Zoey and Mr. Bunny

UPDATE! I'm so honored to have been a featured pic last week in this challenge. There were so many AMAZING entries, and it's truly humbling to be recognized in such a talented group. Thanks so much!! Click HERE to see the other featured winners.

This is my entry this week for the "nostalgia" theme at I ♥ Faces. CLICK IMAGE TO SEE LARGER.
Zoey crashes out sometimes during the drive, and I bring her in and lay her on the couch. Since she was a baby, she's had "Mr. Bunny." My husband and I were worried that the terrible time might arrive when Mr. Bunny could possibly be lost, and then she'd never sleep again. So I found a "duplicate" on ebay, and we had two that played as one. The time came when she eventually found the twin in the dryer. And now "Mr. Bunny" has become "The Bunnies. Either way, she won't sleep without the pair.
For now, sometimes they are stinky, and irritating when they are lost in the house, or must be carted around when we go grocery shopping.. but one day I'll miss them.

Notice the little things, but seek the big picture...

A very dear friend sent me one of those forwarded email stories yesterday. Some of these email forward things are very annoying and stupid. Some move me to check them out on snopes.com, then re-email the b.s. back to everyone as "false." But this was one of those hokey, true ones. Read the whole thing HERE.The gist of the story was this:A world famous violinist played for 1 hour in the metro station in Washington, D.C. on a handcrafted 1713 Stradivarius violin, reputedly worth $3.5 million. After one hour playing one of the most difficult compositions ever written, he was barely noticed and had earned only $32 in tips. The point? That we don't pay attention to the beauty or wonderful things in our life if they are not set in the correct context. We are too busy "going about our business" to appreciate art or music or anything, really.
So tonight I had set a goal for myself to begin gathering a nice selection of portfolio-worthy images. I went back into my rejected images and began to look again, but in a different context. I wanted to view what I believed would be the most moving images for my CLIENTS, not for me. I've been very focused on trend, and technical aptitude, and props, and processing.. I've paid so much attention to so many of the talented photographers I've found on Flickr and in other places. By those standards, this image would probably not cut the mustard. But in the proper context -- to the parents -- this image is perfect.
So here's my reminder to myself: beauty can be found in imperfection. Context is everything.

There is something about the ocean..

I don't get to the beach enough, and it's a terrible shame since it's all of five minutes away.
Zoey and I had been cooped in the house a little too long today, so I said "let's go."
But not so fast -- "Hey Zoey, how about trying on this really pretty outfit from great-grandma?"
She loved it, mostly because it was like jammies.. loose, cotton and a little too big.
So I loaded her up in her precious little outfit and took her down to the sand and sea. My second time with a toddler in this terrain, and more terrifying this time for these reasons:
1. I was alone with her
2. The tides were stronger this time
3. Switching lenses and dealing with sand and saltwater and expensive gear makes me feel distracted and nervous
Anyway, the adventure lasted for about 30 minutes. She Diva'd out when the seaweed and sand got too messy on the dress. I think she's so funny sometimes.
It was worth it to get our toes sandy and for the amazing photo I was able to get. Cheers.
Click here to see the image in my Flickr photostream.

A purple door only adds romantic value, not property value

Our house is one of those "upside down" houses. Or "under water" is another term they use, although 3 miles from the beach is far from under water.

That means we owe way more on the loan than we'd ever hope to sell it for right now.

It's our very first home, purchased more than two years ago.

When my husband and I were looking for a home, we did lots of drive bys and peek in windows. During these weekend trips driving through neighborhoods and dashing out to look at the flyers in the tubes and walking through properties, we were so excited at the possibilities.

After dozens of "well, that seems okay, but it would need so and so... " we spotted The One.

Yellow with a purple door and purple trim. White window planter boxes with pink impatiens.

I fell in love with it and barely a month later, we were officially Home.

It is less than 1000 square feet.

It has closets that are so small there is room for nothing.

It is 57 years old. When you run the hose, or flush the toilette, or do the laundry, there is hardly any water pressure for anything else.

It is on a busy street, and has a chain link fence all around the front yard.

The neighborhood has questionable characters around at all hours, often.

But it has flowers in the yard that my husband has so beautifully landscaped.

It is my daughter's universe. Under the shade tree in the front yard is perfect for her kiddie pool and sand box.

The lighted tiki torches at night on our patio transform dinners into something magical.

It's our place.

funny, silly face theme at I Heart Faces

This pic was taken a long time ago, but it's always been one of my faves.

Thought it fit into the theme really well.

To see more entries, go on over to http://www.iheartfaces.com/

FIX IT FRIDAY - for iheartfaces.com

My first ever "Fix it Friday" entry for the AMAZING blog, www.iheartfaces.com.
If you've never been there, it's such a cool place for just about anything you can think of regarding photography.
The community is warm and friendly, the tutorials are awesome, and the participants are so full of inspiration and talent.
It's an absolutely addicting place to visit on the web.

For this pic, I didn't have to edit TOO much because it was so beautiful already.
I cropped it square, pumped up the colors a bit by blending two layers on "soft color" blend mode, sharpened a tad, and tweaked the eyes a little brighter.
I did a selective color mask to really brighten up the pinks in the flowers, and also used the burn tool to pump up the saturation on the cute little surfboards on his shirt.
Lastly, I added a subtle vignette effect to draw the eyes inward.
I really love color, and vivid "saturated" looks, so this was probably the first of many edits that result in this kind of look..
Glad I got to participate!

To see the original, you can click the image and it will take you to my Flickr photostream.
To see all the other amazing versions, go to www.iheartfaces.com, and click on "fix it friday" button to be wow'd!

Whew... hit with a karma avalanche!

Today feels so great!
Two REALLY nice things happened:
1. I made Flickr's Explore with my beach pic. (see above and click it to see the original)
2. I've already gotten a request for "what I'd charge" for some portrait photography
HUH?! (Advice anyone? I'm trying to figure out my "internship level" price package, or if I will even consider taking anyone's money yet...)
Today makes 23 days since my Nikon arrived and I feel like I've been on a serious sprint ever since the UPS guy handed me the box.
I am totally in awe of how the niceness of the universe is beginning to blend into the shape I always hoped and imagined it could. There is a huge, powerful and anonymous Internet World, and an equally powerful, personal and much, much smaller "real life" world.
I need and crave the goodness from both. I hope I can reciprocate all that I take.
So this post today is a big 'ol shout out to all the cool ass people that I love and know personally, and all the people I don't know, but would probably click with instantly if I met them.
Thanks, ya'll.

Day 19 with D90 + first newborn shoot = technical difficulties

I work with cool, friendly, helpful people. So when my coworker who knows I'm doing portfolio building said "I have a newborn for you," I said "Okay!!"
Then I said to myself "omigod."
I haven't even gotten through the user's manual yet!!
The family I shot couldn't have been friendlier. They were excited and eager to help me get ANY shot I wanted. I had full reign of the house and the camera was my license to be creative.
Unfortunately, after hours of shooting (and mingling, and eating!), I came home with hundreds and hundreds of unusable pics.
I was mortified and crushed.
I sat down to sift through the rubble of my session, downtrodden.
Then a nice thing happened. My husband came to peek and told me I was crazy. "Sweetie, what are you talking about?! That's a GREAT shot!"
"Mmmm, yeah... I guess so.. it's not too bad."
This happened for a handful of pics until I came up with a nice selection of the best.
In the end, the parents got some beautiful pics of their son they will cherish forever.
I got some practice with what it feels like to NOT know what I'm doing.
And I realized how lucky I am to have such a sweet hubby.
HERE is where you can find the rest of the pics from the session.