My Surprise - 4-25-2012

I had a great surprise this week for my birthday... The doorbell rang and it was my 3 grandsons, my daughter and daughter-in-law. What a special birthday it was. They drove up from Indianapolis to make my day the best ever. Here is a photo I took of the twins out collecting rocks & shells. 

I didn't get a great photo of the little one, so this is from 2 weeks ago...

The best birthday ever!!!

Beyond Layers - {Day 27 ~ 1 Photo - 3 Different Ways}

In the Beyond Layers course, the challenge for Day 27 was to take 1 Photo and process it in 3 Different Ways, using textures, layer masks, and adjustment layers. Here are my 3 versions...my littlest grandson.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.....4-22-2012

Back home again in Indiana...Yea!!!  We got to spend some wonderful time with our family, and I was able to take some special photos.  Scavenger Hunt Sunday items: Yellow, Something that Makes/Made You Smile, Ancient or Antique, Splash and In the Sun.

Yellow - Backyard baseball..... It's not easy for a little four year old to keep his eyes on the ball and hit it with the "yellow" bat at the same time.

Something that Makes/Made You Smile - My twin grandsons piling on the ball...they  are always making me smile.

Ancient or Antique - I took a photo of some of the antique lanterns that I have collected over the years. I added a Kim Klassen texture layer to give it even more of an antique look. The lantern on the left has special meaning because my father made it many years ago.

Splash - I was hoping to go kayaking this week and get a photo of my kayak splashing into the lake, but that didn't happen, so I settled for a photo of a rock splashing in the water.

In the Sun - Most of the family time last weekend was spent outside in the sun....another shot of the youngest playing basketball. He has grown quite a bit from the splash shot last summer.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.....4/15/2012

This week's prompts for Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Simple, Grain, Transportation, Stitch and Bubble(s)

Simple - My favorite new bottle (formerly containing wine), turned into a vase... I used it for the beautiful white rose given to me by our neighbors. I added a layer showing a hint of the rose.

Grain - Oh yeah...In case you haven't tried it, quinoa is great. And type it into Google to see the health benefits!!

Transportation - For this one I had to use a photo I took a month ago. This was one of those times when you drive past a house and do a double-take...a garage filled with some kind of an airplane and an old car. I added a Kim Klassen texture layer to give it an "aged" look.

Stitch - A little girl I photographed at an art fair (I also took this shot a couple weeks ago)...She was wearing a hat that she made out of a paper bag and for the stitching...some masking tape and string.

 Bubble(s) - made by the running water in our backyard fountain. To bring out the contrast in the bubbles I added a few adjustment layers: Gradient Map, Exposure, Brightness/Contrast, High Pass filter, & Soft Light blending mode layer.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.....4-8-2012

Happy Easter!! Happy Passover!! Happy Sunday!!  This week's Scavenger Hunt Sunday photo prompts are New, Life, Fragrant, Pink and Obvious. We have spent the past few weeks in Arizona, so I have been devoting some of my photo-taking time watching the horses. What beautiful animals... I have an interesting horse story that I will tell with the "new" and "obvious" photos.

Life - I pulled this one out of my archives...one of my favorite photos - taken last summer on a foggy morning.

Fragrant - I had to include the flower from the Argentine Giant cactus that I photographed last week. I think it's amazing how such a prickly plant can produce such a beautiful flower. But actually the second photo is the most fragrant tree in the yard, the Sweet Acacia.

Pink - While out to eat this eat, we sat next to the cutest little girl, dressed in pink. So, of course I had to take her photo.... I'm getting much more comfortable asking people if I can snap a shot.

New - Ok, here goes the first phase of my horse story... I have really enjoyed photographing these adorable horses. This first photo shows the "new" little horse with his mother.  The mother laid down on the ground and the little one decided it might be fun to climb on top of her.  This was something I had never seen before. I don't think mother was too excited.  Read on...

Obvious - So, obviously at some point mother wanted to stand up and little horse was on her back, so...... she stood up, the little one went flying in the air and landed on his back. It was crazy. We were watching with several other people and we all gasped. Fortunately, he got right up. He stood there stunned for a few minutes, but then proceeded to run around. I felt so bad for the little horse, but was excited that I was able to catch it with my camera. He ended up being fine and thank goodness it all ended happy.  I guess he's pretty tough for a little one.

{Beyond Layers} Day 23 - How 'bout a Little Pastel Processing Inspiration?

The challenge for this week's Beyond Layers course is to process a photo creating a vintage/spring/pastel effect. This is a photo I took this week at a nearby ranch, of a young foul nursing.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY.....4-1-2012

Happy April Fools Day, Happy Sunday!! I just got my photos done in the nick of time. I'm not real excited with my photos this week, but.... they are what they are. It has been a crazy week for me...  the themes this week are: Scavenger Hunt Sunday items: Clouds, Sun Flare, Seven, High Angle and Low Angle.

1.  Clouds

2.  Sun Flare - peaking out from behind the rough bark of a tree

3.  Seven - just the number of new buds on the prickley pear

4.  High Angle - looking down on the top of saguaro wood branch

5.   Low Angle - taken of the moon from a low angle under a tree