favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because:

• this is my youngest brother, his bride & their oldest son...they asked me to take their wedding photos a few years ago
• i had no idea what i was doing...
• taking wedding photos was stressfull & made me sweat like crazy
• ps... i am not a wedding photographer...those people are brave souls
• this is one of 2 whole shots i had thought up before the wedding, i wanted them walking away with their son following after them, he was not real sure about the grass, hence the bear crawl he's doing...
• the little guy's so cute in this shot...it seems like a keepsake to me!
  

*this image was shot @ f4.5, 1/80, iso 100 with a 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 lens at 52mm with fill flash

check out picnik

hey, if you're looking for a resource to edit your photos, there is this neat little website called picnik that you've got to check out. over there you can do standard editing & other fun things like add fonts, frames, special effects, make collages - all sorts of cool stuff and it works with your photos in lots of places like flikr, facebook, photobucket, picasa or just straight off your computer.

so even if you already have photo editing software or if you're considering a change/upgrade, check this place out!

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because...

• these are my guys...i love em'
• this was a spontaneous shot, didn't set it up, might have had to tell them to stay that way for minute though...:)
• i took this the first week i had my new dslr, very excited, not really taking very good images though...practice, practice, practice

*this images was shot @ f4.0, 1/20, iso 200 with an 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 lens at 20mm

i'm opinionated

i'm sure i've been described as many things, i'd like to hope they've been good things, but that may be wishful thinking...

my best friend once described me as "opinionated" to another friend of hers. and this is my best friend, mind you...

so i had to ponder on that one. i related the story to troy, to which he said something very insightful. (i love it when he does that)

he said "everyone's opinionated, some people are just more willing to share their opinion than others". (i wish he was always that smooth)

so hey, at first i was feeling sort of insulted, but actually, i think i kind of wear it as a badge now.

you know the saying "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything"? well, i totally agree with that. as a matter of fact, there's probably not a truer statement!

i would rather be completely committed than wavering every which way the wind blows, depending upon who's company i'm in.

so without further ado, these are my opinions today:

1. american idol has gone done the toilet this year. that's all i'm going to say about that.
2. spending 15 minutes outside in the sun each day is all you need to get your daily allowance of vitamin D. how simple is that? so go outside and see how much better you feel afterwards!
3. green tea is good for you, for many reasons. just 2 of those reasons: it boosts your metabolism & decreases your chances of a heart attack by 40% - so go get some!
4. love does NOT mean never having to say you're sorry...apologizing does wonders for you & your apologee (i don't think that's a word, but i'm using it)
5. all crimes are "hate" crimes & every human being should be protected equally under the law
6. "just because god's sovereign doesn't mean you lean on a shovel and pray for a hole" *i'm quoting pastor tommy nelson here
7. you can never have too much good mexican food in one week

so there you have it. my opinionated opinions.

and just because you've taken the time to read my rantings, i'm sharing a recipe that i've received from my sister & modified until i got it the way my family really likes it.

mexican haystack dinner

1 sleeve saltine crackers or tortilla chips, crushed
3 c. cooked rice
1 lb. ground beef, browned
1 can chili beans, undrained & heated through
1 packet taco/burrito seasoning
shredded lettuce
tomatoes
onions
queso cheese sauce

place crushed crackers/chips in 9x13 pan. top with rice. after browning meat, add taco seasoning & cook according to package directions. top rice with meat, then chili beans. sprinkle with onions, lettuce & tomatoes. heat queso cheese sauce with some milk to thin it out a bit, then pour over the entire pan. serve with tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream & guacamole if you like.

i ♥ faces week 19 blurb photo book contest

this week's contest at i heart faces is asking us to enter our best or favorite close up photos.

this week's winners will have their photo included in the i heart faces blurb book & win a free copy of the book also.

until i saw this contest, i had never really thought, "what's my best ever photo?" because i think more along the lines of my "favorites" rather than best. so i dug deep & found a couple of shots that i thought were worthy.

this has definitely got to be one of my best close ups, one of the beautiful girls i have photographed.

as they say, the eyes have it here, don't they?

I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

i can't wait for Land Of The Lost

i love will ferrell.

ok...there. i said it...

it's a problem, i know...

but i can't help it. he cracks me up!

if you have yet to see the previews, here's a pretty good one.

we can't wait to go & take the boys. fortunately, they share my affinity for mr. ferrell so it should be a definite thumbs up.

when you're strange...

i don't have a lot to say about this, it was just one of those moments, seemed right at the time...to him anyway...ahh well, i love my baby boy..

sometimes i think a ring in the nose would be handy, especially during those "not so cooperative" moments ...

and his eyes just mesmerize me in this one...he has these blue/grey/almost green-depending-on-what-he's-wearing eyes & when we're sitting close & he's talking to me, i tend to be analyzing "just which one of those colors are the eyes today"...

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because...

• awww...those big brown eyes, who can resist?
• this is one of my many nephews, and for those of you who know him, it was taken a while back, remember that baby face?
• i took this shot soon after i got a new lens & was dying to capture close-ups with shallow depth of field...this one turned out well & really inspired me to keep going
  

*this image was shot @ f2.0, 1/800, iso 100 with a 50mm 1.4 lens

hey mom...look!

as i was going through some photos from our vacation to siesta key, i came across this one...

i just can't help but smile & think happy thoughts when i look at it...maybe it's because of his ruddy-red little sun burnt face, maybe it's because i can clearly see leftover lunch at the corner of his mouth...

maybe it's because, just looking at him, you would never know there's a lizard on his face!

what's up with that nice smile? i couldn't pay for that most days...what IS up with that?

seriously, i'm going to have to do a series...maybe call it "jon's wild world of amphibians & reptiles"...ooh, and what about the "lobster"(aka crayfish) he found in our yard, we can't forget that one...

...and oversized bugs & lately birds...word to the wise - if you're an injured bird, stay away from our place, you will be captured & placed in a container with lots of grass...

oh, and he's not biased, all creatures are game, even nests of field mice, they get the old hamster aquarium....

and the bunnies who make their home in the tall grass near the front porch... ok, maybe we'll just call it "jon's animal kingdom" .....

crazy beautiful girl...

this is what happens.............................................after this happens...


i couldn't help but share these photos, she's such a beauty even hanging upside down from a swingset, isn't she?

my niece has such a wonderful, natural smile - what a joy to capture!

tutorial: bigger photos on blogger blogs

you can have little blogger photos like this...


or upsize to something like this...

see the difference?

i have had a few nice compliments on the larger images on my blog.

some have even said that they wish they knew how to do this for their blog, so rather than try to email people individually, i thought i'd post a tutorial here.

it's really very easy, so hopefully i can clearly explain it here:

1. load your image into your post like normal
2. when you get it there, go to the "edit html" tab up above next to the "compose" tab
3. you'll see the coding there for your photo, look for a line that says "width: 268px; height: 400px;" or something similar, it might include the words "cursor" & "hand" in it or your numbers might be different than the example i'm using
4. next, delete that line, starting with the width & ending with the height - don't change the numbers, just delete it
5. then, look for a number further into the coding that looks like this "/s400/" and change the 400 to 800. there might be another number that works for a different size, but 800 is the number that i use
6. you may have to change the size of the "wrappers" of your blog depending on the template you're using because if you have a 2 or 3 column blog, your main body might be too narrow to accomodate this larger image & you have to increase the size. you'll know because when you try to upload this larger size & post it, you'll see that it's being cut off by one of the columns

so there you have it. that's all there is to it.

go forth & increase the size of your images!

i ♥ faces week 18 "laughter"

this week the theme at i heart faces is laughter.

sad to say, but i could only remotely think of a couple of shots i have that actually capture someone laughing! i think this is sad, so i'm going to try & work on that.

for the kids category i had this shot in mind...it's my niece - she is a f i r e c r a c k e r! i'm digging the 70's faded look processing & i thought it worked for this image.

and for the adult category, this one was easy. i photographed my brothers wedding & this was fun...

so hop on over to i heart faces and check out all the great entries!

mother's day & the wildflower bouquet

did you have a happy mother's day? i have to say that i did.

early at breakfast the boys game me homemade cards. i always love that.

i have to share the story behind these cards, though. my boys are always quick to make me things, drawings, cards, lego creations, etc. but for holidays, they sometimes aren't aware of the dates, so they need some help.

a week ago last saturday, i went out for my birthday with a friend. after i left, troy came to the realizion that the next day was mother's day, so he started rushing around to try & get something done for me. he had the boys sit down and make me cards, after which jacob said "dad, mother's day's next sunday!"...so hey, better early than never, because sometimes we totally forget about it!

so yesterday the guys decided to make me lunch after church, which was really great. they made me one of my favorite "summer" meals, blt's, corn on the cob, and a fruit salad. this is the type of meal we eat in the middle of the summer when we're eating primarily right out of the garden.

it's a little early for the garden, but because martin's had their big produce sale last week, we had some good things on hand.

and the flowers. jon & i went outside on friday looking to cut some flowers. i brought in some of my dwarf irises and he went on the search for wildflowers.

this is one of my favorite things. lots of little & big vases full of dandelions & other various flowers of the yard & field!

so i had a nice, albeit shedding, vase of wildflowers on the table for my mother's day meal!

thanks guys! i love you!

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because...

• the band aid, how can you NOT love that?
• i am all about depth of field & selective focus, this is one of those shots that spotlights both of those techniques
• this shot brings back fun memories, mainly because these birds terrorize us all spring through fall & i'm not sure why we were being so nice as to catch one and not kill it!

*this one was a baby & when they're small they just run & you can usually catch them

photos of a soon-to-be teenage boy..

this is my boy, my oldest boy. these days, i am thinking more & more about this guy & how much less time there is to actually call him a "boy".

this boy...

• has a bit of a mustache
• is almost looking me straight on & that's no simple feat because i'm 5' 10 1/2" tall
• wears a size 11 men's shoe
• now takes the full adult measure of most medications due to his age & size
• can help his dad with just about any big job around here because he's easily stronger than his mom is
• loves this hat i made him!

these images are totally him...

being of this pre-teen age, i don't get as many good photo ops with him as i used to, but when i made this hat, he was so into it that he actually wanted me to take pictures of him wearing it!

*i'm not sure why, but there's something about scrunching up your face & sticking out your tongue that seems to be a new trend around here!

random thoughts on tuesday...

• i am knitting a new piece that's giving me fits...the "purse stitch", i've frogged it twice, ok, 3 times...maybe i don't really know how to do this stitch?
• i've been on a breyer's butter pecan binge lately...mmmm....
• when i got up yesterday, this is what i found in my garden

• it's a daily battle to get my 3rd grader through his school day
• i saw "wolverine" twice this past weekend, yes ladies... t w i c e
• i'm searching for the perfect yarn for my first sweater to knit...i think i've found it...rowan calmer...but it's dangerously pricey, going to have to keep working on that one
• i took this shot of the baby boy sunday - i love it

• spent time with my best girlfriend 5 different times in the past week & a half...we can have fun doing anything
• my birthday is tomorrow & my husband is more concerned about how old i'm getting that he is about himself (he's 4 years older than i am)

i ♥ faces week 17 "hats"

this week, i am entering a few images into the "i heart faces" blog contest, this particular theme is featuring photos of faces with hats.

i actually had more than one good option for the kids category, so it was hard to pick, but i have loved this one since i took it in the fall.

this is a shot of my lovely niece with nice evening sun, that "golden hour" lighting that makes eveything nice and warm, this is one of my favorite types of light to capture...

and my entry into the adult category...i'm going to get flack for this one, i'm entering this photo of the big guy

if you haven't been, head over to the i heart faces blog today - you can enter your photos on mondays & tuesday, with a new theme each week. check it out!

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because...

• this would be my baby...need i say more?
• when i look at this photo, i see a happy boy, a genuine, non-coersed smile...that's a good thing
• i like the composition of this shot...i'm always practicing something new & i was trying to get a tight, whole body shot using a small space with a clear background
• i like working with children & trying to capture their personality & in this one i got it
  
  *this image was shot @ f2.5, 1/200, iso 200 with a 50mm 1.4 lens