Created For Inspiration

Wintertime

2012-01-15T21:01:00.000-08:00

It's been an untypical winter so far. Fairly warm, as far as winter goes, I suppose, but mainly less rainy than most winters for us. It seems like at least half the days have been dry. For the Pacific Northwest, that's something. Today, it snowed. We were hoping for more, but the kids still have a lot of fun, even if their only playing in a half inch.

My little girl really enjoyed the snow. It's fun to see her excited about the snow. I remember taking her out to the snow when she was two and she just stood there. She's four now, and boy what a stark contrast. I must say she's quite the crazy girl.

Sometimes it just takes too long to find her own boots, so she puts on her sisters.

My middle girl playing outside. I love the cherry redness to her cheeks.

This rooster and hen are enjoying the weather before the snow. Mainly they hide out in their coop during snow.

The clouds have been really colorful during the sunset lately.

My little man has been getting really big. He enjoys any chance he has to be outside.

Christmas Recitals

2011-12-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

It's Christmastime, so we've been busy with Christmas recitals. Here are some photos from Dance and from Orchestra. After today, I don't have any Christmas activities except with our family. I'm looking forward to celebrating Christmas in a more laid back way.

Bath Time Shots

2011-12-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of cute bath time shots of my little ones. It's fun having little ones around.

Sleepy Boy

2011-12-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

My little boy fell asleep on the couch. This is an unusual event for my kids. None of them are the kind of kids that can fall asleep anywhere. He probably slept for a good ten minutes and I managed to get some cute shots. I know I'll appreciate these when he's older.

Flying By

2011-11-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

Time has been flying by in our very busy household. There is always a lot to be thankful for, and especially for my family. God gave me them and they are a very special gift. Here are a few photos of them recently.

Birthday Twins (their birthday is on the same day)

With cousins at Thanksgiving

A Boy And A Train

My Darling Husband

My Middle Joyful Girl

My Big Serious Girl

And, here is a recent picture of a property near to ours. We rent it out to graze our cattle on and my husband cleared this property and planted it in pasture. All the cleared area was in brush trees and blackberry bushes previously.

A Visitor

2011-10-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

We had a visitor this morning.

4 Year Old Day

2011-10-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's my four year old's birthday. I cannot believe she is 4. Time definitely flies. She is my precocious, baby envious, total cutie, sweet, energetic, huggable, little girl. What's not to love?

Three Years Old

Two Years Old

One Year Old

Newborn

My Munchkins

2011-10-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

Just a few sweet pictures of my munchkins. They mean the world to me. My littlest munchkin is getting a little mischevious. Can you imagine? And, my three, almost four year old, was a little under the weather this last week.

Fall Flowers

2011-10-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with the flowers that survive into the Fall season. It's been on and off Indian Summer this year and I've enjoyed every sunny day.

New Seasons

2011-10-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

Summer flew by and we are deep into the Fall season. My little man has gotten big and is starting to be a lot of trouble. ;) He climbs, opens, turns, escapes, etc. much earlier than his sisters did. He is also good at climbing down and seems to have pretty good balance. We are having a little bit of an Indian Summer here...although it rained for about the last two weeks. Yet, it's been warm and for the next few days we have some partly sunny days in the forcast. That's quite something for those of us here in the Northwest, during the Fall season.

Here are some recent shots this Fall.

These are from a day at the zoo.

Here is a picture of my little sweeping man. (He loves brooms.)

And, a couple of pictures of my two little ones in their pajamas.

How has your Fall been so far?

Hoh Rainforest

2011-08-21T17:47:00.001-07:00

Here is the last installment of our vacation. That vacation wore me out! So, here it is 3 weeks later and I'm just now putting up the last of the photos. I hope to do some other type of outing this year (like going to the beach), but doing outings with a new one year old is hard. He just wants to eat rocks and not always big ones either.

We've had a mild summer here and enjoyed a time at the fair. We also got a new calf which we are bottle feeding. I hope to have a tame steer out of the deal. I'm in charge of feeding him! My little baby also turned one. It's all going by so fast, as it's been really hectic, but I hope to put up what pictures I have of that soon. Yesterday, it finally turned hot. It was 95 degrees here yesterday and we went to the river. The girls wades and arranged rocks, but we should have brought our swimming suits. I actually enjoy that kind of weather, as long as I have a cool house to come home to. I hope all of you are having a good summer.

Kalaloch Beach & Beach 4 - Olympic Peninsula

2011-08-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

Here is the next leg of our vacation. After visiting Hurricane Hill, Sol Duc Falls, Lake Crescent, and Salt Creek, we headed around the Olympic Peninsula to the Ocean. We stayed at Kalaloch Campground, which I highly recommend. The beach is wonderful and the campground is good too. There are numerous other highly beautiful beaches surrounding Kalaloch. This trip we went to Beach 4. Isn't that a funny name for a beach? This beach is known for its tide pools. But, this year, the low tide during the day was positive 3, so there wasn't much to see even at low tide. We went there several years ago and saw tons of tide pool life. This is highly recommended. But, check your tide schedule. Even without a low tide, this beach is beautiful. And probably because of the lack of low tide, it was totally isolated. We had a great day.

My middle girl. At our campground.

About to go down to the beach by our campground. Kalaloch Beach.

The water is cold on the Olympic Peninsula.

Someone fell in the water.

Beach 4 - Olympic Peninsula

Sand Castle Building was in order.

The 3 year old's sand castle. (Her Daddy actually made it.)

Watching and waiting.

Incoming Tide - Beach 4 - Olympic Peninsula

Waves - Beach 4 - Olympic Peninsula

The demise of the sand castles

Olympic Vacation

2011-08-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

We recently went on a vacation to the Olympics. I started the vacation struggling some with asthma and allergies due to grass allergies and by the end of the trip my allergies were mostly better. YAY.

While visiting the Olympics we also visited with some friends. That was nice. Here is my first set of photos from our trip. These are from Hurricane Ridge and Sol Duc Falls, both close to Port Angeles, WA. Later in the trip, we ventured around the coast and then to the rain forest. The Olympics are so diverse, it's amazing.

Mt. Olympus

Memories From Home

2011-07-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Summer is such a fun time for memories, even when we are at home. This summer is particularly beautiful. Here in the Northwest we have been substantially below average in temperature, but mainly substantially ABOVE average in rainfall. Almost all summer it's been rain 2 or 3 days, sun 2 or 3 days. It makes the pollen count high. I have a horrible allergy to grass, so I've been spending a lot of time indoors running the air conditioner. Horrible, I know, when the temperature only reaches into the upper 70's at the most. But, I have to do what I have to do to breathe!

Here are some pictures from our homestead. I hope you enjoy.

His name is Tom.

His name is Trouble.

Here are all our Turkeys. You can see that Tom is trying to challenge our white turkey. He does that constantly. Our one girl turkey this year is on the right.

Swallowtail

Bible Times Girl with a Basket On Her Head

Mary with Lame Girl (Girl With A Broken Arm)

Summer

2011-07-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

Summer is flying by. Really, I've been taking care of a good bit of family business. We've had too many medical things we've been dealing with as a family. The good news on that end is I think we are getting down to some answers. This cute little lady was part of our medical mishaps:

Here are some pictures of our delayed Independence Day celebration.

I couldn't believe these fireworks were legal. But around here they were. We had several neghbors thank us for our fireworks show.

Happy 4th

2011-07-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th everyone.

We went out to the beach for a before the 4th celebration. Here are a couple of picture. My hubby and I and the baby went. It was his first time really playing in the sand. We brought him with us when he was little(er) but it was cold and well he was still in the lay on his back stage. Now our little boy is crawling and putting things in his mouth and standing and pulling.

A Walk

2011-06-29T17:44:00.001-07:00

We went on a walk this weekend. This is a property we rent to graze our cattle on. My husband replanted the pasture this year and it has come in. Soon some of our cows will be over there.

Tiny newly emergent froggy.

Another picture of little froggy.

This is a tadpole in the water pool underneath where the little froggy was. You can see, if you look carefully, that it has legs, but still has a tail too.

Wild Iris

Flowers

2011-06-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

The flowers have been vibrant so far this year. It was an especially cool and wet Spring. So much so that we still have some Rhododendron bushes with flowers still on them (although faded) and the fir trees still have visible light green buds on them, on the 23rd of June. I am planting bunches of flowers from starts this year and I hope to have more flower pictures to show you as the summer progresses. For now, here are a few.

Dance Time

2011-06-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

It's dance time again. My girls did wonderfully in their recital. It was a beautiful and moving performance all around.

Here is my strong and serious Israelite.

And, here is my younger ballerina, dancing to Crown Him With Many Crowns.

Here are some other highlights from the evening.

Up North

2011-06-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

We went up (North) to see friends and family last weekend and had a marvelous time.

My friend's daughter is graduating soon and we were invited up to an open house for her. It was great because not only did I get to see my friend and her daughter, but lots of other familiar faces (their friends and family).

My friend's son is riot too. He's the kind of kid that will talk to anyone at length. Sadly, he did not remember him, even though I was around him a ton from ages 0-5.

We also took the opportunity to visit with my sister, my parents, and my sisters kids. We went to Red Robin with the kids and then over to their house. My kids, as always were being cute and silly.

I got a cousin shot this time. I just made them do it. Suggesting that we take their picture never works for me. How do all of you get family to cooperate about getting their picture taken. My family on both sides never seem to want that. The nine month old boy, three year old girl, seven year old girl, and ten year old girl are mine.

My girls' cousins also had some cute baby kittens they were watching for the local animal shelter and they have a bunny for a pet in their back yard. This is my 10 year old with her 8 year old cousin and 12 year old cousin. It was fun to see the cousins and what they were up to.

An Adorable 3 Year Old

2011-05-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

Our three year old can get a little neglected around here. Not that we mean to neglect her...on the contrary...but you see she is no longer the baby and she isn't old enough to do all the school aged activities either. I can assure you, however, that we adore her and for good reason. While she can be quite precocious, she is about as adorable as they come.

Multnomah Falls

2011-04-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

Multnomah Falls, in the Columbia Gorge, should be a stop for anyone visiting the Portland, Oregon area. It's a highly visited tourist spot, but for a reason. Even though we go at least once a year, I am still blown away. I recommend going in the Springtime or Early Summer, while the waterflow is most impressive.

I've always wanted to go during a severe cold snap, but somehow the treacherous Gorge highway always stands in my way.

Beautiful Weather

2011-04-19T21:57:00.001-07:00

The weather was beautiful today and we took advantage. We live right next to a gorgeous river with lots of walking trails and lots of shade along it.

Here are some of our pictures from today:

My middle girl next to a Cedar tree, which she coined as her playhouse.

The sisters on the bridge overlooking the river.

Looking down at the river. It's a beautiful greenish blue river.

Beautiful...

A seasonal waterfall. I love all that moss.

The bridge from down below.

My little man.

The four siblings. Love them.

The falls from both sides of the river.

All In A Day

2011-04-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

My preschooler is very patient with our out and about days.

The boy loves the wheel, but he loves trying to grab my camera more.

Diaper bag

We have a lot of this around here.

A lot.

He's cute even with a snotty nose, isn't he??

Cutie Face

2011-04-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

He is a cutie face, is he not? Love, love, love the baby stage.

Little Brother

2011-04-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

This little brother holds a sweet spot in everyone's heart.

Sisters

2011-04-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sleeping Boy

2011-04-01T20:57:00.001-07:00

My little boy was asleep tonight on his Boppee Pillow. So, I took advantage and got a couple of pictures.

Waking up. Watching sister. Sleeping doesn't last long.

Lots Of Trouble

2011-03-30T00:26:00.000-07:00

ur little guy just keeps moving along development wise (and literally). His crawling has taken off and he can go everywhere.

As a matter of fact he crawled across the room, over to a laundry basket today, and tried to pull himself up on it. What's up with that? He just started crawling! But, he's all boy, and he's my first one, so I'm proud.

His sisters are proud of him too. Even the youngest girl is totally excited about his crawling because that means she has someone to play with now.

After a while, he does get all tuckered out, but only after I do.

My Little Man

2011-03-26T23:51:00.001-07:00

My little man is getting to be a big boy. He's crawling, for starters. Just five or six little crawls forward (or less), but he's managing to move around everywhere. Then, just after figuring out crawling, he figured out how to sit up by himself. He's a big boy I tell you.

New Addition

2011-03-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

We had a new addition to our herd of cattle. This was our fourth calf born this year. The Momma cow was a Heifer (new Momma cow), and had a difficult birth. We had to nurse this one back to health. Here are some pictures of the calf as we let her out of the barn.

The new calf is the one next to the Momma cow.

Orchestra Recital

2011-03-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

It was Orchestra recital time again. I have two girls participating now. As the Orchestra teacher said, it was like an Orchestra performance in a closet. Despite the crowded conditions, the kids all did a great job.

Snow

2011-02-22T21:19:00.000-08:00

We were told this year would be cold and wet. I suppose it has been. Generally I don't wish for cold or wet, but, I get excited when there is talk about the possibility of snow. Yet, so far this year, there has been very little snow we could do anything in.

We did get this...this last Wednesday. Due to the hill going in and out of our place property, my husband had to drive us out of here even though the snow was only about two or three inches.

We don't usually get a lot of snow, but one year we got almost a foot and a half...and another year about a foot. It was a lot of fun and we got to inner-tube right here on our property.

My step-daughter was with us this weekend, so we thought we'd see if we could go find some snow. It was challenging to get to the snow and we didn't even dress for the snow, but it was an adventure for the girls. The funny thing is...the forecast for the next couple of days...SNOW. We'll see how much we actually get...but according to the forecast we could get 6-12 inches over the next several days. That's not much compared to you East Coasters I know, but we're excited for the possibility.

Here are shots from the weekend, from the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (a favorite place for us).

New Calves

2011-02-15T23:56:00.001-08:00

We've had two new calves so far this year, with a bunch more to come. We really enjoy our calves.

Our boy calf. 100% Red Angus

Our girl calf (the bigger of the two). 1/2 Pinzgauer, 1/2 Red Angus

Sunsets

2011-02-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

Unlike the rest of the country, we've actually had an unseasonably nice winter. That is to say it hasn't rained every single day and there has been some variety in the weather. As I'm typing this a lake is forming in my yard, so that's not to say there hasn't been some typical Northwest rain, but there have been some breaks from the rain too, even a few semi clear days. And, yesterday, it was forcasted to be 80% chance of rain, but it didn't start raining until 5:00 pm. So, we actually got some garden prep done...which is actually one of my favorite things to do.

Here are a pair of sunsets taken on one of those semi-sunny days.

The photograph doesn't do the colors that were in the sky at that moment justice. And I don't know how they could...they were such rich blues, oranges, and pinks of such a rich tapestry...only God could do it justice with his painting.

Same field...different angle.

Mr. Smiley

2011-02-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

I call my little guy "My Jolly Boy"...he is always smiling (except when he's not of course). He is exceptionally smiley. Often we are out and about and he is in his carseat while someone is smiling at him. I think "wow they sure are giving him a lot of attention" only to discover that he is grinning wide-eyed at the stranger. I suppose he won't always be that way with strangers...he doesn't know stranger wariness at six months.

Typical Shot

What my little man is doing when not smiling at me while I shoot his picture.

I came home to this one evening, after going to the grocery store. He just laughed and laughed and laughed when I came in the door.

Another typical (more serious) shot...typical except for the hairdo...his 3 year old sister put a bunch of moisturizing cream on his head, so I spiked his hair.

Just Thinking About Summer

2011-02-03T22:17:00.000-08:00

Just thinking about the carefree days of summer...Aren't these great pictures? I miss it.

A Few Winter Pictures

2011-01-27T16:41:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures from today. It's winter, but not the kind with snow. Mostly it's been rainy, but the last few days have been mostly clear. It's been an under the weather feel around here for a while now and the haziness of the weather matches. It is the season of little growth, of brown everywhere, except the bulbs and rhodies that pop up.

A Photo Shoot For A Friend

2011-01-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

A friend agreed to allow me to shoot her family here recently. She has a little boy just younger than my son. Her youngest daughter is my older daughter's age, and her older daughter is my step-daughter's age. It was so much fun to shoot someone outside my family.

I was itching for some new equipment after that. It really made me wonder how you achieve professional studio lighting without breaking the bank. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot. Most of my successful shots were shot with my flash bounced off the ceiling or else they were super closeups of the baby under my lights. My lights are 250watt each and while they seem to blind the subject, they don't end up being nearly bright enough for moving subjects.

Her baby boy is an absolute doll.

My (Not So) Little Man

2011-01-19T12:36:00.001-08:00

I'm enjoying my little man so much. He is a jovial, Mommy attached, sweet little guy. I can't imagine being a Mom and not being a Mom of a little boy. God was so gracious to grant us three girls, then give us a boy. We enjoy him.

He is constantly growing left and right. He was 18 pounds at four months and he just keeps growing. I have him in 12 month clothes and at five months some of those are getting a bit tight. My little (big) man looks just like his Dad, with a little of me mixed in there. He has a thick linebacker chest and is tall, tall, tall. He kicks and swims like crazy. Of all my kids he reminds me most of my firstborn. She loved to "swim" a lot when she was a baby and was quick to roll over too! And he has a bit of a look of her.

He is starting to rake with his hands and play with his toes. He is starting to hold some of his weight himself when I hold him...this is good because he is hard on my back. Everyone says what a smiley guy he is when we're out in public. He does this cute thing where you'll say hi to him and he'll flash you a big smile, then turn away. And, I think he is the most ticklished baby I've had, although my middle daughter, gives him a run for his money.

Lewis River

2011-01-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

We've had some really rainy days here. One day we had 3 1/2 inches in our rain gauge in 24 hours. I think there is probably enough water in reserve to last the whole year! Of course, a lot of the water goes down the Columbia and out the Ocean around here. Here are some comparison shots of Lewis River. I live close and it's fun to get to compare the river during different seasons. These pictures were virtually taken during the same season. But the flooded versions are during this latest round of (warm) rain (there was some melted snow pack causing this flooding too).

Moulton Bridge Normal

Moulton Bridge During Recent Rains

Hantwick Bridge Normal

Hantwick Bridge During Recent Rains

Lucia Falls Normal

Lucia Falls During Recent Rains

Portraits Of My Kids

2011-01-06T23:55:00.000-08:00

What with homeschooling two, having a preschooler in the house, and having a baby, it seems I am nothing but busy. Busy, but loving it, mostly. I remind myself that when I'm playing with my son, reading to my three year old girl, or just spending a quality moment with one of my older two girls...this moment is a joy and I just need to embrace the moment as it happens, because all too soon it might be easier, but these precious days will only be a memory.

The other day I went into our business to take some pictures of product (that's really my official reason for being a photographer) and my husband took the kids for a while. When he brought them back I still had the white backdrop out, so I took some quick pics of my brood. I should make the time to do so more often. I appreciate how these photos chronicle a moment in the lives of these children of mine and I think I will treasure photos like these because in that moment I am able to capture a unique part of my child's personality...a part that may not be there tomorrow.

Nutcracker

2010-12-22T18:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a whirlwind around here for awhile. First we had the Nutcracker. There were four performances and two dress rehearsals, if that gives you an idea.

Then, right after that my oldest daughter got sick for over a week (and had to miss her next dance performance that was coming up). She has Cyclical Vomitting Syndrome. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. She basically is unable to keep ANYTHING down for sometimes a week at a time and feels absolutely miserable during the whole thing to the point where she is unresponsive. We have some good medicine to give her, but sometimes the episode once it gets going can't be stopped. It could have been caused by the excitement of the Nutcracker performance, or by food additives, or by a mild virus (or any number of other things) that set off the cycle. But, it was no fun and she ended up having to get an IV.

Then I got sick after that. No biggie, just a cold, but a pretty strong cold. And my little baby boy has had the same cold. :(

These pictures I am sharing are from several weeks ago. The girls loved doing the Nutcracker. It really was a magical experience.

My oldest daughter - the Candy Cane

The Russian

Snow Queen

Merliton

Snow + Angels

Angels + Candy Canes (My Candy Cane is in there.)

Mother Ginger + Candy Corns + Candy Canes

More Candy Cane & Candy Corn Action (my Candy Corn is on the right hand side of the picture)

My Candy Corn (my middle daughter)

My Candy Cane is on the right.

My Soldier (she was also a Candy Cane) with her friend from the soldiers

Playing games in the dressing rooms

A mouse

My baby boy was very popular.

Busy With Baby

2010-12-07T19:48:00.001-08:00

I have been extremely busy lately with the baby and the girls, and also with some extra dance activities the girls have been doing lately. I'm finally seeing the end of the tunnel...with the dance activities that is. The last recital is next Sunday. The marathon weekend was this last weekend. During all of this and despite the dreary lighting this time of year presents, I got out my flash and took some pictures of my little man.

I want to share with you a picture of my preschooler too. This picture says it all lately. She shares the attention and we are in active potty training and pretty much in the most willful stage for her. Sometimes the terrible twos are the terrible threes. Yet, she's cute too.

My little sweetheart, has changed from this:

To this:

I think she may be a little uneasy with all the attention this little guy gets:

He is the smiley-est baby ever!

And he loves his Mommy.

And I love his little kicking toes.

The Beach

2010-11-13T20:16:00.001-08:00

My husband and I went to the beach for our anniversary. We went with the baby of course. We were blessed with a lovely sunny, warm day...unusual for this time of year. Here are some pics from our trip.

We arrived at dusk. It sure gets dark early this time of year. But...it was lovely still.

The Seagulls sure are tame. People feed them too much. I"m sure it's not the healthiest diet for them, but they sure seem to want it.

We're just a pair of beach bums.

He was actually trying to be difficult with me about taking his picture.

Josiah was lounging out with his play center in the back of the van when we were parked at the beach. It's his favorite thing to do...even more than being held sometimes.

Disappearing Days

2010-10-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how quickly the days pass and how quickly kids grow. My baby boy is clearly needing to wear his size 6 month clothes. He is growing and changing...a little more interaction every day. Our family is really bonding to him. Here are some recent pictures of the baby, as well as some of the almost 3 year old, and 7 year old.

The Others

2010-10-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the rest of our gang here. It's been a lovely fall (it makes up for the dreary Spring this last Spring). The combination of rain and warm, sunny weather has made things as green as green can be.

Fix It Friday Pumpkins

2010-10-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in I Heart Faces' Fix-It-Friday. Here is my fixed photo:

Here is the original:

Here are some things I did.

I transformed the original and cropped it slightly to eliminate a sliver of distracting pumpkins and to put the girls eyes at the 1/3 vertical/horizontal mark in the image.
I duplicated the photo and applied soft light to the layer at a reduced opacity to give it rich warm colors.
I duplicated the photo and applied screen to the layer at a reduced opacity to give it a bright, blown out look.
I opened a hue/saturation adjustment layer and chose yellows and reduced their saturation and increased their brightness. I expanded the color range for yellow to include oranges with the color bar at the bottom of the hue/saturation dialogue box. This tones down the intensity of the pumpkins which I increased in the previous two steps.
I cleaned up the skin some by using a combination of the healing brush, the cloning tool, and the blur tool on the skin after merging my layers.
I sharpened and addded dimensionality to the image without adding much speckling by duplicating my now merged image and choosing overlay, then Filter > Other > High Pass and changing the radius to my liking (in this case .5 pixels).
Finally, I added a subtle vignette by choosing Filter > Distort > Lens Correction and pulling the amount of the vignette to -25% to make a darker edge and the midpoint to 75% so that the darkness mainly affected the outer area on the photo.

More Baby Boy Pictures

2010-10-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

I just can't resist but post more baby boy pictures. Babies are so addictive to take pictures of. I do wish I had other babies to take pictures of...but of course I love and adore taking pictures of mine.

Boxer Boy

Sweet Sleeping Boy

Mommy & Baby

Sleepy Day

2010-10-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those sleepy days where you just don't feel like you can make a coherent thought come out straight? What better thing to do than to take pictures of your baby on a day like that? Here are a few...

Moving Right Along

2010-09-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Life keeps moving right along. I can't tell you how amazing it is to have a new baby in the house. Babies are such amazing miracles in and of themselves, and now I actually have a son on top of it. I look forward to all the fun climbing and moving that I'm sure he will do, but for now I just stare at him unable to comprehend the gift he is to us, and how exactly this gift came to pass.

I have some photos to share.

This first one is a really special photo, one I will treasure always...my two babies.

And here we are instilling our love of homeschooling on our little one already.

And here is some rolling evidence. These series of photos were actually taken over a week ago (at about 4 1/2 weeks), but our little guy has been doing this front to back roll since about 2 1/2 weeks.

Favorite Pictures

2010-09-21T04:47:00.000-07:00

My new memory card did come. And, it errored out already. Yikes! Those baby pictures are gold. But, one of the team at our business found me a program that would rescue the images off the card for pretty cheap. So, I've reformatted the card and am crossing my fingers. I guess large cards are especially problematic for erroring out, but all my cards have done so at one time or another...usually after a lot of use and deleting some photos off my card and not others. Always back up! Well...enough of my camera ramblings.

Our new baby has been a good little boy lately and has been sleeping nice long chunks at night...I should get around to taking more pictures again now between the card issue being fixed and me getting enough sleep. I have a couple of favorite pictures to share with you.

Grandma and Great-Grandma came over the other day. It was lovely to see them and have them share in the joy of our new baby.

Then, the same day I went out to coffee with a friend...here are some pictures of her girls with our baby.

Sundays are a nice day for hanging out at our farm. The girls love it.

A Couple Of Pictures

2010-09-04T20:53:00.001-07:00

It seems I'm only taking pictures of our little man right now. Pretty much. I'm mostly inside with him. Plus, truth be told, he's easier to take pictures of than my girls. He holds still! And, of course, I just want to capture every moment.

Frequently, I'm worried about memory running out of the capture card. I have this little system where I back up my photos to my computer and then do it to my computer at our business. Right now, I'm just staying home, so I haven't done any backing up. So, if I delete any pictures, I only have one picture of them and no backups. My husband is frequently telling me that two instances of our pictures isn't enough anyhow and that I should further backup.

I have a bigger memory card coming soon though. So, while I still need to figure out my backup protocol, that card will give me a bigger buffer and I can capture more at a time...and delete ;-)

My oldest daughter is also getting her first camera. She's nine and she saved some money, plus used her birthday money to get her camera. It's not an SLR, but I think she'll have a lot of fun with it.

Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures from today. My husband took my older kids out huckleberry picking today, so it was just my two year old and my baby today. I'm not sure that was easier, but it did allow me to notice a couple of special moments to capture.

Days Are Flying By

2010-08-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

The days are flying by and I'm feeling a lot better now. I'm still looking forward to our little man sleeping longer at night. Last night went pretty well, though, with him sleeping close to four hours at a time. Here is a picture of how I wrap him up so he will sleep. The receiving blankets are never quite big enough, so I've taken to using kitchen towels to wrap him up, they are just a tad bigger. My young man is 2 weeks and 2 days today. Where does the time go? So glad I'm that far out from his arrival though.

Have you ever taken a black and white, duplicated the layer in Photoshop, and played with overlay? That's how I did this one and I liked the effect.

Here are some other photos:

7 Days Old

2010-08-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of photos from today. My son is 7 days old today. He is still as beautiful as always. I find I am more tired at this point than when he was first born. I think I'm getting a little more tired each day. He is a sweet boy and loves to be held and to lay next to me, so it is a giddy tired.

The Baby Of All Entries

2010-08-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

Our new baby boy came. He has brown hair! My first one like me! :) He is just beautiful. And the moment I looked at him made all the struggles of pregnancy and delivery worth it.

He was born 9:14 on Sunday, August 15, via Caeserean Section.

Brand New

In Daddy's Arms

First Bath

My two year old tells me she will share the baby boy with me.

Seven

2010-08-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

My middle girl is turning seven soon. As many of you know, I am also having a baby soon. So, lucky girl got to celebrate her birthday early. I can't believe it's been seven years since she came into our world. She was the sweetest, most cuddly little baby you could imagine. She is still cuddly and sweet, but a lot more wiggly than she was in those days. Here are a couple of pictures from our celebration tonight:

Baby Boy

2010-08-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

We're in the final countdown for the baby boy. 11 more days. Here are a couple photos to share:

Baby Belly

Baby Boy's Room

Clothes for Baby Boy from wonderful Mother In Law

Pretty Boy

2010-08-01T16:40:00.001-07:00

Isn't he a pretty boy? He's mild mannered too. I can't wait to see how the calves turn out next year from him.

He is often hanging out with her. Either that or she is often hanging out with him.

Except, of course, when he has other duties to attend to. ;)

OHSU

2010-07-30T18:12:00.000-07:00

OHSU has a gorgeous campus. My daughter and I were there the last two days for some tests she was having. Today, I couldn't resist bringing my camera along. Here are some of the shots. I'd love to have more time to just wander around and take pictures, but today we stuck pretty close to where her appointment was.

Art From A Little Girl

2010-07-28T18:56:00.001-07:00

Here is some art from a little girl who can't seem to stop doing art. In fact, she is a very easy child, but occasionally when we've had trouble getting her to pay attention to us (usually because she's concentrating on her art)...we've had to take art away for a few days. I should share more of her art as my nine year old's attention to detail is really something else. I know her artistic ability already exceeds mine. But, she was drawing stick people at two.

However, a love for art is something all her sisters appreciate too. They have different styles. My almost seven year old is totally into the process and feeling of art. It's a fast and enthusiastic process. My step-daughter loves her art pieces for the story they tell I think. Her art is more whimsical.

Here is the art I am sharing today: a carrot and a tractor. The tractor was made for the little boy who is soon to join our family.

Blessed Day

2010-07-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

I pulled my neck the other day and had a crook in it for several days. Then, last night, as I slept, somehow my neck became worse than any of the days before. But, I took what medication I could (being as I'm pregnant) and sat still most of the day. I laid underneath a tree which is by the kid's playground for much of the day and the blue sky shone through, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Later in the day, my dear husband was taking the kids down to the small pond on our property to play with the boats he had made them and asked me to come with him. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, even though most of what I did was sit and watch the kids. Beautiful weather, happy/exploring kids, beautiful nature...what could make a better day? A Blessed Day. Enjoy my pics.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. I'm really close to my final month of pregnancy. I haven't been blogging as much, but I've been enjoying anticipating our new arrival.

My Three Girls

2010-06-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful summer day today. And guess what? My nine year old learned to ride her bike. Believe me we've tried to put a lot of effort into it before now, but today she decided to do it. Up went the training wheels...around and around went the little girl.

Now, we just need to convince her to swim. Again, lots of effort...lots of swim lessons. The swim lessons don't work too well, however, when they either make a big deal that she won't put her face in the water, or don't expect her to. We need to take her to free swims. Ahhh...but I haven't felt much like that being pregnant and all. Next fall...or maybe I'll get myself inspired based on today's events.

Here are a couple of pictures of all three girls. You'll notice bicycle girl has her sun hat and a her bicycle helmet on. The benefits of living in the country...blissful ignorance of proper bike attire.

Dance Recital

2010-06-21T23:30:00.001-07:00

Last week was a really busy week for me. My six year old and nine year old are involved in a really great ballet program. This last week was their recital. So, the week was really busy for me. First, there were pictures, then a dress recital at the studio, then a dress rehearsal at the location, then the actual recital. My girls love participating in this and gain a lot of poise and feminity with the program. These photos were taken at the dress rehearsal, since we couldn't take photos at the actual recital.

The recital was theme of the story of "Joseph" - only it was "Josephine".

My younger daughter is on the left here in this picture. She plays one of the "townspeople".

It's always fun to get a shot like this. They dim the lights completely, except a little on the background.

This is my oldest in her dance.

These girls were on stage with my daughter, as they both played "sisters" in the dance.

I'm not sure what these little girls played, but they sure were cute. The waved little stalks of wheat around during their dance.

In this picture is Josephine and a little friend of my oldest daughter from her class on the right.

Here is my oldest daughter's class surrounding Josephine and presumably throwing her in a "pit".

These were Egyptians.

These had to be the cutest characters in the whole show. They played "little lambs".

The bow. The actual recital night bow was really funny as the little ones didn't line up quite like this. On the recital night, the little class with the colorful skirts, came to the front of the stage and stared out at the audience looking for their parents. Three year olds are always a hoot.

More Sunny Day Pictures

2010-06-05T21:23:00.001-07:00

The sun came out yesterday and stayed out today. It was a lovely, but mellow day. I have two and a half months left of my pregnancy and I am on my fourth pregnancy and have suddenly been hit with the need to go slower. It was a challenging week with kid's health issues and activities going on. With Braxton Hicks already and some hip pain...I just found myself at a standstill in the middle of the week. The sunshine was a welcome change and normally I would find myself trying to do a ton of gardening or taking the kids on an outing, but I mainly just hung out outside today. I have some pictures to share in the process as that is always a relaxing thing for me (unless my husband asks me to take a picture of something for him LOL).

You remember my dirt girl in a frilly dress from a few weeks ago. Pretty much an outside, water, dirt, and mud girl she is. As you can see she has no issues getting her hands dirty.

Tickseed and a Daisy from my daughter's flower garden. My girls all love planting their own gardens and even when the results take a while to produce, they keep on keeping on. This is so satisfying to watch. I have wonderful memories of helping my Grandfather garden. It so lovely to see that love kindled in my children.

One of our two turkeys. They're cute in an ugly sort of way. They are young teenagers at this point and don't have all their pretty head decorations yet.

Our friend the Sapsucker. He is a frequent visitor, and we enjoy watching him (or her).

Seed for the birds.

My reflective one.

And here she is again. She's my oldest, our soon to be nine year old, one step down from my step-daughter, her beloved sister.

The Sun Came Out

2010-06-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

The sun came out today and so did my camera. Here are some shots of some of our farm animals that I liked. They like it when it's sunny too. It's supposed to be sunny (or partly sunny) three days in the coming week. That will be nice.

These are one of our calves born this year. I think she's pretty in an ugly sort of way. She's a Pinzgauer/Black Angus cross and on most of her, the red of the Pinzgauer shows through...except her eyes and nose. If she wasn't ours, I'd probably think she was completely ugly.

Isn't her tail cute?

These are this year's pullets (what hens are called before they lay eggs). When you have egg laying chickens, you really have to get new ones every few years so that they keep laying a good amount of eggs. Alas, the old chickens become chicken soup. We are still keeping these pullets in a seperate pen from the egg laying chickens. Our other chickens are truly free range.

These are our turkeys. I think I like them. My husband, I don't think is so sure. They have been pooping on our front porch and trying to roost on our railing. This is because we moved them into our yard away from the above pictured Pullets who were pecking them. I think the problem is that the turkeys hardly noticed they were being pecked. And they certainly didn't peck back. The turkeys are really funny. They make a barking sound when we go inside after being outside with them. They'll come to a window and look inside when they notice us by a window. They are totally easy to direct to their pen each night as they don't run away like the chickens do. But, all of the sudden, for no particular reason, you'll see them taking a mad dash and running around the yard. They crack me up.

Playing With The Girls

2010-05-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

The girls are so much fun to play with. So much of it happens spontaneously and so it was tonight. I just happened to have my camera in my hand. First, my stepdaughter rolled down the hill and then the rest of them picked up on that and on her jovial play. Dad was inside making tacos. I was actually outside playing with the girls. And...to add to it, it wasn't raining. How wonderful. It's been the rainiest and coldest May here in 10 years my husband says. But, there hasn't been any nighttime cold snaps and the garden is all the better for it, I think. I think we'll be doing our main planting this weekend.

No, it wasn't really THAT cold outside. Can you see her two coats?

Not Afraid Of Dirt

2010-05-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

She's not afraid of dirt.

Her sister brought her in, telling her not to touch anything, after she found her with dirty hands. After snapping a couple of pictures, I washed her hands. She came back about ten minutes later, hands just as dirty, with a mischevious little smile on her face that said, "look what I did!"

Portraits

2010-05-10T22:36:00.001-07:00

I did some portraits of my girls. I'd love to know what other people do with lighting. What do beginning not-quite-professional photographers use? I have something called First Studio that I mainly use at work shooting non-moving objects. The lights aren't very bright. I recently got some shoot through umbrellas to replace the reflectors and the light is nice and soft, but it does further dim the lights as well. I also recently picked up a backdrop that is nice for portraits. I only had a white piece of fabric before.

So, I did some portraits of my girls. Finally, I have a few photos for Grandparents to put in their frames. We homeschool, so we don't get the yearly photos. Plus, I can't stand going to a photo studio. So stressful. And, silly, it seems, considering my photography hobby.

One day, I'd like Alien Bees equipment. And, did I mention a 5D Mark III or whatever is the equivalent by the time I buy. I may have to wait for another decade the way things are going.

Multnomah Falls

2010-05-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Mother's Day at Multnomah Falls.

Me. Before the hike to the top of the falls. Oh, and Multnomah falls is a double falls. So, the hike isn't to the top of that.

The hike is to the top of that.

If you look carefully, you can see the platform at the top of the falls.

The top.

Sisters at the top.

"Little one" (she's kind of heavy - for my husband) in backpack.

Girls by big tree.

This is a picture of my oldest (wearing the purple jacket in the previous picture) at the same tree three years ago.

A snag I took a picture of on the way back down.

Mother's Day Destination

2010-05-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers out there. I told my girls Happy Daughter's Day today and they looked at me all embarrassed. I told them without my daughters, I wouldn't be a mother, and that I was grateful.

We had a fabulous Mother's Day and weekend. My husband and I actually worked a bit together at our business on Saturday, but got away a while having a lunch together (without children). It was fabulous. We hadn't been able to do that in a while. Whenever I tell people that I'm getting away with my husband, I always have people who tell me that I am fortunate, and that they never got away with theirs when their kids were young. How did they do it? I feel so unconnected with my husband when our only time together is after the kids go to bed. You survive, I guess, but I think the way it SHOULD work anyhow is that sisters and friends and mothers and others help each other to make sure that couple time is a priority. Increasingly, it doesn't always work that way nowadays. Yet, it should.

Yet, today, Mother's Day, who else would I ever want to be with, but my children? Oh, and they were so sweet. My oldest made me a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich and took the heal of the bread on purpose so I could have two inside pieces. It's the little things you know. :) We went to my favorite Mother's Day destination. See if you can guess where it was. I'm sure to share more about the day in a day or two. ;)

Playing Around

2010-05-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with Photoshop tonight. Mostly, I've been playing around with this tutorial:

http://pshero.com/photoshop-tutorials/photo-effects/calculations-and-colorization

The tutorial is all about converting to black and white using Image > Calculations, and then adding a gradient to the black and white image.

The Calculations method of converting to black and white is really dramatic and super easy. There are so many interesting methods of converting to black and white. One of my other favorites, I write about here:

http://createdforinspiration.blogspot.com/2009/03/black-white-baby-portrait.html

But, this method seems simpler to me and gives you a different result.

Of course, you can also simply:

Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.

Or,

Image > Mode > Grayscale.

Or,

Create An Adjustment Layer (Round Black/White circle at the bottom of your layers pallette) and choose Black & White from the pull down menu, and play with the sliders.

Or,

Create An Adjustment Layer and choose Channel Mixer. Then, click the Monochrome box in the Channel Mixer and play with the sliders.

Here are some images I made tonight with the Calculations and Colorization tutorial listed above. I used the exact tutorial on my flower pictures. Then, I used the high contrast black and white conversion using Calculations to adjust some photos that never quite showed the full range of colors or contrast that I saw with my eyes, using different blending techniques (soft light and overlay and different combinations of opacity for various layers).

Even enhanced here in Photoshop, this photo didn't do justice to the BLUE, BLUE stream I saw here at Yellowstone. Unfortuneately, we drove by it at noon day and then stopped by when the light was lower in the sky. The irradescent blue bacteria in the stream were really cool.

Truly, the Grand Prismatic pool at Yellowstone has all these colors and more. It's a sight to behold. Make sure, if you ever go to Yellowstone, to stop at this one.

Bathtime

2010-05-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

This little girl has a drive for waterplay and outdoor time. Most of the time she could care less about toys of all types - with the exception of her dollies. Bathtime is her favorite. She likes attention when she's taking a bath, but if she gets interaction during bathtime she could stay there all day. In this picture she is pouring out water and has a slightly mischevious look on her face. It's the age, I should cherish it. She's cute.

At Grandma's Retirement

2010-05-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

My Mom retired this week and two of my girls went up with me to see Grandma. I thought this picture of my littlest eating cake was super cute. She is such a little doll.

Spring Flowers

2010-04-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

It isn't May yet, but there are flowers out. Here are a few from our outdoor adventure yesterday. I'm including a few other signs of Spring. :)

Busy Girl

2010-04-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

We had a pleasant day today. It was cloudy, but not rainy, so my littlest and I got to spend quality time together outside while my older two were in their art class. These photos are a demonstration of my toddler's pure busy-ness right now. All toddlers are busy, but she's at the super two year old stage right now and she loves to climb. I have to stay on my toes to keep her safe.

Black & White Toddler

2010-04-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

I think we've all been feeling a little under the weather here, so the pictures are slow in coming. Plus, the skies are still mostly grey and rainy...although...it has warmed up. I know I should expect a lot of rain here in the Northwest, but El Nino years are a bit much! Here is an inside shot of my toddler playing after a bath.

Girl - Fix It Friday

2010-04-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

It is another Fix It Friday over at I Heart Faces.

I had a lot of fun with this image. The subject has such contrasty features, it was really fun to see Photoshop bring them out with a few edits.

Here is the original:

Here is a Sepia Edit:

I thought this photo especially lent itself well to adding sepia.

Here is my first Color Edit:

Here is my Textured Color Edit:

Isn't He Cute?

2010-04-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

Violin Day

2010-04-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my daughter's violin recital. She did wonderfully. I'm so proud of her. All the girls get into it even though they don't play yet. The love "going to violin".

Here are photos from the event. I enjoyed taking pictures there and experimenting with my different lenses even though the lighting was not optimal. Most pictures were shot at ISO 800. That's about how far I can push my camera.

Darn It

2010-04-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

Darn It! I'm thinking my up and coming BOY would not really appreciate me dressing him up in Pettiskirts, Tutus, Headbands, and Angel Wings. But, my friend just told me about this online store.

http://www.haloheaven.com/cutiecontest.html

I had priced Pettiskirts before for some presents for my girls and they were running $45 plus. My friend tells me that these aren't quite the same quality as those, but that they're great for taking photos.

Anyone, have any good (read good, but cheap) sources for Baby Boy photography accessories? I want to be prepared to take some pictures. And, yes, the baby is expected to be a boy (after three girls). :)

Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

2010-04-02T21:16:00.001-07:00

We went to Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge today. We went to the South entrance, which includes a "blind" drive and a walkup blind. During the summer (May on), it also has a short (flat) hike you can go on.

I've been to the North side of the wildlife refuge before, but it didn't have nearly as much wildlife on that side as either time I had been to this South side of the refuge.

I could spend the entire day (on a day with decent weather) here at the refuge. It is really amazing. Here are my pictures from the day.

Cool rainbow low in the sky.

The Canadian Geese were taking off and landing frequently. Usually a ways away from us though.

I think this is a Common Snipe.

Western Scrub Jay

Not sure what these are, but they looked like ducks, had whitish bills, dark grey bodies, and black heads.

We call her Eskimo.

My middle daughter.

Canadian Goose

I didn't know this guy was a bird at first, until my husband said something. He looked like a log to me until I looked closer. He is called an American Bittern.

The train we saw on the way out. The kids counted 106 cars, plus 3 engines.

Fix It Friday - Little Girl & Doll

2010-04-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

It's Fix It Friday over at I Heart Faces. This picture with the girl and her doll is precious, and captures perfectly what being a little girl is about. I have two renditions for Fix It Friday: one with increased contrast, texture, and a text; the other in black and white.

Here's the original.

Here's the color "Fix It".

Here's the black and white.

A Day Outside

2010-03-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

It was the most marvelous family day spent outside today. My husband is making doors for the ends of my greenhouse that he made me last year. I was trimming obnoxious bushes and digging up weeds and planting flower starts. The girls were making pretend to their hearts content. It was marvelous.

I have a couple of photos to share from today. Honestly, I didn't have a chance to take many photos. However, I saw our cat curled up in a ball so tight underneath one of those bushes destined for destruction and I had to attempt to capture her. Then, I turned around and caught a picture of my daughter. And, while it isn't the most technically perfect photo, it was great fun to capture that moment and her expression.

I Heart Faces - Angles

2010-03-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is angles. So, I submit a photo I took at an interesting angle. This photo was taken just after a late spring rainstorm and jumping in puddles and being silly is a lot of fun after it rains. So, I got a lot of fun photos on this particular day.

Eighteen Weeks

2010-03-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

I'm at about eighteen weeks right now. I'm still experiencing morning sickness in the morning! What's up with that? At least it's only in the morning. I took my first pregnancy picture today with my camera's timer. Here it is:

Sunshiney Day

2010-03-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

I took my girls to violin and art yesterday. Art is two hours long, so I have some time with my little girl during that time. Since it was a sunny day, I stayed close by and we took a walk in the nearby neighborhood. We went past one gentleman's place and the flowers were just beautiful. He had a completely full flower bed full of different kinds of daffodils, as well as some beautiful Hyancinths - in blues and purples and whites. You could tell too that he had different rotations of flowers, as among the daffodils, we hiding some rose canes, perfectly pruned back. The man came around the corner as I was talking to my littlest girl about the yard and I told him he had beautiful flowers. So, he offered us some and also gave us some hints about bulbs. Did you know that you shouldn't let your bulb flowers die on the vine (you should deadhead them) for bulb production? However, you should let the the stems die back before cutting those off. Here are a couple of pictures from the day. One with my little girl with her flowers and two with her falling asleep in the car. That is inevitable for her every Wednesday. We wear her out.

The Moods Of The Violin

2010-03-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

My eldest's serious look, practicing violin...

(She's reading those notes.)

Her excited look...

(I ask her what she wants to play me.)

Her proud look...

(What else can I say?)

Photoshop Shapes

2010-03-15T20:01:00.001-07:00

I came across a Photoshop Shape Tutorial. Photoshop actually has quite rich shape features. They are a lot of fun to play with.

Here is the link:

http://www.showandtell-graphics.com/fun-with-shapes.php

Here are some images I made with the technique:

I Heart Faces - Bundled Up

2010-03-14T22:36:00.001-07:00

I Heart Faces theme this week is "Bundled Up". This photograph popped right into my mind. It is one of my absolute favorites. I love the rich tones and the sweet moment in time when my littlest girl was all bundled up. Although we had no snow to speak of this year, I think this photo describes that theme perfectly.

Enhancing Skies

2010-03-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Marla, I learned a second method for enhancing dull skies. Part Two of this tutorial: http://www.layersmagazine.com/exposure-blending-in-photoshop.html

This technique is also good for high contrast photos that have heavy shadows and heavy highlights. It brings out the details in the photos that are typically missing in deep shadows or bright highlights.

Basically, by opening your RAW image as a Smart Object, you are able to create a second version of your image which you can adjust with Camera Raw. Then you apply a adjustment filter to it, to hide portion where you want to use the original settings from your first Camera Raw version of the photo.

I compared this to the other technique I learned for enhancing skies...which is to add a second layer at 50% grey, apply color burn, and make an adjustment layer to get back your original image for the non-burned layer.

Just for fun, I played around with these two techniques to compare them. I took an old photo from Hawaii and applied the two techniques. Basically, the Camera Raw/Smart Object version seems to restore the actual details of the sky. The Color Burn version seems to be an artistic addition to your photo. It produces slightly unreal colors in the sky...but color popularly seen in digital photography today. Here are the versions...

Original

Camera Raw/Smart Object

Color Burn (again this technique brought out the noise, so I ran the Noise Filter on it when done)

Pictures From Today

2010-03-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

I love farm time (most of the time). To tell the truth, I have a huge need to get out as well. But, I've found myself doing less of that lately, dealing with the tiredness of pregnancy. I find the farm time to be rejuvinating. Today, we also went off to explore elsewhere, as my husband is looking into another place to graze some of our cattle in the summer. It was a fun, family adventure...sort of like going on a mini hike.

Here is a picture of my step-daughter watching a movie with her sister last night.

An old barn we saw on our off-site adventure today.

My little one with her pail in hand.

Calf born last night.

Another picture of the calf.

My Sweet

Coming Over

Chatting

Neat Trick - Enhancing Skies

2010-03-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

OK. Here's a neat trick that I read about in one of my Photoshop books. If you have a washed out sky, you can darken or intensify the sky pretty easily. I did notice that it intensified some of the noise of my original picture, but the effect was minimal and my camera typically has some noise with sky pictures.

Add a layer above your picture and fill it with 50% gray
Choose a Blend Mode of Color Burn. (To get to Blend Mode right click on your 50% gray layer and choose Blending Options. Blend Mode is one of the top pull down menus.
So that the rest of your picture isn't darkened too much, make an Adjustment Layer (the "square with a circle in it" icon at the bottom of your Layers Palette) and using a soft black brush, fill in the areas of your photograph that aren't the sky.
Adjust the opacity of the 50% Gray Layer as necessary.

Here are a couple screen prints of the process, followed by a before and after shot of a enhanced sky on a photo.

This was the original.

This was the enhanced version.

This was the enhanced version with Noiseware Community Edition run on it.

Nine Months Of Growth

2010-03-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

I faded two pictures of my baby doll together this evening. One picture (on the right) is her right now. Don't you love her curls? One is from last June. Isn't it amazing how they change and yet stay the same. This evening I saw a picture of a little boy that I babysat some twenty years ago. He is now a handsome man, about to head off to serve in Afghanistan. It is surreal how life goes on and we all change, and yet we remain the same. It is hard to imagine my young ladies being all grown up, ready to start families of their own or head off on their own adventure.

Sun Was Shining In

2010-03-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today's weather forcast has everything in it - rain, sun, hail, snow. The snow is supposed to be mainly after 10:00 p.m. with little or no accumulation. That is the story of this year, so far. However, one year we got snow on April 19, so you never know. Anyhow, the sun was shining in our living room window today in a truly lovely manner. So...I wanted to share with you some photos I took. The girls had a lot of fun taking picture, but for the most part the little one was not cooperating. "No!" after all is her favorite word these days. I did manage one picture of her with her sisters, however.

Isn't she pretty? She wouldn't like it if she knew I got a serious photo of her, but this photo shows so much of who she is, so well.

Outside

2010-03-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

The weather was lovely yesterday and passable today. Yesterday, the kids and I cleaned up our house and then went with my Hubby to do recycling, Home Depot, and Costco. I love getting out, but I haven't felt tops, so I love to tag along with my husband. We missed actually playing outside in that lovely weather, what between sleeping in, cleaning, and errands. The kids are making up for it today. I think if the weather were just between 55 and 80 at all times, my girls would never come inside, except to eat, of course. On these days, my two year old is soooooo sad about taking her nap.

Here are some pictures of their outside play, starting with a couple of the youngest and Mommy in thanks to my eight year old.

I thought this picture was funny, because our expressions were identical.

Notice all of them have their shoes off. I've given up lately.

Western Box Elder Bug

2010-03-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

My girls know these bugs as "Red Striped Beetles" or "Friendly Bug". One of my girls was afraid of the bug when she first saw one and I convinced her that this bug would not sting or bite her, it was a friendly bug. So, all my girls refer to this bug by that name. It's real name, however, is "Western Box Elder Bug" and it feeds mainly on the sap of deciduous trees.

We don't have many deciduous trees on our property, but we do have a few in our yard. You can tell from my previous post that our neighborhood sapsucker has provided lots of holes in our backyard alder trees. These bugs love to try and come indoors in the winter and you can find them sometimes in the hundreds sunning on our siding in the late Spring and cooler days of Summer.

Spring Is Upon Us

2010-03-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Around here there are two signs that Spring is upon us. The first is the birds begin returning. It's definitely the bird watchers season and I feel blessed living in the country where the birds are plentiful. The second is the Magnolia tree blooms. So, Spring is here ready or not. I'm sure those of you on the Eastern side of the North America and quite ready for Spring to be here. Here is the Pacific Northwest we had not much snow to speak of and pretty mild weather.

Red Breasted Sapsucker

Magnolia In Bloom

My Husband Took These

2010-03-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

OK. My husband took these photos. But, I love them, so I'm sharing. I said to him when he came in, "I just love that lens." He said, "sure, when you like my photos, it's the lens, when you don't, it's the photographer."

It's funny, despite semi-expensive lens purchases over the years (both L lenses, albeit f4.0 L lenses), I love my f2.8 Macro lens which was not an L lens, but was priced sort of in between. Really, each lens has different purposes...I have a 70-200mm - (that's good for when you want to zoom in on a subject and can't move closer...I wouldn't mind getting an extension for that one)...and I have an 18-40mm lens (that was my dream landscape lens...but it's not so hot on portraits or up-close work...just not flattering, probably has some minor distortion up close). One day, I want a really portrait lens...f1.4, but until then, I'm really pretty blessed to have the camera equipment I do.

Calf Pics

2010-02-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of cute calf pics I took today. I love the red color of the Red Angus. I think it helps the herd to hang out closer to our house because the grass truly is greener on our side of the fence (especially this time of year).