The Pretty

My Mum has been making this really awesome jewelry lately and I have finally convinced her to open her own Etsy store. She has asked me to take pictures of her pieces and brought a bunch down today for me to start on. She didn't get here until much later in the afternoon but I did manage to get these shots of my favorite necklace before the light went away. The stone is one she found while gem hunting that she then polished herself on her polishing machine/wheel thingy. Then she hand beaded the entire setting the stone is in as well as the necklace itself.
And hey I found yet another super cool use for my giant heart rock!

Oh and I will let you all know what her Esty addy is as soon as she gets it all set up... probably sometime next week.
f/4.9 , 1/30, ISO 400 I sharpened for and resized for web.



I also had a pretty good shopping trip today, I found a really nice GAP barn jacket for my son for four dollars as well as a super cool umbrella(black with multi colored polka dots) for 3 dollars. Where am I finding these super deals you ask?? At only the most exclusive shop around.....Goodwill of course darling! But then I found something I thought for sure I would never find, at least not this year, a giant heart lollipop! I got three of them at the Tarjay dollar spot!!!!!! So I took a couple photos of my DD, who else? LOL

f/5.6, 1/20, ISO 100 I ran a color boost on the first and a vignette and Brendas BW on the second.

The Linking :D

Yeah that's right, I am going to be a blog hooker just for the chance at winning 100 buckaroos at Vibe, Renee Oakenfull's totally awesome blog. You really should check her out, her actions are gorgeous, and she has lots of other fun stuff too. :)

The Desk Accessories

In my head the title of this post is said in a, Hank, from King of the Hill, voice " I sell propane and propane accessories". :D
Not having models to photo during the day makes it hard to find interesting things to photograph. So here you have it, my fairy dish thing that sits on my computer desk and holds various junk that doesn't have another home on my desk. As an added bonus you get the gorgeous bokeh background of my birds cages. Creative genius I tell ya!
These were taken at a super low shutter speed, my living room is really dark because my husband insists on keeping the blinds shut all day to help keep the cold out.
Oh and I am on theme today! HOLY COW I think pigs must be flying.
Olympus E500
14-45 f/3.5-5.6

45mm, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/10, ISO 400
Did a levels adjustment, slight curves adjustment, and ran Alys Canvas action.


33mm, f/4.8, shutter speed 1/10, ISO 400
Same PPing as above



Then one more play because I loved it so much. This is the Toy Camera action that Toni shared yesterday.

The Eyes

I clicked a few quick shots before we ran out the door for gymnastics this afternoon. I am trying to convince the boys to let me take their picture too, so far no luck. :(
I think I may have a little leverage now though, they want me to take them to the skate park this weekend.... bwahahahahaha..........mean Mum that I am they are going to have to pose for skate access!
Thankfully Lilia is still a pretty willing model, she actually jumps at the chance to do photos with me. She is really interested in photography in general though, she will ask me how I got that cool blurred background and critique my photos and she will spend an hour or more poring over the latest photog magazine............... it might be time to get her a camera.

I am working on getting my exposure up to snuff(so far no consistency). I had to brighten this up a bit as it was pretty underexposed but for the first photo that is all I did.
The second photo I used Brenda's vintage action, added a very light texture layer and light border as well.
Because of the crappy light available late in the afternoon and me not wanting a noisy photo(so low ISO) I had to use a REALLY low shutter speed but I got some pretty good focus anyway

Olympus E500
14-45 f/3.5-5.6
focal length 45mm
ISO 200
SS 1/25
f/5.6
CC always welcome.

The All Around

So, every other weekend from now until May you all will probably be subjected to gymnastics pictures. They are what we do on weekends during the competitive season and this kid makes me so proud.
She took first place all around again this weekend even though her meet had a pretty rough start with only a 7.3 on floor, UGH! She pulled herself together to go on to get a 9.3 on vault, a 9.2 on beam and an 8.9 on bars, taking first in all but floor.
Having such a hard time on floor really made her focus harder on her other events and she did the best beam routine I have ever seen her do. It has also given her drive to get back in the gym and really work on those few components that she missed or messed up. Hopefully by the end of the season I will be reporting firsts in all events.

My DH took these pictures, although we did discuss the settings and such on the way to the meet, does that count? LOL
He took them in sports mode with the ISO bumped up to 1600 and no flash(for obvious reasons). He also set the white balance by finding out the heat of the lights in the gym, that seemed to work fairly well.
I did have to lighten them all a bit in levels and do a color correct for a greenish cast that you can still see in a couple of them.

A pose on beam


Beginning her floor routine


A couple shots from bars

The Geranium

This poor little plant I brought inside this past fall, after having been out all summer, it did not take to house life well, AT ALL. For quite some time it was just a stalk with 4 or 5 leaves, it is now starting to come around again and push more leaves and I think I even see a bud stalk starting. He sits in the middle of my dining room table where there are windows facing north and east so he gets a fair amount of sun in the morning, but he still reaches for those windows. (yeah I am a crazy plant lady and talk about my plants as if they are people)
I thought this would be a fun photo to play with textures in PS, so no the pink toile is not my curtains. :P
I did a slight color boost on this to bring the greens out, used a texture at about 40% opacity and did a quick vignette with a dusty grey rose color to keep with the theme.

Olympus E500
14-45, 3.5-5.6
ISO 800
SS 1/25
f/5.6

I think all of us who live in snowy cold climate can relate to this little plant, reaching for the sun during the LONG winter months.

NO PSing except the color boost.


With the texture and vignette.

The Stuff

Two very different shots today, one PSed to the nines the other SOOC.


Rocks of Love




Hubby poured himself a glass of Mountain Dew (YUCK!) and there was just a little bit left in the bottle so he poured it all in the glass. He apparently poured the exact right amount of liquid in the glass without hitting terminal volume. You can see the soda is actually over the brim of the glass but not spilling out. Being that this was Mountain Dew I thought it was appropriate to run a really severe urban acid on it.

My Cup Runneth Over....................... Almost

The Girl

She even has a name, Lilia. She is such a good sport sitting for me whenever I need her to. She is always patient and works with me well, heck she doesn't even mind if it takes me 1/2 hour or more to get what I think I want. I just had to get some shots with those tights, they are so freaking cute!!!!!
I wanted to say Thank You to everyone who comments on my blog for your super kind comments day after day. You all are the best, and make POTD such a great experience.

The technical stuff:
32mm
1/80
ISO 400
f/4.4
I played with levels a bit to brighten it up, and ran Noiseware.



Same as above and I used Kristi's Creamy BW(Thank You!!!!!!! Kristi)

The Food

There was this totally awesome light in my kitchen shining on my breakfast so what did I do, as a sane normal person? I took pictures before I finished cooking my food, of course. :P

Olympus E500
1/40
f/5.5
ISO 125
43mm

The *gasp* Me

So here it is, my chubby, middle aged, housewifey face in all its 33 year old glory!
I took this photos yesterday, they are definitely not perfect, not even close, kind of like me.
I HATE being in front of the camera, it feels much to selfish and vain to me but I think my kids need to see some pictures of me that aren't from my 20's.
I took these in my bathroom(where the light was) at arms length so was rather limited as to poses and such. I REALLY need to figure out that darn timer. :0
So without further ado here they are the once a decade self portraits. PHEW!

Olympus E500
14-42mm, 3.5-5.6


ISO 800, 1/25, f/4.o Does the scarf look familiar? hehe


Up the nose, the perfect shot for flattering nostril shots! LOL The pose is awful but this photo really conveys just how I feel about being in front of that lens.


Even though this is super noisy I kind of like the feel of this one, I suppose I could always embellish the truth a bit and say I put a texture on it. :D Alas it is just crappy shooting that caused it, oh well. I particularly like how this one makes my shnooze look humongous. ha!

The Stuff

I have these old canning jars on my windowsills and keep them filled with all manner of fun stuff, candy, tinsel garland, rocks, buttons, old thread spools.... you name it. I love the way they look all lined up nice and neat and in a row with lots of pretties to look at. :)
Both shots are SOOC any CC is welcome.

Olympus E500
14-45 3.5-4.5
45mm
f/5.6
1/100
ISO 200




37mm
f/5.1
1/100
ISO 200

The Middle Child

This is my middle child and boy is he!
He is my toughest child, he is my sweety pie, he is my kid who feels everything with everything he is, he is my sensitive soul, and he is my child who keeps my life interesting. He is also the one who found the massive heart rock and when he did he brought it home especially for me, this kid ROCKS my socks off! :D

Unedited version, sort of, I had to run noiseware but that is all the alteration done on this one.


The edited version. I ran Brenda's BW action on this one.


CC always welcome!

The Super Talented

POTD for Jan. 16th post below this one.
I love this song and the video has some really nice photography in it, especially the last shot they show, Awesome!!! Thought I would share something beautiful with all my POTDers, I hope you like it. :)
Are you able to see this video? One poster has said she couldn't view it, it is only a white box.

The Boy

This is my first born, my funny boy, my thirteen year old, the kid who cracks me up more than almost anyone else on this planet.
He calls me bunnyducky ala Cheese from Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends.
He made me a Mother when I thought I couldn't do it. And even though he frustrates me to near tears sometimes I HEART this kid like crazy.

Have you ever tried to tell a 13 year old boy you want to take his picture with a heart rock? Let me tell you now, it does not go over well at all. I had to bribe him, actually I had to tell him no snacks until he let me get a few shots and I think he really enjoyed himself even though he would never admit it.

Olympus E500
14-45, 3.5-5.6
ISO 1600 (who is an idiot and always forgets to check the ISO? MEEEeeeeee!!)
SS 1/640
f/4.5
I had to run Noiseware on these because of the ISO.
These were processed with Brenda's Color boost action, which I really Lurve!

Funny boy.


OMGosh LOVE this photo, I can't even explain how it makes me feel.

The Number ONE!!

Ok so this post is more proud Mummy than it is photographer. The photos are crappola due to the location of the shots and the absence of the right lens but they are some of my favorites for the time being.
My DD(9) is a competitive gymnast, level 4. She had her first meet of the season yesterday and walked away with 1 third place on beam(8.8), 1 second place on bars (9.2) and 3 first place ribbons on vault(9.5), floor (8.7) and ALL AROUND (36.1). This was all against 3 other teams, one of which is considered the best team in the state, also against 20 some odd other girls in her level and age group. She has worked her little tushy off for this and I couldn't be prouder of her, nor could she be any happier, unless of course she takes the title at Regionals. :D
I did stay on theme with the first photo and PSed out her coach because well see for yourself.
It is not the best job in the world you can definitely see what I have done but if you weren't looking hard I don't think you would really notice.
Olympus E500
45-150 3.5-4.5
All photos taken on ISO 1600 and shutter speed of 1/50-1/60.

The unedited version


Sans coach


And then just some fun shots of her on beam, bars, floor and just being a goof.

You run like girl.

You jump like a girl.

You swing like a girl

You fly four feet over a bar ten feet off the ground

Like a girl

Walkover with super straight legs


Jumping for her mount on bars


Goofball, I swear I think I have the exact picture from every meet she has ever been in.


So sorry for such a long, picture heavy post but I had to share. :)

The Hubby and The Boy

Yesterday was a total bust, rain, clouds, no light which means no photos. BLAH!
So here are some photos from a couple weeks ago of my husband and my oldest son. I asked them to throw snowballs at me while I was taking pictures and they were more than happy to oblige. I was hit many times during this process and every time these two fools would laugh like little girls. They never grow up, but that's OK I kind of like their silliness, but Shhhhhh don't tell them.

The Girl in The Hat, Again

Yet another shoot with the girl, she was the only one in the house willing to come and play with me. Which really was fine because I had just bought a new scarf I wanted to try out on her anyway. And awesomeness of all awesomeness I have found her bedroom has the best light at just about 3pm, just when they are all getting home from school. Yippeee!
I have informed my oldest, the boy, that he IS next, tomorrow he will be getting his pictures taken whether he likes it or not. I am tend to think it will be more towards the "not", but hey at least I will get some good moody teen photos out of it. LOL
I am trying something new today, posting pics directly from my photobucket site, hopefully this works. All photos were taken in natural light with my Olympus E500 and 14-45 lens. CC me!
20mm , f/5.6, 1/13,ISO160


45mm, f/5.6, 1/40, ISO 400

The Middle Child

I had to fight to get these pictures, you would have thought I asked the kid to eat broccoli the way he moaned and complained. I was given exactly 5 minutes and not a second more! LOL
To get a little better lighting on his face I wrapped a cookie sheet in tin foil and had The Girl use it as a reflector for me. Since I don't have a real reflector I figured this was better than nothing. :D
It was really dark and dreary out so I needed to boost my ISO way up which means I did have to run these through noiseware and did a bit of PSing as well.
Obviously I did a BW conversion on a couple, the two normal colored versions all I did was noiseware and the brighter color version I did a little color boost with hue/saturation and color balance.
Olympus E500
14-45 f3.5-5.6
all taken with the same settings
17mm
f/3.6
SS 1/100
ISO 1000
CC me baby! :)

The Toys

f/4.9, ss 1/200, fl 31mm, ISO 1000
f/4, ss 1/200, fl 21mm, ISO 1000(this one is my DHs favorite of the bunch, he didn't say why. I may have to ask him :D )
f/5.3, ss 1/60, fl 41mm, ISO 1000
f/4.9, ss 1/200, fl 35mm, ISO 1000

Today I decided to try and play with DOF. I wanted to see just what my kits lenses could do and if I could achieve that awesome blurred background that I so love. My dds room has the BEST light at around 1:30, no kids home so I used the next best thing American Girl dolls and their knockoffs.
I like the light in these although I am not crazy about the direct sunlight on the dolls face. I should have moved her but this was the best place in the room for me to be able to maneuver without breaking something. Please try and disregard my dds really messy bedroom, UGH! that child is the biggest slob ever!
I also forget to reset my ISO from the photos of my dog so it was set at 1000..... way to high for these great lighting conditions but, oh well, I am still fairly happy with them.
CC welcome, no really, I promise I can take it. :D

Olympus e500
14-45 f/3.5-5.6