I Love This Outfit...

Day 9 - I Love This Outfit.

{T-shirt and Jeans} 

I've always been a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl.  Perfect with my comfy boots.

One Adjective...

Day 8 - One Adjective.

{Mine}

There are dozens of adjectives that would describe my 3 year old!

Wild, funny, sweet, smart, mischievious... even grumpy!

"Mine" is my favorite!

Pay it Forward...

Day 7 - Pay it Forward

{Kindness}

Paying it forward means doing something kind for someone else without any expectation of being paid back, instead the recipient of that kindness does something for someone else.  It’s a very simple concept, but one that can have far reaching impacts. 

I am very fortunate to have such a strong example of “paying it forward” in my life.  My dad has always been one to offer assistance to anyone at any time.  I can’t recall the number of times my sisters and I sat in the car waiting while he stopped to help someone with a flat tire or an overheating car.  Even if we were on our way somewhere or running late, there was always time to stop and help.  I remember on snowy days he would have me help him shovel our huge driveway.  When we were done with ours, we’d move on to several elderly families in the neighborhood.  He wasn’t asked to do it,  it’s just the kind of thing he does.

I’m grateful for what I’ve learned from my dad about service and lending a helping hand.  I guess the best way I can “pay it forward” is to try to be that kind of example for my children; to instill in them the importance of kindness and love, without compensation or reward.

Pattern Play

Day 6 - Pattern Play.

{Fabric} 

Maybe I love fabric for the texture, the colors, the patterns, the possibilities.  Maybe more so for memories of my mom and grandma as they sewed for hours in our kitchen.  I miss those days!

If Walls Could Talk...

Day 5 - If Walls Could Talk.

{Growing Together}

If these walls could talk, they'd have plenty to say about us.  We were married almost 6 years ago, after knowing each other a very short time.  We've learned a lot about each other and the commitment, compromise, patience and love it takes to make a marriage work.  These walls have seen our good days and bad, the ups and downs.  They've seen us grow from a couple to family and I'm sure they'll see many more years of us growing together.

My Inner Age...

Day 4 - My Inner Age.

{13}

 I may be 31, but I still love young adult books and movies - especially Twilight. I love it enough that I went to the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn like a crzay teenager. Unfortunately I felt my true age, and maybe older, the next day!

View from the Top

Day 3 - View from the Top.

{My Little Guy}

My youngest little monster has the two craziest cowlicks ever, each going a different way. It's like two hurricanes crashing into each other.

Love it!

Home Is...

Day 2 - Home Is.

{Chaos of Boys}

On any given day, you'll find toys, shoes, and crumbs strewn about the house.  Before kids, things were more orderly and quiet, but my boys, with their chaos and noise,  make this "home" to me!

A Photo Challenge...

So... I'm late posting again.  I got a new photo organizing/editing program (Lightroom 3) recently and have been trying to figure it out so I haven't been shooting as much lately and I haven't been editing as fast.  It's kind of sad.

To get back into shooting regularly without adding too much more to my unedited photo backlog, I decided to participate in the Expose Yourself Project.  It's one photo a day for 14 days.  Each day there is a new theme.  And the surprise twist was that they all have to be black and white.  Love it...

Day 1: My Style

{Under Construction}

Right now I feel like my photography style is a work in progress. My style has been evolving as I've been working on the technical aspects. I'm still trying to figure it all out, but I'm loving the journey!

Caldwell Couples Shootout

The models for the Caldwell couples shootout were the winners of the Simply Yours Giveaway put on by the local photographers group.  Both couples were so great!

Enjoy!

Photos Taken 9/30/11

My First Boise Shootout

I was very lucky to find an amazing group of local photographers!  One of the best things about the group is that they hold photographer shootouts, where a location and models are arranged and the photographers just jump right in and shoot.  Everyone is shooting the same thing at the same time, but everyone's photos look so different! 

Different angles, different processing, different styles.  So fun!

The first shootout I went to was in September.  A few of the photographers brought their kids as our models and we all pitched in on huge balloons and brought props.  It was really fun, but... 

It was also when I was first trying to get the hang of back button focus.  (Back button focus is where you set one of the back buttons to focus your shots rather than pressing the shutter button halfway down to focus.)  I'd read about it on a photography forum and several photographers swear that it's the best.  It worked fine when I was practicing on stationary objects in the house, but the first time I tried it on actual people I about died at how many images were out of focus.  Not just "soft" - all out blurry!  I'd gotten a little better by the time I went to the shootout, but as the photo below shows, I certainly hadn't mastered it!



Photo by Ali Smith,  http://www.alismithphotography.com/



There I am, right in the middle, looking at my camera, trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong to get so many out of focus shots.

  Thank you to sweet Ali for sharing this photo and making me laugh! 

(Without her help a few weeks later I may never have gotten the hang of it!)

Here are 12 of my favorites from that evening...

  

Photos taken 9/16/2011

Hunting Eastern Idaho

I was able to spend a bit of quality one on one time with the hubby on a trip to eastern Idaho a few weeks ago.  He wanted to go hunting and I wanted to take photos, so we compromised and did both.  It was really nice being outdoors together and it was a beautiful day with one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen.  I ended up just sitting on the hill watching the clouds move across the horizon.

Enjoy!

This may be my favorite photo of our dog ever...

 

The clouds didn't really want to cooperate for silhouette shots, but I managed to get one that I liked.

 

 



The first time I've ever seen a moose in a potato field!  I have to give the credit to my hubby though, he called him in close enough that I could get a few shots with my camera!



My Golf Course Lesson

Last month my friend wanted me to take photos of her two year old son.  She had his one year photos taken at the golf course by a talented local photographer that recently moved out of state and thought it would be fun to do it again to show how much he's grown and changed over the last year.  Shouldn't be a big deal right? 

Well...  

When we arrived, I immediately started sweating.  It was still REALLY bright and there was no shade anywhere!  She had brought me there the week before to scout out possible photo locations, so I knew ahead of time what the conditions would be, but somehow I thought (and prayed!) that magically a cloud would come floating in or the sun would start setting faster than normal and save my poor, inexperienced bacon!  Her little boy is normally in bed at the time we began shooting, so we couldn't stay until lighting conditions were closer to my comfort zone.  It was much stronger light than I am capable of taking nice portraits in.  The photographer from last year did a great job in the same conditions - I felt like I was never going to measure up! Just like a bad case of test anxiety, the more nervous I got, the more I botched my settings, the more I messed up, the more nervous I became.

Big lesson for me!!  Looking back I needed to just take a deep breath, calm down, and not worry about comparing myself to others.  I need to remind myself frequently that the photographers I admire started somewhere too!  It's a journey that doesn't happen overnight and even the bumps along the way will help shape my photos of tomorrow!

 

Luckily, this little guy is so cute that it shows right through my blown highlights and technical difficulties!



Oh buddy!  I know just how you feel!



One great thing about strong light - silhouettes.

  

  

Thank you to my friend for her patience and support...