Fingers and Toes

At the Paper Mama this week, she is looking for fingerprints. From the same set as the previous post, check out babe's first foray into the wonderful world of dessert, one fingerprint at a time:

for more fingerprints, visit:

Rather serendipitously, Perceptive Perspective has the theme of "toes". What's more delectable than toes covered in chocolate?:

And if that were not proof enough, check out this out-take, post shoot. Momma was hungry after all that fast shuttering!:

For more kissable toes, visit:

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Cake

Hmm, as K would say, delicious!

I just did a cake smash with my friend and her almost one year old, E. This theme couldn't come at a more perfect time!
E is such a doll, she even already understands the concept of sharing!

For more scrumptious shots, check out:

Raw(e): Snacktime

What a fun challenge over at Raw(e) and I was excited when I saw it because I just took this picture a few weekends ago. Perfect!

Nothing says county fair like mini donuts. Well worth the price of admission to get my hands on these suckers:

SOOC
SS: 1/500 (did I think the donuts were going to jump on their own accord?), Ap: f/3.5, ISO: 200, 50mm

For more drool worthy photography, head over to:

IHF: Vroom Vroom

Its been awhile since I have participated in I Heart Faces. Y'all have seen this before, but I adore it, so I am trotting it out again :)

K and her "security blanket". She doesn't leave home without it. Seriously. And obviously footed pjs and rainboots are this season's jeggings with knee highs:

check out more "transport" themed photos at:

Shoot N Tell: Looking Up

Over at the Franklin's, Shoot N Tell for this week is Looking Up.

SS: 1/400, Ap: f/5, ISO: 200
Edited slightly in GIMP: standard curves and unsharp mask.

This photo cracks me up because I can see exactly what her "whatever, mom" face is going to look like in 15 years :)

So what else is "looking up" here:

Simplicity Challenge: Snapshot

I think this sums up our life nicely. Your toddler does crazy things and you can't believe what you are seeing:

(FYI - K's cousin S was crying moments before and K thought to cheer her up by making her best Gene Simmonds impression, and then a split second later, gave her a huge slobbery open mouth kiss)

SS: 1/200, Aperture f/2.5, ISO 1600 (what the....?!?!?)


ladies, don't try this at home. Why I had it set at ISO 1600 OUTSIDE at SUNSET is beyond me. Probably why the original had a ton of WB issues and (sshhh!) one of the reasons I converted it to B&W.

see more slices of real life here:

In a Yellow House: On the Water

I love this week's theme over at In a Yellow House. I am a Pisces, and feel most natural on the water. Not to get all hippie dippie, but it speaks to me and keeps me sane. Remember the book Memoirs of a Geisha? In that book the protagonist talks about how each person has an element that represents them. Her sister was wood - she was obstinant, hated changed and extremely tenacious. The protagonist was water - easily maleable, fell through the cracks and went with the flow. Its what saved her from her sister's fate. I always think of myself as been represented by the element of water. Those characteristics cover me as well.

Ok, enough with the metaphysical crap. Let's get to the fun stuff!

Here is one of my favourite sunset photos, taken on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu:

this was taken in my P&S days, so no settings to share.

Welcome back from your European Tour, IAYH :)

For more great interpretations, visit:

Simplicity: Love

A little different interpretation, but his big hands gently herlping her hold this tiny little cup, just says their cup is overflowing with love to me :)

See more goo-ey love-y goodness here:

TMMPAC: Pets

Hmm, furry love for you!

SS: 1/640, Ap: f/3.2, ISO: 400, 50mm.
Curves adjustment and slight sharpen in GIMP

sadly, not mine. He was part of a small petting zoo set up at a local community event last month. 8 week old pittie baby. Squee!

See more squee worthy moments over at Two Moms Made a Photo Challenge::

Punk Rock Mama Challenge: Perspective

A brand new weekly challenge. How fun! Thanks to the contest queen, Ashley for pointing this one in my direction.
Punk Rock Mama is kicking off her photo challenge with the theme "perspective". Love this, because basically all I have going for me is my unique perspective and basic composition skills. I feel like of all the technicalities of photography, composition comes the most easily. WB, colour, sharpness, light and clarity, well I struggle with those a lot.

Cars are a fun one, because its all about using angles and perspective to your advantage to accentuate the lines of the car

here are some from a recent "show and shine":

SS: 1/160, F/5.6, ISO N/A (must have been below 200)

SS: 1/800, F5.6, ISO: 200

I also really love it for finding unique details, like these:

SS: 1/200, F/5.6, ISO: 200
converted to B&W and edited slightly in GIMP

SS: 1/4000, F/2.2, ISO: 200


I actually went back to one of the first photos I took when I ventured off the auto settings and into A/V mode. I still love it (though I will admit I re-edited it today!)
This is what I would like to enter in PRM's photo challenge:

SS: 1/20, Ap F/5.3, ISO 400
cropped, edited curves slightly and ran an USM in GIMP

for more unique perspectives, check it:

Simplicity Challenge: Birthday

It's Faith's birthday this week, over at Simplicity. In honour of that, she is hosting birthday themed photos this week.
I shared another one from this series last week for Trendy Treehouse's Favourite Things challenge. Here is a slightly different perspective for you today:

SS 1/500, Ap f/2.8, ISO 400, 50mm
edited curves slightly in GIMP

Happy Birthday Faith!
For more birthday treats, visit:

Raw(e): Pink

When Sami gave the heads up for this week's Raw(e) challenge, I immediately knew I wanted to submit this photo, which was taken two weekends ago at a family picnic. Until I saw her actual entry post, and her photo is basically the same as mine! But in the end, I kept coming back to it. I like how pink is truly the main focus here. I swear I am not brown nosing the teacher :)
So without further ado, some frilly pink ruffle butt!

SOOC
SS: 1/200, Ap: f/2.8, ISO: 800

For more pink in your life, visit:

Editing Then and Now, Plus Flower Challenge

I was scouring some photos for the most recent Paper Mama Challenge and decided to try my hand at re-editing a photo I took in March. I liked the results and so thought I would share with you dear friends.
I have always stuck to the analogy that in photo editing, less is more, and the best thing to do is get the greatest shot as possible SOOC (straight out of the camera). Photoshop is a beautiful thing, but its also a lot of responsibility. When we first get our hands on it, we tend to go overboard - heavy vignettes, over saturation, oompa loompa babies. the works! As time passes, we train our eyes, and our editing style will change (we all hope!).
So as an example, here is a photo I took in March, my original edit back then, and my new edit now

Original:

SS: 1/125, Ap: f/2.8, ISO 200, 50mm
Now I blew the highlights in this, big time. The flower is practically 3D, the reds are so clipped. Notice the hotspots on her hands and pants. Its also really cool.

Back in March, this is all I did:

basically I cropped and probably brightened the midtones a bit (which it totally doesn't need)

And this is the edit I just did:

 I was able to tone down the highlights, and play more with the individual colour channels (red, green, blue) to get the ground and her skin to a more natural colour, plus tone down the flower some. It is still clipped, and ideally I would like to recover it even more, but my masking/layering skillz are so not ready for that.

Back in March, you can see what two editing gurus were able to do with a few other shots from this same session here. I am not there yet, but I feel like I am getting closer. Baby steps, baby steps.

Hope that was helpful for some. With all that said, I am also entering the last photo in Paper Mama's current challenge, which is Flower. Check it out here for other "sweet" shots:

I Heart Faces: Beach

What to do with 2 eight month olds who wake up at 5:30am on your last day of vacation? Why, take photos of course!



drink in the last of these summer days and peruse fabulous beach entries by visiting:

In a Yellow House: Arts N Crafts

In a Yellow House's photo challenge this week - currently hosted by the incomparable Ashley of Ramblings and Photos - is "arts and crafts". Perfect because I caught this last month and love sharing it.

This is what happens when K is let loose with a box of markers, and then left to her own devices. Moms, if they are quiet, its never a good sign!

For more fabulous entries, visit:

Raw(e): Green

Well I am just getting right into the swing, aren't I? :)

Sailor and Co's weekly Raw(e) challenge theme this week is: Green

I took this when trying to get more comfortable with silhouettes. Since I totally blew the grass, I thought the affect was kinda neat for this theme.

For more green items, check out:

I am also editing this post to add this photo to the Wishful Lamb photo challenge, which is shadow:

Paper Mama: Orange and Thanks

The Paper Mama Challenge this week is Orange. Here is K in her lovely new orange dress:

ironically, pushing a stroller, just like last time. Though this time it is holding Penelope the Panda. Chelsey at Paper Mama is going to think that is all she ever does.

For more orange-liciousness (yes that can be a word), check out:

Secondly, I am super stoked to announce that last month, when I asked you all to vote on my "favourite toy" photo, boy did you deliver. I won the vote-off! Thank you all so much for helping me out. In addition to some fabu note-cards designed by Ms. Chelsey, I get to display this wonderful button:

thanks again Chelsey. I love playing along with you and Ruari :)

Trendy Treehouse: Favourite Things

I have been a terrible blogger! We went on vacation the first week of August and that meant I actually took photos, which meant I had to actually edit some! plus with limited internet, I fell off the wagon. My sincere apologies, faithful reader (aka Mom).

This week at TT the theme is "favourite things". Looking back through my recent photos, I was pleased to discover this one. It has so many of my favourite things: my husband, my daughter, my niece, cake, and even a bottle of wine! (yeah, technically I should have been cognizant of my foreground and cleared the space around the cake, but it works for this!)

Mostly my favourite thing is gathering with family to laugh and talk and eat. And this photo captures that for me. What a magical night we had. Now I want to break into some song, Sound of Music style.

To see more favourite things, visit:

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Sports

I will admit I dug in the archives a bit for this one. This is from our wedding trip to Mexico in 2007.

You really have to watch your back when playing a "friendly" game of water volleyball:

Show us the role of sports in your life here:

I Heart Faces: Purple

Purple is the name of the game over at I Heart Faces this week. I went back a bit in the archives for this photo of my niece, S, in her awesome purple snowsuit. Its kind of fun to remember all that snow from not too long ago while we bask in the hot summer weather.

Check out more regal coloured entries here: