Never Too Many Books

One of my friends once told me that coming to my house is like coming to a library. There are books everywhere you look. It's true. We have bookshelves in many different rooms -- all jam-packed with a variety of titles. I have a pile of books on my bedside table. A decorative box next to my bed is becoming fuller by the minute, it seems, with photography books, manuals and magazines. I truly believe you can never have too many books. Ahhh, so many books... so little time. That's how I feel sometimes! My photo today shows some of the books in my house -- and it has a lot of vertical and horizontal in it, too. The first shot is SOOC. On the second, I ran a couple of actions and put a border.



Thanks for looking!

Frozen!

Here I am on theme and everything! This shot has vertical and horizontal. BRRR!

I tried it with a few different actions. The first one is just with some tweaks in RAW.

Next is with Jess' Acid Wash.

Then, it's with Jess' Ice Water action.

And finally, here it is with Skye's Retro Wash.

Not too exciting today, but thanks for looking!

Urban -- One More Time!

Okay, here are the last of my favorite shots from our Utah Peas urban shoot on Saturday. This little guy was a real trooper! It was cold, but he hung in there to the very end! The conversion on the second mail truck shot was done with the Toy Camera action that Toni shared. Thanks, Toni!

Fun in Downtown SLC

Saturday was such a blast! As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I met with a group of Utah Peas for an urban photo shoot. There were eight of us, plus three awesome models. We had a great time! It was a perfect location...great weather...willing subjects. What more could you want for a photo shoot? I'm so excited that some of my Internet friends from twopeas are now my friends in real life, too! Can't wait to get together again! The model in today's shots was so fabulous! Lots of fun to work with. She's definitely got the look! And, hey, some of these are vertical and one is horizontal, so I'm even on theme! Imagine that! Thanks for all your comments! They make my day!

Urban SLC

I had a great time yesterday with a group of Utah Peas who met to do some urban shots. I still have a ton to edit, but here are two. Our models were all so great to work with!

Faith -- Sneak Preview

Did a fun-filled portrait session with my daughter's BFF Faith yesterday! She is absolutely adorable and so photogenic. We had a great time! Here's a sneak preview of some of the the shots I got.

Thanks for looking!

Miss Mallory

Not on the "word" theme today, but I guess I could say that words cannot describe the love I have for this girl. I want to say "little girl", but she's really not that little anymore! She's 11! She's my only daughter... she puts up with a lot having three brothers! I set up the strobe lights today because her friend is coming over for some portraits, so Mallory was kind enough to let me practice my lighting set-up on her!



I welcome and appreciate CC! Do you like how that first pose of her is a lot like my self-portrait from a few days ago? I just realized that!

Who Knew?

One of our favorite family games is Whoonu. If you've ever played Cranium, this is a game by the same company. It's a game where you try to guess each other's favorites. It's great for all ages and abilities.:)

So, nothing fancy today, just some shots of the Whoonu box!

A Mother's Hug

Here's my word theme post for the day. This is a little pillow I have sitting on an antique rocking chair in my living room. I love this quote.
And yikes! Here's my try at a self-portait. I'm much more suited to be behind the camera than in front of it!

Party Line

Beginning in the 1950s and continuing through the 1980s, my Grandma Ruth worked for a newspaper in one capacity or another. In the early days of her career, she was the on-the-spot reporter, covering accidents, fires and other big events in town. That continued until a few years after she was diagnosed with Multiple Scleroris, a disease that would confine her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. But even though she could no longer chase after breaking news, she contributed to her small-town newspaper in her own way through her column Party Line. Each column began the upbeat words, "Good Morning!" She then would write a few paragraphs about a topic that had struck her that week, and then the rest of her column, she devoted to telling the comings and goings of people in town. If Marge and Herm went on a vacation to Hawaii, they would call Grandma Ruth and tell her about it. If Lois and Frank had a dinner party, Grandma would write about it. One of my favorite parts of her column was Stork Reports, where she would tell about the newest additions to her community. Throughout her life, my grandma suffered great tremendous limitations, but she was one of the most positive people I know. When her fingers became too crippled to type, she would dictate her column to me. I treasure those times I spent with her in her tiny kitchen, plinking away at her old manual typewriter. Obviously, my grandma had a great influence on me. I went on to major in journalism. She's one of my heroes and I dedicate my shots to her today. She died of cancer in 1988. I miss her every day.

The logo from my Grandma's column

My favorite picture of Grandma from her younger days working in the office of the Box Elder News & Journal.

Some of Grandma's columns pasted in a scrapbook.

The Lamp Posts

Just a few shots of some lamp posts down the street from me.

Outside with Alex

Lately, my most willing model has been my youngest son, Alex. I took him down to Main Street for a few shots this afternoon. We didn't have much light -- it was late afternoon. But we had some fun in the cold! I tried some of Jess' actions on these shots. First one is is with some adjustments in RAW.

This is Dark Chocolate B&W This is Sepia
This is Retro Photo
This is Acid Wash

The Lovely Miss M

This is just a candid shot I took of my friend Miss M today! Isn't she so adorable? I tried a few different conversions with this shot.
First is pretty much SOOC...just some minor tweaks in RAW.
Next is my favorite, using Kristi's Creamy BW action.

Next, I tried Aly's Simply Vintage:

CC welcome and appreciated!

Cross Processing

I tried cross processing on an image I took a while back of my son and daughter.



Here's SOOC.

And here's the cross processed version. I also cropped and straightened.

CC please!

Orange You Glad I Posted Today?

I took these pictures of oranges a few days ago. We picked them from my husband's grandparents' tree when we were visiting family in Arizona after Christmas. There's nothing like fresh citrus! Even more than that, I love the smell of orange blossoms in the spring. I remember the first time I smelled orange blossoms when we lived in Arizona. I kept asking everyone what that wonderful smell was every time I walked outside. At first they didn't know what I was talking about. (I guess you grow immune to it after awhile or something). Finally, my husband's sister figured I was talking about the orange blossoms. Ahhh. Nothing like it in the world! I miss that smell now that we've moved away.

Now, to the orange shots: First one is SOOC.

For the next one, I did some adjustments in RAW: Exposure: +1.25; Shadows: 26; Brightness: +64; Contrast: +50; Saturation: +33
I played with some of Jess' Color Actions for the next three. I just bought these action, and they are really fun!

For this one, I used Color Me Happy. For this one, I used Warm Sunshine.

And for this one, I used Acid Wash (with some extra tweaking in curves).
Thanks for looking! CC always welcome!