Project 365 - day 50. Preconceived Notions

The little girls and I went out for a walk around the block today.  The weather is still fairly mild and the sun was gorgeous!  The only problem was trying to find a spot with some shade to take a photo.  Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining just adjusting.

I love this fence that lines a street in my subdivision.  I had a split rail fence around the house I lived in as a little girl and I've always loved wood fences.  So when we got there I decided it was the picture spot...regardless of the sun factor!   I had a great idea in mind but Clare had some of her own so we went with that (obviously).

Oh, and yes....she is in her pajamas again.  At least we change them daily.  :-)

PS  You can click on the image to make it larger.

Fix-It Friday...#44

Okay, so this is actually only my 3rd Fix-It Friday but it's iheartface's 44th and it seems much easier to track if I'm using their numbering system so "44" it is!!

This week's photo is of a lovely little girl named Emma (great name, btw).  Cute shot of Emma but also a great shot of the neighborhood and underexposed because the camera was confused by the bright areas/shadows.   The metering needs to be done to the subject, not the scene as a whole, to avoid this.

Here is this weeks original photo:

While I like the look of the road under Emma's feet, I really wanted to eliminate as much of the "neighborhood" feel of the photo as I could so I cropped it much closer.

Here is my edit:

I did all of my editing in Lightroom 3 (a Beta version that's free to download and good until the real version is released).  I adjusted the exposure (up quite a bit for most of the picture and then selectively burned the brighter areas), upped the temperature a bit, increased the saturation in her vest to give it a bit of oomph, brightened Emma's face, and added a vignette to also help eliminate the distracting housing.

I'm making a point of not looking at any of the other edits posted (even the ones on the same webpage which is VERY hard to do) so I won't be biased by others but I'm anxious to see what others did!

I'd love to hear what you think so please leave a comment!!

To try editing for yourself and see what others have done, go to:

Have fun!!!

Project 365 - Day 43. Keeping My Perspective

The last couple of days my 16 month old BABY has been insisting upon sitting in her big sister's booster seat at the table and she won't even THINK of eating anything off of a tray anymore!  

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this age but I'm also realizing that I'm really not liking how fast it's all going.  I think that knowing Emma is our last child is making me hang onto her and every little moment even tighter.  

She just looks so big and so little to me at the same time right now.

So for todays photo I decided to go with two.  Because in one, her plate looks so huge and she looks my teeny weeny baby relative to it.  But in the other, she looks like the big kid that she thinks she is.  (sigh)  You can guess which one is my favorite.

Fix-It Friday...For Real This Time

Ok...I'm on track now with Fix-It Friday and I was excited to get started.

Here's the before picture:

The photographer was unhappy with the "clutter" in the background and while that didn't bother me too much, I worked with that.

Here's my edit:

To have a play of your own or see what others came up with, go to:





I intentionally didn't look at ANY other plays before I did my own so I wouldn't be biased. Now off to see what I could have done!

Fix It Friday....A Day Early, A Couple Weeks Late. Texture

The iheartfaces website runs a series called Fix-It Fridays.  They post a photo and then anyone can play with it to make edits as they see fit.  This was the last one they did but I decided to try it because they were encouraging the use of Textures.  Something I've never worked with before.  To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about them, generally speaking or in my use of it.   At least I know how now and I'll keep it in mind but don't think it'll be something I use too often....   I need some good urban shots so I can really play with it....

Anyway, here is the photo as it was given to us:

And here is my edit:

Wanna have a play yourself?  Just go to:



Let me know what you come up with!!

Project 365 - Day 39. Props & Pop-Ups

Most photographers suffer from the same problem....prop addiction.  There are just so many cute hats, tutus, benches, etc.  Everything I look at these days is a potential prop!   It can get consuming...not to mention expensive!   So, I was REALLY excited when I saw a recent "tutorial" on how to make your OWN baby leggings!   Because every photographer knows that baby butt cheeks look even cuter with fun leggings.   But at $15 - $20 a pop they're tough to swallow.

Now I have a less than $2 solution and I stocked (or "socked") up on them!!   You just buy ladies funky socks, cut off the feet part, and then roll the rough edge.  Ta-dah...instant cute baby leggings!  I bought 9 pairs that were on Clearance at Target the other day (they came in packages of 3 so REALLY I only bought 3 sets).

I decided to take a shot of my favorites for Valentine's Day in this nifty pop-up cube that's intended for product shots.  Now, before you think I just like to blow my money on anything photography related, let me stress that this was a free gift with my tuition to the New York Institute of Photography 1 1/2 years ago.  And it was just about time that I took it out of the wrapper!   Though, to be honest, I really prefer looking at the leggings next to cute butt cheeks!

Project 365 - Day 37. Another Kind-Hearted Boy

We had a nice family day today.  Disney On Ice was in town and we attended for our 2nd year in a row.  The kids loved it...particularly Emma who was clapping like mad and bouncing up and down when Minnie and Mickie skated onto the ice!  There was some fear when the withes/serpents/ or whatever "bad gal" came out.  (They're all evil women in Disney stories, aren't they?  Why is that?  Hmmm...maybe Walt had Mommy issues.?  But I digress.)  So our tears were limited to the "scary parts" but we quickly calmed down COREY!    Yes, the 1, 2, and 5 year old girls were fine but that 7 year old boy had to come sit on mommy's lap!  Did I mention he was sensitive?  :-)

After the show, we picked up our nephew from Marquette and headed up to Bayshore Mall for a trip to the Apple store and lunch at Bravo.  We haven't seen Ryan much since December so it was nice to have a little time with him.  I've had a special place in my heart for Ryan since I first met him 11 years ago.  He's a similar soul to Corey's in many ways...very kind-hearted.

I remember that on one my first visits with his family in England, we were riding in the car one day and several of the other grown-ups got into a heated debate about something.  This is very common for them and no big deal but very different from the family dynamics that I was used to.  Sweet little Ryan who must've only been about a year older than Corey is now, leaned forward from the back of the car and said softly to me "You alright, Auntie Kelly?"  I was fine but I was amazed that this young boy could have sensed my discomfort and, beyond that, that he would check up on me.  He won my heart that day and I still think the world of him!

We're very proud of you, Ryan, and love having you nearby.  I can't imagine a better role model for our son.

When All Else Fails...

I mentioned that I love a challenge, right? Well, today I got one! :-) Sweet little Sam is your typical 5 year old who wants to please by offering his perfect smile for the camera. I tell ya, that kid could talk, laugh, probably even eat with that same smile on! My goal is always to get beyond the "canned" smile and get to the real kid....we got there but not without me having to create a few new tricks...including bribing him with a lollipop. I love that kid!! I'm posting several so mom, Jen, can relax. There are loads more cute ones to come. Emily, on the other hand, was too easy. I'm learning that 7 - 9 year old girls are my easiest targets and so fun!!

Thanks for letting me play in the field and for letting your kids play on the train tracks, Jen!