Sisters

This is my mom and her only sister. They don't get to see each other too often, as they live at opposite ends of the east coast. But it's always so fun to see them get together. They are so alike in all the ways that I love my mom; they are both laid back, love to laugh, have strong morals and enjoy the moment. They share many of the same mannerisms, and they look a little alike too. Since my mom is one of my best friends, it always intrigues me to see her with her sister, her "other" best friend.
As an only child, I am amazed at the relationships siblings have. Granted, it's even more fun to watch when their five brothers are also around, but that just doesn't happen very often as everyone is scattered across the country.
So, I did ask them to come out this evening when the light was the most beautiful golden color at sunset. Sadly, it's a little soft. But hey, that's more flattering anyway, right ;)
I used one of Renee's cool grunge borders, and just played around with color and blending modes. Thanks for looking!

S's blanket

We have been blessed to find a wonderful family to connect with. Cathy has watched both of my girls from the time they were babies. We've watched our kids grow up together, and have been fortunate to become friends. Cathy is an easy going, even tempered and loving lady who I credit with helping me to raise my kids. She has given me lots of strategies over the years, most of which I have embraced. Creative storytelling is my favorite ;)

I love laughing with her the most.

She is now an almost expert knitter. You should see the amazing sweaters she's made.

Cathy made each of the girls a blanket. This one is S's. It is soft and stretchy and lovely...

Poola the turtle

The "Da", my dad, caught this turtle swimming in their pool. The girls were fascinated to see a turtle close up. K. immediately named her Poola! We all had to walk down to the stream to release her back to her home. K. was convinced the turlte momma will be forever grateful.

I love the smiles on the girls. Too bad they are looking down! TFL!

texture challenge

Clearly not going for beauty here! Something about my toes, the rug and part of S's rubber snake together really was fun to my eyes. I can't tell you why...?
The second is my favorite dish towel, or as my Dh and family call it, a "mop-een" (no idea how to spell that!). That would be what his grandma called them. There are a few Italian slang words we've kept from his family, and that's one I really like. there's also "goo-gootz" which means literally squash, but we all use it to mean squash for brains! That's my little piece of culture for the day. Boy, am I loving summer vacation!
Sorry that "Poola" the turtle didn't show herself today. I'll put her up tomorrow. I want to get swimming. To be continued...

First swim at grandmas of the season! Yahoo!

Exlporing.
K. was diligent about checking to see if my lips turned purple- in fear that it would mean everyone out!
S. got over her fear and swam all around the pool without me using "paddle power", aka kicking.
We were all proud of her. She was too!
She and I played "wonder pets" and saved the giant fish over and over and over again. What a great swim!

6 23 07. One more from my jar collection.

I'm not usually very girly, but I love love love these flowers! I love finishing them with something sparkly. I have a variety of them, but I really love this little relish jar with a flower on top. It looks so pretty on my shelves.
I'm sorry I've been MIA. I'm looking foward to going over this last week of everyone's posts. Both K. and I finished school this week, including all the surrounding chaos. It has been a very difficult year, and I am looking foward to spending time catching up with my girls, my hobbies and my rest this summer. TFL!

6 22 07 cigar box

This is a cigar bow I commadeered from DH. I was going to cover it, but then decided I really liked it as it is. Inside, I have my 3-D stickers, like Jolee's as well as any others I'm working with on an active project. I keep the rest of my stickers in an accordian folder. It works, but just isn't pretty.
I love the latch especially. I wish I'd gotten a detail shot of it. It just feels, so...grown up, and like olden days opening a special diary or treasure chest. TFL!

6 21 07 more containers

A few more from my glass collection.

very exciting jar of brads... 6 19 07

But hey, I'm on theme.
I like to keep little scrap book stuff in various jars. Whenever I find a interesting jar (this one had ice cream topping, I think)- it goes into a basket under my desk as a jar with potential. My DH thinks I'm nuts, but that's okay, because I am. Aren't all scrappers crazy just a little?
These were handheld a little too slow, so there's ever so there's an ever so slight camera shake. But I was in a hurry, so no do-overs today.
Stay tuned for an even more interesting container tomorrow :)

Tree seed 6 18 07

This is one of the four seeds we found when out playing over the weekend. When S. accidently "broke it", we found this inside. All of us were amazed at how beautiful it is. The outside is a delicate, almost paperlike shell. K. of course immediately had all sorts of ideas about the magical properties of such a seed. Which, I have to admit, I did too :)
That reminds me, sadly- K. is beginning to enter the end of all things magical. She learned Pocohontas was a real person who lived a very long time ago, so the character in Disney must be an actress who portrays her. We were able to save the belief in other princesses, but I fear the end is near. Fortunately, her belief in fairies is very strong. She is really working on looking at her ideas and beliefs. Part of me is very proud of her, and the other wants her to always see the magic in life.
TFL, and for reading all that!
My settings were: 1/250. 2.2, 100 ISO with my 50mm lens. The last one, on the bushes, was overexposed a little; I adjusted the exposure back a bit in ACR. Otherwise, they are only editted with defog and sharpened for web. Enjoy!

I'm an idiot...

So, for father's day I decided to create a version of the project Barb linked to the father's day project thread weeks ago. I have an 8x10 frame that I'm going to scrap with favorite photos from the last few months.
I realized yesterday, there isn't one recent photo of myself.
So, while S. slept, and K. was on a playdate, I spent 20 minutes trying to take a self portrait. Can you say procrastinator???? My hair had been in a pont tail and was all sorts of droopy, I'm wearing a most boring tee...I could go on, but suffice it to say this is the best of the bunch. I must start to think ahead a little bit more about details! :)

Last baby pic for a while...

I swear, even I'm getting tired of seeing my kids on this blog! Tomorrow's my day off, so I'm hoping to look around me beyond the kiddos- no matter how cute they are being!
Don't know if this is a pic only a mom would love, but there's something that just made me stop about this picture of S. at the luaou. She makes me so happy every day; even on the days she's awful, she manages to make me laugh at some point. Parenting her is going to be a wild adventure, I suspect. But as long as we the adults remember to -breathe, -count to ten, -think big picture, and last but not least...remember she is at the core a great kid...we may all actually survive the ride.
My settings were: 1/80, 2.8, 400 ISO, 50mm lens. I really only had to change my WB in ACR; otherwise I tweaked with defog, sharpening and a light screen light layer (I've been loving that, lately).
TFL!

Aloha! Our little hula girl.

We had a Luou last night at k's school to celebrate the end of the year with the after school club kids. What a great way to end the year (even though there's a week left).

These made me smile. The girly girl in her wanted to shake and shimy until the cows come home. The rest of her wanted to go home and go to bed! She isn't very competitive, so home and bed ultimately won. She loved dressing the part, and didn't want it to end. TFL!

The Grands.

I reserve the right to keep the best one aside until I can show my parents in person. I really like these candids, because the fun my parents have with each other is so evident here. As is the love for my kids- they sat on that curb to watch K do a "bike show" -read- riding back and forth in the parking lot. And S, not to be outdone, ran behind, trying to keep up with her big sister. It was a fun way to spend a birthday. Happy birthday, Mom!
My parents are great role models for truely enjoying your life partner...to be each other's best friend, to love to laugh, and to take time to savor the good moments. Not that they're perfect, mind you. But they are perfect for each other.
Love you guys!

I can't help posting her...

Taken tonight...we had a small gathering to celebrate grandma's b.day. I have lots of photos to eidt, this is one of the first I opened. I can't help myself, she is just a lot of fun to photograph.
The first is SOOC, the second, editted. TFL!
Settings:
1/640, 2.8, 100 ISO. 50 mm lens

3 more from my walk with S

More from our walk/practice with my lens. Check out the bird on top of the flag pole! I thought it was awfully considerate of her/him to hang out up there long enough for me to take some photos :)

S loves going outside as much as I do. She'll ask to come along to get the mail, water the plants, get something from the car... it doesn't matter. For both of us, getting out and breathing the fresh air is just something we both like to do as often as possible.

TFL.

I got one!!!! 6 10 07

I've been struggling with sharp photos out of my 70-200 lens. This is the first time I got a sharply focused shot at 2.8! HURRAY!!!
I maybe should mention I went for a walk at the golden hour before sunset with my little S. Out of the 111 shots, this is the only one I got that is tack sharp at 2.8- although, not all the shots were that wide; the shots between 3.5-5.6 were nicely in focus too. I was a good distance from her at the time of this shot, and she was standing still. Too bad it isn't a more interesting shot, but hey at this point I'm so excited I don't care!

My settings were 1/400 (watching my shutter speed); 2.8 (yes!), and an ISO of 400. Now, because the sun was fairly low, there was a lot of noise so I ran it through noise reduction in PS. The first one is SOOC, the second is with N.R., defog, and sharpened for web. Both were resized.

TFL, and for all the support over the last few days. It really helped. I won't say I've mastered it at all, but now at least I have hope!

6 7 07 Thinking about my SIL's wedding...

K's ballerina dress up caught my eye tonight. I have G's wedding in the back of my mind- I've been increasingly looking at wedding galleries. Completely for fun, but I do want to be able to get great as I can get shots for them. I'm contemplating asking if I can do an engagment shoot with them, my gift. Really a gift to me because this is not my thing. But I think it would be fun, and hey, if I get some good captures, they win, right?

This is minimally pp'd. I boosted contrast, ran defog, and a minimal color pop at 50%; sharpened and sized for web. I'm really aiming for streamlining my pping and being happier with SOOC. TFL!
Oh, yeah. Settings were: 1/40, 2.5, 200 ISO and my flash bounced over my shoulder onto a white bookcase.

School pic

It's not even a great one, but I don't want to fall off the posting wagon again...I've got to get back to that tree again. It's called a peach blossom (or so K tells me). It has the most beautiful trunk- which you can't tell from this picture at all. I love to admire it each time I pick her up from school. Hopefully, I can get a great one in before the end of the year and give it as a gift...

6 5 07 Dragging the Shutter- AhA!

Okay, so I experimented some more. I went back and read the thread again. I read the Planet Neil tutorial, again. What I was doing wrong (aside from trying to learn this and master my new lens at the same time- Doh!) was trying to meter. Nope, that's not what you do.
What you have to do is make sure you have just enough light to register on your meter, and then go.
These were taken in a room where the only light source was another room adjacent to it- with a few obstacles in the way. It was fairly dark.
My settings were: 1: 1/30, 1.8, 800 ISO; 2&3: 1/25, 2.0, 800 ISO. These were all taken with my 50 mm. The only photo editting was the following:
ACR: adjusted white balance
increased Luminance Smoothing to 30, color noise reduction, 30.
PS: defog and sharpened for web (also, framing and logo).
That's it. Nothing else.
This technique absoluelty rocks out loud. This is a fabulous AHA! moment. Wish I had someone to photograph other than toy horses.
Oh yeah- the first one was to see what I could get. The second was to see if there was a big difference in changing the shutter and apperture a hair.
The third was to try to create "catchlights". All the way around, I'm feeling kinda good. Tell me what you think. If you've experimented too, include the link in your comments. TFL!

6 4 07

Thank you Jordyn!
I tried playing with dragging the shutter after reading the thread you pointed out at ILP. This is the best one I got out of the 11 I tried. I definately don't have the metering down yet; I had to bump up my exposure in ACR, and editted with color pop and a screen light layer. I think I've found the next piece of photography I want to focus on. I'm excited that it will be exactly what I need to know for my SIL's wedding in September (I'm in it, not offically shooting it).
Anyway, thank you Jordan for pointing out the thread, and to Amy for starting it!

Lovin' my cousin

Not exactly from today. But, I took so many pics last week, I will be editting them for the next few weeks!!!
My youngest fell in love with her godmother- my youngest cousin- during her visit last week. Toward the end of the party, she wouldn't let J go! I loved watching the two of them fall in love all over again. J lives in Far Away, so we only see her every year or two. We'll miss her lots!

6 2 07 A decorated Poppy

A little something silly. My younger DD thought it was pretty funny to decorate her grandfather as he caught a nap. Honestly, we did too! 50 mm, 1/60, 2.0, ISO 800. I popped the color a bit, and added a filter- tungensten lighting is tough for me. It's still too orange, but because it's a silly shot, I'm kinda okay with that.

TFL!

Reading about fairies 6 1 07

We were lucky to receive a sofa from my inlaws yesterday. The girls enjoyed twilight sitting on the new couch and loveseat. K ended up curling up with one of her beloved fairy books. It's not the most falttering picture of her, but I love the missing tooth, how she is engrossed in the story as she is telling it, and being outside on a sofa. Good times! 50 mm, 1/100, 2.8, 800 ISO. TFL!