Pretty Ugly and Week 7/52

I have been sick for well over a week now. And although I don't think I'm getting much better, I've decided to buck up and ignore it until it goes away. The unfortunate thing is that my cough will not be ignored. And neither will my daughter, who was up 6 times last night screaming her little head off. She should be better, having had antibiotics for the last 5 days. Anyway...I'm off on a tangent.

Allowing myself a sick day on Thursday, I decided that I may as well take advantage of some daylight and take my weekly picture. This week's theme was "pretty ugly" or, "finding the beauty in something ugly." I sat for a while thinking about all the ugly things in my life. I thought about taking a self-portrait of my sad, cold-sored self. I thought about taking a picture of my overgrown litterbox of a back yard. I thought about snapping a shot of the overflowing kitchen trash can or the mountain of laundry in my bedroom. But in the end, I decided I couldn't really see any beauty in those things, so I opted for more "pretty" than "ugly."

I'm sure the "pretty" is obvious, but the "ugly" is the fact that this lovely skein of yarn is in a massive tangle of knots. This is also my first challenge shot that I've gotten to edit with PS5. I am In.Love. I seriously know nothing about this program, but it's slowly coming back to me and you can do so many great things with it. It's terribly addicting...

Anyway, have a great weekend friends. I am off in search of some painkillers and more cough syrup.

Week 6/52: Linear

I've neglected to post this week's photo, because I'm REALLLLLY unhappy with it. But since the new challenge goes up today (and since if I don't post now, I probably won't next week either) I figured I'd better bite the bullet and do it.

This week's challenges were "chaos" and "linear." And although my house and life did feel a lot like "chaos" this week with the big return to school and this HORRIBLE bug hitting us, I didn't feel quite comfortable sharing all of that with the entire blogosphere. So, I went with "linear."  I had a lot of ideas: valentine conversation hearts, train tracks, pallets...but I kept returning to the simple (probably because of said chaos). Elise's most favorite time of day is bath time (funny, since she hated baths when she was small). And her favorite thing to do in the bath tub is line up her duckies and count them..."nah, he, un, see, do!" The concept was good. I wanted to focus on the ducks, not on Elise so that's what I did. But the lighting was bad. And then when I edited it, it just all fell apart and looked super grainy and well, awful. So sad...

But I didn't have the time, or the energy, to try to re-shoot and re-edit the shot, so that's what I got. We win some, we lose some. BUT...on another note. I got my new lens this week and I LOVE it. And I've been trying really hard to figure out shooting in manual. So last night when I mustered up the strength to bathe the kiddo again, I played around a bit. So, as to not end on a bad picture, here's one I love. This is her Betty Boop face.

I love how she's posing with her little belly sticking out and her hands almost on her hips. I love how crisp her eyes are and the look she's giving, because that's HER to a tee. 

I bought Photoshop this weekend. Still waiting for the authorization from Journeyed so I can actually open it, but it should happen today! Yikes, a new program to play with and grades due in a week and a half. Not. Good. Have a great week everyone!

Week 5/52...YOU!

This week's photo challenge was to get out from behind the camera, something I never seem to do. I'm really not a fan of getting my picture taken. I always feel so goofy, unnatural, something...
So needless to say, this really WAS a challenge for me. I tried to set up my camera on the tri-pod and take some shots using the timer. Everything I got was terrible. Headless, out of focus, weird poses, the whole thing. So instead, I enlisted my friend Jalyne to help me out. We went out searching for the perfect spot, set up the camera, and had some fun. We got a lot of fun shots.

B even got to take a few shots. See the one in the far left corner? Yeah, that was the one he took right after he farted behind the camera. 

But in the end, I could only choose one to submit. Here it is. <3

My two love bugs cuddling with me. As painful or difficult as it may be to get out from behind the camera, it is so important to be able to have these memories. All too soon, these two will be off starting families of their own. I want them to be able to remember the times they had with their mom. And I think this one's a framer. :)

Wanna join the "Let's Do 52 Challenge"? 

http://paintthemoon.net/blog/category/lets-do-52/

I'm still here...

...and enjoying my mid-year break! I have to say that I LOVE year-round school for the fact that every time I'm getting burnt out and feeling like I need a break, I get one! 7 weeks feels soo good right now!!

So, uh, obviously I haven't been so good at blogging and holding a full-time job, not to mention mothering and wifering too, but I sorta knew that would happen...

Anywhooo...

I got a new camera for Christmas (thanks baby brother) and I might be falling in love with photography! I signed up for this "Let's Do 52" project at www.paintthemoon.net.

I'm setting a goal (resolution?) to try to post each week's picture. I'm learning so much already and trying to think outside the box more and more. And I figure, 1 blog post a week shouldn't be too much (there might be more!) to handle.

So, without further adieu, here are pictures from week 3 and 4. (I joined late).

Week 3-52: Negative Space

Week 4-52: Unexpected Perspective 

I may or may not be a little obsessed at this point...I'm sure it will wane upon my return to school.
Wanna join "Let's Do 52" with me? Here's the Link: Paint the Moon - Let's Do 52 Challenge

My new best friend.

I have to share about my new best friend.
I did this with it:

And this:

And this:

It’s called Picnik – online photo editing. Uh-mazing. And FREE!!! (Unless you want the SUPER-DEE-DUPER effects.)
Look at all these pretties I made with this website! All with my original photography.

Nice and vibrant and sharpened. Makes those buttons really POP!

I love this look and always wondered how photographers did it. Even my boring table looks amazing!

This would make some fantastic art! Can you believe those are the same buttons?
 
I love old looking photos. I even whitened my grout!
OK, so I’m probably the last person on earth to discover this site, but in case I’m not, there ya go! Picnik!