ultimate Tiramasu...

SOOOOO yummy! Makes a classy photo too, doesn't it? lol

Cliche...

I keep seeing these photos with the heart made from book pages, so I had to try one of my own. I love capturing images with super shallow dof. So dreamy. Looks inviting, doesn't it? Too bad it's actually over 100 degrees. No way I'll be sitting on that bench anytime soon!

Sunny days...

Bob planted some wildflowers beside the new fence, but we had no idea what kind they were. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this a few weeks ago. They've since been burned up with the heat, but I sure did enjoy them while they lasted!

If you're happy and you know it...

...then your face should surely show it. But Hannah's doesn't. lol. She knows to make the motion when you sing the song, but she hasn't figured out yet that she's supposed to smile too.
She's getting pretty good at smiling on cue tho'....and sometimes, she even looks into the camera.