An Unexpected Treasure

Hiding in the top of my garage was this ancient box of treasures. One of my most interesting finds was this set of Depression rose glass. This is one of the teacups that I gazed at, wondering at it's delicacy and beauty.

1/40s

f 2.8

ISO 320

Simple cropping and lightening in Picasa.

Near Future...Wishing Not

My daughter will soon be going to school for the first time. I kind of wish that it wasnt the case.

Some people think that taking the bus is like prison. The stigma of the short bus is somewhat like a prison I suppose.

Well if you are like me school was just a prison.

Challenge: choose your challenge

I am sorry all the computer has been on the fritz lately and I have been out of my mind busy so I didnt get a new word up. Since we are halfway through the week just pick any previous old one challenge and post it. If you took a picture for one and didnt get it posted go ahead and use the old picture too.

Tasty!

TexMex Lasagna - recipe here

Tastes Like Summer...

We had a bbq here in Idaho.  It was a warm 62 degrees.  It was windy but it is SPRING!!  We enjoyed flying kites and this made me so excited for summer.  I didn't alter any colors and I just used the collage feature in Picasa to arrange them.  YUMMY!!

Just a Taste

Because that's what you do when you finger-paint with pudding!

Baby Doll

I know this is late but I had a good excuse. I just got home from the hospital today and we have something new to play with!

Kyle Jason Gundersen

8lbs 12 oz

Born March 13 at 7:52pm

Challenge: Taste

I was thinking back to when we did food and we had some good pictures and when I went back to look my mouth was watering a little bit. So I figured why not TASTE! Could be anything regarding food or something that isnt food that has a taste perhaps who knows. You show us!

Lets post by Sunday March 21st at 11:59PST!

P.S. Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all!

Toying With Me

I have the blessing of having lots of toys (camera and now my blackberry), the kids have their toys, even park "climb toy". But mostly this picture is for the sunflare picture that seems to be toying with me. I sort of get and then Im totally off so it is just toying with me!

Let's Play Ball!

Challenge: Toy

Perhaps this could be easy or you could have more fun with it. Lets see what you come up with for TOY! It could be something that is your toy or a childs toy or something that you want to be your toy. Maybe it is something different, but you get the idea.

Post again by Sunday night March 14th at 11:59pm PST

Bedtime...

Since my husband works until midnight, five nights a week, this is my night: a chilly bed, untouched on his side, lights on, and a book to keep me company. Naturally, night on those other two days of the week means...something else ;)

Night time glow

The row of garages at our place.

i love the lights and how they glow.

Nikon D60

f stop4.2, iso auto/1.1

Challenge: Night

For this challenge I wanted to do something abnormal. Most of the time for phtography we need good lighting so what if we chose the word NIGHT for this challenge. It could be a pic of anything at night or something you do at night or even something that you think of when you hear the word.

As always post Sunday night March 7th at 11:59PM PST!

Play Time at the Beach

Our play time today consisted of us fossil hunting at the beach.

(we found about 10)

This is the side of the mountin that had the fossils in it, great weather today!!

We couldnt get to the agates, tide was coming back in.

Nikon, D60

auto, no flash,

Water Play

"I'm not playing around, Miss L. You're in big trouble. You stay out of the cookies. Don't you grin at me like that...it won't work...oh, with those eyes and that grin...oooh, I love you!"
1/30s
f2.8
ISO 200
minor tweaking in picasa to even the light.

My favorite thing here, besides the grinning girl, is the one droplet ripple right between her and the soap. It just looks nice to me.

Mommies Play too!

Man I have missed this blog! I don't know what my deal has been but I haven't really done much of anything with my photography lately but I really want to get back into it. I guess I could blame it on my giant belly and the possibility of popping any minute... but that's really not a good excuse. I'm sorry Mission 24! I'll try to be better.

Anyway, I know this isn't overly artistic or anything but it's actually a bit out of the box for me anyway because I always forget to get into the pictures myself. This was my son's idea. He put the "glasses" on me and pointed at the camera. I LOVE it! I think, as silly as it may seem, this might be one of my favorite pictures of us together.

f/4 , 1/60 sec, ISO200---- basically, it was on auto. I've got to get away from that!

playing = beautiful

My niece Marlee and I were in the bathroom playing in a sink full of water.  Of course I have camera and I am snapping away.  She just happened to turn and I snap and it turned out beautifully (if I do say so myself)!

Take with a Nikon D50.  I edited colors and focal black and white in Picasa.

Challenge: Play

This might be quite easy for many people to take a shot of cus we all try and do this as much as we can in whatever way we can! PLAY. So literally lets go and have fun and take those shots for this weeks challenge.

As always post by Sunday Night which this month is February 28th at 11:59pm PST.

Glowing Rays..

The weather here in Idaho can't make up it's mind.  It has been high forties/low fifties for the past copule of days (that way above normal.  Usually still in mid-high thirties this time of year).  Clouds have been hanging around but it just makes for beautiful sights.  I did alter colors a little (darkened shadows so you didn't see ugle brown on the ground).  Taken with my old Kodak.  Would edit out the wire but just don't have time.  Need to get to sleep so I can get to work on time in the morning.

Glow: Blushing bride

What bride-to-be (or new bride) doesn't glow when she puts this on for the first time?


Taking this picture was kind-of fun. I was playing around with my camera, and I had the blinds up in the bathroom window, with an overcast (but still bright, just not sunny) day outside. The white background is light and snow on the ground outside.

Taken with my brand new Canon EOS Rebel XSi. Stats: 1/100s, f/5.6, ISO 400. I adjusted exposure a teeny bit, saturated color, and then threw a glow layer on in Picasa.

My glowing 6 year old

I don't have a recent shot -- but here is one I took of my little girl in December.
Turning six was a big deal to her, as she finally got her ears pierced.
I love that little twinkle in her eye and the light from her candle. Too sweet!

The glow of a dying candle

I haven't posted for a long time. But when we lost power last night I had the perfect opportunity to shoot some gorgeous "glow" shots. I took about 60 pictures of candles burning lower and lower... This one's my favorite. Very little editing - just cropped to get a better composition, and the tiniest bit of color enhancement.

Glowing Rays

I used a huge tree to block the light right in front of me hoping that some rays would shine down on the otherside of the shore and give it a good glow. I didnt get the glow but I did get the sun rays coming through a bit here so I emphasized them with the glow settings in Picasa. Any CC is welcomed!

Challenge: Glow

Im quite excited to give the word for the new challenge. GLOW might be challenging but yet fun to see results from people. You can get a show of something glowing or of anything you want and make it "glow" with editing. Whatever you got lets seem it!

Lets post by Sunday February 21 by 11:59PM PST. Special thanks goes out to Melinda for the great word suggestion!

What I Think of

It really has nothing to do with a bowl except that it reminds me of flowers floating in a bowl on tables for a variety of parties/receptions.

Challenge Reminder

Just a reminder to submit by midnight on sunday for BOWL! Anything that means to you. Looking forward to seeing what you got. Feel free to share your Super Bowl pictures too if you took any special for that!

Old Time Curlers

This is late because I was having an asthma attack on Sunday night, when I'd planned on getting to 'fixing' my photos from my daughter's birthday celebration. (That's also why I don't have any Superbowl pictures...I was too busy trying to heave out a lung.) This was taken Friday night in prep for her 'Fancy Nancy' birthday party. (See my blog for more on that!)

I took this to picasa and after cropping, tinted it brown, then made the true colors come out by half. (If that makes sense...)

Challenge: Bowl

I told everyone to save their pictures from what they did from there activities yesterday. Here is your chance to show us the best you got. Or perhaps you can show us what else the word Bowl means to you. Either way Im sure it will be super.

Lets post by next Sunday at FEB 14th at11:59PM PST again!

Grandma D

This is my Grandmother.  Back in the old times, I would see here at least 3x a year.  Now that the family is older, it is harded to get back to eastern Idaho where she lives (I live in western Idaho and it is a five hours driver to see her).  This was a simple candid shot of her but it is my favorite.  And I admit I didt take this last year but being without a camera it makes it hard to do the challenges. Hopefully if time permits, I am going to get a Kodak point/shoot tomorrow or Wednesday so next challenge will be a current shot I promise. 

Old Time Pose

It isnt much but it is all I could manage with my sickness. This pose is perhaps as old as time so many people do it.

Oh, the delicious smell of a newborn!

I had a newborn shoot a couple of weeks ago.
She was so tiny. So perfect. So new.
She made me wish I had another teeny tiny baby.

Babyhood is now considered old times, for me.
Our family is complete and we are pretty darn happy.

But, sometimes, you can't help but think of the old times - when babies are tiny, they need you so much, and you lose hours of your day just staring at the perfect little sleeping angel you've created.
Those old times are precious and fleeting.

Challange: Old Time(s)

It has been quite a while since we had a challenge and I wanted to give everyone the chance to get back at it again despite decreased popularity to about zero! Perhaps you are all just waiting for the chance to do something great and I can give that to you.

In thinking of a word I thought old times when this challenge had many many entries each week. I was so grateful for it. It provided me fun times and wonderful things to do during a hard time. So here is to the OLD TIME(s) show us what that means to you! Im quite excited to see what everyone comes up with. It is quite a broad challenge so anything you think of for old time will work.

Lets post by Sunday night February 7th at 11:59PM PST. Thats after the Super Bowl for all you people who throw parties.

Hint - Take pictures and save them from whatever you do for the Super Bowl for the next challenge! ;)

Challenge is Something Different

For this challenge I dont want anyone to take pictures unless they want to related to the topic. Since I have a new camera and it is fun/difficult to learn to do things I wanted to have everyone take a few minutes and post 1 thing they learned about their camera, settings etc. that really helped them. I can be SLR or Point and Shoot.

So for example if you really found a combination of f-stop and iso you really liked, etc. It can be anything. Maybe one or two paragraphs. The idea is to have a very mini tutorial to help each other with our cameras. If you want to post picture with it to show us you can, but it isnt required.

Please post by Sunday the 17th, by 11:59PM PST.

Back to the future...

I know I am a few days late so I beg forgiveness...

Taken with Nikon D50, 1/60s, f/4.8. I confes to altering the color to fade it and add a more brown color.

Future

I think there are two things in life that can never be re-created. Ever.
The joy of a bride. And the scent of a newborn.

Saturday, I shot a beautiful wedding.

This couple is so very, very special.
As I listened to their story, it gave me goose bumps. Literally.

Imagine falling in love with a boy when you’re 13. And you plan to marry at 18. Only, your mother so desperately wants you to go to college — and not get married just yet. So, you don’t.
And then many years pass.
Out of the blue one day, you receive a phone call that your boyfriend from your teenage years -who you’ve not spoken to since that time- has suffered the loss of a parent.
That love comes rushing back and without questioning it, you go to him — all the way from North Carolina to Kansas.
And you get engaged four weeks later; blissfully marry about 6 months later?
Can you imagine that?
Loving someone so much, for so long, that distance and years cannot keep you apart?

I was just so touched by this couple, their genuine affection for each other, and the absolute happiness that the bride exuded. From the moment I walked in this morning, she was giddy. Just absolutely giddy.

Her loneliness is in her past -- and only wonderful, loving, cherished moments will fill her future.

Future Flowers

So im still learning with my new SLR but im most excited about it. Look at the improvement from my last few! :) Was on a walk today and realized that all the familiar summer/fall flowers were all dead and brown. These Camilles were the only ones in bloom which reminded me I have some on the porch still yet to bloom! My future flowers!

My Little Effort

To make the future better... these are my new shopping bags I use when I go shopping anywhere and everywhere!

f/1.8, 1/160, ISO 125

Challenge: Future

Alright everyone it is a new year. Perhaps you all have recommitted to take more pictures or lost weight, or do better at things financially, persoanlly, or even spiritually! Just remember you can do it and stick with it.

So here is to the Future and go ahead and take a picture of whatever it means to you. Perhaps that is something to do with your resolutions, perhaps it is a dream home/car. Lets see what you have for us!

Lets have it posted by Sunday Janurary 10th by 12:00am PST!

Merry Christmas Everyone

I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you all caught the joy of the Christmas spirit be it from children, giving, present, tradition, football, food and religious meaning. It is a great time of the year for everything.

So MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all! Hang on to your photos you took they will come in handy (hint hint) ;)