Choose your challenge: Celebration: Service of a lifetime

Oh my goodness, I had so many ideas for this challenge that I couldn't stay in one place! I cheated (like Rachel said we couldn't). I took pictures for One, Red, Black & White, Vintage, Celebration, Shadow, Reflection, and Fluid. I actually really wanted to do Key because it was my own challenge word and I didn't get a chance to do it. I ended up with a photo that I love and is a combination of Vintage and Celebration. Mostly Celebration.


This was my second to last photo of the day. I passed a cemetery on my way home from the grocery store, and it was all decked out with flags for Memorial Day. I quickly whipped left and pulled in. I saw signs for veterans' lots, which I didn't even realize existed at that cemetery. The field was beautiful with all the flags.

About the photo: I took this at about 8:20pm, with sunlight waning fast. I cropped it, adjusted color and exposure, made it black and white (just for kicks, but decided I liked it), then warmified it to make it looks older and vintagey, and then added a "film grain" (more vintage feel), which felt appropriate.

CC

Party Pooper

Saturday was my uncle's wedding. My two girls were the flower girls. My youngest just so happened to fall asleep on the way to the church. She slept throughout the whole ceremony, and 3/4 of the reception. I guess she just partied to hard the whole day and couldn't do it anymore.
On the bright side... there was no fussing out of her during the ceremony :)

Older...and hopefully wiser

Of all people, I thought I would have so many opportunities for this challenge! But I didn't--we spent the weekend cleaning up after some very sick kids. The few celebration things we did, I just wasn't pleased with anything I took...so, I am late. Very late. But I am posting this anyway--we're all allowed to break the rule once in a while, right? :)

Natural light. ISO 720, f5.6, 1/30

Color and Celebration

This was not a good photography week for me. I was slammed and these challenges were hard! It didn't help, either, that I misread the second challenge. I thought we were doing Birthday. Anyway, here goes:

True Colors

Nikon D90, 200 mm, 1/3 sec., F 5.6

Sydney in her party dress.

Nikon D90, 24mm, 1/25 sec., F4.5

I cropped the picture and tried to blur the background to make it less distracting, but I don't think it worked.
CC

aftermath

This photo is a twist on an idea my husband had. I played with different angles and different lighting. I actually liked the lighting in some of my other attempts better, but I liked the depth of field in this one better. My biggest disappointment is that when I shrunk it for the web, I lost the detail that was in focus and it looks blurry. My full size file looks much better. I went with this one because it didn't look at forced as my other attempts and it captured for me the "aftermath" of a celebratory evening...

Celebration: Party Dress

I took several shots of one of my daughter's dresses that I absolutely love. It looks like the perfect little party dress. I took a couple of close up shots of the fabric and pattern, as well as a beautifully tied bow on the front of it. I ended up using Picasa to stack two of them again, and I just really like it. The dress looks like a party dress to me, and a party is cause for celebration. Other than the stacked style collage, I haven't done anything else to these photos.

What a celebration!!

Tonight, we celebrated with my favorite dessert. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. What were we celebrating you ask? Daddy didn't have to work tonight. I work every other Sunday, and this was my night off. We had some ice cream in the freezer and lounged by watching a movie. It was so much fun. I tried so hard to make this picture 'not blurry', but I'm still learning. Any tips or tricks to teach me would be very helpful!!!

Celebrating our big girls birthday

This was a perfect topic for Saturday because it was our number 3 childs 25th birthday, (it's actually tomorrow) but we had a big family birthday dinner for her tonight. She really wanted a bike and after many discussions with her husband about what he was going to get her, we ( the parents) got her the bike and hubby got her a spa package. So here is Steph celebrating over her new bike.

Party Animals

(I know I shouldn't post two, but I just had to include this one!)

These pictures are full of what every good birthday celebration consists of: cake, balloons, party hats, and good friends!

(Pictures taken with a Nikon D-40 camera on automatic setting.) CC

Celebration Time!

There was no real celebration here, just a little thing that Grandma and Grandpa like to do with their granddaughters: dance to 60's, 70's, and 80's music. I took this picture on my P setting with extra color in the settings. I took it to Picasa and cropped, sharpened and made it grainier, since the lighting made for a not-so-perfect picture anyway. I just loved the moment, even if I'm not hot about the picture!

CC

Celebration of my senses

There is just something about a warm shower with good water pressure and a nice shower head to make you feel better. I like to take a warm shower when my kids are starting to make me go a little crazy and when I just need to escape. It helps clear your mind and it feels good on your skin.

I was experimenting with more settings on my camera and also trying to get it to take pictures at a faster speed. I decided to take pictures of moving water like this i need a camera with a better shutter speed. I tried different effects in photo editors but nothing by auto color helped bring out the water drops better.

Nature

Celebrating Nature-

This is my grandson Allston- he just turned two on the 5th

Almost a Cause for Celebration (and Color)

When both of my children are asleep at the same time, to me that is a cause for celebration. It's a rarity because my little girl doesn't usually take naps. So when she started nodding off this afternoon, I started quietly rejoicing - peace and quiet! Hooray!


Except that her brother woke up about two seconds after I took the picture. Sigh. I took this picture in natural light from the window, then made it black and white because the colors from the pillow and the dress were distracting from the peacefulness of the scene.



And here is my Color picture - the colors of Spring and Easter. This is the kids' little Easter basket that they like to play with.


I liked the idea of using this as a subject because right now the colors of Spring are so cheerful - a welcome break from the dreary browns and grays of winter. We don't have much color outside yet so I had to search for inspiration inside. Again, natural light from the window, crouched down on the ground and used the floor to steady the camera.

CC

"Celebrate" Beautiful Weather

Today it was 80 degrees, and we all went to the beach. The first beach day of the year! Although I took several pictures, when I got home I was rather unimpressed with any of them. These two I was torn beteween. I had a hard time getting the contrast I wanted in the one with two kids, so I made it blk and wht. CC

Anniversary

Well today My husband and I are Celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary!! Yea us! So I took this picture paying extra attention to the tips and tricks that were given this Friday!  Thanks!  I took it on a low aperture and quick shutter, no flash.   I tried this shot from tons of angles! And had some fun in photoshop!   CC!!

Generation Celebration

(ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/1250. Overcast day. Sorry for the watermark- it's a client image.)

I find some of the greatest celebrations are the simplest. Like a merry go round.

{CC}

Happy Birthday Buddy

My son turned 2 years old on Thursday and his birthday party was today. So we are celebrating his birthday and I am celebrating the fact that he is in our lives!

Manual settings on camera with flash on. Cropped and color adjusted in photoshop then I added texture.

Spring!

Today, my kids and I were celebrating the apparent start of Spring, as it was in the upper 70s today here in southern NC! We went out for some fresh air and sunshine to our park and this was my favorite picture snapped there. My sweet baby boy's chocolate brown converse shoe.

ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/200- I took this is manual mode with no flash - and in photoshop, I sharpened and brightened somewhat.

CC

Celebrate Being a Girl

nikonD90 f5.3 1/30 ISO200 62mm no flash b/w in photoshop

Since I'm not celebrating anything this weekend, I thought I'd take a picture of something I celebrate every day... my daughter, Aubrey. There are so many things to celebrate about her. She was my firstborn, so in her I celebrate the beginning of motherhood. She is growing up so fast that every time I look at her, I celebrate the beginning of womanhood. And, since she is my only daughter, we can celebrate being girls together.

{cc}

p.s. This picture, and others, look better blown up a little. If you click on the picture, it will be bigger. If it's too big, just press ctrl - (minus) until it's the right size to view. I like to do this with other people's pictures, so I thought I'd share the idea!

CHALLENGE: Celebration

It's my birthday weekend, and I thought it fitting for the challenge this week to be:

CELEBRATION

Anyone else celebrating a birthday?? Or do you have another reason to celebrate? I can't wait to see how you interpret this word!

Put those creative caps on and let's see what you come up with! As always, PICTURES SUBMITTED BY SUNDAY AT MIDNIGHT. :)