The Windows

So sorry I have been MIA the last couple of days. Thanks to more hughes net suckage and subbing at the High School, I have been unable to post as usual.
I got home from subbing today and got a few quick shots of Lilia so that I would have something to post. I will get caught up with you all tonight. I am kind of excited because I get to see a couple days posts from everyone all at one time. :)

As a Mum this photo blew me away, as a photographer I just don't know because I am WAY too close to it to be subjective in any way shape or form. Please CC me. Other than a slight eye pop and the BW conversion this shot is SOOC.
45mm, f/5.6, SS 1/20, ISO 400

The Wishing

I am so sick of winter and I know March is always the longest month evah! It is such a cruel month, everyone else in the freaking country is posting about their daffodils and cherry blossoms and we are in the middle of a blizzard and mud season. Bllllaaaaahhhhh *said in my best Snoopy voice*
So I thought I would just bring a little Spring to me rather than wait until it decides it wants to meander my/our way.
Yes, yes I did stick some fake flowers in the snow and then took photos. My neighbors now think I am totally crazy and I am expecting the men with the straight jacket any moment now, but it made me happy. :)

The Other Child

Seriously I do have another child... he is VERY camera shy but I managed to get a shot or two of him yesterday. I think he feels better when he has has siblings in the photo with him, he still makes sure his hair is in his eyes though, not that it is hard to do. :D

He really loves flipping his sister around, hanging her upside down and in general treating her like a rag doll.
He is leaning over the bodies of both Gavin and Lilia here, and he is perched on a little ledge that is probably only 2 feet wide. The drop wasn't that significant not to worry but yes that is the Atlantic in barely visible in the background there.




This is probably the best photo I have of Grady from the last 2 years. Look at that big smile and bright eyes. Such a rare moment for him. :D

Of course I had to include a couple of Lilia in tonights post because I know you all would be sooooo disappointed if you didn't get to see her smiling face.

Lastly, lots of you wanted to know what lighthouse we were at and would like to see pictures. Can you believe that I do not have ANY photos I have taken of the lighthouse in the last couple of years. Everything before that was lost in the great computer crash of 2006. :(
So I will have to go back and get a few shots, until then I will say that this lighthouse is on the Maine quarter. ;)

The Location

We loaded everyone up in the van and headed to the lighthouse for some photos. We live about 8 miles from one of the most famous lighthouses in Maine and I knew there were some great spots for photos. Funny thing is that of all the photos my favorites don't have the lighthouse or the ocean in the background, at least not that you can really see. I like them anyway. :)
Can you believe I was there and didn't actually take any photos of the lighthouse and only one or two of the coast.... I'm so spoiled I see it so often that I don't even see the need for photos. I might have to go back and get some shots. ;)

Gavin
45mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, SS 1/2500


Lilia
45mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, SS 1/2000

The Vacation

The kids have been out of school all week for February vacation and these kids take the whole vacation thing seriously.
Apparently my 13 yo figures vacation means he gets a vacation from any and all responsibilities, including showering, which I had to force him to do today, after FIVE days of no shower. ICK!

The eleven and nine year olds think that since we don't have anywhere special to go pajamas all day long are entirely appropriate and really are the only vacation attire needed. I mean it is vacation people! I looked out the kitchen window yesterday morning and what do I see? Gavin and Lilia playing in the driveway in their pjs...... I'm glad our neighbors are never home.

Mostly their days have gone something like this: get up, eat some breakfast, go outside and slide around on the ice, watch some TV, drink cocoa, eat lunch, watch more TV, play playstation, go outside again, eat some more, bug the living daylights out of each other, make Mummy yell and then laugh hysterically about it while watching that vein on her forehead explode, play on computer until the download threshold is met(don't even get me started on the SUCK that is hughes net), go to bed, dream about doing it all over again the next day. My kids are simple creatures.

The Yellow Dog

I opened up the front door today so that the sun could shine in through the storm door and heat us up a bit... and quite frankly I am sick of my bat cave of a livingroom. As soon as that door was open and the sun started shining in, Simon was there curled up in a little ball enjoying a little natural heat. Creature of comfort that he is he never misses an opportunity to get some sun.
He is old and more likely than not, will not be with us much longer. He has gotten more and more feeble as the winter has wore on and I know the day that we must make a decision is drawing near. For now I love to see him curled up, with a happy little smile on his face, enjoying his life.

The light, Simon, and his 'pose' all reminded me of the painting "Master Bedroom" by Andrew Wyeth. I added a texture or two(no my walls are not that dirty :D ) and desaturated it a bit to give it even more of the feel of the painting. If you haven't seen Andrew Wyeth's work before I highly suggest doing a quick google search for his work. Amazing light and color and such emotion provoking yet simple images.

f/8, SS 1/15, ISO 200
Hmmmm I think I could have opened that aperture up a bit. :)

*********** PS ***********
Thank you to everyone who posted such sweet comments on yesterdays post! For those of you wondering it was sunset and that is the scene out my bedroom window.

The Promise

I watch the buds on the trees, outside my bedroom window, swell as the days become a bit longer and the sun begins to heat the winter days just a bit. I know that each new day they grow a bit more and soon enough it will be fully spring and the leaves will begin to unfurl. I watch this process year after year and it never fails that I am amazed at both how LONG it seems to take and how quickly it happens. It seems so early for those little leaves to be growing, so cold still and lord knows we will still have tons of snow but they keep growing and keep sending me the promise of Spring.

PHEW!!!!! Was that sappy enough for ya? Do you feel sick to your stomach? LOL
A girl has to get it out every once in awhile though, if we don't I think we might just implode or something.

f/8, SS1/320, ISO 200

Oh and honey I know you are reading this.... let me just say.... I'm sorry! :P
I promise I will be back to my normal callous self tomorrow. So lets just agree to never mention this again.. k?
thpppppptttttt!

The Random

We(meaing Lilia) had a meet yesterday, which I wasn't going to mention because I felt like I was bragging WAY too much by posting scores and whatnot. But Amanda mentioned the meet and was wondering how the little peanut did so I figured I would update you all. She took first all around with a 35.45, which was the highest AA (all around)score of the entire meet. Can you say PROUD Mummy?
So the only photo I have from the whole meet is one my DH took of Lil with her Vday pressie from my Mum. It is a bit out of focus but sooooo freaking sweet I couldn't not share. ;)

I had this outtake from the photo shoot the other day, of Gavin, that I really thought was cute. So McAuley(sp?)Caulkin of him. LOL

Then I have this photo of Lilia that I really like but it is a bit non traditional.

I am not sure on the settings of any of these but in anyone wants to know, ask away, I will be more than happy to go and look for ya.

The Dancing

Both photos taken at 71mm, f/4.0, SS 1/320, ISO 100
This is the dance and face I see on, pretty much, a daily basis. She does this when she is being silly, when she is happy, when she is stalling, when she is being cool, she uses it to express most emotions. LOL
Love that I finally caught it on 'film'.

The Head Shots

ONLY 9
f/4.5, SS 1/320, ISO 100


NOT A TWIN
f/4.4, SS 1/250, ISO 100

Lilia has decided she wants to be a model and Gavin thinks this sounds like a good idea too. So I took them outside this afternoon and took some head shots for them.
Lilia is a natural in front of the camera, she just knows how to work it. LOL
Gavin is not so natural but he is still pretty photogenic and when that kid grows into his bone structure he is going to be seriously pretty. (Mummy goggles people! and yeah I said pretty.. because honestly I can't use the word handsome for anyone I gave birth to .)
These two get confused for twins ALL THE TIME and it drives Gavin crazy because he is two years older. Poor kid got my side of the family's height and is pretty darn short right now. If he is anything like my brothers though he will grow like a maniac in high school.

more of The Same

We had some crappe (say that with a french accent it sounds so much more refined) weather today so I didn't get out to take any new photos. You all get a regurgitation of yesterdays stuff.
The first photo is a new crop and play on yesterdays second photo. I did a BW conversion with a little bit of a yellow tint, a glam portrait action and added a VERY girly border. I created the border with a set of heart brushed I have.
Second photo is an outtake from yesterday. I am not crazy about her expression but I had fun playing with this. It has been glammed up then grunged out then Simply vintaged. It is one confused picture at this point. LOL
Third photo was the sun filtering through the clouds and the trees yesterday afternoon. The light was amazing!!
Thank you all for all your comments, I really look forward to reading them each day. :)

The Reluctant Model

UH Oh!!! She is starting to balk at sitting for me. I might be in trouble here ladies.
See that face.... yeah .... I am pretty sure that means "get that camera out of my face NOW Mummy" .
I actually think she still likes it she just feels like she has to protest you know to make it seem more like a typical mother daughter exchange. LOL

I broke down and took her outside tonight, even though it was like 14 degrees, because I am SICK TO DEATH of inside photos with my darn kit lenses, fighting to get the settings somewhere within the usable range. BLAH!
It was just before sunset and I had her facing the sun, great soft warm light, made for much easier photo taking.
Settings are for both photos.
40-150 f/3.5-4.5
150mm
f/4.5
1/200
ISO100

The Skatepark

Someone asked for a link to the actions I used so I figured I would share with everyone. They are a great action set for a really AWESOME price.
http://www.brendaacuncius.com/actions2.html



WAITING

More photos from the skatepark. I love that they let the kids create art with their old boards. They took old broken boards and created 'new' boards from them and hung them on the wall. LOVE IT! I only wish I could have had Gavin pose in front of them, but "that is so NOT cool".
I also got this a shot of Gavin waiting his turn on one of the ramps, I was in the waiting area and shot through the fence. Gavin is the youngest kid at the park most days, and tends to be a bit intimidated by the older boys and will often times wait for a few minutes until they are done with a particular ramp, rather than just jumping in and skating. I think once he gets more skeels he will be jumping right in there and making them wait for him.

Yesterday lots of people commented on the PPing, thank you but I can't take credit, I wish I could. :) They were all processed with Brendas Brown tone action. I am an action addict!!
Todays photos were processed with the same action, they both were run through noiseware as well.

The Skater

Gavin is my skater boy through and through. One morning he came out of his bedroom all dressed and says to me "Is this Bam or is this Bam?", talking about his clothes LOL. Bam Margera is a pro skater that Gavin idolizes, much to my dismay as he is one of the original cast members of Jackass. I can just see Gavin waking us up one morning by putting a bullhorn to my ear or slipping some sort of wild animal in bed with us. My Mum says that by talking like that I am only making self fulfilling prophecies, I say I am only preparing myself. :D

The Old Stuff

My Grandmother gave me this little figurine when I was around 4 or 5 years old. For all of my childhood it sat with all my other trinkets in a barristers bookcase. I would open up that one shelf on the bookcase and look at all my special stuff, a tea set from the depression era, a clown candydish with a bobble head, a sterling silver napkin ring with a little sparrow sitting on a branch..... lots of pretty stuff and then there was this snow white. She wasn't shiny or pretty and to my eyes then she was rather plain. Most of the other trinkets from that shelf were broken long ago or are still at my mothers house because they always seemed more hers than mine, but this little snow white has come with me every where I have lived since I left my parents home. I love her old chipped paint, I love that fact that she looks much more 1920's Hollywood glamour than she does typical cutesy Disney. She moves around my house showing up on end table displays at Halloween, to the mantle for spring scenes and where ever else I find she may be needed. She is small, and kind of creepy if you ask the boys of my house, but I like her.

I added a wood texture to this photo first then I did a vignette on a soft layer at 35ish% opacity. Then I created the heart texture and added that, again with a soft layer at 100% opacity.
I wanted to see if I could create my own watermark so I used a scrolly heart brush I already had to make my watermark. It is a bit fussy for my tastes but it fits this photo and I proved to myself that I could figure this stuff out. :D
f/4.5, 1/30, ISO 200

The Sunshine

45mm, f/5.6, 1/640, ISO 200
I ran Aly's Low Res. action to make the sun really glow.

I did notice a bit of a magenta and maybe some green color cast on her face, but I am not entirely sure that is not partly because of the cold, the magenta anyway. So not the best photo of her face but I LOVE the way the sunlight hit her hair.
CC always welcome. :)

The Teen with The Hair

The elusive north american teenager is one of the most coveted photos in every MWACs portfolio. I shot this one while he was distracted by his father playing Guitar Hero, he did eventually see me and go back into hiding. For now I am happy to have these two blurry-ish photos. I have heard that bribery with money or food will sometimes get them to sit still for photos, I will have to try that next time. :D

Olympus E500
40-150, 3.5-4.5
141mm
f/4.5
1/25
ISO 800
Settings are the same for both photos. I took them both in RAW(first time trying it out). I did do some exposure adjustments, ran noiseware and did a BW on them.

The Diva

I ran Brenda's BW action as well as Teya's frame
Olympus E500
14-45, 3.5-5.6
43mm
f/5.6
ISO 100
1/60


She actually said "Oh no you didn't" whilst doing this pose. She cracks me up!
She becomes a different kid in front of the camera, maybe we need to do some acting. :D

My DH edited out the car in yesterdays post, if you want to see the PSed version take a look at the bottom of yesterdays post.

The Umbrella

Finally a whole morning with nothing to do and a willing child. Yay for weekends!!!!
I had to go try out my score from Goodwill from earlier in the week, who can resist a polka dotted umbrella?
Lilia and I froze our tushies off in the wind and cold but it was all worth it because I got some great practice and some super cute shots.
CC Always welcome.
lens 14-45 f/3.5-5.6
45mm, f/5.6, SS 1/60, ISO 200
I thought this one looked cute with a vintage feel and of course a nice black frame because I am addicted to them. I also added the 'snow' because I wanted it to look like we had a reason to be outside with an umbrella. LOL



Please ignore the car.... it's my husbands work vehicle otherwise known as, the clunker. :)
Oversaturated the crud out this one but I liked the way it looked.


DH, the super sweet guy that he is, cloned out the car. :D
I just don't have the patience for that kind of PSing.