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!

Shades of Autumn -- White, plus some

I haven't had as much time this week to create blog posts and take pictures...I've been playing with my pictures though: organizing, tagging, sorting, and deleting--though not nearly as"ruthlessly" as my photography teacher wants...but he doesn't have to pay for my hard drives, so no skin of his nose.   I do want to finish transferring my photos from iPhoto and tag them all, or close to all of them.  It is fun to look at old pictures, see my babies when they were smaller, see how far my photos have advanced in even just the last six months, and really fascinating to see how heavy handed my edits were when I was first learning photoshop.  Some pictures really are worth deleting.  I am afraid of what I will see when I look back to now six months from now.

Certainly I sometimes keep favorite photos that are not good photos, but at times my dancing baby is just too hard to get in focus.

Or keep in the frame (and in focus):

Thank goodness for black and white.  Photos of my little girl dancing around the church while we wait for a meeting will always be favorites for me...even if they are just "snapshots."

She did agree to pose...for a second...and without too much enthusiasm.  I guess I'd better get better at focusing on quick moving darlings.

I think converting to black and white doesn't count for the white shades of autumn...and wouldn't you know it IS actually snowing at my friend's houses, but in our tiny pocket of warmth we have rain.  That's okay...I did find some white foliage the last few weeks.  I would have NEVER seen it without this challenge.  Some people love photography because it allows them to capture the beauty that they see...I love it for that, but more because it causes me to see beauty in the first place.

And here is the tree from which some of my orange leaves came--today:

I hate to admit it, but I think winter might actually be here.  Why am I getting up at 5:30a.m. Saturday to shoot the sunrise?  I've done more hiking, squatting, walking, carrying things, and overall WORK since I started this hobby...am I really that excited to endure the cold for a photo that might not come out in the snow and gray?  Yes.  Especially with friends.  Thanks for taking this journey with me!

She's Just Such a Fun Subject

I really do take an enormous number of pictures of Sunflower.  It isn't that I don't love my boys...they just are not home as often.  But if I want to go outside and take pictures the best way to make sure I am supervising Sunflower while enjoying photography is to use her as my subject.  In some ways it isn't a problem...even though it is always her, she herself is so varied.

OR

Yes, her lips are a little blue.  It isn't because she is wearing no coat in November, it is that blue sucker from Halloween.

Check out SnapShot By Michelle's Guest Tutorial on Ramblings and Photos to create your own word templates.