More Photos

Here are a few I shot that I converted to black and white. What do you think??

I'm official!

Today I did my first official photo shoot for someone other than family. Whoo Hoo! I'm still only semi satisfied with the results, but I'm learning.

My biggest frustration is that I'm usually slightly off with my framing, so I'm cropping some at home. Since my camera is a few years old I don't want to crop any more than I have to (so I keep the resolution as high as possible).

I won't keep you in suspense. Here are a few of the shots I liked the best from today...

These kids were seriously fun to work with. I might get lulled into thinking that I want to continue to work with kids!

You can tell with this group that they really love each other. It's so nice to see siblings that get along well. Since I know their mom, I know that they don't ALWAYS get along. But you can just tell with some siblings that they are really bonded.

The original hope was that a few shots would turn out that were worthy of Christmas cards.

This is probably my favorite of the day...

I also really like this one. Somehow you can see these kids as young adults. It's like getting a glimpse into the future.




The daughter was not very shy with the camera, so I took a few of just her...



Then I took a few for the artist side of me...



What do you think?

Thanks

Photography

I'm working on my photography skills. I'm going to be posting some photos here on my blog and asking for feedback.

Here is a start...

While my mother-in-law was in town we took Brian out to Dash Point State Park. It gave me a great chance to play with my new camera lens.

I found this great piece of drift wood.


So I started playing with using it to frame the photo and getting a feel for how it would work.






I couldn't resist those adorable bare feet. Or as Brian says, "he's going bare footing."

Natural consequences of going bare footing...

What was your favorite photo? Why? Please let me know in the comments. Any good advice for my photography skills? I'd love to know!

Thanks!

Pirate Party!

I've been busy. Very busy. It all culminated with this...


Brian turns 5 this week. So we did a pirate birthday party for him yesterday.

All. Things. Piratey.

My dear husband spent much time this week building a pirate ship. (Thanks to OMSH for the link awhile back and Mr. McGroovy for the kit.)

We started with much cardboard (Thanks Lowe's!)...

Lots of measuring and cutting...

And got this...

We did think about painting it. But decided to go with the natural look. The kids did not even notice. In their imagination it was a bright red and gold galleon sailing the high seas.


Brian was so happy to have a huge pirate ship in his back yard and we had wonderful weather (which is amazing for this time of November in WA).

The rule in our house is you can have as many kids as the age you are turning. So there were 5 boys (plus a few grown men!), all dressed as pirates (swords, eye patches, hats and earrings) running around our backyard.



And, of course, a pirate ship cake...


My first foray into throwing a kid birthday party is complete. I've learned a few things and will be better prepared next year. But all in all, it was not as painful as I thought it would be. In fact, it was kinda fun.

Wordless Wednesday - Autumn

TRP

Today is a TRP day - totally random photos...

I got a new camera lens for my birthday, so Brian and I headed out to the park to try it out...


A few weeks ago Brian's school went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch/farm, I tagged along to take random photos provide parental support...


That is a pumpkin he is leaning against!

Another random photo from the field trip...


Brian wasn't too sure about the pumpkin guts. He's not the "stick your hands in goo just for the fun of it" kind of kid.


We are getting some beautiful fall color. Here is our tree from the front yard as it started to turn.



And, go vote!

Even I will vote (and I hate to vote).

Then head to Starbucks with your "I voted" sticker for a free tall coffee. Sorry, no latte, just a drip coffee. But, you can head over to Krispy Kreme (I've heard that Dunkin Donuts is doing the same thing, but I couldn't verify it) and get a free donut to go with your free coffee.

See, it pays to vote.

My Little Ninja Turtle

I tried really hard to convince Brian to be Johnny Cash for Halloween, but to no avail. He really, really wanted to be a Ninja Turtle. So, I gave in. Here he is just after we put on the face paint. By the end of the evening most of the face paint was on his hands and sleeves. Oh, well. He had a ton of fun.