Rain rain go away

come again some other day...when I don't have a i heart faces photowalk to attend and a bridal shower to throw. Julia was SO excited to use her new pink umbrella and it turned out that we had great light for the photowalk between raindrops so I can't complain. We shot at a location that I've driven by a hundred times, but never been to. It was a lot of fun and I was pleasantly surprised to see familiar faces there. Molly, our leader was asked me to be one of the models. The rest of the participants made it look so easy so I went for it....no makeup and a cold sore on my lip. Now I understand why people get nervous in front of the camera!



I always try to make the most of every trip to the cities so after I picked Julia up from her morning with Grandma she and I ran to the mall to pick up her flower girl dress and a gift for Sunday's shower. So much to get ready once I arrived at the shower and a long drive made it crazy with an over tired 3 year old in tow. I never did get to change into my shower clothes but the food and the company was great and thankfully my peonies held out and we were able to use them for some of the decorations.






Speaking of decorating...the kids helped me with the wrapping paper decorating. Craft paper and some crayon hearts and we were good to go....

I practically collapsed into bed when I got home because I hadn't recovered yet from all the gardening from the day before and being on the go for 12 hours wore me out!










This and all the other posts labeled "how I spent my summer vacation" are my way of making sure that these types of go-go-go days still get a place in our family's blog book.

i heart yellow (ducks)

especially this one!

Sam has been wearing this towel after swimming since he was two years old. This will probably be the very last summer he'll use it. Thanks to i heart faces for a week dedicated to yellow!

i heart smiles

especially the one my baby girl offers when she's posing for the camera.

Want to see more smiles entries? Click on the badge below to visit i heart faces contest for this week.

i heart faces - dramatic B & W

The i heart faces challenge for this week is "Dramatic Black & White" This image was the first one that popped into my head. I love the moment shared between the couple and all the emotion and drama that is created by the wind in her hair, the angle that makes us wonder what expression is on his face, and the backlighting.

To see more from this week's challenge click on the logo below:

i heart faces - 1....2.....3.....JUMP!!!!

And jump they did!

I've used photographs from this particular shoot before in the i heart faces challenges and I'm sure you can see why. They are photogenic and fun - two elements that photographers love to be around.

For more jumping pictures click on the logo below....

i heart {kisses}

That one night that I didn't dress my kids in photo shoot appropriate clothes for a campfire program at our park yielded many a sweet photograph of Sam & Julia. I learned my lesson. Believe me.

Who cares about ratty old jammies when siblings are getting along and {gasp} being nice to each other! To see other entries in the i heart faces contest for the week click here or on their snazzy new logo below...

i heart faces - (not my) family

One of the downsides of being a photographer is that I use up most of my creativity and time for that matter, photographing other people. The thousands of photographs on my hard drive can attest to that fact. Browsing through my pictures from the last year, I only have a handful of shots of my family. I get sad about that fact this time of year. It's nothing new. It happens every winter when the chance to take well lit portraits is almost non existent.

Here is how winter happens here in BearCountry: By the time we have enough snow to go outside and play it typically gets so cold that we can only be out for a few minutes and even if I did snap a few pics, the snot running out of noses pretty much negates any chance at getting 'the one' (hence why I didn't enter last weeks challenge) Now that our temps are now above zero, the snow we have is dingy and dirty - not exactly the makings of a great background. I'm shopping around for a 85 mm 1.2 lens (know anyone selling one for under a grand??) and then I will be able to blur out that ugly snow and just maybe I'll be able to add more than a couple of folders of winter shots to my hard drive in 2010.

Enough talk about winter....I'm ready for Spring! I'm ready for green grass....something like this maybe?



You can click on the spiffy new badge to see other entries in this week's challenge at i heart faces....

i heart faces - x5

I don't think I can put into words how much fun I had with this week's challenge over at i heart faces! So I won't try. Instead I'll just say that I was dreaming of carving their logo into things a couple of nights ago. It's addicting I tell ya! Our challenge this week is to incorporate the i heart faces logo into our pictures. The timing is perfect because I've been waiting for a reason to post this picture of our cousin snowboarding on Christmas Eve.




I learned more about layers this week than I did all last year! If you haven't participated in a weekly challenge I highly recommend you do - it's a great way to think outside the box. Speaking of boxes - here are some of my favorite kiddos boxed in at an orchard a while back.



I doubt our bosses here at the park would appreciate it if we carved into the rocks, but thanks to the wonders of Photoshop I don't have to worry about that now do I?


I tried my hat at another way of incorporating the logo in the last two photos - the first, just screamed i heart faces to me...since my fearless daughter apparently likes faces too - so much so that she'll kiss the face of a fish!



I know this is Julia in the same hat again, but I loved her expression so much that PapaBear's shirt just had to be given an upgrade.

And there you have it - i heart faces times 5! Click on the button to see other entries for this week...



“I am submitting these photos into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photos for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”

I Heart Face - Autumn Edition

I haven't been participating in I Heart Faces weekly challenges lately but with the beautiful (but late) Fall weather we've been experiencing I thought I'd jump back in the game with one of the photographs I posted over the weekend.
This is a location in the park I haven't used before, but the cattails mixed with the leaves and red dogwood branches made for a perfect Fall background. For more entries click on the button below...

I ♥ Faces - Contemplative

When I saw the theme for this week's challenge at I Heart Faces I knew exactly which photograph I was going to pick.

Julia at 21 months. Somehow she's about to turn three. Tomorrow is her very first day of preschool.

Hey fellow photo lovers! While I have the traffic I wanted to throw out a job opportunity....
I have a book client who wants to hire someone to photoshop his images for a book I am designing for him. You need to be able to replace backgrounds of images besides the usual Photoshop skills. There are only 6-8 images that need to be touched up. If you are interested I will email you two images (before & after) If you feel that you have the skills to recreate what you see in the 'after' one then we can go from there. Thanks in advance!

Photobucket" border="0">

I Heart Faces - Bubbles

Mr. G's mom was so smart to bring a bottle of bubbles to their session a while back. He was so relaxed and focused on blowing bubbles that he didn't notice me. I was able to take a series of images -My entry this week was originally posted here. For more bubble pictures click on the button below....

I Heart Faces - Feet Edition

My I Heart Faces entry disappeared today so I'm reposting it. Not sure if that'll make a difference come judging time, but oh well. It's from my first of many sessions with Henry Here it is again....


For more entries in this special feet edition of I Heart Faces, click on the button:

I Heart Faces - Pet Edition

My first session that included a pet was this past Saturday - just in time to enter my favorite from that day in the I Heart Faces pet category for this week's challenge. Jack is a hunting dog and when he wasn't posing for the camera, he was sniffing the abundance of smells around our park.



To see more entries click on the button below....

I Heart Faces - Just for Fun

While Tom was spinning his new bride around the dance floor, I caught one of the flower girls playing down by the water....just for fun.



For more "Just for Fun" entries head over to I Heart Faces.

I Heart Faces - Wedding Bells

I was so excited when the ladies at I Heart Faces moved the the wedding category to this week because I had a wedding booked for the 27th. Then it turned out that I would have had the perfect photo in time because I shot a wedding for JenniferMcKinney on the 20th. There's no doubt that Wedding season is in full swing!



Speaking of swinging....Tom, Christine, and all their guests were swinging their way around the dance floor at their beautiful outdoor reception. I wish all wedding receptions were this well lit!

My Just for Fun entry is also from this wedding, but per the rules this week, it's in a post all by itself. Click on the button below to be directed to the rest of this week's entry.

I Heart Faces - Pet Edition

Regular readers will remember this picture from an earlier post about the unbearable heat we had one day recently. This isn't our goat - it lives at the zoo. The poor thing was trying to reach the goat food that my daughter decided to eat for herself. Never a dull moment in BearCountry!

For more entries in the I Heart Faces contests click on the badge below...

I Heart Faces - Blurb Book Contest

It's a big week over at I heart faces and I had a hard time picking a picture for the book contest. In the end I went with the hat picture because of Julia's expression, the vibrant colors, her eyes and because YOU said I should.... Regardless of what happens with this contest, I'm going to have to find a way to work it into my Alphabitty Moments book at some point. It would be a shame to keep it 'locked up' on my computer don't ya think?

"I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."

Can I ask a favor?

This is a big week over at I Heart Faces and I can't decide which photo to enter this week for the Blurb book contest. Any suggestions? I was thinking the hat picture from a couple of weeks ago, but I dunno.....

I Heart Faces - Laughter

I wish you could hear BrotherBear's adorable giggle. It's the best! (Just like everyone over at I Heart Faces. Click on the button to visit other participant's entries for the week)