"P52-Fathers"

My wonderful husband, My Motorcycle Man.  Here he is taking our youngest daughter Itty Bitty for her first motorcycle ride.  I was worried she would be scared but instead she fell in love.  She has always been a daddy's girl but now she's  his riding partner too.  Daddy hits the gas and Itty Bitty squeals with delight when other bikers pass she waves.  Daddy is her hero, he takes her on motorcycle rides, kisses boo-boo's, and even lets her do his hair with the "curling iron".  They wrestle, watch Star Trek, and discuss planets and black holes.  Happy Fathers Day to an awesome Dad.

I couldn't just leave this post to one great father!  Here is a picture of my dad on his motorcycle with my mom on the back.  I took this picture with my cell phone and then instagrammed it.  It's hard to tell but I'm on the back of our motorcycle and we are going down the highway at 60 miles an hour.  On Father's Day we went out for breakfast and then rode to one of the state parks near us.  I'm grateful that we all can get together and hangout.  My parents are the best they are always there to help out.  They were always there when its important and made sacrifices so me and my sister had everything we needed.  They watched us march in the band, play concerts, and fix cars.  Love ya Dad and Mom your awesome.

"Edit Me Challenge- Week 25"

Edit Me Challenge Week 25 After

This weeks Edit Me Challenge is from Desirae for the blog Sommerfugl Design.  I love the original picture and was interested to do some reading on this particular lighthouse ( I love learning new ind interesting things!) To complete this edit I first straightened the lighthouse because it looked slightly crooked to me.  Second I put an Unsharp Mask on the image. 3rd I added a levels layer and adjusted the levels individually.  I liked the overall effect but did not like the light so I selected it and painted it black.  Next I added two different textures, one for the crinkly effect and the last texture for the warm colorful tones.  After that I added a slight vignette and the text.  I *love* lighthouses!  I chose this quote because my husband proposed to me on top of a lighthouse with the sky looking  much like it does in this edit.  He has brought love and light into my life. 

Edit Me Challenge Week 25 Before

"P52-Sunlight"

Early mornings are a great time for quiet.  It is good and bad that Ive been up so early, I would really like to get some sleeping in done since it is summer time.  But my kiddos schedules have other plans for me. These pictures were worth it though and theres nothing prettier than morning sunlight through the trees.  Both were taken in my backyard.  I'm having a hard time deciding which one I like better but I think I like the rays and the deep color on the first picture.  What do you think?  I hope everyone has a wonderful Father's Day.

Epiphanie "Fly" Photo Submission

My "fly" photo submission in the Epiphanie Camera Bags + My Four Hens photo contest!http://bit.ly/junephotocontest

This photo was taken in my dad's backyard.  I was lucky to catch this butterfly standing still for just a second.  I hope everyone likes this picture, most of all I hope my dad likes this picture.

"Edit Me Challenge-Week 24"

The first thing I did with this picture was to create a layer and do an overall sharpen on the picture and then focused on the eyes.  (Although this jpg version looks slightly different than the my photoshop versions did)  I then adjusted the levels individually, making the background lush and the skin tone warmer.  I finally added this wood border and feathered the edges.  Please feel free to leave comments!

"P52-Water"

Water is definitely everywhere this weekend here.  As I'm typing the rain is  coming down down down.  Between downpours I ran into my backyard to snap a couple of shots of my wet hydrangea plant.  I attempted to take pictures of my family shooting water guns but they did not come out as I hoped with the water being the focus.  This was a better shot.  Glad that we are getting the rain we need to keep my pretty plants healthy, and glad my wonderful husband has the green thumb in our family to make our house and yard beautiful.

"Edit Me Challenge- Week 23"

After

I decided to go completely off the reservation today for my edit.  The pretty flower just looked like it needed to go in my hair : )  I took this picture of my self, imported it into CS5 and made some minor adjustments to the photo but nothing earth shattering.  I wanted to play up the yellow/green in the center of the flower.  I used the eyedropper to do a color match and then painted a bit on the center of the blossom.  Next I grabbed the flower in the original picture and refined the edges/feathered the edges and then cut it into a new document.  I resized the flower to fit into my pretty new hair. (I got a new haircut and color today! )  To finish it off I put a slight vignette on the photo.  I hope you guys enjoy my latest edit!

Before

"P52 - Playtime"

I was up early this morning and to my surprise so were Mr. Mann and his friends that he had over for his 16th birthday party.  They decided since the weather is nice and cool they would go outside to foam sword fight. (yes, they are all 16 or older)  They had a points system worked out for hits and extra points depending on where you hit.  Boys are so funny to watch play.  Mr. Mann won this battle, they played like this for 2 hours.  Even Itty Bitty was out there with the boys sword and light saber fighting.  The boys are sweet to her and always include her in everything they do and play.

"Edit Me Challenge - Wk 22"

After

I tried several different edits on the barn image this week.  This was by far my favorite edit. I used Photoshop CS5 to edit. First I removed the power lines in the photo so they weren't a distraction.  Then I created an adjustment layer to pop the remaining red paint on the barn.  Next I ran a Lomo-Original action  and added a vignette.  Last I added a brightness layer to lighten the sky some.  Hope you guys like it!  I'm learning so much.  

Before