Sometimes I like to frame my pictures with a template to spice up my blog a little bit. I use Photoshop CS4 (hope to upgrade one of these days to CS5!) and clipping masks make template creation a snap. Want to give it a whirl? In this tutorial, I will show you how to make this simple blog template:
Tonight I finished going through all the photos I took of Josh and Char last weekend. Here are some of my favorites, not including the ones I already showed you…
(You’ll also notice I updated my watermark. Last night I figured out how to create a nifty little automation in Photoshop that resizes and adds a watermark all at once. Saves me tons of time!)
This little boy is loved so much.
This one cracks me up because he's supposed to be giving her a foot rub, but... well, as you can see... Haha!
I love baby shoes...
Baby in the middle!
This was taken in front of a cute little antique shop in Rockton. They were closed at the time.
I don't think we need a telescope to see she's expecting! 
Oh how I love taking pictures. I found plenty of opportunities to play with my camera this past week. It’s time for show and tell…
Thursday afternoon I took my son to my city’s flower gardens. I got so many great photos, two of which I’ll share here.
Tip: If you want to get great pictures of your kids, take them someplace interesting that is outdoors on a bright, overcast day. Set your shutter speed a little faster than usual (I used 1/200 sec. for these). Let them loose and allow them to explore and play to their heart’s content (within reason). They will forget all about the camera in your hand and that is when you’ll catch the magic shots – the ones that truly capture their personality. Don’t even try to catch a toddler with anything slower than 1/80. All you’ll see is a blur!
Micah loves to run around and he is constantly on the go all day long. He is always on a mission. He is very persistent, curious and a little bit devious. I love every second of chasing him around when he is exploring new territory. He shows me things I have stopped or failed to notice. Nothing gets past him. Of course, my favorite moments are when he runs in my direction for a big hug. He always comes back to mama to check in before he runs off again.
Saturday morning, we visited the strawberry patch with Grandma, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mark. I haven’t been strawberry picking since I was in high school, I think. It has been so long. I am still enjoying the strawberries we picked that morning. They are so sweet and juicy, you don’t even need sugar to sweeten them up. I ate a bowl of them, sliced in halves, this afternoon with my lunch. They are like nothing you can buy in a store. Micah picked a strawberry – just one – then quickly squeezed it in his little fist. He’s better at carrying the basket.
Saturday night, I had the awesome blessing of photographing Char and her husband Josh to commemorate their first pregnancy. They are due with their first child, a boy, next month. I am so excited for her because I know how much she has looked forward to having a child. She waited for a long time for the right time. Now they are going to be parents soon, and I know they are going to do such a good job.
These are just a couple of the shots, of course. There are so many good ones, it’s hard to pick. I haven’t even finished going through all of them yet. I love photo editing – I end up staying up late every night until I am done because I become so immersed in the project. Every shot is a work of art to me – fine tuning the color, adding special effects and filters. It is almost as fun as taking the pictures, in my opinion! I am always looking for new styles to add interest and diversity to an album. I have redone some of my wedding photos countless times. Every time I learn a new trick, I like to try it out on some of my favorite pics from my wedding. I think I’m obsessed.
Well, it’s ridiculously late and I’m going to pay for it tomorrow. I’ll probably have to take a nap with the kiddo to catch up. Oh, the perks of staying home with your kids!
Life gets busy… and blogging falls by the wayside. I have good reasons for my lack of updates. For one, I attended two different showers this past weekend: one was for an upcoming wedding and the other for a mommy-to-be. I have been busy working on some photos from both events (I’ll give you a sneak peak.) I have been spending some quality time with friends. I’ve been hanging out with my hubby. And… I have been busy making money as a brand new mystery shopper! I am also blogging like crazy for Families.com. I have a little mini vacation coming up and I want to get ahead on that blog so I don’t have to worry about it while I’m gone. Needless to say, when given the chance to update this blog or do something else on my list, I’ve been choosing the something else. No regrets – that’s the way it should be!
The wedding shower was so much fun. I love being around Amber because her genuine love for her friends (and her future fiance, of course) is so infectious. You end up reminiscing about your own engagement or wedding and then you want to go home and give your husband a really big kiss. She is going to be a beautiful bride. I am extra blessed because I will have the privilege of photographing her wedding in June.
Just two days later, I got to go to my friend Charlene’s baby shower. I really like bridal showers, but let me tell you, I LOVE baby showers. Maybe’s it’s because I anticipate how much motherhood is going to rock their world (for the better). Pregnant woman are also so beautiful. They glow with excitement. Bellies are always oh so cute.
We took a few quick shots outside after the shower just for fun. She looked so pretty in this dress, how could we pass up this photo op?
These are just a few. I have another dozen photos to edit, and then I’m going to burn them all (just under 100) onto a CD for her. We’re also going to do a full session with her husband sometime soon. I have so much fun taking pictures, especially when it is for my friends and family. Both Amber and Char are part of my church family and all of the lovely ladies at Hope mean so much to me. When I arrived on the scene five years ago as Eric’s new girlfriend, they all took me in as their friend and welcomed me with open hearts. Now we are all getting married and starting families together – it gets me all choked up!
Eric’s younger sister agreed to model for me this afternoon, since I wanted to get in some practice taking portraits with my new camera (also to build up my portfolio for future use). We went to the forest preserve and park down the road from her house for the first part of the shoot, and for the second part, we went to downtown Rockton, which had a beautiful gazebo and old buildings that make for great backgrounds. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day. (I didn’t even edit these because I just loved how they turned out!)
And because it’s too hard to pick favorites and I don’t want this post to be a mile long, here is a slide show of more of my favorites (including those above)…
[slideshow]
I took well over 200 shots and most of them turned out wonderful – I have to say, it’s pretty easy to take good pictures when your subject is Miss Christine! I will probably apply some filters and special effects to some of these and see how they look. We’ll have to frame a few in time for mother’s day, don’t you think?
Now I am on the hunt for more “test subjects.” Any volunteers?
