Week One of My 365 Project

I know, I know...I'm already behind on posting this, but I have been really good about shooting something everyday.  Sometimes it's just an everyday moment and sometimes I actually take the time to be creative.  I can already tell this will be a challenge, but I am determined not to throw in the towel (at least not this early in the game anyway.)  So, here are my first nine days of Project 365.

I love this first shot and her little Mona Lisa smile.  I could have ended with this shot, but that throws my 365 project out the window doesn't it?

Day 2: Taken at a friend's birthday party for their 1 year old son.  This is big sister K.K. being tossed by her daddy.  Doesn't this look fun? 

Day 3: I loved the way the flowers looked with all the teeny water droplets after the sprinklers were finished.

Day 4: J Bird and I just having crazy fun at bathtime.  I almost missed my photo opportunity this day, but it turned out better than expected.

Day 5: J Bird's little mini-Bella.  I'm sure she's forgotten about it by now with all her birthday gifts. Our house is being taken over by Barbie.

Day 6: I tried to get a fence shot in last week, since I haven't been active in Flickr's Fence Friday group in so long.  My only opportunity was to stalk around my parent's backyard when I went over to pick up J Bird. They think nothing of me lying in their grass anymore.  I did learn some new processing methods with this one (even though it's a little out of focus.) Can I get a "woot woot"!? No? huh, what?

Day 7: A shot from J Bird's soccer practice.  These kids are hilarious.  How does anyone coach 5 year olds anything?  I love that it looks like they're doing something...like defense or who knows what.

Day 8:  Awwww, my sweet baby girl turned 5 this week.  We had a birthday party for her where the kiddos rode horses, painted a pony, and bounced and bounced and bounced and bounced.  I promise I will post something eventually....before she's 8.

Day 9:  Grandpa and Grandma, as always, must give the best birthday gift ever.  Little J Bird asked Grandpa for a pony and boy did he deliver.  He got her first Mustang..in pink, no less.  Driving lessons are going slower than expected, though (she drives like her Grandma.)

Fix It Friday

Every Friday over at iheartfaces.com they offer up an image so we can have our try at editing it our way. So, I have to begin by saying that I DID NOT take this photo, but I am responsible for the edit you see below (good or bad.)

My processing is usually all over the place depending on what the original image looks like and I love to use My Four Hens Photography Actions or Florabella Actions.  However,  I decided to process this one (using Photoshop CS5) without any actions and here are my basic changes:

• I added a levels layer set at screen to bring more light to their faces. I did use the layer mask to mask out those parts of the photo that were too bright.
• I applied a curves layer and did some cross processing with the red and green channels.
• Bumped up saturation and adjusted the hue just slightly towards blue
• I added another levels layer to darken
• Added a color balance layer to adjust for skin tone
• Finally, I added a gorgeous Jessica Drossin texture for little extra pop.

I know these are fairly generic instructions, but if you have any questions let me know. I am by no means a pro or expert, but I will be glad to help.  Here is my After version.

 So, there you go.  My first attempt at Fix-It Friday.

365 Project

The 365 Project is something that I never really considered I could possibly accomplish or even wanted to put myself through. One picture every day for 365 days. I was proud enough of the fact that I managed a 52 week photo project of my daughter, J Bird. It started when I knew close to nothing about photography and you can definitely see my progression and her development through the 52 weeks. You can check it out here if you haven't seen it yet. It was an amazing accomplishment for me, I have to admit.

The other day, however, I read a post by a friend who encouraged those of us passionate about photography and improving our skills to jump in with her and exercise our passion by taking a photo every. single. day! Now, how in the world will I do that? I have no idea. I do know that looking back a year, I can see how far I have come. So, who knows how far I will go in 365 days of practice. I know I want to move on to another level with my photography, but I'm not sure where that will be right now. I hope this project will lead me in the right direction. I can promise I will not post a picture here every day, but I will definitely keep shooting every day. I do hope to make a weekly post of my favorite shots from the week, though. Plus, you can always catch my latest on Flickr. So, here I go on another journey and I'm excited to find out where one photo a day will take me.

I have to leave you with a picture of my favorite muse, my inspiration, and my heart...my little J Bird. Day 1/365

I Heart Faces Challenge

I haven't done one of these challenges in such a long while, but this week's theme was "Got To Wear Shades."  What can be cuter than J Bird in her sunglasses? Ok, don't answer that.  If only I could submit my mommy goggles for this contest.  Head over to iheartfaces to see more entries.

Turning Five

It's amazing how quickly time flies. It feels like it was only yesterday when I pushed out this "little" 9lb 5oz gift from heaven.  Then last weekend, we all went out for a quick little shoot to get a picture for her birthday invites.  Her 5th birthday!  Wow, where does time go so quickly?

It was fun going through the photos and noticing how much she has changed in these short 5 years. She definitely has her own, unique little personality and it definitely shows.

My Favorite Place

In the middle of a busy work week, I find myself looking forward to visiting one of my favorite places, Quinta Mazatlan.  It's a 1935 Spanish Revival Style mansion that was saved from the bulldozer by the city and serves as an extension to our World Birding Center.  They have had some wonderful summer programs for children this year including a visit by Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and The Learning Channel's Dinosaur George.  I love that the minute we walk onto the property you feel like you have left the city way behind.  Even with so many folks around we can usually find some nice quiet time to ourselves and that's what I love the most.  Of course, I then have to whip out the camera and plead with J Bird to stand still for a few seconds. It's these pictures that give me such a peaceful feeling even amid a crazy, busy work week.

Note to my fellow bloggers: I don't know what I did to get such terrible quality on some of my images. They look wonderful in Photoshop and I didn't do anything different when saving, but I'm disappointed with how they look in blogger. Any ideas?

The W Family Shoot

I have to give a HUGE thank you to the W Family for being my first non-family shoot. I had a great time meeting little Miss A. and her brother, Baby E. I have to admit I didn't know what to expect, especially after Miss A. gave me expressions like this at the beginning. Wow!

However, she's just the sweetest thing ever, and at 3 years old I'm completely amazed I was able to get as many shots as I did of her.  I certainly can never do that with my own J Bird.  So, here is a sneak peek at Miss A and Baby E's photo shoot from yesterday morning.