My Best Shot Monday

I thought this picture turned out so cool. I did a little edit in adobe and the blue sky and white clouds popped. I was more than a little disappointed when I returned home from the store to find this mirror in pieces. Last week I had brought a can of aqua spray paint and let my 14 year old turn it blue in an attempt to re-invent it and add knew life to our livingroom. It was in the bedroom and just blending in so I thought why not. And, 14 year old boys do love to spray paint. I then velcroed it in the center of a large mirror hanging over our fireplace. I was pleased. :), and proud. It looked pretty cool.
It lasted barely a week. Today I'm off to buy superglue. With it now laying on the table I was able to get this shot which would not have happened if it were hanging. I even kinda cropped out the broken part of the frame and am grateful the mirror remained intact during the fall. I am titling this: In the Future. Partly because it looks like a porthole into the future and because in the future I will not velcro mirrors together.

You Capture Food!

When we were south this Summer and saw crawfish on the menu we just had to order some. Being the shellfish lovers we are ( lobster,crab, shrimp,) even the kids devour it all, we could not resist. They sure were pretty, arriving in one of those galvanized metal buckets, but what a lot of work for very little actual food. Too bad we didn't really know quite how to eat them, but we sure worked up a sweat trying and they did make a pretty picture.

Back to School

My little guy started third grade today, happily, but not without a little anxiety. In almost every picture I snapped where he is not looking at the camera and posing he has his hand up and is twirling his hair. He was a hair twirler starting way back, laying in his crib pacifier in his mouth and hand to head, crying as a toddler when we cut his hair too short to twirl. When he was really tired he would twirl double- fisted; or would twirl my hair when I nursed or rocked him. Such sweet baby memories. He is eight now and in many ways going on 14( the result of having 3 older siblings I assume) and has not twirled his hair in quite some time. Anyways, yesterday as he began fretting about the first day of school( and he is a fretter) I noticed him fingering his hair. It must have brought him some peace because he continued to do it throughout the day whenever he talked about school. This morning when I took these photos it wasn't until I uploaded them that I noticed his hand to his head twirling away. I wonder if he's doing it right now.

The Eyes Have It, Again

I seem to be back to taking pictures of eyes again. It's kinda like me and taking photos of flowers, I just can't help it. Each is so unique and beautiful. This last one is of my nephew's. Both my brother and sister-in-law have their own unique shade of brownish hazel, but Mason, their one and only, has dark blue. I love when that happens! It's so genetically explainable yet so mysterious. I have been practicing the Pioneer Woman's technique for making eyes pop with the magic lasso and all. It usually does more for blue than solid brown eyes, but I like how clear the brown eyed boy' eye is. On both of these eye shots I tried that technique. I then solarized one and posterized the latter.

Nostalgia

This is a re-edit of a photo I posted a few weeks back of my neice Elizabeth. There is such a timeless quality to photos of little girls playing dress-up. That afternoon we had opened up the dress-up box for her. My children are getting older and rarely play in it anymore, but it was hands down one of their favorite ways to play. Elizabeth is a true girly- girl and immediately chose the pink leotard to put on. I recalled my now 15 year old daughter playing in it over the years and remembered that it was a hand-me-down from Elizabeth's older sister who recently married. There is a 16 year difference in age between the two sisters. That leotard had come in a box of hand-me-downs years earlier, no one ever thinking that Elizabeth would be one day; and would choose to wear it. Once it was on, she didn't want to take it off and off it went with her.

Peace

How's this for a peaceful shot? This is at the top of Whiteface Mt. in upstate NewYork. In the distance you can see Lake Placid. We spent last weekend in New York with friends and they were so kind to share this mountain vista with us. It really made you pause and inhale deeply.

Misty

This beautiful girl is our friend's dog. She is a sweet loving dog and very active. She is a real tom-boy. I remember the time we kayaked down a river and she swam along the whole way keeping pace with us, jumping up on shore when she was bored of swimming and running along the river bank as we moved upstream. All of a sudden you would hear a splash and she was back in with us. However she also likes when her master dresses her in colorful t-shirts and bandanas. It is the funniest thing when you pull in their drive way and see her dashing around the yard all dressed up showing off her latest outfit. I guess she is a girly- girl at heart. Here she is posing for me to photograph her. Really, I think she may try modeling next.

All American Bubble Blower

I am re-posting this picture for the I heart faces weekly contest. This weeks theme is bubbles! I love how I edited this in photoshop elements using the solarzing action. To me this looks like a pop-art painting, not just a photograph, and has a very American vibe. Between the suburban background and and the pop-art feel and ofcourse the American Eagle t-shirt. What 14 year old American boy living in suburbia does not own at least 1, or even 15 like my son.

Sunrise from a screened in porch

Another beautiful vacation picture. The house we rented in Maryland had a lovely screened porch that looked out over the water. It was so peaceful there in the early morn. with the sound of the waves crashing gently and the sun burning in through the mist. I am not a morning person, at all, however it was hard to stay in bed when you knew the coffee was made already(my sister-in-law is a morning person) and the adirondeck chairs were waiting. We would sit and gaze out and try and make the hard decisions. Should I comb the beach for seaglass, read my book, or watch the kids as they looked for crabs to catch. It was a tough week, that's for sure, but somehow we made it through.
I love how I captured the screen in this picture along with the gorgeous view.

Freeze Frame!

I took this of my boys at a friend's pool. Only three are mine and yes this bunch is as wild and crazy as they look! I put my camera in manual shutter speed mode and captured this hanging in mid-air shot. Love the poses and face expressions.

Pink

On the last night of our vacation we were graced with this sky! I could hear my sister-in-law yelling to my brother "get the camera!!" She was outside combing the beach for her final sea glass "find". I grabbed mine and raced outside too, the screen door slamming, knocking kids over on the way. Sunset skies can change so quickly you can't wait even a minute. This was our second rainbow over the bay that week. Because another storm was passing way out over the water just as the sun was beginning to descend, suddenly everything was bathed in pink. It was gorgeous. I quickly snapped several photos but I was disappointed when I checked the pictures in my camera. When I got home and loaded them on the computer they didn't look so bad, but not quite like I remembered. I tweaked the contrast and temperature slightly and perfection! Those birds had posed there all week and I finally got the perfect back drop to take their picture. I am going to send them a copy.

Before the Storm

This photo was taken on vacation last week. We rented a beautiful house on the Chesapeake Bay along with my brother and his family. Gabe and his cousin are closest in age and great playmates; usually. Gabriel is the youngest of four and M. at age six is an only child. One would think that Gabe would take the opportunity to finally have someone younger to boss around, but it was often M. who was in charge. This cute little blond guy with the gravely voice which only got deeper as the week went on, never missin an opportunity to chime in and be heard among the of ten of us. He was constantly chattering and asserting himself as he found his way in the group of six kids last week. When relating to Gabe he took the opportunity to finally be in charge. Gabe tried his best to take direction, but would sometimes give me a "help me" look. It was all fine in the end as Gabe can be very bossy to his next older brother Donovan as he tries to align his eight year old self with the teenagers in our family. Our vacation is over and needless to say we miss the talkative little guy that fit in perfectly in the lineup last week. Gabe has often asked for a younger sibling so for a full non-stop week he got his wish. He is already asking when he can come over and visit at our house.
I told them to sit on the large piece of driftwood so I could take this picture before the thunderstorm. They had just had "words " and chose to sit a good five feet apart. I had envisioned an arms over the shoulder buddy shot. I had them move closer together and snapped a few more, but this one told the story.