Where has the week Gone??

I have been thinking all week that I would have time to get on here and update and it's already Friday!!! I have been so busy trying to figure out what to do to entertain my kiddos for the rest of the summer...any ideas? Ha! I've got what like 6 more weeks or something!! Oh well, we need to just go to the pool.........if they only had internet.......:) JK! I'm not that bad:) I've actually been trying to nail down my new lens. Oh and for all you guys that voted for me in the local paper photo contest.... THANK YOU! I WON!! I actually met with the lady last night for her to hang it in the Library and WOW! It's huge. I mean they really did a nice job! I was so thrilled! Unfortunately I don't have the pictures dl yet but when I do I'll show you how it turned out......Until then here are a few you can let me know what you think on! I ran these through this new NW program I got. I've never really messed with NW before but since switching to RAW it seems I have no choice:( Oh well, I think I'm partial to softer features anyway:) So here goes



I just love the look on her face!




And one for the road;)

As usual TFL!

Closer????

So most of the comments I got you guys said you'd like to see less sand and more of the people......So I'm wondering if you can help me out???? I have a few of course that do show less sand but they are not cropped to a normal printing size:( I don't know how to show less sand and yet still keep the correct dimentions for printing, not without cropping to a larger size and printing smalller than that to make it work.... make sense? I've never shot a family this big before and I want to make sure I have it all figured out before I start submitting their print orders, KWIM? Anyway any suggestions you guys have would be MUCH appreciated:) So I'm gonna throw in a few more from my shoot for you to CC on! Like I said before they really were a great group. Oh and someone mentioned the shots were too posed.....I did have to stick to 3 major "poses" bc of time constraints and the families wanted the one where they were looking at me with the ocean in the bg. I would have loved to have had a lot more time with at least some of them bc I could 've had a blast, but it just wasn't to be! I have already gotten another offer to do some friends of theirs when they come down here for their reunion so this was definately great practice:) Thanks again for all your help guys!

What do you think of this ?




I just love this one:)




The kids had such a blast jumping the waves:)


Ok, Ok I've kept you long enough, I'll cut it for now:) Can't wait to hear what you think:)


;)Just had to add one more sht with my new lens:) LOVE IT!! This is SOOC:) !!!

Ok Tell me what you think......

I've been missing out on the POTD this week bc I've been doing VBS and proofing like a fool:) My shoot on Saturday went really well! The families were just as nice as they could be and I got some great shots:) I had my proofing session today and she LOVED them! I was so excited:) Anyway, there were like 11 seperate families and they of course all wanted to be shot individually and as the whole group.........Like I said, exhausting to say the least......So here are just a few shots I got. We were on the beach in the late afternoon, sun was a little much in the beginning but I had to start early enough so I didn't lose the light(and of course most of them were late) All in all I think it worked out well....... I took my reflector this time:) Not that I was able to use it on a group of 45!!!! But I did take it:) So here ya go...... let me have it!!(gently) haha jk! With the group being so large and the families so many I stuck to like 3 poses for the families, walking away down the beach, towards down the beach and posed in front of the ocean.......

I have to take out the flip flop on this one...LOL this is what happens when you edit after midnight:)


This is a little boy and he was just about the cutest thing, and I like the mid. sep on these bc they look so dreamy:)


Do you love this little girl?!?1 What a doll!!


Ok I had to add one more.....This is diff. bc I used my new 85mm1.4 and all I can say is.......I'm in LOVE!!!



Ok so that all I've got for you tonight, we'd be here all night if I showed all the famillies...... but I'll share more in the week....what do you think so far? TFL!

Whew! What a Day!

I spent all morning getting my forms in order which is something I've been meaning to do for a while and finally got it done..... That's a relief:) I have Bible School starting on Monday and this year I'm directing it!! So the last half of the day was devoted to making sure I'm ready for that...... I spent half the morning waiting(as I was doing my forms of course) for UPS to bring my pics.....finally around 12:30 I find out that of all the places in the US, I live in one of the few where you must request AM delivery...otherwise it only has to be delivered by 7pm! Of course, as you know, I had to have my prints postmarked by 5pm so that was no good...... good thing my Mom has a UPS friend who tracked my driver down and got him to meet me at the PO... Thank Goodness!! So then the rest of the afternoon was spent getting my refund from CVS and shipping my prints out. So.................... as I sit here and breathe....I type this:) LOL Anyway.... just to give an update on the CVS thing, I took my WHCC prints in there to show them so they could see I was not making it up.......guess what she said.......The paper's different!! Can you believe that???? I mean you should have seen the difference in the prints! The colors were like night and day! and she blames the paper!! Whatever! Like I said, just another reason to stay away from CVS! So........ Whew! What a day! and also what a weekend it's gonna be:) Oh well! not like I'm any more busy than anybody else....right:) Happy Summer:)

Obviously, I didn't take this:) LOL but I've been thinking about my Grandma who recently passed away and this is her:) My how far we've come huh? And this is an improvement from some that we found! I scanned all these in and made a slideshow for her service.........This is how they used to "color" photos.



This one is by no means perfect, but I took it a few days after getting my very first DSLR a few years ago and I treasure it now:) I did run a vintage wash on it recently:)


And that's all I have for you tonight.... As you can see there was NO time for me to take any new pics....but tomorrow I'll have some for you or rather Sunday as I'll be at the Church tomorrow:) TFL:)

CVS Stinks!!

Ok so I know that everyone always talks about where they get their prints done and the views are mixed on the "local" places but let me tell you.... My Jury is in! So here's the story...........I wake up this morning thinking I'll get my Calander Contest shots in the mail today as they have to be postmarked by tomorrow(yea I know...Nothing like the last minute:) Anyway, as I'm checking the site last night for the mailing info I come across the fact that I can submitt 3 prints..... so I go through all the prints eligible(had to be taken on a certain day only) and find a couple I love! Now I just have to get them printed....no problem right???? WRONG! All we have locally are CVS, Walmart, and Walgreen's..... CVS is closer and I can upload so I take that route..... 1hour and 22.00 later I pick up my prints.......Horrible! Just awful! The color stinks, the ink is not smooth! They were really horrible! So after panicking bc I figure I cna't print them and then calling WHCC(the ones who printing the first shot) and who I love..... They are shipping the order overnight.... I had to pay double to assure they got printed today and 6.00 to ship overnight and it still only cost me 6.00 more than CVS!! So now that I've bored you with my day I'll leave you with some shots! Oh and you know what the lady at CVS had the NERVE to suggest? That it could be MY shots!!! Well! I never!LOL I plan on taking the new shots in to show them when I go for my refund! As if!! So anyway, here you go:)

Moral of the story - Always leave yourself JUST enough time to get the prints you need from the place you love:) And shop CVS for your prescriptions not your prints!!

Here's the other 2 I chose:)




And I just Love this one:)

Sorry for all the Sunsets lately, but I just love them:) TFL!!

Finally! I get to post!

This has been such a crazy week! I haven't been able to post for a few day bc I've been so busy...and I actually didn't have anything for today until a few hours ago when I was on my way to Michael's to pick up some craft supplies for Church this weekend! I can only imagine what the cars going by thoughtwhen they saw this crazy lady standin on the side of the highway taking pictures of one of the most amazing clouded sunsets I've seen in a while:) I mean I don't know about you guys but I love clouds esp. when there are a lot of them and they look like this! So beautiful.....So anyway, yes I stopped off on the side of the highway bc I happened to catch a glance in my mirror of this.......


Now I did use Tori's big color on this one just for fun but the rest of them are just resized for web. This is my interpretation of fire! Beacause what is the hottest thing you know of?? The sun! One giant fireball! man it sure is beautiful.... That's all I can do to decribe it! When I see a sunset like this it literally just takes my breath away........... Anyway TFL... CC always Welcome:)



Ok last 2:) I know they all are pretty much the same and in no way are they perfect but I just love a great sunset.....I already said that didn't I:) LOL Oh well!

Relief!! LOL

Ok, so I finished the shoot and what a relief! She was super nice, it was a little nerve racking at first and I realized I need to work on a system for the paperwork, but all in all it went well! The client was pleased and I for the most part so am I:) Keep in mind these were headshots for her bus.cards....she's in Real Estate... so she didn't want anything fancy just something that when you put it on the card you can kind of see her face:) LOL She was a riot! 7 DOGS she has! Yes 7!! they are all little Taco Bell dogs but hey 7! I coudn't believe it along with 4 kids, how does she do it? I have not a clue:) better her than me! Anyway, I think I may have a family shoot from her too, and she says she has tons of friends so we'll see what happens:) Anyway here are the shots......don't hold back, I already see some things I need to work on but I won't cloud your judgements:) Let me know what ya think:)


This is one of the last ones I found and I really liked it, for her website:)


It was so hard to get her to smile, and then she liked the ones with the "fake" smile best! Oh well....


Now this was her fav. cause her little boy was in it! He was a cutie!


But just for the record I like this one ......



That's all I'll bore you with for now:) WE DID THE SHOOT THIS AM at about 9:45 and were finished shooting by about 11 but her house was not the ideal place to do it as she really had nothing that made a "great bg" KWIM? Anyway let me have it:) Oh and the window lighting on her hais was a must as she didn't want it to look too dark:) LOL Women!!TFL

Migraine.....

Ok so I know this is totally off theme...... at least I think it is, I have know idea since I didn't check. I've had a migraine all day and just a little while ago found 1pill in another bag that is just starting to work so I thought I'd post while I could see. This was a rough one but at least I found my meds. and now I now I have to call the Dr. so he can get me more:( So I'm cheating:) these shots are from Friday's pool day! We had so much fun!! Now I want to go back out there! I am in love with the color in these. Anyway I can't stay I've got a lot to do to get ready for tomorrow:) I am still so excited and I have calmed down since last night:) Yes yesterday's shots were not my fav... but given the factors they were ok. She wanted this crop for her cards bc she wanted the flowers and the house in the bg as she's a realtor) Anyway thanks for all the comments and wish me luck for tomorrow:) Thank you all for visiting!! :) and I'll TRY to be on theme tomorrow:)





I don't know where he was in such hurry to but I thought it was a fun one:)

Excited....no nervous.....no excited.......

You get the point... I am so excited but also so nervous! I have been studying and practicing for this for what seems like forever now and I finally got a call!! I only made the decision to take the plunge and print my cards about 1 month ago and I've not done any advertising just put my cards out....... So now I finally got a call!! This will be my first REAL NON FAMILY(or any relation or friend or anything) shoot! I don't know this woman from Eve!! But she wants head shots for her business cards and got my name from a friend who's headshots I did a couple months ago and now she wants me to do hers!!! ahhhhhhhhh!!! And she is in kind of a pinch and needs them done soon so I'm gonna do them on Monday. I can hardly breathe...... I'm nervous, I can't do it, I'm not ready, I don't know how, what if I make an isiot of myself??????? I have been doing this to myself all day, since she called! I don't know how I'll make it til Monday! I am so not good at talking to people I don't know so that is scary too. ohhh, I am just sooo scared:) Can you believe it? I mean this is what I want soooooo badly and now it's happening and I'm a basketcase.......I mean I dont KNOW her! Can I take pics of someone I don't know? Well, I sure hope so cause if not I'll never get anywhere!LOL Well thanks for listening to my ranting and forgive me for being off theme...again.... and posting "old" photos:) I thought I'd post the headshot my friend decided on for her cards so maybe you guys could cc on that and give me any suggestions you may have:) I'm going over to her house, she said she just wants some green in the bg, nothing fancy, I mean they are just headshots!! Can you believe how crazy I am?? LOL Oh well:) here ya go:)

This is the initial shot, pretty much SOOC.....It was the ideal weather for the shoot:)So color and clarity were good....I think;)




This second one is the cropped version bs she wore a less than ideal top:) Oh well!

Pool Time!!

So I FINALLY got up off of my lazy butt and took my kids to do something! They've been out of school now for..........3 days....including today and I haven't done anything:) LOL Well to talk to them you'd think they were so deprived... I mean THREE WHOLE DAYS!!! Come on!!! So as opposed to sitting home and hearing how BORING it was for them again we went to the pool! Yea!! We had so much fun actually:) Not that I thought we wouldn't:) I mean I knew it would be the perfect opportunity for me to get some pool shots:) yea yea I know I'm so shallow.... I always think with my..........Camera:) LOL I know you thought I was gonna say something else:) Now Now....... Ok so anyway I got a few keepers...... and I got to practice with this Back button focus thing, which I am not really sure I like it:( Only time will tell, but here are the few I got that I like and I know at this point you guys must think how awful I am for not posting as many shots of my oldest DS, but I try!!! He doesn't pose for me and the little one will. Plus he met some"adults" LOL(they were kids(teens) at the pool and he hung with them for most of the afternoon:) I thought it was pretty cool they "let" him(like he gave them a choice) I LMBO when he referred to them as adults!!haha! They wish:) As always CC is welcome and appreciated:) Thanks for looking....... and a HUGE Thank you for all of you who voted for me:) I really appreciate it! I'll keep you updated with the outcome:)

Here's my DS playing with his car in the water:)


I just love his eyes in this one:) We were getting ready to leave and I had to pull the cam back out to get this....


This is Oldest DS sticking his head in the fountain, I can't believe he does this!!!


I must say I do LOVE to shoot ouside bc the color looks so awesome and I don't have to do anything!! I love it, these are SOOC except for resized and sharpened for web:) oops except I did whiten the whites of his eyes just a tad in the second one... and I wish I had catchlights in BOTH eyes!LOL Oh well, can't win em all:)

I found a habit!!!

Not that I had to like look hard or anything!



Ok I know.... big shock:) haha! LOL! So I know most of you guys posted your coffee shots weeks ago but hey I like that I'm slow:) Anyway for me it's more of a habit than anything else, bc I have tried to quit and I just can't!! Have any of you ever had a caff. headache??? Let me tell you they are NO JOKE! I don't drink soda or anything like that other than the occasional cream soda so Coffee is my thing. The first thing I have to have when I wake up and the last thing before bed.....yes I know most people think I'm nuts bc I drink it before bed but....like I said....habit:) It doesn't keep me up or anything like that...... well not that I notice, since I'm on 2peas so much anyway:) LOL So anyway these are my coffee shots... nothing special I know but what can I say...... I spent all evening trying to figure out how to set the back butto focus on my cam. and thanks to Lorrie(dnksmommy) I've finally got....although I'm not sure how I'll like it but hey! it's set and we'll see:) Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you again to those of you who voted for my picture on the board yesterday:) I am so excited!! For those of you who missed it, my post is on the msg board at 2peas under the title SO EXCITED..... Thanks again guys:) Maybe tomorrow I'll have more time to take some better shots:) TFL!

I really like this one with the steam coming up:)

Oops! Missed A day.......

So I know we are on habits, and I've been off theme all week but what can I say.... I don't have any habits:) haha! JK, I just don't have any that would be very interesting to you all:) Yet....... I do love to bake, not that I do it vert often or anything but when I do I love to make things from scratch.... Cakes, cookies, pies.... bread..... I just love the satisfaction that comes from making something on your own:) Now, I'm sure you're thinking I'm telling you all this because I'm laying the ground work for some spectacular dish I've made tonight well.........nope.. nothing great. I just thought I'd share that little tidbit. What I have for you tonight is a shot of these little goodies:) We made peanutbutter balls and I had extra chocolate so I couldn't throw it out.....right???? No way!!



So my DS loves these strawberry marshmallows and since i was tired of dipping pretzels(and I didn't want to be there all night) We decided to dip these:) yummy!!! Well, at least they look that way:) I wouldn't know as they don't jive with the subway diet:) Shame:( Oh well...what 's a girl to do.......Don't know what I was thinking, now I have to avoid thesse things until they're gone!!
Well after this we went out to take Puff for a run in the yard and since I still had my Cam. out I snapped a few more of DS. I just thnk he's like the cutest thing ever:) So I just thought I'd share this one:) He was telling me to shhhhh. so he could try and catch the cat......don't even ask why the cat runs from him........He's 5!(DS not the cat)



Oh and just for fun I thought I'd throw in a shot of my carrot cake I made for Memorial Day...(just so you can see I can do a little more than dip marsmallows in chocolate:) LOL





As always CC is welcome....... TFL:)

Way off theme but super excited.....!!!!

So while doing my rounds today,(of the POTD blogs) I ran across one where someone(sorry I don't remember who at the moment) was practicing using the flash successfully:) I was thrilled! I've run across this thread both at ILP and here but I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it until today. Lets just say I followed the trail and ending up reading an awesome thread about this. The thread really opened my eyes.....Anyway these are so SOOC it's almost embarassing but I had to see what you thought. I have been so frustrated with the flash lately and this would open a whole new world so let me know what you think ok.......I didn't run any actions or anything I just wanted to see what you thought about the flash:) These were taken in almost total darkness at around 10pm I think most of these, I focused on him and then turned the lights off and snapped the picture. Wow! I am so impressed if I do say so myself!! But anyway I'd love to know what you think:) I know this is off theme but I am still recouperating from all the proofing:) LOL TFL!!




PS. Guys I am looking at getting a new lens, and was wondering if anyone has any experience with the sigma 105mm 2.8? It's between that and the Nikkor 85mm( I'd love to have the Nikon 105 but I just can't part with 900 bucks right now......so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated:)

Beat.....

i am so exhausted! What a weekend....... First the MIL, and then the Ice-Cream Social, now I'm sitting here at almmost midnight trying to finish DS Teacher Gift:) Why, because I guess I work so much better under pressure:) Not!!! (of course there has to be some reason I always do this:) Anyway I am in no way on theme tonight, unless you want to count my procrastination as a habit:) LOL!!! Anyway, here a just a few of the shots I'm including, although I'm not real happy with my photo printer now that I've been sending out so much for my prints:( Oh well, can't very well order out for the prints when you wait to til the last minute:) So here they are....just a few for you to CC, I'd love to stay and chat but I have work to do....especially since tomorrow is the last day of school!! Told you I work well under pressure:) maybe tomorrow I'll have something better for you:) TFL!









Oh, In case you were wondering, these are shots I took throughout the year at various parties and such at school and then I put them in an album for the Teachers:) They seem to enjoy them and I USUALLY enjoy putting them together:) LOL!! (a lot earlier:) Ok fine!! This is a habit of mine:)!!!

I saved the best for last:)

Whew!! What a week! I have spent all this week telling you about all the THINGS I can't live without, and while those things really make my life so much more sweet and exciting surely you know that's not all there is to me:) While the closest things to my heart are my DH and children(which of course are the obvious) I thought I'd end this week on a little different note:) I had originally thought to put some shots of my Amex card on here so you could see how I payed for all these things I can't live without!LOL(or rather how DH pays for it;).... Of course I decided against that because I just couldn't bring myself to take a picture of it:) Not that I don't trust you guys....but hey.......I did just recently "meet" you!haha jk:) jk:)And it is on my list of things I can't live without;) Anyway, we went to an ice-cream social tonight (yea, you heard me right, and I didn't know people still did them either but it sure was fun)at our Church and while we were there, (and of course I was snapping shots) I realized that another thing I can't live without is Frienships!!!

He was not ready for me to take this shot! I thought this was very funny of course:)

He really was having a good time, even if he does look bored:)

He thought I was taking a picture of the Pastor;) Little did he know...I wasn't!!!

I would 've taken pics of the women but....They don't cooperate so well!! LOL Go figure:)
Our friends are such a huge part of our lives, I don't know what we'd do without them! For the last 5 years, our "friends from Church have become more of our family that some of our real family. They are there for us no matter what! They have been such a huge source of joy in our lives that it is impossible to convey just what they mean to us. As I sat watching them all eating icecream and visiting and laughing and just having a great time I realized how much a part of our lives they've become:) I know I could never live without them nor would I ever want to:) Obviously, they are not all pictured nor do they all go to our Church but these are just a few of the ones I got tonight! Thanks for looking and......you know the drill:) LOL

One more.....It's only fair if I post one of myself taken when a "friend" hijacked my camera...only bc I don't hate it:) LOL
mmmmmmm......That banana icecream was sooooooo yummy! All homemade:) Delicious!

In my defense, all the pics I shoot in our Church stink so bad it's not funny, these are actually the best yet....so please keep that in mind and if anyone has any suggestions for me.....I'd love to hear it:) TFL!