I Have My Life Back

It took forever, but I finally finished the Ball pictures. Okay, it was under two weeks, but it felt like forever. In total, I edited 124 pictures. I brightened their eyes, whitened their teeth, cleared their complexions (if necessary), brightened the colors, and sharpened everything. It really made for a good picture, if I do say so myself. Then I uploaded them all to Sam's and set about ordering close to 200 copies. I couldn't close my eyes without seeing people sitting in front of a black background. With bright eyes and white smiles. I was overwhelmed.

But.

It.

Is.

Finished.

Just in time to realize the elementary school yearbook I'm in charge of is due. Soon. Very soon.

My tongue is still stuck to the roof of my mouth from licking 123 envelopes, but that's another story for another day.

I just had to share some of my favorite pictures.

That tall girl is really goofy. Wonder who she belongs to. This is one of Reagan's best friends. Isn't she beautiful? She has the sweetest personality to go with it. I could keep her as one of my own if her parents wouldn't mind. They do though. Not that I've asked...I just know. Who else thinks these two need to go into modeling??? Love this picture! And now for my very favorites. I am truly blessed!

I thankfully learned some things from all of this.

1. Have more than one assistant to help with order form filling out. I did a lot of standing around...as did the people in the line.

2. Black backgrounds are a little...one dimensional. I need to invest in a yearbook one. You know what I mean? Or an Olan Mills one. Does that help explain it?

3. I will wear more comfortable shoes! If I own any.

4. I will get my lazy couch shaped tushie off the couch and get a wet rag to seal the envelopes with. My tongue might never forgive me.

5. I would do it all over again to help raise over $1,000 for a school system that I absolutely love.

6. And I'll take the sweet deal my neighbor offered me to purchase the lighting I borrowed for the evening. Because I can't wait to do this again next year!

So now I move on to the yearbook....which is due in less than a week. Send help...and coffee...and pictures. I don't care if the kids don't go to our school. I'm that desparate...and pathetic.

Goodbye forever.

Or until next week.

A Little Distraction

I had some thoughts for posts rolling around in my head today.

Sadly about weather.

There are just so many weird things happening here!

But lucky for you...I was distracted today.

And here's who distracted me.I didn't mind a bit:c)

Some more suckers!

Okay, they're not suckers...they're a sweet family we go to church with:c)

Since my friend Beth and her family took a chance on my photography and editing skills and liked the outcome, apparently she's been talking. One of our mutual friends asked me to do theirs! We worked for almost a month for the weather, clothing options, hair appointments, and life to align and finally got together last week.

Since Craig is a local football coach we headed out to the field for some awesome end zone pictures. Awesome in my head; not awesome in real life. Apparently here in Oklahoma, grass dies. Who knew? The end zones weren't painted and there was no signage at all with the schools name on it. Luckily having the coach with us helped. He got the wrap out of storage that goes around the bottom of the goal posts. Guess it wouldn't feel very good to run right into a big hunk of metal. Personally I've run into a brick wall and lived to tell, so I think that tough football players could handle it.

Caleb wasn't really sure that he wanted anything to do with me at first. For every calm picture I took I had to promise him two silly ones. After a while though he started posing for me and striking the most hilarious poses. I finally whined enough that Craig and Amy even joined in. Rocket ended up being the hardest one to photograph. Apparently when you call a dogs name to look toward you he actually wants to come toward you. When the dog is taller than you when standing on its back legs, this can pose a problem.

Still, I think we got some good shots. I'm still not a professional by any means but I'm cheap and fun to work with! And so far I've been blessed with good friends or family who are willing to take a chance on me.

Last one, I promise!

I know I told you that I was done with vacation posts....but could you bear one more?

Still there?

I have started an interesting love affair with my cameras macro button. It's up close and personal. It's in your face. It's my new love.

I spent quite a bit of my vacation time squatting all over Colorado taking macro flower pictures.

Here are the 13 that made my favorite list.

After a little Photoshop of course.
I bought a collage frame half price at Hobby Lobby. Kim, not nearly as cool as yours:(And slowly but surely printed out the pictures at just the right size.I am in love.We had to do a little rearranging in the house to hang it. That meant another trip to Hobby Lobby for the corner shelf. Lucky for Shawn, I already had all the necessary decorations.And remember when I mentioned printing the pictures at just the right size?? Um, yeah. Here are the extras that I did wrong.Anybody want some really cute pictures??

Senior Pictures

So in my quest to become a photographer I'm struggling with how to better myself. I can of course always take pictures of my own children, but we all will eventually get tired of that.

I must admit I am slightly afraid to take pictures of other people.

What if they don't turn out?
How much should I charge?
What if their children won't listen to me? And they don't seem willing to help?

Okay, yes, I'm a sissy.

But then I got the request from my Aunt Carrie. Would I be willing to take my cousin Tyler's senior pictures while I was in town? I told her sure. After all, she already likes me and is also a photographer. If mine turned out awful she could certainly take her own.

The next hurdle?

Talking Tyler into it.

For a guy as honestly good looking as he is, he's not a big fan of having his picture taken. Considering he's had a camera in his face for most of his life he really doesn't enjoy it now.

Luckily with threats from his mom and begging from his 'favorite' cousin, we made some magic:)

Not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty proud of these.

Aunt Carrie captured this great one!

And it all came together to make this.
So a big thanks to Aunt Carrie for trusting me.

And an even bigger thanks to Tyler for being so hot and somewhat willing:)

M.I.A.

This might explain why I've been MIA this weekend. It took a lot of work....

...but man was it worth it!

New Love

So we've established by now that I have a deep love with all thing Photoshop. I can lose myself in it.

Thanks to The Pioneer Woman and her amazing tutorials I have been really enjoying myself.

This specific tutorial finally made it completely clear how to make the colorized photos happen. I love it how she explains everything so well. Like she's talking to me like I'm 6. Because that's the only way that I can honestly understand anything involving computers.

I still don't feel like I've found the perfect picture to use. Guess I'll have to set that up. Any volunteers??

But here are some of my early attempts.