"P52-Favorites"

I chose to share this picture because it is so cool and what other category would it fit under?  I guess maybe Christmas Lights Gone Wild?  LOL.  Anyway, this is one of my favorite lessons that I help with during the year.  Our wonderful art teacher (mentioned during my still life post) Florie Barnett does experimental photography with our students at the end of the school year, I provided the dark space and was able to take some pictures while the kids were taking photos as well.  So how was it taken?  Two kids are are turning a strand of Christmas Lights they alter the pattern and move as they wish.  I am set up with my camera on the tripod, with a slow shutter.  I loved this photo because of all the vibrant colors.  The kids are always so excited to have cameras to use and it so cool to see their results.  I got lots of questions about my set up as well and was able to share.

"Edit Me Challenge"- Week 21

This is my first link up with the "Edit Me Challenge" group, only because I happened to stumble on it a couple of days ago.  Since summer is upon us and I have extra time on my hands I'm excited to take this chance to explore photoshop more.  The first picture is the after and the second picture is the before.  I used photoshop to edit this image.  First, I decided that I wanted the little girl's tongue sticking out to be the focus of the picture so I cropped the picture and put her tongue on a cross joint on my thirds grid.  Second, I ran the "colorized" action from PWAction set 2.  From there I adjusted the levels on the associated layers.  Third, I added a brightness/contrast layer, adjusted the tree so it was a different shade. Lassoed the tree and painted it white.  Last, I adjusted the color on the sprinkler in a separate layer so it would not get lost in the grass.  I feel that the subject and the action are now center stage.  I would love to hear any advice/comments that anyone would offer.

"P52- Mothers"

Mother's Day is an awesome holiday!  There's nothing I love more then my family.  I would have taken pictures of my mother but she doesn't "do" cameras, but I love her all the same : )  My kids and husband got me some awesome mothers day gifts... a whole bird center with a new hummingbird feeder, a bird feeder, a birdbath, and a homemade squirrel feeder.  (the squirrel feeder is to keep them away from the bird feeder)  I absolutely love it.

     I usually don't get in the photos but decided that I would make sure to get some pics of me and the family.  I'm glad I did.  Happy Mother's Day!

"P52-Still Life"

I was very excited about doing the still life picture this week.  I did not know anything at all about still life as an art form but knew exactly who to ask for a great working definition.  I work in a school, so I started asking our art teacher about picking subjects and what made a "still life" a still life.  We first discussed traditional Dutch still life that included living and dead items, and that you should have an odd number of items.  Im a little squeamish so dead things weren't gonna work for me.  So the next option was a group of things.  I decided that my grouping would be of Japanese items that my husband brought our family back from a business trip.  I found items that had different colors, heights, textures and were made from different things.  Starting from left to right, flameless candle, my lacquer and mother of pearl jewelry box called Urushi, my daughters wooden kokeshi doll, my red bunny chopsticks, a wood and paper lantern, the lid of my bento box, and a green woven vase.  The background needed to be plain and the entire scene needed to be lit by natural light.  (I really did learn a ton!) So here is the final product.  All of my items are sitting adjacent to a window with the blinds adjusted so the light was shining just right.  Im glad that I have learned so much and it was wonderful to have a living resource to ask questions to that was so knowledgeable on the topic.  Thank you Mrs. Barnett your an awesome art teacher... not just to the students :  )

"P52- Fiesta"

I have been doing a lot of siesta-ing over the last few days... Our family has been totally busy with Mr. Man performing in "Hairspray" and all of the other activities that go along with the end of the year school madness.  My husband and I have been in the car taxing more than anything else.  SO... it was high time we had a fiesta.  I made this pomegranate margarita today to celebrate the end of the play and hopefully some calmer evenings ahead.  If nothing else fails school is out in 10 days, then we can all breath and relax.  Come on summer so the REAL fiesta can begin.

Happiness

Itty Bitty is overcome with happiness in this picture.  She always *LOVES* helping daddy with the chores especially yard work.  It just so happened that it was time to use the blower, her favorite.  She always begs to get blasted with it. As she was getting blasted she erupted into a fit of giggles.  I love seeing the laughter and happiness from the simplest of things.

"P52- Green"

Green... so many things to photo.  I could have taken pictures of money, but you have to have some of that to take a picture of it ; )  My second thought was to take a picture of Green Lantern or the Hulk but we didn't have any action figures at hand.  (Yes, we are sci-fi geeks and are waiting eagerly for the Avengers to come out!!)  Although my husband offered to go and purchase them for my picture this week I declined because of my lack of photo idea number 1.  As I walked by the front door I saw our plant sitting there and the afternoon light shining through the window and decided that I loved the light and the green plant would be perfect too.  So viola! my picture for this week.  Sometimes the most ordinary things can catch you eye and cause you to smile.

"Bento of the Week - Earth Day"

My Second Bento of the Week challenge... - Earth Day.  In the first tier of my bento Hello Kitty is giving the Earth a big 'ole hug.  Around kitty and the happy Earth are tomatoes, black olives, celery, mushrooms, pickled ginger flowers, and stars cut out of orange bell peppers, all of this is on top of spring mix lettuce.  In the second tier of my bento are wasabi almonds, mango, hard boiled eggs with stars, edamame, and a froggie container with salad dressing.  I hope my bento has made you smile!  Happy Earth Day.

P52- "Things That Grow"

So many things grow... mostly at my house the things that grow are the piles of laundry that we need to fold, the amount of time I spend in the car picking up kids at various functions and of course bills.  This is probably the same for everyone!  I, however can't believe the speed at which my kiddos have grown up.  Just yesterday the man cub was sitting in my lap and driving Thomas the Tank Engine.  Now he is ready to drive my car.  KK will soon be in high school, and Itty Bitty is almost as tall as me.  One thing for sure is that my love for my awesome family will continue to grow.

P52- "Sacrifice"

Sacrifice.  What better exemplifies sacrifice then Jesus, and of course Easter.  This Crucifix is special to me because it belonged to my Grandmother who passed away in the late 80's.  It was recently given to me after my Grandfather's funeral earlier this year.  The crucifix is very pretty it is made of wood and inlaid with a gold colored metal.  Jesus is made with the same metal and is very detailed.  I wanted to highlight the nail in his hand so I made that my focus. Which picture do you like better?