practicing in manual mode

Re-stuffing cushions and some photography

each tiny snowflake...

finds its resting place.

faith

"When dark clouds of trouble hang o’er us
And threaten our peace to destroy,
There is hope smiling brightly before us,
And we know that deliv’rance is nigh.


We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness."    
~LDS hymns

Every time I look up, I think about the hand of God in the world and the universe...a lesson in perspective that sheds light on life and trials.

Don't forget to look up...

how to photograph teenage boys

Happiness is...

Happiness is best attained by learning to live each day by itself.  The worries are mostly about yesterday and tomorrow.

                                                                                                       ~Michael Nolan

She looked so darn cute...

last Sunday in her GRAY (remember this post) dress and yellow cardigan, but it was like pulling teeth...

Fun Photography Editing Ideas

photo tip

professional family photos

photo tips part 2

photo tips

An easy photography tip

I’m by no means a professional photographer, but I think the photos below look pretty darn professional!  The secret to these stunning photos?  A flat, black bed sheet for the backdrop that I bought at Walmart!  After my brother and sister in law had their first baby, I jumped a the chance to take photos with them and my sweet little nephew.  We were all visiting my parents in Montana that year for Christmas.  While I think that outdoor photos are the most flattering, there was no way we could step outside for a photo shoot in the winter~especially with a new baby.

So, I had to think of a way to set up a “studio” in my mom and dad’s home.  I knew that their kitchen received a lot of southern light, so that was my first choice to take the photos.  However, I knew that the kitchen cupboards in the background wouldn’t quite cut it, so I had to come up with a backdrop.  I headed over to Walmart and found black flat bed sheets on clearance!  I think I bought a queen, or a King, and the total came to less than $10!  I brought it home, draped it in front of the cupboards and snapped away!  Of course, I had to take a bunch of photos to end up with a handful of really good ones. 

What do you think?

Don’t you just love it…

when a photo that you take, just happens to turn out so beautifully~especially after so many that don’t?  I love this photo.  I took it last year when we had a huge winter snow storm.  We had a similar storm yesterday, and I can look out my back window and see the same thing….the whole garden blanketed in pure, white, snow.  It’s just as beautiful as the day off of school that went with it!
I spent the whole day with the kids yesterday in my pajamas.  We made chocolate chip cookies, which was the only thing that we ate until dinner!~and dinner was really healthy too….my husband made pancakes! 

my murals

Last year, (or was it two years ago?  I honestly can't remember now!  I'm terrible with dates and anything that has to do with time and numbers.  In fact, my kids need to tell me how old I am~seriously.  I just don't really care!  I did not inherit Grandma Betty's genes.  She can tell you the date, day of the week, and time that anything occurred.  And she is 86 years old today!!!  Happy Birthday Grandma!  Not long ago I called her and asked, "Grandma?  I want to tell my kids about Mt. St. Helens.  I remember when we saw the ash from the volcano's eruption.  When was it?"  She said, "Well, lets see it was May 18th, 1980.")

~fun with photos~

This is the photo after editing

No more school pictures please!!!

I just can't bring myself to purchase school pictures of my kids! (okay, well I have a couple of times).  I never like the choice of backgrounds and the lighting that they offer.  So, I'd like to show you one easy way to take beautiful, inexpensive photos of your own kids, even if you don't have a fancy camera.

The key is natural window light.  It's easy.  Figure out which windows in your  house face north. Have your child stand (or sit) closely to the window and look out of it.  Shut off the flash, then snap away.  The coloring will always be flattering-as long as there is enough light.  Then if you have picasa or some other photo editing software, play around with soft focus and cropping until you get the look you want.  Here are some photos that I have taken next to my glass doors and edited...