My Lilacs

I L-O-V-E my lilac bushes!! Every year I can count on them to be full of beautiful/ fragrant flowers just in time for Easter! We have 2 bushes that we planted in our back yard over 7 years ago and I have used them as a backdrop for many, many of my children's pictures! But this time I wanted to photograph just the flowers and left the kids out... well, actually, that's not so true... you'll see later on in this post what I'm talking about.

Anyways, I had a good reason for photographing the flowers. I wanted to make my Easter cards with a photo of them. That was my idea anyways... but sometimes my crazy crafty mind gets away with me and I end up with something different than my first thoughts. This was one such time... what I ended up with was this...

That I turned into this little project... (I gave 8 of them to my dear friends today)

I printed it out and glued it to a piece of foam board. Here's a side view to show how I wrapped the edges for a more finished look.

So to back track a little... I want to show some of the pictures I took of the lilac bushes and some of the edits I made... and yes I used ACTIONS again!

This is the original photo used for my project...

and here's the edited version... I added a action called "Sun Kissed"

The following are the pictures I didn't use for this project but probably will end up using somehow!

Original...

Edited with an action called "Velvet Truffle"...

Original...

Edited with an action called "Simply Vintage"...

Original...

Edited with "Sun Kissed" action (same used in project above)...

Original...

Edited with action called "Sunny Pop"...

My son Ryley came outside to ask me a question... little did he know he'd be sorry for doing that! Don't bother momma when she's got her camera in her hands... you'll get shot (he, he)!

He started out with a nice big smile...

but quickly grew tired of smiling for me so he could go back to what he wanted!

and threw up his arms in complaint!

I encourage you to stop, smell and photograph a little of God's beauty like I did this week... you never know what you could end up with!

Daina's 9th Birthday Shoot

My beautiful daughter Daina loves horses, so for her 9th birthday photos and as a treat for her we went out to my dear friend and mentor Linda's house. Linda serves on our MOPS leadership team as Lead Mentor mom... she's a fantastic woman, wife, mentor and mother and everyone who knows her, LOVES her!! She and her husband Charlie were just so sweet with Daina and sharing their horses with her. It was an awesome gift to us and thankfully I got some nice pictures to remind us of this special day!

Linda gave Daina this hat... which was a perfect addition to her outfit and the pop of color we needed!!

I love the outfit we choose for her to wear... it was simple to put together and very easy on my budget!!

The blouse and vest are a set that was handed down from her friend Ashley, the skirt I found at my favorite thrift store for just a couple dollars, the hat from Linda and the boots were a birthday gift from her aunt.

Like I said... easy & CHEAP!

Regretfully, this post and editing these pictures are WAY over due... they were shot on Oct. 2nd, 2010... but at least I got them done before she turned 10!

Thank-you so much Charlie and Linda for your generosity and kindness... we are so blessed to have you in our lives!!



Princess Mallory turns ONE!

I have had the honor of photographing this sweet little girl for the last year... you can see my previous posts of her here and here.
For her 1st Birthday party her mom wanted to make invitations and asked me to take some pictures of her. The weather was very uncooperative so we couldn't get any outdoor pictures but I think they still turned out good with the last minute changes and shooting indoors.

Happy Birthday Princess Mallory!!

I added an "Action" to these photos called Johanna's Tea Party found at The Coffee Shop Blog.

70's Vintage Toy

I love going to Thrift Stores for many reasons...
1. I love the hunt - it's so much fun to walk into a place that looks pretty hopeless at first glance but as you see beyond that you find those little treasures.
2. I love to save money whenever possible - when it comes to house decorating, toys, clothes, dishes, even gifts, I look first at the thrift store... you never know if you'll find what you need for pennys on the dollar!
3. I love the idea of re-using - one persons junk could possibly be my treasure... just because someone couldn't use an item and decides to donate it doesn't mean it's not good anymore! I could go on and on.

So, Thursday my 2 boys and I decided to stop by my favorite thrift store after a MOPS meeting. In my book it's a great store! They often have 50% off days and I've gotten many, many things there for very little money! And yesterday was one such day... we walked out having spent only $3.24 for two items... a clock for my bathroom and this...

1970's Fisher Price Fun Jet



My 3 year old picked it up and played so much with it at the store I knew that he would love to have it for home...

I was RIGHT! As soon as we got home I gave it a good washing and off he went outside to drag it around and "fly" it! He even took it to bed with him the first night! He LOVES his plane!!

I think .50 was worth all this happiness!!

My first try at Actions...

No, not an action shot... the word "action" is actually an editing term. It's simply means a short cut to editing photos... what would normally take several steps to achieve a specific look you get with 1 step when you apply an "action". A definition taken from the web: "Photoshop actions allow photographers to automate common sequences for increased efficiency." You can get "actions" from all over but I found the ones I'm posting today at The Coffee Shop Blog. By the way, I turned down the opacity of most of the actions... I don't care for the "over edited" look!

Here's my original

(very simple edits were applied to this... like sharpening, vignette, contrast)

Here's the 1st action

"Velvet Truffle"

2nd action

"Tea Party Hazy"

3rd action

"Butter Cream B/W"

2nd Photo Original

"Velvet Truffle"

"Tea Party Hazy"

"Butter Cream B/W"

This is Amber, my sister-in-law, who just had Baby Taylor. We were shooting my other sister-in-law (I'll post those pictures soon) at a family birthday party and I asked if anyone else would like to have their picture taken. Because Amber is... well... AMBER... she jumped at the opportunity! Again, this was my first time using actions and I think they all look nice... I might be using them more often!