challenge: freedom

It is my favorite holiday of the year coming up and what better way to get in an easy challenge than show us your photos for what you have done over the 4th of July weekend.  FREEDOM is perhaps something we take for granted sometimes so lets do it some justice and post something about what that means to you.

Post by Sunday July 11th

Future Creator..

I know I am late but I just could resist.  This was taken on Fathers Day (I think).  He totally love taking pictures now and has some of the most interesting compostions.  We are starting the creative process early.  This is my nephew Wyatt and he is 3 3/4yrs old.

Challenge: Joint

This was a word I came across today and thought it might be interesting to get people's take on what it means to them.  Joint could be for a lot of things more literal and noticable or perhaps not.  Let's see it!


Post by Thursday July 1st

A girl's 2 favorite things

Bling.
And shoes!

Canon 40D
SOOC
ISO 400
f/4

Practice in the Mudd

Our girls wanted to play in the mudd since the game got canceled.

So they practiced sliding ;)

Nikkon D60, iso auto

Challenge: Creative

Many of you out there are far more creative than me.  Perhaps there is something creative that you like to do or you just have a creative idea for a shot.  So do it and then shoot it and then post it.  Also feel free to post word suggestions.

As always lets post by next Sunday the 20th by midnight PST.

Goodbye Three!

I took my littlest out for a photo shoot to commemorate her last few days of being three years old.
She has learned so much this year, but I know this next year is going to go by so fast. And then kindergarten! I'm not ready!

I took this picture right before we left and said good bye to Vegas! Who needs Paris when you have Vegas?

Quick goodbye

So, I didn't take this picture intending to use it for this challenge, but it sort-of works. A friend of mine has these gorgeous cherry poppies in her front yard. They are a beautiful bright/deep red on the outside and a surprising dark violet inside. This one had only opened the day before and was already wilting.

Goodbye Spring

I have REALLY missed this blog. I hope nobody takes it personal, I've hardly even been taking pictures of my own kids lately. Things are just a bit crazy- anybody want to buy a house in West Allis WI??

I actually signed up for a photography class a few months ago and finally attended it last week. Most of what was taught I already knew (thanks to many of you!) but I did learn a few tricks but mostly I got motivated to keep working on my photography. So here I am, resolved to jump back into it.... with a post of "GOODBYE", how ironic. I really hope this isn't really a goodbye.

Hello??? Anybody out there?

Come on guys, it's never too late to get back into something you love.

I LOVE these flowers. I had meant to take pictures of this flower bush in my backyard a few days ago when I noticed it was in bloom. Then when I finally did get my tush out the door with camera in hand I was momentarily disappointed to see that the flowers were dying already. I WAS sad, until I realized how beautiful and textured they had become, and how perfect the fallen petals were for creating some interesting bokeh.
I actually couldn't pick a favorite so I'll probably be posting more on my own blog later but this was the first one that caught my eye.

I used aperture priority (yay! me- no automatic)
f/4.5
1/30 sec
AND- I pulled out my 35mm lense. It's been gathering dust lately but now I remember how I LOVE it!

Challenge: Goodbye

I figure this might be an interesting challenge.  Things come and go and many of us have come and gone as well.  Perhaps we can post a picture for Goodbye of our favorite one we took for m24 in the whole entire past.  It could be a picture of something that you have done for m24 and havent posted or didnt make the cut.  You could also just post what goodbye might me to you in any other way.


Post by Sunday May 30th at midnight.

Challenge: Diet

Maybe this is because of the last picture posted or cus Im on one but I thought diet might be an interesting challenge.  Lets see what it means to you in any way literal or subjective etc.


Post by Monday May 10th at midnight!  This way you all have an extra day besides mom's day!


HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all M24 MOMS and FUTURE MOMS!

Heavenly Desserts!

When I get stressed, I need to blow off some steam.
And how do I do that?
By baking!
Let's just say that I frequently need to release stress.
And I frequently kick myself for it because the scale tattles on me later ;)

This is a Southern Classic - 7 layer chocolate cake with homemade fudge icing.
I can hear my scale screaming at me already...

Causing steam..

Here in Idaho we are having some great thunderstorms.  I was at my parents house yesterday and was fortunately to capture the sunset peeking out between the blanket of clouds and the horizon.  (First time I saw the sun all day).  The only problem is the power cord running right through the shot (bottom picture).  Anyway, I wanted to remove it so.  But the only time I can squeeze it in is at work (too much going on after work til Monday).  So I uploaded to MS Paint and  use the color picker tool and just slowly removed the cable.  Not the greatest job (that will happen this weekend) but I thougth good enough to share.  A couple of times I got so frustrated that I thought steam would come out my ears but I made it and thank heavens I kept saving every few changes.

I am also working on a rainbow if you want to check that out on my blog

Challenge: Steam

Perhaps cus this challenge blog has been losing some of it the last year I chose the word steam to do a challenge this week.  I really hope you all get a chance to submit something this week.


Remember to post by Sunday May 2nd at 11:59pm PST

Borrowed Lens

I shot a wedding for a dear friend of mine in January.
I borrowed a lens from a friend of mine (Canon 24-70mm). I had been wanting to buy it for a while, but figured I should test drive it first :)
The results were amazing!
I've borrowed it a few times since then and I plan to purchase it very, very soon!

I loved this particular image so much that I used it on my business card.

New Challenge: Borrowed

I was looking through a list of words and for no particular reason this one stood out to me.  Borrowed is the word challenge this week.  I might prove interesting though I hope brings more responses than the last one.  It is gonna be a shorter challenge so get on it right away!

Post by Sunday April 25th at midnight PST as always.

Over The Teeth and Through the Gums..

I was out of town and just had the few moments to upload this. I knew what the challenge was and was so excited when my daughter presented me with this gem while vacationing!

DO NOT EAT

We were gardening the other day and we trimmed the catus.  We were talking about what to do with the leftover & thought about trying to cook them (kinda crazy but I saw it done on PBS) but decided against it. 

Nikon S200 (p/s)

Stuffing His MOUTH

For an escape our family went on an adventure this weekend to the coast. We stopped at Devils Punch Bowl for some picture opp, and got more of the creature pictures than of the Punch bowl. Apparently the squirrels love cheddar cheese-its !!!

Nikon D60

iso 2.2 , fstop 4.2 no crop and no adjusting

Challenge: Mouth

I know this is going to sound odd, but it is late and I just yawned so mouth came to mind. So lets take a picture of what this might mean to you. Something you put in your mouth, something that is in your mouth, etc.

Lets post by Sunday April 18th at midnight!

Favorite doggie..

This is my pound dog TJ.  I rescued him last year on April 9th.  This is my absolute favorite pics of TJ.  Normally you can never see his eyes because they blend into his fur or the flash will cause them to yellow (and nothing I have found can correct the yellow and do a good job of it).

I did take the picture on Saturday and will probably post something else but I just wanted to show off my cute pooch.

Challenge: Favorite

Sorry everyone I havent gotten a new word up but Im going nuts with my class and for some reason decided to plan a family vacation to Disneyland at the same time. Needless to say Im sitting here in a hotel lobby in my jammies and crazy hair typing this challenge out. Good thing you dont get the morning breath with the screen :O)

Anyhow I figured we all could post something for the word Favorite. This could be a chance for us to get to know you all a bit better my seeing some of your favorite things. It could be your favorite thing like raindrops on roses or wiskers on kitten (insert laugh here). Or it could be something that was your favorite thing that happened to you this week or of the day etc.

Lets post by Sunday night April 10th at midnight PST

Easter: Flowers

It's been awhile. I've kind of lost my photo mojo.

Signs of Spring

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,