Bluebonnets

I am clearly not back into the regular writing and posting groove. Truly, I am also not much in a photo-taking groove either. I've been a bit out of sorts, I guess. Just getting back into "normal" I think after a stressful late winter season. I have some photos from our trip to Indiana, a couple from our trip to Great Wolf Lodge, and some photos from S's wine party. I'll get around to those soon. But today, a glimpse at our mediocre try to get some bluebonnet photos. They are almost gone, so we ran out to Mesquite on Sunday at the golden hour to get a few. I don't like this location because the background is ugly. I like Ennis better, but that extra ten minutes difference of a drive was something I couldn't talk my sweet husband into doing. He's been busy too. Ahem. ;-)

And, of course, we had a boy who was not interested in giving Mommy any good shots. So here are a couple "ok" photos in the bluebonnets:

A cheesy grin.

Clearly need to clean the lens too - some extra sun flare.

You can see the flowers were well worn by this last weekend.

Need to take the background out of these...

Silly, sweet boy.

See you soon.

Easter Photos

First, I want to say I plan to get back to the regular discipline of writing this blog. But, I'm still recovering from the last few months of stress and this tour and it being done. It's all good, but I'm still, definitely, in recovery mode.

Another thing that slowed us down last week was my sweet S was sick - with the flu - all week. He does a lot to pull his weight around here and I missed that great amount of work he does while he was in the bed. I was a single parent for a week, and sister, I bow down to you single parents out there. It's a lot of work! And, I was tending to sicko too - it was a long week. Thankfully, he's on the mend and back to his regularly scheduled day today. I hope it goes well for him.

So, on to the post - just before we went to Europe, I went to a store in the mall to purchase LM a new shirt and tie for Easter. Easter would happen just a week after our return to Dallas, and I knew if I was to have anything prepared for it, I needed to do a couple errands before the trip. Luckily, we were able to let out the suit we purchased last year and use it again! S took LM to the tailor to have that done a few weeks before the tour too. So anyway, I went to purchase this shirt and tie. Because that shirt and tie cost a certain amount of money (I really don't remember what it was) I qualified to have LM's photo taken at the store and a free 8 x 10. But, the photo shoot dates were when we were in Europe. I called my mom and asked if she would take him to have the photos taken and she agreed to do it. So, I signed him up.

I should say I had very low expectations for these photos - I mean, his schedule would be a bit off since we were out of town, he is 2.5 and has exhibited no interest in having his photo taken recently, we were going to have him wear his Easter suit, which would feel different than "normal" clothes, and well, it was going to be taken in a store in the mall. But, what the heck, I figured, worth a try - it was free!

My mom said it was quite an afternoon to get him picked up from school after nap and to the mall, dressed in his suit in the time allotted. But, she said, he was in a good mood and she thought the photos would be good ones. The day to go see the photos was the week after we came back from Europe. So, I headed to the store in the mall to check out the photos.

Friends, they were SO CUTE! I bought all of the digital files! I was so pleasantly surprised, and so happy to have some nice photos taken by someone else of my boy! So, take a peek - here they are:

I mean, look at these sweet smiles and expressions!

One of the cutest "little man" poses.

Another one of those "little man" poses!

So in love with this boy, and so glad for these photos!

See you soon.

Playing with Daddy

Can you believe it's February 1st? I can't. 2013 is flying by already, just like all those years before it. At least it's Friday! Anyhoo, I purchased a new "purse" camera for myself - a small point and shoot that I can have on hand when I don't have all the camera equipment in tow. These photos were some of the first I took with that camera. The boy and S were playing with the "paper doll" again, like you saw LM doing in the dress up post earlier this week:

You can see some of his other Christmas gifts in this photo - tons of great playdoh toys and that "early math" game is full of elephants that he can count and sort by size or color. He loves all of that stuff. 

I'm pretty pleased with the new camera. It's taking nice photos, and fairly easy to use. It works well in a pinch!

See you soon.

Welcome Back!

I hope 2013 is working out well for you so far. I have finally been able to get all my holiday photos uploaded, so you know, the next several days will be a recap of all that revelry. Today, though, as I was going through photos, I revisited some from the day we took the cousin holiday shots. I am still overall not completely pleased with my photo taking that day, but I found a few more I think are worth sharing. So here they are:

First, there is this.

He wasn't cooperating, he wouldn't look at me, and heck, I didn't even really want him to be hanging from the bars. But, this photo has nice light in it, and it shows him the way he IS at age almost 2.5. Not always cooperative, a little mischievous, and very curious and playful. So, I added it to the "good" pile.

OK and then there is this one.

I like it, of course, for some of the same reasons. End of day hazy light, playful uncooperative boy, sweet expression on his face. He really can be a booger these days. It's so funny, it is hard to get irritated. Not that I don't sometimes get irritated. In fact, I was probably irritated while taking this photo, hoping he would cooperate with me more. Oh well...see, son, I can still get a good photo even when you're a booger!

OK, and this one too.

Kind of a funny grin on his face, but great catchlights and generally good light on his face, and some interesting holiday color in the background. Not so bad.

And this one, too, for good catchlight and a killer smile.

This one I shared before, the epic holiday swagger.

But, this one, off center, is also fun.

It could have been great if I had used a reflector, I bet.

OK, and a couple of the other kiddos too...

...so sweet, playing around.

And this one too! I actually really like these.

Childhood innocence, good color, cool outfits.

OK and one more of the boy.

This one would be killer if the focus was just a tad better. The best focus is on his tie, not his face. But, come on people, its sweet even with a little softness to it. Sometimes, when I look back at a group of photos, I find edits I should have done, exposures that are too dark I didn't notice the first time, crops I wish I would have taken. But this time, I found some hidden gems I just had to share. I hope you liked looking at them too.

See you soon.

Also Rans

As I mentioned, I finished up a great photography class last weekend. I was supposed to take one great shot. I waited until Sunday to do anything about this - the day the great shot was due. I did not get a great shot at all, really, but some decent shots, all in manual mode, and I thought I'd share them with you.

I should say this class required we shoot in jpg instead of raw, and not process the photos at all - only this last week we were allowed to crop. That's it! You had to shoot in manual, getting the shutter speed, ISO, aperture, white balance, focus and metering right IN CAMERA. A lot for a girl to keep track of, when she's new at keeping track of it all. Here are the also rans:

The boy, not being very cooperative.

I took him out to the front lawn in morning light, with no shoes. I am such a great mom. There was enough good light to get better light in his eyes, but he wouldn't look at me when I wanted him to do it. So, I didn't us this one because the light wasn't great in his eyes. And it's sort of a funny look on his face.

My boys, playing around.

One thing I want to be more deliberate about, is taking "good" shots of everyday life - not just snapshots where I don't pay attention to the composition. As you know, we are trying to box things up, in the anticipation of moving out for construction after the first of the year. LM was in love with this big box. S climbed in with him. Sweet photo, but again the boy wasn't cooperating too much. That said, good light, good composition, good white balance and exposure.

Sweet, but I didn't like the crop.

And it could have been a bit brighter.

I like this crop, but I felt the eyes, again, needed more light.

I turned this one in as my final photo.

I could have upped the ISO on this one, as it was getting dark. But I like the composition, the light in the background, the white and definition on the duck, the reflection, and the motion through the photo.

This is the "other" duck photo...I think it looks like the duck is smiling.

But I like the crop of the other one better.

Another option with birds - but the focus wasn't as good.

I snapped this one just before they got in the car.

But it's way too dark. For the assignment.

However, not too dark to be fixed and processed into a great photo.

I love this one, of course!

As I said, the class was a great one. I will continue to read through the notes and try to learn more. It was great to learn more about this hobby of mine. 

See you soon.