Tuesday: A Little of This, A Little of That

Easter egg decorating, cupcakes, baskets, Easter egg hunts oh my. We had a wonderful weekend. The weather was fairly decent (around 50-60 degrees) so we actually got to go outdoors and run around. It really was a wonderful time. Not only were the kids sleepy, but the mommies, the daddies and the Grandma and Grandpa's too! Please enjoy a few of my captures for today. 

Shutter Love: Easter

Hmmm....where might the next Easter egg be hiding. Hannah really can please a crowd. We all would stop and stare at her adorable gestures. She is just priceless.

Simplicity: Pets

Meet Bones. If you have yet to see or hear about our dog he really is a great guy. He is a rescued dog and we love him. We have had him for almost 10 years now and our girls enjoy dressing him in necklaces, hats, crowns, shoes (you name it) and telling him what to do. He is either following them around or hiding from them. You might also find him sneaking snacks from the kids.

Touch Up Tuesday:

Original

Edit:

I still like the original capture, but I wanted to lighten the shot up a bit because of the shadows on their faces. I think it brightened maybe a smidgen too much. What do you think?

Sweet Shot

This shot is from late last week and I just love how Lorelei is genuinely happy. Her hair is a mess because we have been playing and running in the yard and she is simply happy. I usually capture the "cheese" smile from Miss Lorelei.

Perceptive Perspective: Macro

"Bubbles, bubbles on my nose. Bubbles, bubbles on toes. Bubbles, bubbles float on top. Bubbles, bubbles pop, pop, pop." A loosely based quote from a book all about Elmo.

Also, because Bubbles and My Family make me very 

HAPPY

Oh, the sweet joys of childhood and mama hood, and daddy hood. Heck we all enjoy bubbles.

Don't forget to check out Communal Global to see what is going on all around the world. There truly are some beautiful photography that has to be seen. Enjoy!

A Sort of Creative Experiment

Quick snaps. I ran around the house just a bit ago and took a few quick snap shots of this and that. I have been experimenting with photography for the last few months with it being my new hobby and all, but I haven't really experimented all that much with different types of editing. I'm exploring my tastes and seeing what sort of creative photographer I am. I hope you like the works I have for you today. 

My Sky watch:

Also linked up with Simplicity: Routine

This shot was actually taken through my girls dirty window and screen. I thought it was moody so I edited in sort of a moody way. It is a routine for myself and the girls to stare out the window in search of boats and birds.

Macro's:

This particular flower is still hanging strong in Lorelei's room from a few weeks back. This was a strong edit I think. The color was definitely distorted into this finished product.

Also linked up with LEM Easter, etc.

Honestly this is no doubt a stretch, but with my oldest getting sick we were stuck on the couch most of the day today. I believe the flowers and their color really says Easter or Spring for that matter.

This photo is more in its original. 

The color of the walls are more of a lavender or light pink in the girls room so I lightened the capture and added a glow for a feminine touch. It's kind of gritty I think.

The Secret to my Theme Thursday Transportation Capture

There is a secret here. Can you tell what it is? I will give you hint. I have Monet to partly thank for this capture. Have you guessed it? Is it plain to see?

 This is my transportation entry. 

(Check out more shots at todays Theme Thursday and link up if you like.)

I'm Also linking up my shot for Simplicities Pastel challenge.

Here is a closer look. 

Okay, next shot I'll back it up a bit.

The Secret

 Did you guess it?

Okay, so I'm not a genius or anything. I have to credit this idea to page 17 of Canon's "Do More with Macro" guide. I was perusing the pages and came upon this creative idea. They used a tiny car and a day planner. Their picture is a bit more believable, but I thought this was a great idea for todays theme transportation!

So what do you think? I have to share that the kids started putting in their books and dolls to get pictures just the same. So cute!

Simplicity: Two

I'm re-sharing this photo from last weeks wordless/black and white wednesday because I think it's perfect for Faith's "TWO" prompt over at Simplicity. 

Two  of my sweet Lorelei's on point, beautiful ballerina legs (and toes I suppose).

Flowers Abound

My jealousy got the best of me. What I mean to say is that Spring has not sprang nor have any flowers so we went out and bought some! Oh, you should have seen the joy on my beautiful girls faces when they saw those flowers coming through the door. Lorelei immediately burst into a beautiful smile running with her arms wide "Can I hold them?! Can I smell them?! Flowers! You got flowers!" I have a few shares for you today and let me tell you it was not easy picking these too share. Especially the last shot. It was easy to pick shots of my girls, but the capture of a flower. How do I know what is best? I've got nothin' when it comes to the eye for flowers. I hope you like them!

Paper Heart Camera: Touch Up Tuesday

Before:

After:

Let's see if I remember. I warmed it up, I lightened and brightened in Picasa and then blurred the background as well as adjusted the curves in GIMP. I'm sure I didn't need to do all of that, but I did. (I'm still trying to decide where I like editing the most.)

Trendy Treehouse: Hands

Oh my goodness. There were so many adorable captures to choose from, but I enjoy Lorelei's delicate nature in this photograph.

Simplicity: Flowers/Leaves

My 3Boybarians: Sweet Shot

Perceptive Perspective: Photographer's Choice

I chose this shot in the end because I enjoy the fact that the tiny leaves are what's in focus. I felt very overwhelmed by all of the colors and options of what to photograph and this capture seems to be a bit more calm and simple.

Also, linking up to...

Leigh Vs. Laundry

Communal Global

What do you think? 
Make sure to click on the links and maybe even link up too!

Simplicity: Light

These shots were taken during the Apple Festival while Hannah and Lorelei were riding their ponies one at a time with their Daddy by their side. (Lorelei rode a second time on a larger horse and without dad!) It was a beautiful morning and I really enjoy both photos both with just a bit of difference in their edits. I hope you liked them! Thank you for stopping by and be sure to take a look at Simplicity for more captures of Light and even take some time to look around Faith's blog.

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Mood

I'd ask you to guess the mood conveyed in this photograph but I think you'd guess displeased. I took a lot of photos this day so you'll have to excuse my archive grabbing today, but the mood of this photo makes me sad for her and it's also so cute at the same time. Lorelei was displeased about the waves coming up and almost getting her pale, shovel and sweater. She grabbed them all and ran. For more photos from this day please click here.

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Water

So I almost went to my faucet and took a picture of dripping water because I am honestly not sure if my lake photos are getting old or not. I love them and I love being lazy enough to open up the door and take a few shots (while the kids run out quickly onto the patio and I swoop them back up to get away from the wind and chill of the morning). I mostly take morning shots simply because I think it's more beautiful. The color seems to be more refreshing and vibrant. I did edit these photos a little bit by brightening them up and saturating the color (a bit more in the first than the second. I believe I took a little shadow out of the second to show off the beauty of the lake color). So here they are, my lake shot for the photo challenge water. My favorite and pick is the first shot. I tried to at least get you a different angle. I hope you like!

My favorite of the two:

The more traditional straight on:

(Okay, with a little angle in there. I had to get those clouds)

For more water shots please take a look at Simplicity. Click below:

(And yes, now that I look at these photos together I'm not sure which one I like. Hmmm..I'm not a good decision maker....can you tell?)

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Snapshot (Everyday Happenings)

Here is a quick snapshot from the other day. The idea over at Simplicity is a snapshot to show what happens in your house at any given moment. This is a great example. Lorelei and Hannah are playing "Ring Around The Rosie." As long as Lorelei remembers Hannah is responsible for her own "All Fall Down" all is well. Hannah quite enjoys plopping down and laughs whenever anyone else does it and Lorelei couldn't be more thrilled when Hannah grabs her hand to play one more time and one more and one more. Well you get the picture. Please enjoy my snapshot.

Check out more Snapshots over at Simplicity!

Simplicity Photo Challenge: Love

I decided to go look a little outside the box on this photo challenge. The challenge is to share a photo showing love and my first instinct is love between family and little girls and their daddies, but when I got to thinking about love while going through my recent photos from our zoo adventure I saw a reoccurring display of affection in the photos; Lorelei and her Raggedy Ann doll. She is in love with this doll and takes her on walks, to the store, for car rides and of course to the zoo. There isn't any other kind of love like the love for your childhood doll.

Take a look at the Simplicity Photo Challenge for more photos of love.