Why I "Need" a New Camera...I Think

I believe the proper term for the problem I'm experiencing is called "overexposure". It rears it's ugly head especially in the summer time, since I take a lot of pictures outside in the sun.

I love this picture, but my poor baby's skin has the radiance of the sun. :) I've tried a little bit to remedy the issue by messing with Photoshop...but it makes her look unnatural in a more...orange way. :)

Of course, it doesn't help that my kids are such toe heads. Just that much more opportunity for reflecting the afternoon sun.

Look at the tops of the blondies' heads.

The background is what seems too bright in this picture.

Background again.

Maybe I can fix this with my high-end point and shoot. Does anyone know how?...or how to fix it with Photoshop Elements?

I'm pretty sure that if I had a DSLR, it would be a little easier to control the amount of light I allow into the lens...and maybe reduce the glare. Is that true?

The Best in the West

Last week, we had the pleasure of visiting some friends back home. "Back home" being...one of our previous homes. The one where my husband lived for many years before he met and married me. The one where I went to college and then taught for 3 years. The one where our oldest "baby" was born. It's a sentimental place for me...partly because of the history we have there, and partly because of our dear friends there.

They are ranchers, so the kids were able to get up close and personal with the kitties, chickens, rooster, dogs, horses, and cows. They loved it.

Conveniently, our friends have a set of cowboy hats containing about every size imaginable. So...we got these great shots of the kids.

Lord,Teach Me Patience

Oh, how I want a Canon EOS XSi digital camera. Anyone who's been following my blog for any period of time knows I'm addicted to upgrading my digital cameras. And...the time has come when I think I need a digital SLR. So...I've been researching and shopping for deals. I've even found some really great deals...and let them slip away. It's just a big step. So...until I feel confident about the purchase, I'm asking God to teach me patience, and I'm continuing to learn how to make the best of my Canon Powershot S3 IS.

It's photos like these that make me smile and realize I don't need a fancy camera to have cool pictures...







If you're interested, I like to take pictures in landscape mode. I tend to get more bokeh that way. The flower pictures were all taken in Super Macro mode....(maybe in Manual also?).

Don't you love Spring?!?!? :)

A Time to Reflect

Smile! It's Friday!

I showed you one of my baby's obligatory smiles in my last post. Here's another one. :) She's been doing this lately. As soon as I get the camera out, she looks at me with this smile. This endearing, beautiful, sweet, totally fake smile. Well...maybe not totally fake. ...forced. That's a better word. Courtesy is the motivator for this smile.

I love it. :)

I'm sure you'll see more.

Also...I think she started crawling tonight. We'll see if she remembers how when she gets up in the morning. If so, I'll take a little video and share it with you tomorrow!

Happy Weekend!

XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!

Scary

First, since I haven't addressed this yet, I wanted to thank you all for your input regarding solutions to my scrapbooking dilemma. Per your suggestions, I checked out a few sites that will print photo books. They're all similarly priced, and I think I'm going to do that. There is actually a service that will link from Flickr, so I'm going to try to keep my photos organized by book in Flickr, and then when I'm ready to order I will.

For those of you who will be heartbroken if I give up traditional scrapbooking altogether, please know that that is not my intention. I'll scrapbook for special occasions still...for fun. :)

But...on to the topic of this post: Scary.

My boys like scary things...and they like drawing scary things.

Examples:

Scary thing #1

Scary Thing #2

My oldest drew the first one. I helped with the first few teeth, but he drew the rest all by himself. And, the 2nd was drawn my little bruiser. Can you guess what they are?

I'll identify the two scary things in my post tomorrow! :)

Scrapbooking...

...is something I don't think I'll ever be successful at. At least not in the "traditional" sense of the word.

That's where I need your help...I need some ideas.

Here are my photo-archiving goals:

1. Chronicle significant times in the life of our family and the life of each of my children.
2. Maintain copies of my chronicles so that each child can call one his/her own and I can keep one for my hubby and me.

So, I figured, before, that I would scrapbook (with a book and dye-cut images and acid-free adhesive, etc.). I would have a book for each kid and a book for our family as a whole.

What a joke....right? Can ANYONE do this?!?!?!

So, then I thought I'd just keep a good family book, and each kid can have a copy. But...how in the world do you make good copies of your scrapbooking work? No, that won't work...

So...my latest idea (and...this, specifically is where I'm hoping you may have some ideas..) is that I want to start keeping some sort of digital scrapbook. I really wish I could ensure that my blog could be saved to disk or something, and I could hand it down to my kids. Or...something like that. I don't need all the journal entries, necessarily...but they don't hurt either. I just want to include some good photography that shows the growth of our family and each little one in the family.

I'm having a hard time letting go of the idea that I will have something ON PAPER... But...I feel more comfortable each day with the possibility of turning my back on the traditional way of doing this.

Does anyone have an idea for me???? Is anyone scratching their head wondering what the heck I want out of life anyway?? :)

:)

i {heart} faces

I found out about i {heart} faces from miz booshay. I decided to enter this photo this week. How fun!

Fun with Photoshop Elements

Just wanted to share with you my most recent PhotoShop experiment. I'm getting better. :)
I'm also having fun.



This is the SOOC (straight out of the camera) shot. She's cute.


Here, I adjusted the lighting and enhanced the eyes, eye lashes, and lips.

How are you all??

The Class Clown

I have a series of photos I plan to share with you when I have more time. :) They mostly involve several failed attempts at capturing our family, each one looking marvelous, in one shot. But, for now...this will do. :) My husband, the goof ball. :) I love him.

I got Photoshop Elements for Christmas (Thanks, Mom!), and attempted to "Photoshop" my hubby's smiling face into this photo...I think I still need to do some tinkering with Photoshop.