Stripes

I love this picture.  I took it when I was documenting Abby's 13 month mark.  I love the stripes on her shirt.  I love her cute little hands with her fingers spread out.  And I especially love the back of her sweet head.  This view is something I see all the time but I wouldn't normally think, "I need to capture that."  I'm so glad I did. 

Extrusive

My husband and I started doing weekly photo challenges for fun.  We pick a random word out of the dictionary as the theme for the week.  This last week the word was...

Extrusive: relating to or formed by geological extrusion from the earth in a molten state or as volcanic ash

Here is what I came up with.

This is Landon's.

This week the theme is "dispatch."  If you want to join in on the fun, feel free!  Upload your photo here.  You have to be invited to the group in order to post, so let me know if you want an invite.  It doesn't matter to us what type of camera you use or how literal or symbolic your picture is.  This is just meant to be a fun way to do something artsy during the week.

Watching

My husband took this of our baby girl the day we took her to the park to swing and slide for the very first time.  I think the thing she enjoyed the most was watching all the kids running around and playing with each other.  What a precious expression to capture!  Good job, Landon!

Lo-Fi

My husband and I have been having fun learning how to take pictures.  We are still amateurs, but it is a hobby we enjoy doing together.  My husband's favorite part of it all is the software and post-processing that goes along with digital photography (big surprise there).  If you have looked into photography software (well, photography in general), you know that photography is not a cheap hobby. 

He sent me this link the other day, and I did a download of the 7 day trial.  If you are a beginner and are interested in doing some fun vintage looking post-processing, this program might interest you.  It is extremely simple to use, has quite a few presets for film type, mood, and frames, and... it costs only $30 (which is seriously like a breath of fresh air).  It is not the most amazing thing ever, but for $30, you can have a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures I edited with it.

Architecture

Nature

Portraits

Still-Life

and even Food

Fun, huh?  I haven't purchased it, but am definitely considering it.  Go try it out and play!

Funny Face

I haven't shared my favorite photos in a while because I have been working on transferring a bunch of stuff to our new network hard drive.  My hard drive was basically completely full, so it is taken me a while to get things back into gear.  But I wanted to share this hilarious picture of my baby girl.  This is from her 10 month shoot I did last week.  This face isn't her most flattering look, but she does it all the time and it cracks us up.  I'm glad I have a way to remember it even if it embarrasses her when she's older.  

What They Wear

Confession:  I am way behind on my photo class I'm doing.  It's okay though, the class is just via email, so I'm saving the emails as they come and will get to them as I have time.  I actually took this photo on the day it was assigned, but finally processed it today. 

The theme was "What They Wear."  The day I took this I flew alone with Abby to Boise for the weekend.  Unfortunately, we found out just minutes after we made it through security that our plane was delayed three hours.  So... I had some down time at the airport and was able to do my photo assignment.  These jeans are one of the first things Landon and I bought when we found out we were having a girl.  Landon picked them out, which makes me love them even more.  I think it is so fun to capture them in this way, something I wouldn't have thought to do on my own.

      

Then & Now

For Day 3 of my photo class, the assignment was "then & now."  I was supposed to take a photo that would show change from the past.  I decided it would be fun to document "the diaper change" change.
 

 The top one is from when Abby was 3 days old and still in the hospital.  I remember I was scared to change her diaper then because she was SO small and would scream when you took the blanket off.  The bottom picture was after I changed her diaper today.  She is about 10 pounds heavier!  Her changing table may have to be retired soon because she moves around so much.  I had to be careful as I took these because I was worried she would jump right off. 

My photo assignment also included "cropping in tight," which is maybe displayed better in this photo.  I could definitely crop it (in Photoshop) more, but didn't feel like the mostly blank wall was distracting.

This is my assignment from yesterday, which was "what they look like."  The idea was take a picture of a loved one as they really look, good or bad, and to position yourself so that the subject looks right.  This is a definite Landon face/posture. 

What They Do

I'm doing this free online photography class this month.  Thanks for telling me about it, Emily!  If you are interested, you can still sign up.  Today's assignment was to catch someone... doing what they do, and also to find good lighting in your home.  I love watching Abby read books and am so grateful I can now remember it forever.
 

 

Wedding Bliss

My favorite photo from this week was not one that I took, but one I edited.  In order to save some money, I hired a good friend to take our wedding photos.  We were pretty pleased with the way they turned out, but after he had edited a bunch something happened to his computer and he lost everything he had edited (or something like that).  He still had all the original files and at that point we just didn't want to wait any longer and took them as is.  

I recently decided it would be a good project for me to go through and edit them myself.  I'm mostly making minor changes to the majority of them so that they still look natural, just with a little more zing.  But for some of just the two of us I am doing more dramatic effects in addition.  I always wanted to like this picture, but our hands looked lifeless and dull.  I think I was able to bring some life into them and am much happier with the way it looks now.

Long-Distance Twins

I will try and get some new subjects in the future for my favorite photo of the week, but I'm pretty sure everyone enjoys seeing this cutie.  Abby was dressed in this outfit that her cousin also has.  We arranged for them to be long-distance twins, so I had to take Abby's picture.

A Challenge

Landon issued me a challenge this week:

Take one photo each day.

I have only been doing it a couple of days but thought I could share my favorite from each week.  Here is this week's favorite.

I may be biased, but I think this girl is a beauty.

Fall Things

I love Fall, it is probably my favorite season.  It is a toss up though.  Spring and Summer are great as well.  And since Winter contains Christmas, it is also great.

Anyhow, I do love Fall.  One of my favorite parts about Fall is running.  I ran cross-country in Jr. High and High School and the season for the sport is during Fall.  I have so many fond memories from that time in my life.  Friendship and conversation while canal running, crazy moments on the trips, fun and painful practices, the anxiety associated with meets...  I could go into a lot more detail, but I won't.  But it really was the highlight of my high school years.  And whenever the leaves start to fall and they crunch under my feet as I run, my mind takes me back to those moments.

This past weekend, or maybe the one before, was likely the state meet in Idaho where I grew up.  That means it was seven years ago when my team swept it.  Both our varsity girls and boys teams won.  It was an amazing thing to be part of and the best way to end my senior year of running.

I didn't really mean to go on a tangent about that, but there you go.  What I really wanted to do was show you pictures of these beautiful bushes that are all over our apartment complex.  I love them.  I need to figure out what they are so I can have them one day.

Aren't they gorgeous?  These photos have not been altered in any way.  They accurately portray the true colors.  I love how all the amazing autumn colors are incorporated into a single plant.  And the berries add a great touch.  If you know what kind of bush this is, let me know.  I need to put in on my list of "things I want in my future house."  I don't have an actual list, but if I did, these would for sure go on it.  

My Little Pumpkin

Abby dressed up as a pumpkin for a little party we went to.  I think she looks pretty dang cute.

Happy weekend!

Balboa Park

While in San Diego, we walked around Balboa Park.  I had been there before but could hardly remember what it was like.  It is beautiful.  What really stands out is the architecture of the buildings.  Here is just a couple of photos I took while we were there.

I loved the lanterns

Black & White

Part of the organ pavilion

If you ever go to San Diego, definitely check out Balboa Park!

Accent Pillow

When I made my bed the other day I was thinking, "I ought to find or make an accent pillow for this bed."  Maybe someday I will, but for now I think this will do.

 

rock-a-bye baby

That is my mama's lovely rocking chair you see.  She rocked me as a baby and now I rock my baby in it.  However, we had to fix it up a bit before I could use it.

This is the back of the chair.  It is a weave called "caning."  The seat was like this as well, but with all the use this chair got, it wore out.  We called around to see if we could have it re-caned, but it was going to be a pretty pricey.  Instead, my dad helped me upholster a new seat so I could use it. 

Isn't it lovely?

In case you didn't get a good look.  My sister made that adorable pillow for me.

Aren't these photos great?  My husband took them.  The light was glowing perfectly through the window, so I asked him to take some photos while I fed the baby.

I love my chair and all of the warm fuzzy feelings I have already acquired by using it for my sweet girl.  I hope to use it as long as I can.

just some photos

Our baby girl loves to be outside and go to different places.  Therefore, we go on a lot of walks and other adventures.  We often use this opportunity to practice with our new camera.  Here are some shots I took on our Sunday stroll. 

McCall, Idaho

I have vacationed in McCall, Idaho every summer for as long as I can remember.  If you have never even heard of it, it is definitely worth looking into.  It is a sportsman's paradise with everything you need to bike, hike, run, water-ski, snow ski, fish, snow mobile, snowshoe, and simply relax.  Shore Lodge is a nice hotel that is located right on the beautiful Payette Lake.  We don't stay there when we go, but we went there for dinner one night and it was a lovely atmosphere.  These are photos I took from that night with my new camera.  I'm still learning, so these aren't perfect, but it was hard to make these photos look horrible given the beautiful scenery.

Flowers and Trees

I am not a photographer. But I have taken a few photos that are aesthetically pleasing (at least to me). I especially enjoy taking pictures of flowers and trees. Here are some of my favorites.

Tulips at the Tulip Festival 2007

Pansies - Spring 2007

Single tulip with amazing coloration- Spring 2007

Blossoms- Spring 2007

The little canyon by Landon's grandparent's home in Bountiful- Fall 2007

Rose Garden in Winter Park, Florida- December 2007