Get into the LIGHT!!!!!

and look UP!!!

a little to the right...no the left...PERFECT! DON'T! MOVE!

I seem to be yelling this quite frequently as I shove and pull my children into just the right spot to catch the light.Do all crazy photographer moms do this? Just wondering...

The Vision

This is our puppy, Merlin. My 7-year-old daughter had been asking, make that begging, for a dog since she could speak. One night, the girls and I were having a conversation about the importance of being able to envision yourself achieving goals in your mind before you see them become a reality. My sweetie girl apparently knew this already: "Just like Merlin, mom. I saw him in my mind, and I kept saying "I will get a dog. I have to have a dog. I will get a dog." And see, mom; we got a dog!" Yes, we sure did, despite the fact that both grown-ups in the home are NOT dog people. Hmmmmm...so that's how that happened!

Farm Fresh Goodness...

so thankful spring is here

Comfort List...

1. A tea called Monk's Blend, which I get from our local tea shop.
2. Great books
3. Snuggling
4. Laughing children.
5. My grey "Life is Good" sweatjacket. It's so soft and cozy!
6. the smell of basil
7. Time spent picking veggies and fruit at the farm



8. flowers
9. writing
10. bookstores
11. great friends
12. spa days
13. making art



14. beautiful shops with tasty pastries and great chai lattes

Words of Wisdom

"Concerning the insecurities of which you write, my dear: Trust your own good mind and heart, and speak and write bravely." Sister Maria Cordis Richey (Comment written on a paper I wrote in March 1998.)

Messages are found just when we need them most.

Thank you, Sister Maria. Again.

Angles

This weeks challenge: Angles. This was taken a few years back, but it is one of my favorites. Click over to I Heart Faces to see some amazing shots!

Constructive Feedback

It is Constructive Feedback Friday over at I Heart Faces! Basically, you get to post a photo and get some feedback to help you make your editing / photos better. Here is the copy of the photo that I edited for this.



For this photo I am not sure of all that I did. I didn't do a lot to this one because I wasn't really sure what to do. I was just playing around with some actions (Pioneer Woman's Sunshine Action) and the contrast, I think.

This is the original:



I like the sunlight behind her and the image itself, but I don't like the overall coloring of the picture.

f/5; 1/40 sec; ISO 400; 35 mm & I use Photoshop CS2.

Thanks for any advice on improvements!!!

Amy Wenzel Workshop Giveaway

Love + Service= Inspiration.

To love others is to ask “How can I serve?” And in turn, this leads to inspiration.

Working in a community hospital as a crisis worker in the emergency room and also on the psychiatric unit, I am “required” to support and encourage others. It is my “job” to offer hope the hopeless, teach coping skills, provide resources to those who feel helpless and to try to connect with those who often feel no connection at all. I have cried with some who so desperately wanted to end their lives, tried to do so and lived anyway. I have had intensely personal conversations with those who only hours before I had never met. Although it is my “job” to relate on this level, this can only be accomplished through love.

I could not be in the field I am right now without loving people, but many times my job can be very stressful. I find that much of the stress is alleviated when I remind myself it is not about me, it is about assisting others. When complete focus is put on serving, there is no place left for being tired or dwelling on my own issues of the moment. Loving service inspires on many levels. When one realizes capability, accepts imperfections, begins healing, and then learns to love, she becomes inspired to give back and often becomes an inspiration. Although I may inspire, it is often the resilience and strength of others that inspires me.

The past eight months have been a time of much reflection for me. Most of this assessment has had to do with choices I have made regarding my life’s work. I have made a decision to follow my passion for photography and see where it takes me. Before I even hit double digits in age, I fell in love with my camera and photographing people. I was the one always making everyone pose for me. I still am.

My main interest currently is working with women and their children. A long time ago, I quit high school, went to beauty school and got my cosmetology license. I am currently an independent beauty consultant and will combine this with my love of photography. I am putting together a plan that includes offering a limited photo session to be included with a makeover, for both my clients and to women in local shelters. The shelter residents will be offered a photo with their children as well.

Attending this workshop will be an amazing opportunity to learn from someone who is doing already doing what I aspire to: capture stunning images of woman and their children. It is my belief that every woman should have at least one photograph of herself and her family that she absolutely loves. Being able to give that gift to women is my purpose. However, I am just now beginning on the path of educating myself about the technical and business side of photography, so there is much that I still need to learn. Before learning of this contest, I had not known of Amy Wenzel or her incredible talent. I had been having some conversations with God and questioning the best path to make my dreams reality. Do I take classes? Learn as much as I can on my own? Both? Then I found this website. The student was ready and the teacher appeared.

Amy: Thank you for this opportunity. Should I be the one who is blessed by this gift, I will most certainly give back by passing it on.

All Bundled Up...

Katherine Center Says it Perfectly Once More:

Katherine Center is an amazing author who also creates these totally awesome videos! This one is beautiful! Her work inspires me...

Moving Beyond...

I have had Photoshop CS2 for about four years now. Before this past month, I have not used it beyond opening a photo and then closing it immediately. Photoshop can be very intimidating. There are volumes of books, expensive classes and courses to expain this program bit by bit. Tutorials on the web probably number in the millions (a random, but probably pretty accurate, guess). I am instruction-phobic. Yes, I am one of those who just want to automatically know how to do / work it. Now. Right this second. Actually, yesterday. Does it require more than a one page explanation? Not interested.

In addition to the intimidating, overwhelming, massive, yet awesome program that has already been mentioned, I have an incredible Canon DSL camera which is about six years old. It too has many fascinating features (or so I have been told). There are buttons and screens with a multitude of options; however, I have not turned the dial beyond auto, with the occasional exception of using the "running-guy-which-tells-me-I-can-take-really-cool-fast-movement-photos-of-the-kids" mode. The lens I used exclusively was the one that came on the camera. I was actually terrified to take it off and change it a few months ago when I finally got a new one. Why? Intimidation? Avoidance? Not understanding the foreign language in the manual? All of the above? Check. Ding-ding-ding! Right answer!

This right answer eventually became a really pathetic excuse. I have been taking pictures (almost obsessively) since my age was in the single digits. I no longer wanted to rely on my camera. I wanted control. I wanted to take pictures and have them be able to turn out the way I see the image in my mind most of the time. I wanted the image on purpose, not just by accident. I wanted to be able to fix the imperfections in an otherwise great picture. You know, the dark under eye circles, the random fever blister that won't go away, the dog run line across the otherwise beautiful shot of the snow-covered yard. I decided to get to work. Canon Rebel for Dummies. Check. New telephoto lens. Check. Awesome online tutorials on simple Photoshop techniques that make a huge difference. Check. Reading, studying and having the patience and persitance to learn and put it into practice. Check. It's only the beginning. Here's to one step at a time, moving beyond the comfort zone. Try it! The results are amazing!

The View at the Bus Stop

People always ask whether I like where we live. I grew up at the shore. We now live, as some say, "in the middle of nowhere." Many comment that they would never move here and leave the beach. At times, I must admit, I really miss the ocean. We visit, it's great, and then we come home.

Home to my girls is very different than the home I knew growing up. Home for them is not a place where we can drive 15 minutes and be at the ocean and the boardwalk. It's not a place where summer camp includes afternoons at the beach. Home is now a place where my children come with me weekly to a local farm to pick up (and pick) our weekly vegetables during the CSA season. The farmers are there and the produce is amazing. We can also stop at the turkey farm down the road and purchase local bottled nonfat milk that is creamier than 2% from the large grocery stores and, if it happens to be on Friday, fresh-baked goods (the BEST apple dumplings!) set up on tables outside by the folks who made them. They accept only cash and keep it in a box.

On Monday, the girls spent time at a friend's house and were so proud that they found 18 eggs laid by the chickens. I also got to hear all about how they actually "saw one of the eggs coming out!" Which reminds me of how over winter break last month, we were at another friend's. The kids were all outside skating on a huge puddle/pond and got quite wet. As I was checking pockets before throwing the coats in the drier, I felt something slimy. Yes, it was a broken egg from the last egg-hunting adventure, squashed accidentially by my baby girl sliding sideways across the ice.

So while we cannot drive 15 minutes and be at the ocean, we can drive 15 minutes and watch our apple cider being pressed on an old-fashioned machine here and on a weekly basis we check to see if the calves are out in the pasture with their mamas. Oh, and the picture above is my view every morning while waiting with my girls for the school bus. The owners of this property also have a pet goat that the girls "talk" to sometimes. Just in case anyone still has that question; Yes, I really do like where we live!