How Cute Is He???

Now isn't this little fellow just adorably handsome??? I could not resist taking a few shots of him during our homeschool PE class on Friday. What a great subject to test taking portrait shots with on my new lens! :D These are my first official portrait shots with my "nifty-fifty". Not bad, if I do say so myself. LOL!

FYI: These shots were shot wide open. Meaning, I shot at the lowest f-stop to get a shallow depth-of-field. Therefore, only a small portion of the photo is in focus. I wanted the deep bokeh for these shots! When shooting wide open for portraits, be sure you are focused on the eyes. Click images to view original size.

Oh, I almost forgot...Did y'all notice my new (watermark) logo? I just created them this evening. I needed something that I could use for shots where my other logo would not fit right. So, I got to designing again! :D

Downtown Photoshoot

Fun, fun, fun! This afternoon we went downtown to do our street photo shoot for our photography class. It was awesome! (Couldn't resist using that word!) I didn't realize how much character there was in this part of our own hometown! Where've I been?? :D Here are some of my favorite shots from this shoot. I couldn't wait to get these posted! Enjoy!

The kids will be submitting their shots from today by next Tuesday. I will post their shots Wednesday, so stay tuned! I can't wait to see their work! :D

Okay, I need to mention how excited I am of this last shot (below). Except for a defog, this shot is SOOC. Can you believe how deep of a blue the sky is??? Wowzers! I didn't even have my polarizing filter on. I am soooo in love with my D40! Color, color, color. Gotta love it! LOL! :D

Oh! For those who are following my photography journey, I wanted to share something exciting.....

I ordered a new 50mm f/1.8D lens last week and it just arrived this afternoon!! Yippee!! This is a prime lens and is super sharp, even in low light. This lens has been recommended for portrait shots and low light shots (because of the wide aperture). Can't wait to show some shots with this. Btw...it does not autofocus on the D40, so I am forced to shoot in manual mode. And guess what?? I am LOVVVIINNG it (manual mode, I mean -- of course, the lens too)!! :D

Family Camp 2008

We attended our church's annual Family Camp in Prescott, AZ over the weekend. Fun, fun! It was held at Friendly Pines Camp and as usual, it was a great time. Below are some photos I took from the weekend. I took close to 400 photos! Legacy & Heritage families, I plan to eventually put all my photos in an online (password protected) gallery. I'll keep you posted once it's up.

85% of my shots during this trip were taken with my telephoto lens (55mm-200mm). I am soooo loving this lens! I just love the bokeh it gives! The first 2 shots below are actually taken with my 18mm-55mm lens to get a wide angle shot. :)

The main "Legacy campsite" :)

Our cabin (the one on the right - bottom level)

Getting ready for tug-of-war (families against families)

Our guest speakers - Pastor & Mrs. Ovid Need
(What a precious Titus 2 couple!)

How cute -- sack races!

My favorite shot of the whole trip!
Pastor Young's baby boy - isn't he so adorable??

Photoshop - to edit or not to edit...

....that is the question!

So, what do many photographers think about using a photo editing software to edit their pictures?? Opinions run from being a "purist" (getting it right in camera from the start and no need to post edit) to believing that photography is an art form; and using a tool such as Photoshop is okay by them to enhance their artistic creativities and style.

I am one of those photographers who fall into both camps. To me, a good photographer must know how to get the fundamentals of photography right. No amount of post editing can fix an image if you do not have a good picture to start with! But, I also believe that Photoshop does have its place and can definitely take your photography/artistic skills up a level.

As a beginner photographer, I am continuing my focus on the the basics. Although, I must confess....I do utilize Photoshop often. :D In the end, it's all a matter of personal preference. Had I not been already using Photoshop for years (web designing) prior to getting into photography, I don't think I would be utilizing Photoshop into my photos as much as I do already (it has a high learning curve). :)

Above are before/after photos to showcase how post editing can take up your photos a notch. Isn't this young maiden such a beauty??? She is the eldest daughter to one of our dear friends at church. This was taken at a House Warming-Birthday-Adoption celebration at our other dear friends' home several weeks ago. It was a totally fun time!!

Slip & Slidin' Away....

Yes, these were taken TODAY. Yes, it is STILL warm. Yes, that is a another photo of our son. :D My son and I spent a wonderful afternoon at the home of our dear friends, the W's. I just had to take pictures to showoff our warm weather (in the high 90's). Although, I am soooo ready for it to cool down! At least the mornings are starting to get cooler. Yay!

The kids spent almost 2 hours slippin' and slidin', while us two moms did what we do best...talk and laugh. :) Totally fun! Oh the beauty of Christian fellowship....

Glistening Beauty

Isn't she just adorable?? This cutie pie is the granddaughter to a dear friend of mine. I took this shot during our homeschool group's P.E. class last Friday. As you can tell by her glistening face, the weather here in AZ is still quite warm. Btw, as a side note...men sweat, but us ladies, we "glisten". LOL!

In The Yard, Hard At Work

::::singing::::

"Clean up, clean up....Everybody do your share.
Clean up, clean up....Everybody everywhere!"

Today was yard duty for my two men. Thought I would take some photos of them hard at work in the hot Arizona sun. What champs! :)

Portrait Session (photo #2)

I couldn't resist! This is another photo of our son during last week's portrait session. I decided to take a more minimalistic approach, without any "color-pop" processing to it. I really like the natural look to it. :)

Color-pop Portrait

I'm so excited! I learned how to "color-pop" portrait shots this evening. Woo-hoo! Here is my first try at the tips I learned from the Amy-Rose Inspired (flickr) group.

I wanted to get more practice with portrait photography this afternoon, so I had my son dress in semi-casual attire and took him to our backyard for a mini-photo shoot. He was a good sport! This was a fun shoot. I had the perfect lighting (during sunset) and tried various angles and portrait tips I read from the DPS blog. I can't wait to practice more! So who wants to be my next guinnea pig (I mean, model!)?? LOL!

A Lazy Day of Summer

Well, it wasn't all that lazy of a summer day for us. This shot just reminds me of one. :D We were quite busy, as a matter of fact. I decided to take our son to Tempe Town Lake for lunch to do more photography practice. :) After several minutes of chasing after birds, our son needed to rest. So, here he is....resting and enjoying the shade. Aaahh! More photos from today to come.

PP: My basic pp work has now become defogging and adjusting the levels layer as needed. I also increased color saturation slightly and added a vignette.

Baby Blue Eyes

I LOVE this shot - especially since it's my first baby photo with my D40. Isn't she just absolutely adorable?? And how about those amazing blue eyes?? This shot was taken at yesterday's baby shower. I had taken several cute shots of this beauty, but this one is my favorite.

Post processing: I did my typical basic pp work (defog, adjust various layers). I also learned how to make eyes "pop" through a tutorial by Amy-Rose King Photography.

Baby Shower

I attended a baby shower today for one of my good friends from our homeschool group. She is expecting her third child/daughter in August. It was a great shower!

Post processing: All shots were "defogged" and I adjusted the hue/saturation. I also added a vignette (top photo) and used the burn tool to add a soft dark frame around the photo (rest of photos). Top photo, I converted the image to b&w using Stacy's b&w conversion tutorial. Third photo, I also added a "memory lane vintage" action.

Photographer In The Making?

Since I got my D40, our son has been having fun with my old ultra zoom camera. He's so excited to learn photography and videography (since it can also take short videos). Of course, once the novelty wears off, we'll see just how interested he really is. :D But it is fun having him alongside me taking pictures. He's my cutie-pie!

Here's a shot I took of him taking a picture of me. :) As soon as we get his computer setup with the necessary Panasonic software for the camera, I'll feature him as a "guest photographer" to showcase some of his work.

Post processing: defog and "virtual photographer" filter (halo effect)

New Camera & Assignment: Feet

I am so excited! I purchased my first, new DSLR camera yesterday -- the Nikon D40. Woo-hoo! The D40 was the most affordable, and with enough features that I wanted for a beginner photographer like me. Also because I was too impatient to wait to purchase the D80 or D300 (and because my dh didn't want me to buy a used or discontinued model). :D

I've already taken some pictures and it is so awesome. Of course, I have a lot to learn with this camera. It's a lot different from the Panasonic DMC-FZ18 I was using (an ultra zoom p&S). Our son now has the FZ-18 and is excited to learn as well. I'll post some of his shots in the future.

The purchase came in time for me to take shots for the current DPS assignment: "feet". I had a difficult time finding a creative shot for it -- maybe because I was too enthralled at all the new features to learn on the D40. :) (Gabe, I even tried your suggestion but it wasn't working for me. LOL). So I opted for the traditional shot.

The above photo is a shot of our son's feet dangling from his loft bed. I had to do some post processing to get it a little sharper (remember, I just got my camera? ;) ) and also to add a vignette. But not bad for a first DSLR shot, I think. :)

Off to have more fun with my new camera.... :D

My Precious In-Laws

I love my in-laws! And today we were blessed to spend some time with them, as part of a belated Mother's Day celebration. We ended up going to Mimi's Cafe for lunch.....

...then we came back to our house so they could rest a bit before their hour-long drive home to Peoria. Our son also entertained his grandparents with a mini-concert with his brand new 1/2 size violin (more on that soon!). As usual, it was a lovely time with family!

A Stroll with Lola

I love shots like this! There is something about photos taken from this perspective that stirs up the heart. At least, for me it does. :) This is such a sweet photo of my mom with our son during our recent trip to CA. It is one last stroll with Lola ("grandma" for you non-filipinos, heh heh!) before heading back to AZ. This is multi-generational vision in action!

I couldn't decide which photo I liked best, so I uploaded both! The only difference is the first photo has a texture layer.

Trip to Legoland!

We just got back from our trip to LEGOLAND in Carlsbad, CA! It was "homeschool day" and all homeschoolers received a significant discount on admission tickets. What a fun trip this was. We went with my sister and her precious family......

...as well as with our good friends the Ward's and Eaton's. The only downside to it all was the cloudy and very cool weather (high in the mid-60's!). But nonetheless, our time with family and friends was worth it all.



I took over 400 pictures on our 3 days trip. As you can imagine, I had a hard time choosing which photos to include in this post. I think I'll just have to do a "Part II" post!

Jumping for Joy

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous:

and shout for joy, all [ye that are] upright in heart.

(Psalm 32:11)

This was such a fun picture to shoot! This was taken at the baby shower we attended a couple of weeks ago. I am laying on the grass with my camera facing upwards towards the sky. I used the burst (aka: action) mode on my camera and kept taking pictures of the boys jumping as high as they could. Totally cute!

It's a little on the dark side, but it's because I forgot to change the ISO. I had it at 400 ISO, and it should've been at 100. Ugh! For newbies like me, higher ISO numbers are better for darker shots with low light. Unfortunately, this was a big lesson for me because most of my outdoor shots at the shower were taken at 400. I forgot to check that I was on the right ISO sensitivity.

Live and learn! LOL... I still could not resist posting this photo. :)

Post processing: sharpening with unsharp mask technique, added vignette, added warm photo filter.

Assignment: B&W (#2)

My second submission for the B&W assignment on the Christian Photographers' forum. What a precious little princess! I couldn't resist taking a photo of my friend's daughter. This is another photo taken at our homeschool p.e. class.

Assignment: B&W (#1)

"Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the

fruit of the womb [is his] reward."
(Psalm 127:3)

The Christian Photographers forum's next assignment is "Black & White", which also includes sepia tones. We are allowed to submit up to 4 photos, which is nice. So, here is my first submission which I am titling "Kids at Play". I've given it kind of a vintage look, as well. This is another photo from my homeschool PE class photo shoot! :)

Post processing: converted color image to b&w, added sepia photo filter, added a texture layer.