Sweet Pea

I am waffling about having two blogs or not.  I don't want to always be apologizing for not being around, but I miss this world.  I'm not sure how active I can be here, but I plan to dip my toe in when I can.

So Sweet Pea and I went out into the fog yesterday morning.  It was really, really cold, but I took her coat off for pictures anyway.  We didn't stay out long and she didn't seem to mind...too much.

But I definitely need more practice for shooting in the fog.  Any tips?  None of my photos where as crisp as I like, and I was using my sharpest lens; my 50mm 1.8.

But still it was fun and here they are...

 

And this one is my favorite for Favorite Photo Friday:

It was also my facebook friend's favorite, but with a different processing.  This is a vintage action I got from the CoffeeShop Blog a lifetime ago.  I do most of my editing in Lightroom now, but since I've upgraded to LR4 I don't have as many or favorite presets.  What are your favorite presets (preferably free)?

Sweet Pea

At Sunflower's preschool there is a giant, child-height mirror that Sweet Pea loves to look at herself in.  So at home, in the hour before we went back to pick up Sunflower, I thought it would be a good morning to play with our own mirror.

 Oh, what is this?

The shots were different than what I was planning in my head, but Sweet Pea looks adorable no matter what I do.

This is where I discovered if I hop up and down, Sweet Pea will start laughing.  It is hard to get the timing just right...hop, hop, hop...stand still and snap the photo while she is still laughing...so sometimes focus ends up not being just quite right, but I love her little teeth.

I love her expression in this one, but I did decided I had to change to a wider lens.

The drool is because she decided it was snack time, not photo time.  Get me some food and I'll play some more, Mama.

Don't you dare touch my food.  I promise I was only trying to put it on the table so she wouldn't carry it around and spill it.

For 15 minutes she carried it quite carefully, never spilling it.  But she would not settle on a spot.

Until it spilled, but that didn't phase her.  One in the bowl, one in the mouth, one in the bowl...

We'll just pick them up, Mama, and then you can hop some more.

Passion...and Calm

I thought for sure with a challenge only 4 weeks long I would be able to participate and visit each week.  I guess not :(  There is some really gorgeous work out there that I would love to see all of it.

We were out of town for last week's challenge, but I can't resist posting this picture of my Sunflower. It is my favorite photo from this last week.  She views everything in life with PASSION and enthusiasm.  Experiments in electricity are not excluded.

I wish I had half her excitement about life and adventure!

Last weekend on our trip we did add in a spontaneous visit to some waterfalls.  If I'd known, I would have had my tripod with me.  I always find the flow of water and soft movement of waterfall shots very peaceful and CALM:

Fabulous Friday

My boy...

...because this is my favorite picture from this week and his sister does get most of the limelight.

I hope you are having a great Friday!  Mine is just starting but I expect it to be fabulous, especially since my SIL is coming over to babysit so Oak and I can go out a few more time before we meet the baby.  I am looking forward to our date even if most of it will be spent shopping for packing.

Sunflower in the Snow

We still have a ton of snow, but the icy rain yesterday and today does not make for fun play.  This is my favorite shot of Sunflower in the snow this week.

But it is not my favorite picture...sorry, Sunflower.  Thursday we received a picture that is not very good and not taken by us that is my secret favorite picture.  While I won't be posting the photo further details are available on my real life blog.

Sunflower in the Winter Sun

It is cold...so cold...but it is so sunny!  It keeps me going these long gray months to have some sun...even if it is cold.  (I know others are colder, but I'm a wimp.)

So Sunflower and I have been going out in the morning to catch that sun.

I do need to comb her hair better...and she needs a hair cut...but it does make for a good cloud of light!

Those were all Wednesday morning.  Wednesday afternoon my new reflector came in the mail.  So we went outside to play with the backlighting and this time be able to light her face properly.  I found SnapDragon a slightly more cooperative subject.

He would at least stand still...though he kept waving that stick around.  But following Sunflower around while carrying my camera and a large round thing (which she thinks is a trampoline) was tricky enough without wanting the sun to be behind her with her looking at me.  Still, I think it is my favorite shot for the day.

Even if she looks like she is the one being tortured.

I am linking this photo with both Shoot, Edit, and Submit and Favorite Photo Friday.  But right now it is sunny again...so I'm going outside with my Sunflower.  I look forward to checking out other entries when the sun goes down.

Shades of Autumn -- Finale

I hope everyone had a great Thursday!  I certainly did!  Now it's time for the Shades of Autumn Finale...and you really should link up because this time there are prizes (random number kind!)  I thought I would just use one from each post, but it seemed like every week when we'd moved onto the next color, I would find the perfect photo...so here they are:

Green:

Yellow:

Orange:

Red:

Purple:

Brown:

White:

Then my favorite photo of the week.  I used my new Photoshop Elements 10 (Thanks, Oak!) to create a panorama and to layer two different exposures.  Fun!