My Life Through My Viewfinder

Newborns, newborns, newborns! Part 2

2010-03-30T16:04:00.006-04:00

I was afraid I couldn't add all the photos to one post, so the rest are here.

Newborns, newborns, newborns! One of them is even my own!

2010-03-30T15:49:00.004-04:00

Well, let me just say that life with 3 children under the age of five is exponentially busier than life with 2 kids under three. Our newest addition was born January 21st and has added much happiness and much chaos to our little family. I am waist deep in tax paperwork and a messy house that desperately needs tidying. My middle child is always in to something and my oldest is very happy to keep me informed of her mischief. In the midst of my chaos I have been taking pictures of my friends' new babies as they have arrived. Two of these arrived before my little girl, but it's been so busy I haven't had time to blog any of them. So, seeing as how I really need to be cleaning my kitchen floor and folding my laundry, I'll just post some phttos.

I Heart Faces Week 13 Photo Challenge ~ Dramatic B & W

2010-03-30T00:27:00.005-04:00

This week at i heart faces the theme is dramatic black and white. My entry is called "Howling". This photo captures the relationship this little boy has with his dog. To see other dramatic black and white photos visit http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.

I Heart Faces Week 48 ~ Sweet Dreams

2009-12-07T09:48:00.005-05:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is "Sweet Dreams", and who has sweeter dreams than a precious newborn baby? As a baby shower gift, I photographed a friend of mine's 12 day old little girl. She slept like a dream and was just too beautiful! To join in the fun, or just to see other photos from "LaLa Land", over to I Heart Faces!

Woooo....It's been a while!!

2009-11-25T00:21:00.004-05:00

Well....I have been crazy busy these last few months. I've been taking pictures for people and trying to keep up with my two monkeys and my house. I've been doing paperwork and organizing and selling stuff. I've been visiting my OB/GYN regularly (I'm down to every 2 weeks now). I have just under 8 weeks left of this pregnancy, and my, how it's flown by! I can hardly believe it!! As of now it appears we've settled on the name Samantha Kate....we're having another girl, by the way! I don't think I've even updated since I found out. My precious and mischievous little girl turned 2, and my sweet little boy will be 4 in just a couple of weeks. Well..I need to get back to editing one of my last photo shoots of the year, so here are a few photos until I can update again.

I Heart Faces week 28 ~ Feet Week

2009-07-20T09:54:00.007-04:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is "Feet". My entry is a photo I took on vacation in Hilton Head, SC. These feet belong to the two men in my life, my hubby and my three year old son. To see other great feet photos, or to enter one of your own, go visit http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.

Pictures from my latest shoot with H, A, and T

2009-07-12T00:40:00.008-04:00

I had the opportunity to shoot photos of my first group of "big" kids. These kids were between the ages of 8 and 12, and they were so much fun and so very cute. I've known them and their parents for years. These were shot on a college campus. If you have never used a college campus as a setting, I highly recommend it....the landscaping is top notch and the buildings make an ultra cool background too!

Feeding a wounded baby deer, flowers, and splinters

2009-06-26T16:03:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I took some pictures of the flowers I have in my flower beds and my son ended up with a pretty good sized splinter in his big toe. After the splinter ordeal we took the kids to a farm where they got to feed a baby deer that had been wounded in an accident with a hay baler. It was the cutest thing!!! They also got to see a really fat pot belly pig. They loved every minute of it!

A 5 week old friend

2009-06-23T10:50:00.007-04:00

I took some pictures last week for a friend of our's little guy. Baby J was such a good sport and so cute! These were taken in my daughter's room using natural light for some and an external flash for others...the light wasn't quite good enough without having to raise my ISO too high for my camera.

I Heart Faces week 24 ~ Kids entry

2009-06-23T10:09:00.004-04:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is, "Let's hear it for the boys". This is one of my favorite (recent) pictures of my son. We were on vacation in Hilton Head, SC. I know the sepia theme was last week, but this picture needed some saving, and thus the sepia finish. He is getting better about letting me take his picture these days....I wish he'd rub off on his little sister! Anyway, here is my handsome little man! To see other adorable boys or enter a photo of your own, head over to I Heart Faces and join in the fun!

1 year shoot with baby "K"

2009-06-15T17:53:00.009-04:00

I recently shot some 1 year pictures for a friend of mine. I love how they turned out! Her little one is so precious!! I processed them with Pioneer Woman's "seventies" action and also MCP's "high def sharpening". These are a few of my favorites. The conditions were a bit yucky....drizzle and clouds....but it made for fantastic lighting and color!

I Heart Faces week 23 ~ Kids entry

2009-06-15T17:20:00.005-04:00

It's been quite a few weeks since I last joined in the fun at I Heart Faces. This week's theme is sepia toned pictures. The one I am entering for the kids category was taken during our trip to Hilton Head, SC, a couple weeks ago. I absolutely love this picture of my kids! It really makes me smile every time I look at it. I hope you enjoy it as well. To see more great photos and enter one of your own, head over to www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com.

I'm a blogging slacker!

2009-05-22T14:22:00.006-04:00

Ok, well, maybe I'm a blogging slacker, but I've been really busy the last couple weeks. I don't have time to post a huge update, but I wanted to add some pictures I've taken recently. I did a senior shoot, a mother/daughter shoot, a birthday party and lots and lots of editing. Then there's my real job....taking care of my 19 month old and my 3 1/2 year old and cleaning my house. Anyway....here are some of my favorite shots (that I have had time to edit) so far. I have yet to shoot pictures for someone who is not family or does not go to church with me. To date I have shot 7 birthday parties and 7 portrait shoots (since October). I have about a dozen lined up for sometime this summer and I'm sure I'll work in a couple more birthday parties too. Again, all of these people are family or go to my church, so I still haven't had my first stranger client.

I Heart Faces Week 18 "Laughter" ~ Adults entry

2009-05-11T16:44:00.004-04:00

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is "Laughter". For the adult category, I am entering this picture of my husband and son. I totally love this image because it captures the relationship my two favorite guys have. This photo is also special to me because this was one of the first pictures ever taken with my Nikon D80. I was shooting fully automatic and I knew nothing about using Photoshop, but I love this photo!!! To see more photos of great laughs or enter one of your own, head over to I Heart Faces.

Playing in the Rain

2009-05-10T00:19:00.006-04:00

It has rained for so many consecutive days that I'm beginning to feel like I live in Seattle....no offense meant to anyone from Seattle. I mean Seattle is gorgeous and all, but I'm used to serious amounts of sunshine...MIXED with rain....in May. I am very thankful for the rain, and it does make colors extra vibrant for taking pictures, but I am so looking forward to a couple days with only sunshine. The weather people have predicted such days for Tuesday and Wednesday!

Well, I've been wanting to do some rain/puddle shots anyway, so the kids and I ventured out to the yard today. I would love to have caught it actually raining, but I didn't quite get there. It rained both before and after we went out. Here are some of my favorite shots from today. Sorry I always load a gazillion, but I love photos!! Thanks for looking at them!

I Heart Faces Constructive Feedback Friday

2009-05-08T11:25:00.005-04:00

It's constructive feedback Friday at I Heart Faces and I am submitting this family portrait I took for a cousin of mine. Don't mind the boy...he didn't want to participate. Anyway, I like the pose, I like the background, I like most of the photo, but the coloring just seems a bit off to me. Also, I am having problems getting all four people sharply focused. It may be because I used my kit lens with my Nikon D80, or that my aperture was too high (set at 5). I thought I was using an f/8 or so, but I must have changed it and didn't notice. Anyway, those are my main complaints with this photo and I don't know why the coloring looks off. I shot this photo in RAW and JPEG fine, so the edited version has had adjustments through the RAW editor and processing in Photoshop Elements 6. The SOOC is the JPEG version.
The data for this photo is as follows: f/5, 1/100 sec, ISO-100, focal length 52mm no flash. ***I think I may have accidentally added a picture that is different, but they were shot with the same specs. You can click on the pictures for larger views. Thanks so much for any feedback!

I Heart Faces week 17 "Hats" ~ Kids Entry

2009-05-04T12:06:00.014-04:00

Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!! I actually made the top ten this week!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Amy and Angie and of course Jodi!!!!!!! Wow, with all those fantastic entries, I am humbled and honored that mine made the top ten!!!! Thanks!!!

This week at I Heart Faces the theme is "Hats". I've been so busy with paperwork for my husband's business that I didn't have time to go out and shoot a new picture for this week, but I found one of my little girl that I love from last year. She was 9 months old and I made the hat to take the flower in the pot style pictures. Some of you viewing this post may remember my entry for the theme of "pouting" where my baby was inside the pot with the same hat on crying. This was one of the happier poses and I love her little face!! I had given up on the pot by this point and she liked it much better! My little girl ended up wearing this hat, a green body suit, green tutu, and brown leggings for Halloween.......she was a hydrangea plant. This photo was shot in manual mode (jpeg). This was one of my first times shooting in manual mode. I edited this photo in Photoshop Elements 6. The specs are: f/6.3 1/60 second ISO-800 Focal length 52mm (shot with the kit lens). To view other adorable and fun hat photos head over to I Heart Faces and look around. While you're there, enter one of your own!

A (true) Story About a Booger and a Boy Named Seth

2009-04-28T22:33:00.004-04:00

Once upon a time there was a boy named Seth. Seth was a boy who liked to eat boogers. He once cried hysterically because his mommy wiped his face, proclaiming through his tears, "I was going to eat that!" Now, as funny as that statement struck her, it grossed her out a bit. Well, one Monday evening in April in the year 2009, Seth's daddy wiped a booger from the face of Seth's little sister. Seth's daddy held out the booger and asked, "Seth, do you want to eat baby sister's booger?" Though his daddy was only kidding, Seth quickly gobbled up his sister's booger, smiling with delight. Now, as disturbing as it is that Seth ate someone ELSE'S booger, it's even more disturbing that Seth's daddy LET him do it!!!!

Now for the disclaimer.....To my worried and disgusted readers, it is not a regular practice in our house to allow our children to do such repulsive things. We love and cherish them dearly and take good care of them.......I promise!!!

Attached is a picture of said booger eater!

I heart faces week 16 (Reflection) ~ kids entry

2009-04-28T02:16:00.003-04:00

This week at I heart faces the theme is reflection. Ok..I was really struggling with a good idea for this one. I could have used a mirror photo that I had already taken from a shoot of my friend's little girl, but I wanted to actually go out the week of the contest and take a picture for the theme. I had a great idea given to me by a comment from a visitor to my blog. The idea was to use a bird bath (pictured in my Easter photos post) to catch a reflection. I don't know if it was the time of day or what, but it just didn't work for me this afternoon. Anyway....I resorted to the hummingbird feeder in the yard. It wasn't what I was looking for, but I wanted to play along this week, so here it is. If you have a great reflection photo, head over to I heart faces to play along.

Our cousins "C" and little sister "K"

2009-04-28T00:36:00.006-04:00

I took some family pictures for my hubby's cousin. His kids are so hilarious! There was no shortage of funny faces and silly smiles! Their little guy is a photographer in training. He helped decide on poses and did silly things for me to capture. His little sister was more than willing to follow his lead. Things went a little south when he had to pose with the whole family. He no longer got to call the shots, and his face told the tale! All in all things went well, and this was one of the most fun shoots I have done so far! I love to capture kids being kids!

I heart faces week 15 ~ Self Portrait ~ adults entry

2009-04-21T12:07:00.002-04:00

I rarely ever post pictures of myself. In fact, I rarely appear in pictures. Anyway, I decided to participate in the I heart faces self portrait challenge. This is what I got of me....just me...and my camera of course. So, take a picture of yourself...you must be holding the camera...and enter it into this week's challenge at I heart faces.

I heart faces week 15 ~ Self Portrati ~ kids entry

2009-04-21T09:31:00.003-04:00

So this week at I Heart Faces it's all about our own faces. Well, I don't appear in too many photos. I don't take too many photos of myself either, especially now since my Nikon is so huge compared to my little Sony point and shoot. Anyway, I found one from 2007 that I took of myself while holding the camera (part of the rules for the week) and my son, then 17 months old. In this photo we were at Emerald Isle, NC. I was 4 months pregnant with my little girl. I was 29 at the time this picture was taken. It isn't the highest quality because I lost the original file on my computer and had to right click and resave it from the internet. We'd love to see your face, so head over to I Heart Faces and join in the fun!

Baby "B" and Big Brother "L"

2009-04-18T13:00:00.006-04:00

A friend of mine asked me to take some pictures of her kids ages almost 2 and almost 4 months yesterday. I searched and searched for pose ideas for photographing this age combo......you know what.....I found next to nothing!!! You know why???????? One should not try to photograph this age combo together! What a challenge! The little guy wanted nothing to do with me and baby sister wanted nothing to do with little guy. Baby "B" did great for the first part, but her smiles didn't last too long. Big Brother "L" didn't have many smiles for me at all! The kids are adorable and I got some great shots of them individually, but very little together! The lighting conditions were less than ideal for a beginner like me, but thank heaven for external flashes. If you are reading this and do not own one for your DSLR, I strongly and seriously recommend you purchase one! The bounce light effect is fantastic! I purchased mine from Amazon, but you can get them at B and H photo, buy.com, ebay, pretty much anywhere that sells camera accessories. I think mine cost around $5o.oo. It was one of the cheaper ones, but it does the job just fine for my purposes. SO, I repeat, SOOOO worth the money! These were all shot in manual mode and processed in Photoshop Elements 6. I took these photos in RAW and JPEG fine on my camera. I LOVE the RAW editor!!!!! It really makes up for my lack of technical expertise where exposure and white balance are concerned. So, without further rambling, here are several of the photos I took yesterday.

We picture {this} Daughters Entry

2009-04-15T22:48:00.003-04:00

Okay, first I want to apologize to my 3 followers for posting this picture AGAIN, but it's my current favorite picture of my girly. The main reason....it's the only one in which she is looking at me. So, I am entering it into the We Picture {this} contest. This month's theme is "Daughters". It truly was hard to choose a favorite because I have so many sweet pictures of her, but I'm going with this one. Shot in Manual mode with a Nikon D80 with 50 mm 1.8 lens. F/4.5 1/125 ISO 400.
You can click on the picture to enlarge. Thanks for looking!

Finally making use of the adorable kitchen set I got them for Christmas!

2009-04-14T01:12:00.003-04:00

I found this super adorable play kitchen at Sam's Club at Christmas time. I was so excited for my kids to have it, knowing that my girl was a bit young at the time to care and my boy was, well, a boy. Anyway, this kitchen is Pottery Barn cute at a Wal-Mart price. This weekend, I broke out the kids chef hats (bought to use as photography props sometime in the future). My boy loved his hat and immediately set out to make "something to do stew". I'm pretty sure the something to do stew came from Blue's Clues. Some of these photos are edited and some are SOOC. I get a little lazy with photoshopping sometimes.

Easter Weekend Fun

2009-04-14T00:51:00.004-04:00

After a 3 day paperwork marathon and a total of 7 hours sleep in 3 nights, I can now say that my taxes for 2008 are completed and ready to mail!! Having a self-employed hubby with mountains of receipts and invoices makes for lots of hours of math. I think it will take me months to catch up on all the sleep I have lost over the past 3 weeks. So, taxes being done, I was able to enjoy a lovely weekend filled with lovely weather for Easter. I think this was the first Easter with warm and sunny weather in several years for us. I, of course, took tons of pictures. My children, of course, did not cooperate to have a nice (translated - formal) picture together. I got several photos I love anyway though.

I heart faces week 14 entry ~ Easter Amateurs Category

2009-04-13T12:49:00.003-04:00

Okay, so this isn't a perfect photo, but it is an Easter photo. It's of my little girl hunting eggs with her basket, and even with all it's imperfections, I love this shot of her! As usual I couldn't get a decent shot of both of my kids together, so I have several of them individually. This picture was taken with my nikon D80 with my kit lens. I took this picture in manual mode, but I think my settings may be a bit skewed. I accidentally messed up my exposure meter setting, but anyway the settings were f/5.6 focal length 58mm 1/320 second ISO 100. If you'd like to see some other adorable kids hunting eggs and wearing Easter duds or enter your own, head over to IHeartFaces and join in the fun!

Constructive Feedback Friday

2009-04-10T17:07:00.007-04:00

This is my first attempt at re-editing the photo based on the feedback. I really appreciate all the feedback, and I agree.......I do like it better warmed up and without the blurry rock, that I somehow didn't notice when I edited this the first time.

I am submitting this photo for constructive criticism at Iheartfaces.

I love this photo of my daughter! Just thought I'd see what some more experienced people have to say. I shot in manual mode and edited with Photoshop Elements 6. I personally love the crop, but was wondering if maybe it needed to be cropped closer in. Also, I think maybe I should have raised the opacity of my soft light layer in the color and reduced my diffuse glow layer a touch in the b and w. I love a high contrast black and white, but I think maybe the highlights might be a bit bright. I think they look better if you click on them and view them full size, but I want to put the color one on canvas, so I want to make sure it's at its best.

Nikon D80 with 50 1.8mm lens

f/4.5

1/125

ISO 400

Focal Length 50 mm

Another Day at the Lake

2009-04-07T21:06:00.008-04:00

Sunday was such a beautiful day! We went to the lake again with some friends and had a great time! The kids played until the couldn't take it any more. Lucas decided to take a swim in the 50 degree water.......twice. He was totally unfazed by the frigid temperature. Seth and Sophie liked it too, but they were happy to stick with wet hands and feet only! I, of course, was the trip photographer and enjoyed every minute of it! I finally captured one of my princess that I ADORE.....it's going on canvas for sure!!! Seth spent the day fishing, playing with Lucas's dumptruck, and throwing rocks. Sophie played with Muffy the dog and threw rocks. Sophie spent most of her time with her Papa. After I had already published this post I came across a challenge at You Capture about fun....Well since everyone was having so much fun I linked this post. There are way more photos than the challenge calls for, but I was being lazy and consumed with tax preparation and decided not to do a new post. Sorry if there are too many photos, but I loved them all!

I heart faces week 12 kids entry ~ Pouting

2009-03-29T22:30:00.000-04:00

It's time for a new contest over at I Heart Faces, and this week's theme is pouting. The photo I am entering is of my daughter when she was 9 months old. I had just started playing around with manual mode on my D80. I took this photo along with the rest in the shoot in my daughter's room using only natural light from her windows. I wanted something different for her 9 month session, so I made the flower cap from a newborn cloth hat, TONS of fake hydrangeas, and a multitude of hot glue. The pot, though decorative, was made of light weight plastic. My baby girl was able to pull up and kept tipping herself over in the pot...I caught her, but it was enough to make her very mad. Yes.....I did this to my daughter.....I know it wasn't very nice of me, but she looked so cute! When I saw the theme of this week's contest, I knew immediately which photo I would be entering. Thanks for looking at my entry. Click on the link or the iheartfaces button to view other adorable pouts or enter one of your own.

Stress, paperwork, and the beach!

2009-03-27T22:11:00.000-04:00

I'm so stressed! Most people look forward to spring and warmer weather and I do too in many ways. However, the beginning of Spring and the onset of warmer weather are also a source of dread, irritation, and self-loathing for my procrastinating ways. Many people also look forward to tax time for the blessed refund. I, on the other hand, dread and loathe tax time....I'm the wife of a self-emloyed man. The paperwork, the time taken away from my kids, and the chunk of money we always have to shell out make me one cranky individual. Most years, my favorite day is April 16th! I love the feeling of liberation once the forms (and unfortunately the money) are sent on their merry way. It makes me want to scoop up my babies and run as fast as we can to the nearest park, or better yet, the beach!! Oh the beach...I love the beach. I get really tired of rinsing sand off the kids 3 times a day and inevitably sleeping with sand in between the sheets, but I love the beach. Mostly I love taking pictures of the beach. So, since I am in desperate need of some external motivation, I've decided to post a few pictures of playing outside and enjoying the beach. I am trying to push myself to finish up so we can hit the road for a few days!

We picture {this} Black and White Photo Entry

2009-03-23T16:30:00.001-04:00

I just discovered a great new website today. We Picture {this}. They are having a contest this month on black and white photos. My entry is a picture I took yesterday of my cousin's little girl. I have dozens of my own children, but I decided on this one. I know I just posted this, but oh well. Here it is again!

Fun at Wilbur

2009-03-23T09:30:00.001-04:00

We joined some friends and family yesterday for an evening at the lake. We had such a great time, especially the kids. They were positively filthy by the time we left, but oh well. They both fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept all night in their dirty clothes. They really need baths! The little blonde girl is my husband's cousin. She played with Seth the whole time we were there.

I heart faces week 11 adults entry

2009-03-23T01:37:00.000-04:00

This week the theme at I Heart Faces is "no flash". My entry is a picture I took at Cape Hatteras last spring of my husband's brother and his wife. It was noonish at the beach...no flash needed. This was my Nikon D80's first trip anywhere. I was still shooting only in auto mode and was totally intimidated by all of my camera's features. I guess I've been pulling out oldies for this week's entries, but oh well. Head over to I Heart Faces and check out the other entries. While you're there...enter one of your own. It's fun!

I heart faces week 11 kids entry

2009-03-23T00:49:00.000-04:00

This week at I Heart Faces, the theme is "no flash". The picture I chose for my kids entry is of my son, Seth, last summer. He was 2 1/2 in this picture. Seth was so happy to be fishing with his daddy off our deck. My goodness, I love that kid!!!

Check out all the other entries, or join the fun and enter one of your own at

http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

My Real Life Through My Viewfinder

2009-03-14T11:54:00.000-04:00

So...I realized that this blog is called MY LIFE through my viewfinder, and there is not a single picture of me, my wonderful and handsome husband, or my two amazing and beautiful children. So, Here are a few pictures to begin with. My kids have their own blogs, but I am a terrible blogger, and have lots of things on my plate these days, so their blogs are rather neglected. My children are Seth age 3 and Sophie age 17 months.

I'm not a photographer...just a mom with a really nice camera (the best gift my husband has ever bought for me, by the way). I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE taking pictures and have had several friends ask me to take photos for them. I don't consider myself a photographer, but I do consider myself a FREEtographer - definition....one who takes pictures for others free of charge.

I was once a public school teacher, but traded in my grade book for dirty dishes and dirty diapers....I've never regretted it for a second! I taught 8th grade math and the occasional English class (though not my favorite subject). Now I teach my own two monkeys, but mostly I think they are the ones teaching me. I love motherhood and plan to add one more monkey to my mayhem within the next year or two. I think that will be it for me. I am considering homeschooling when my children are old enough. My husband is self-employed, and we really enjoy the scheduling freedom this brings us. When my oldest was born, the school decision seemed like an eternity away. I cannot believe that this year, he will turn 4. Though, I still have a little more time, the decision will soon need to be made.

My life is calling me away from my computer....there are messes to be cleaned and children to be dressed.

I heart faces week 9 entry ~ Creative Crop~Adult

2009-03-09T21:00:00.000-04:00

After cropping

This photo is of some friends of mine. They asked me to take some pictures for them to use on a Christmas card. I loved the original image, but thought I'd see what it looked like cropped closer. I loved the tenderness between mother and child. Check out other great photos from this week's contest or enter your own at http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

I heart faces week 9 entry ~ Creative Crop

2009-03-09T00:51:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of a friend of mine's girls. This was my first newborn shoot. I love how the older sister is looking at the new baby! You can enter a picture of your own or just enjoying looking through other great photos at http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

2009-03-08T19:47:00.000-04:00

2009-03-08T19:40:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to add some more pictures of baby Isabella and big sister Caroline.

Pictures of Isabella and Caroline

2009-03-06T11:14:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine asked me to take pictures of her new baby and her older daughter the other day. It was my first ever newborn shoot. I had so much fun and learned so much from taking these photos. I enjoyed editing them as well!

I heart faces ~ Week 8

2009-03-02T19:09:00.000-05:00

This is my entry for the I heart faces kids week 8 contest. This picture is of my friend's little one at his 1st birthday party. Be sure to head on over to http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ to check out all of the beautiful face entries this week!