POTD - July 27, 2009 (Beach Theme Week)

It's Beach Them Week over at iHeartFaces. I chose an older photo because I love it...not because it is a technically great photo...it wasn't even shot with my good camera. This one was shot with my P&S and the underwater housing. But I love the composition and perspective...I like the angle...and it was her very first trip to the beach! Make sure you hop over to iHeartFaces and check out the other great entries.

iHeartFaces - It's the Week for Feet

POTD - July 20, 2009

It's been a while since I participated in these weekly contests hosted by iHeartFaces. It seems that the summertime has been very busy...we've either been too busy to focus on the weekly theme or we have been traveling. So this week, I am back...and maybe next week too...before we travel again.

These little feet belong to my daughter. These little feet love to run on the beach...love to play in the sand. These little feet helped her climb all over the rocks on this particular day. These little feet will grow into big feet. These little feet are going to take her places!

Make sure to check out the other feet entries!

52/365 - Day 151 (iHeartFaces - Week 21)

This week's photo challenge over at iHeartFaces has two categories:

• Birthday (Adult or Child)
• Pet (Anything Goes - doesn't even have to be a "pet")

Here are my entries...

Birthday - This one is from "A's" 1st Birthday. Looking back at these photo was joyous ans somewhat sad. Gosh - they grow up so fast! She was so little! But, almost a year later...she is the same little girl...full of spunk! I love this picture because you can see the spunk in her eyes. It's almost like her eyes are saying..."You just sit back and enjoy the show! You want me to smash cake and look silly...Fine, let's just see about that!"
Pets - These are actually my cats. Bellah and Monkey...the best of friends. Cats are such mysterious and fiercely independent creatures. But these too were so dependent on each other. They seriously loved one another. They cuddled like this every single day! We lost Bellah (Monkey lost Bellah) last February...and it rocked our house in more ways than one. Bellah was truly Monkey's kitty soulmate...and even though we have since adopted a new kitty pal, they just don't have the same relationship. It was one of a kind!

52/365 - Day 146 (iHeartFaces - Silhouettes)

I have had a hard time getting a photo for this week's Silhouette Them over at iHeartFaces. There has been nothing but rain and clouds for the last 10 days (at least)...so my opportunities for a new outdoor photo have been limited. So, I have used an older photo...and unintended silhouette. But, I will be getting out and trying to purposely create a great silhouette photo in the near future! I have always been one to avoid this type of photo b/c I like to see the person (the face), but after seeing all of the gorgeous entries this week, I see the beauty and power in this type of photograph!

iHeartFaces (Amateurs) - Week 19

This week's contest over at iHeartFaces is for submission into a Blurb book. I am entering in the Amateur's Category! Maybe someday I can call myself a professional.
And, I have to add: 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.

That means permission is granted for this photo ONLY to Blurb and I ♥ Faces ONLY!

iHeartFaces - Week 17

It's time for this week's photography contest over at iHeartFaces. I was so excited about my Top 10 finish last week, that I couldn't wait to get started on this week. Thanks again to the Angie, Amy, and the judges for making this contest possible each week. I truly believe it is making me look at my photography much more closely.

This week's theme is "Hats." I am submitting my kid entry and my adult entry in on post this time. So here goes...


I just love this photo...it is one of my all time favorite photos. The toothless grin is absolutely priceless. Generally, especially at this age, she was such a serious baby...so capturing a huge smile was like winning a huge prize.



Here's another self-portrait. I really cheated one this one...I just had nothing of an adult wearing a hat. And I had no creative ideas to go out an shoot a new one. But I love this picture because it is me wearing my new Barry Manilow hat at a recent concert (and mind you I am wearing it with pride!).

I Am So Excited

I can't believe it...but my "Reflection" photo for the kids entry won 10th place this week. I am jumping up and down. I can't believe I made the Top Ten. My little Top Ten button should be added to my blog later this week so I can show off.

Anyway, here's a link to the entry photo & here's a link to the winning photos over at iHeartFaces.

Thanks to iHeartFaces (Amy & Angie) and the judges...I am honored!

iHeartFaces (Adult) - Week 16

So here is my adult entry...again, I was trying to be more creative than using a mirror. So I succeeded with not using a mirror, but you can't see the face as well as I wanted. But if you look closely, you can see my reflection in the background of the reflection...still neat I think.
I did a desaturation on this image and an overlay. Then cropped to 5X5...all done in PSE.
Make sure to check out the other entries over at iHeartFaces.

iHeartFaces - Week 16 (Kids)

This week's theme over at iHeartFaces is "Reflection." Not a "reflective" appearance, but an actual reflection with a face. I had a hard time with this one...nothing seemed to work the way I wanted. I was looking for something unusual...different...but I settled for a mirror and a toddler that was not into the game.
I used PSE to make some adjustment to White Balance. I also gave the photo a soft focus. There are some pretty great ones already submitted. Make sure to check them out when you have a moment. Now, I'm off to work on my adult entry...hoping to have it up sometime tomorrow before the contest closes for this week.

iHeartFaces - Week 15 (Adults)

Here is my Adult entry for this week's self-portrait theme over at iHeartFaces. Obviously I played with it a bit...added a background, changed to B&W.
This was certainly an interesting project. It's quite difficult to hold the camera yourself and get a decent picture...not to mention the crazy angles that can be so unflattering.

iHeartFaces - Week 15 (Kids)

This week's theme over at iHeartFaces is Self-Portrait. Here's the catch...you have to be holding the camera! No tripods or other gadgets...the camera has to be in your own hands.

The stream of photos that I took were kind of funny...one of them had so little of us in it you could barely tell we were there...falling out of the bottom corner.

Here's my attempt at the kids category...For this one, the photo has to include my self-portrait with a kiddo in the frame too.

I did some editing. The original background was a parking lot...not so friendly on the eyes...and since it was a cute-ish picture of us, I decided to put us in a better location. Hmmm....how's the beach? Then I played with the levels a bit, sharpened it a little, added the lens flare...

How's that for a make-believe photo shoot at the beach! Make sure to check out the other entries for this week...it's neat to see how everyone solved the self-portrait issues!

iHeartFaces (Amateur) - Week 14

It's Monday and time for this week's photo contest over at iHeartFaces. This week's theme is Easter and there is an Amateur category. It's not my best picture...for some reason, I wasn't really happy with many of the shots this year (see below for the explanation on why I chose this one). And make sure you check out the other entries.

I didn't have a great shot for this theme...but after going through the options over and over, I kept coming back to this one. I love the expression on her face as she picked up her very first Easter Egg in her very first Easter Egg Hunt. I cropped so you could just see Daddy's face and hands helping her and so that the multi-colored eggs could be seen throughout the image. I also added a Gaussian Blur to give it that dreamy look.

iHeartFaces (Children) - Week 9

This is my entry for Creative Cropping (Week 9) over at iHeartFaces. This week, we can show the before and after. For this picture, I tried some creative cropping when I took the shot. Then, I cropped it a bit more in PSE 5.0.

I also did some editing. This was another shot taken with my "little" camera. Big Boy is being serviced. I played with exposure and saturation. I like the way it came out....it remind me of an old postcard. Make sure to check out all of the other cute kiddos and their crops over at iHeart Faces.

iHeartFaces (Adult) - Week 9

This weeks photo contest being hosted by iHeartFaces is about Creative Cropping. The cropping can be done in the camera when the image is shot, or afterward in an editing program.

For the adult entry, I cropped after the shot. The 1st image is the before shot and the second image is my cropped version.

Make sure to visit iHeartFaces to check out the othere entries this week. There are some uber-talented photographers over there.

iHeartFaces (Adult) - Week 8

OK - so I wasn't going to enter the adult contest over at iHeartFaces, but one of my comments said to take a picture of a MudFest picture...and in the interest of trying something new, I did! It's not a great picture, but it was the best one I could find.

This is a throwback from the college days. Every year we had an annual MudFest. It lasted an entire week...and I am sure many classes were missed...even though the play schedule and teams were supposed to be made up around an individual class schedule! Anyway, it was a lot of fun and the dorm bathroom were disgusting the entire week...and a few weeks after. It takes a long time for all the mud to go away!

iHeartFaces (Children) - Week 8

It's that time again...time again for the weekly photo contest over at iHeartFaces. I haven't won yet...and don't really expect to win (although being in the top 10 would be nice), but it is fun playing with the themes each week. And, I am learning so much and am in awe by some of the photographs that are entered by all of the very talented photographers that are playing along too! And, I love the blog traffic and the comments...and I welcome the constructive criticism.

This week's theme is "Messy." I have to honestly say that this one is hard for me. First, I don't have a lot of pictures that convey messy...and no digital images of messy adults (and no scanner so sorry no MudFest photos). So this week, I am only entering the Children's category.

The funny thing about this picture is that it was a taken on a day that I totally ran out the door without my camera. Well, my "good" camera. Thankfully, I had my "purse" camera in the car. I whined that I didn't have my 20D with me, but the SD600 did a fine job for the day!

I am sure that there are so many pictures that are way messier than this one, but I just loved that she savored this (and many others) strawberry...she smashed it into her face, licked the juice from her fingers, let the juices run down her arms...eating strawberries with reckless abandon. It took me days to get all the stain from her hands and fingernails. Go check out all the other "messy" entries...it's a hoot!