Monday, January 31, 2011

365 Project - Weekly Inspiration Ideas

Okay, so my daily inspiration class ends today.  Bummer, though it was fun while it lasted.  So, now I need to come up with my own prompts for my daily pictures.  I am thinking that each week I will write down a couple ideas to keep me motivated. :)

Here are my ideas for this week not in any type of order:

1. Love
2. Ordinary
3. Preparation
4. Family
5. Closeness
6. Bokeh
7. Emotion

I created a group on flickr to display our daily photographs.  Who knows if anybody will want to do this with me, but I thought it could be fun.  I already uploaded my first 31 images for the year. You can click HERE to join the group and submit your photos.  If you do decide to participate, it would be great to leave constructive criticism on the pictures...one great way to improve is to hear the truth...the good and the bad. :)

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Messing Around in Photoshop CS 5 Tonight

Messing around with a tutorial I found tonight.  This is REALLY rough, but was fun! :)  Here is the link to the tutorial.

Friday, January 28, 2011

She Didn't Want Her Picture Taken.

She didn't want the picture taken...who can blame the poor toddler?  Imagine having some stranger trying to get you to look into her camera! :)  I just thought this was a cute image and thought I would share a very real moment between this little one and the camera/me.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Latest Finished Edits - Redding, CA Photograher











What a fun family!  This was really fun and very laid back, which is the prefect way to get great photographs!  Thanks so much you guys for letting me practice on you!  I learned a new little something too!  Carry wet wipes, and maybe think twice before having children hang off of trains! :)  Dirty!  Also, thank you so much Michelle for the generous gift card to Macy's!  I can't wait to go spend it!!!!

These were just a few of my favorite shots from the day! :)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Made it on Shutter Sisters Again! Whooo Hooo!!!!

Super excited!  Here is the link if you want to check it out...

On a different note...this was my 365 picture for today, day 23!  The things that hang around our house!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Fog at Sundial Bridge and My Settings Used Along with Photoshop CS5 Edits

Thought I would share my settings for this shot.  Shot in manual mode, ISO at 200, used Matrix Metering, f/7.1, Shutter Speed 1.3 seconds, Auto White Balance since I shoot in RAW and can change up temperature in ACR.  I also did not use a tripod for this shot, instead I sat the camera on the bridge floor and hoped it didn't move too much, which if there are lots of people on this bridge...it does shake!

Post editing was done in Photoshop CS5 and ACR.  In ACR, I didn't change much, just moved the black slider a bit to the right, and the clarity slider to the right also.  In Photoshop I used a soft light blending mode at 25% opacity.  Merged the two layers together and then sharpened using Totally Rads Sharpen Like a Ninja (free) photoshop action.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

As My Friend...You Know Who You Are...Says..."It Is All About Me Today!"

It is "All About Me" today!  The prompt in Tracey Clark's Picture Winter Class was to take a picture of yourself and remember your life for what it is today.  This was a fun one for me!

To my dear friend, mmmm...hemmm....mmm...Amanda...when is it NOT going to be about you?  Hee Hee.  To those of you reading this...the above statement was typed out of love and laughter.  I guess it is an inside joke, so not too funny to anybody else.  But, makes me smile!  Her too!

I had somebody ask me how I did this...so here is my attempt at explaining it.  Please email me or comment if I am not clear on something.

To start I took a picture of myself with the light hitting the side of my face
near a black door in my daughter's bedroom.  With sharp focus on my eye, using a tripod.

Then I edited the picture like I normally do in photoshop, for color, contrast, crop, etc.  I also sampled the black from the background of this picture and pianted over any details in the door that I didn't want to show up in the finished picture, used a soft brush for this effect.

The first thing I did was use the "type" tool and used the several different fonts for each word.  Each word is it's own text layer.  I also lowered the opacity of of the word "self" until I liked the way it looked.  I then moved the "my" on top of the "self" text layer and made the "my" black.  That is how the "my" looks cut out of the "self"...just black.

To make all the other text talking about all the wonderful things in my life...
I made a new document the same size as my picture file...in this case an 8x8 inch document.  I then typed in the font called "Adler", all the good things in my life.  I then clicked off the background layer, so the gray and white checkerboard comes up in Photo Shop stating that the image is now transparent.  Oh, when I typed all this out, I used the color picker to sample the blue/green color from my eye.  Okay, so then I saved that document with the background layer still turned off as a .png file.  If you haven't ever saved a .png file, you do it the same way you save a .psd or .jpg file.  Just be sure to save it to a place where you can find it again, such as your desktop.

Now open that recently saved .png file and move it over the top of your photo.  You can change the blending mode of the .png file to "overlay" or whichever you want at this time.

After that I created a mask on the same layer that had my .png on it, and brushed over where I didn't want the blue/green text to show up...my face.  Then I duplicated the .png with mask by clicking "control key and J" at the same time.  On this copy layer I changed the blending mode to"color burn" to make the text on my face darker.  I think I had to paint with my brush to bring back the text on this layer first.  So, if it was a white mask, I used a white brush to bring back the text.  But I wanted it to look like the text was fading away from my face.  So I made a selection using the elliptical marquee tool and set the feather to 150 pixels.  I then clicked on "delete" and it will delete the center of the elliptical marquee and feather out.  If there were other places I didn't want any text, I created a whole new selection and did the same thing...or I just moved the selection with the arrow keys on my keyboard to move the selection.

I finished by adding a "stroke" to the boarder of my picture that was 25 pixels in white.  Then a second "stroke" in black at 5 pixels.  Both of those strokes were set to "center".  Both of the strokes were also on their own new layer in the layers palette.  Just in case I messed up or something. :)

Ended by sharpening the image, then making a copy as a web sized file.

Hopefully this helped more than confused!!!! :) 


Monday, January 17, 2011

High Tension Power Lines

Here is today's 365 picture.  Feeling tired...so that is all for now. :)


And Here it is in Black and White



These things are scary sounding when under them!  I was driving home and as I check my rear view mirror like a good little driver, saw this off to the side.  Never had noticed them before, well...I never go the way I did today.  Anyhow, it was fun to try something new.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Rembrandt Lighting and Chiaroscuro

At the ArtHop I ran into an interior designer at the 833Gallery who was looking at a piece of artwork that apparently had great "Chiaroscuro".  I just stood there looking at the photograph with her thinking, "What the heck does that mean, Kure-a-what and how do I respond?"  She told me it was the contrasts between lights and darks in artwork as a quick explanation, after I told her I hadn't heard of that term before and that I was new to photography.  She apologized and said she wasn't trying to sound snooty or something along those lines.  And I told her not to worry, that it was great for me to hear this term... something new for me to research.  :)

So, instead of typing everything about Chiaroscuro and Rembrandt Lighting out here...I am going to link this great easy to understand video on YouTube by "The Photoshop Mama".  Take a look HERE if you are interested.

I am going to try to play around with this later this tomorrow and supply a before and after picture.  I know that my before picture will be my 365. picture, since I was trying to go for that contrast between lights and darks.   But with my next attempt I will try to add some Rembrandt Lighting!!!!  Exciting stuff, I know...yes, huge dork!!!!

Before with little light under the eye to the left.


After with light under both eyes and shadow next to my nose.

Leading Lines and Corners Per Brian Rueb of Redding, Ca

Okay, I joined the local photography club last Thursday night.  It was fun, they covered several different things, but the one that stuck out to me was about the "corners" of your photograph.  Brian Rueb a landscape photographer around here was the judge the monthly photo contest.  All the images were on these boards and he critiqued most of them in front of us.  One very interesting thing he said, to me anyhow, was that it is good to use the corners of your viewfinder/picture.  This will cause the eye to follow an invisible diagonal line to your subject of interest.  Here is an example of what I am talking about.




My point of interest is the pink and brown balls in the center of the picture.  This necklace actually goes all the way down to the bottom right corner and up to the upper left corner.  I did this on purpose to get the viewers eyes to follow that leading diagonal line up to the focused center of the necklace. 



This second picture I tried to process the same way much later, but forgot all that I did...so, just pretend they had the same color values, etc.  Anyhow, on this one, there is a diagonal line on the bottom right, but it doesn't really lead to my center interest, those pink/brown balls.  Then in the upper left there is a different necklace on the diagonal, but again not pointing straight to the center interest of the picture.

I personally like the first one better...seems more balanced to me.  Strange, both pretty much the same picture, but just that little tweak makes a big difference to me.

Just food for thought! :)

Thursday, January 13, 2011

I Am So Obsessed With Photography!!!!!

Wow!  Somebody on flickr picked a picture of my two angels to put in a mosaic they created of their favorite Black and White photographs!  Here is the link to go check it out!

This is from the other night at the ArtHop downtown Redding, Ca.  What I liked about this picture was the red glow on the building and the misty sky.  That red glow was not a photo shop effect, it came from the Cascade Theater's neon sign across the street.  I also thought the tree shadows on the side were cool, plus the couple of branches filling the empty night sky.  It could of been a much better shot if I had a tripod handy, but instead I just cranked my ISO up and tried to stay as still as possible, it was a night shot! :)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Finished With a Really Fun Family - Redding, CA Portrait Photographer

Okay, there were just so many stinking pictures of this family that I liked, that I spent a crazy amount of time editing. Now, I am all done!!!! Here are just a couple from the last batch of edits I made tonight. Thanks again you guys for letting this rookie practice on you guys! You all were perfect and I can't wait to do it again!








365 Day 12 - Trying to Get Creative Without Being to Abstract.

So, it drives my hubby crazy when my pictures are too abstract or too shallow of depth of field.  Today's picture is almost all in focus and still artsy.  Holding my fingers up like a "3" to represent the "3" in "365" and then writing "65." on my chest in the mirror so it shows up backwards in the camera.  I also wrote on the wall with an old eyeliner "365.", but not too sure I like that part so much.  On the second picture I used "Content Aware" in CS5 to get rid of that "365." on the wall and then I applied a dark layer over my picture to try to get it to look like it did on my screen while I was editing it.  Strange how when I load up to the net, my images are getting quite a bit lighter.


Monday, January 10, 2011

2nd Saturday Art Hop of Redding, California - January 8th, 2011

The 2nd Saturday Art Hop of Redding, California was much more fun than I expected it to be.  Strange way to start a posting on the highlights of the event, I know...but it is the truth and I am a pretty honest person.  I had expected there to be lots of beautiful art, which there was plenty of, but what was surprising to me was the vibe all around.  There was excitement in the air and lots of happy people!  Who wouldn't want to hang around?

I started the 2nd Saturday Art Hop at Dennis Hakides' gallery known as Gallery833 Fine Art located at 833 Mistletoe Lane Suite A4.  Mr. Halkides' was kind enough to feature Paul Higley, a phenomenal landscape photographer for January's Art Hop.

I have to start by saying that I was crazy impressed by Paul Higley, and if you had the opportunity to meet him, along with take a look at a few of the pieces he had on display, you would be saying the same thing. It was refreshing to me to speak to an artist who was so honest, shared his techniques, friendly, knowledgeable, and just a "real" person.

Mr. Higley found that he was interested in photography in his college years at Sacramento State, where he had to fight for a degree in photography.  Paul Higley was quite obsessive with his photography in the beginning, but since has had a family and become more obsessed with them.  He still loves going out into nature where he is inspired to create these fantastic images of his.  Mr. Higley enjoys landscape photography since he loves to be near mountains, fishing, and those solitary moments that seem to occur when alone surrounded by the great beauty of nature.

Currently Paul is working towards the Fine Gallery Scene, he has been very successful with "stock photography", but is ready to make that leap into fine art.  It is very important that his pictures represent what he actually saw that day, so there is very minimal use of editing programs.  He wants people viewing his art to truly see the "real experience".  To achieve such outstanding results Paul told me that he does get up incredibly early and will find the perfect location to shoot and simply wait for the light...now that is serious dedication.  Especially since one of his works was of a snowy mountain side with the moon peeking through, just think of how cold it must of been to get that shot.  Dedication.

Thank you Paul Higley for sharing with me all the wonderful pieces you had along with the very enjoyable conversation.  I love to learn from experienced photographers and I certainly took interest in everything you had to say to me.  Also, a huge thank you for Dennis Hakides owner of 833Gallery, without people like Mr. Hakides around it would be difficult for artists to be seen and heard.

Some of the pictures I took of Paul Higley's work have reflections on them, so please check his actual works out here to be seriously impressed.  My favorite of the night on display can be found here, truly amazing!  The light hitting the rocks is perfect in every way!

  

Next on my list was to check out the Westside Performing Arts Company which was the entertainment at Leatherby's located at 1637 Market Street.  I peeked into the window before I even enter the ice cream parlor and noticed it was super packed inside.  Such a good sign! 

First up to perform was Steven Kline and Chris Gomez.  They decided upon improve and were quite talented. They played the "ABC Game" and had tons of laughter from the audience.  The duo was witty, hilarious, crazy fast thinkers, and a little Keaunu Reeves like!

After that, Ben Mansickle was up to perform a dramatic reenactment of Julius Cesar.  He didn't even require a microphone, I guess that is what happens after 15 years of performing.  Ben kept great eye contact, perfect accent, and was very believable.  His last play he performed in was called "Only Christmas Padget in Town" at Rivers.  He co-directed, helped design the set, and was an actor.  Busy guy!

The next performer was Marcos Quiroz who was playing the acoustic guitar.  Wow!  He was amazing playing Flamenco style music.  Just watching him you could really tell he loved his craft.  Through his set my foot was tapping as I took in the beautiful songs he was playing.  Such a young talent that I felt honored to be able to watch.

Bill Colling's was the announcer for the evening and he had a winning personality.  He has put his time in, 47 years in coffee houses in San Francisco.  Let me tell you, this guy was very funny, and not afraid to poke fun at himself.

Up next was another treat for the ears...Trish Harris sung "I Have Confidence" from the "Sound of Music".  It was amazing, she sounded just like Julie Andrews...it was wonderful.  This April Trish has a show at the Cascade Theater so be sure to check it out!

Last up was Sean B'Kroff doing a dramatic reading from his cell phone.  Yes, you heard me right...his cell phone.  The performance included multiple emails that he had received and he read them for our benefit.  He ended on a high note when he had responded to an email asking for his personal information.  Of course he supplied it since he is such a trusting man, then his last email was that he had no funds in his bank account.  Very funny and a lot of fun to watch.

Leatherby's is a great place to bring the entire family for some free entertainment and not to mention delicious food, drinks, and the good ice cream.  And I noticed on their website that they have free Wi-Fi there...so next time you need some good eats and the net, you will know where to go.  It is so awesome that there are so many local businesses that are willing to share their space with all the different artists around.  Thank you Leatherby's!!!  Also, a huge thanks to The Westside Performing Company for all the fantastic entertainment.


On to the Vintage , my next stop, which is located at 1790 Market Street.  Again, another packed place.  There weren't even any seats left in the front part of the building.  Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves and the beautiful paintings of Raette Meredith.  She was standing in the corner of the restaurant painting a beautiful landscape for the diners...seriously....in Redding?  How cool is that?  Raette specializes in original paintings, commissions, and murals.

She was telling me about some work she had done in Red Bluff that were massive.  One in particular required scaffolding...that big!  She also told me she is able to complete a large mural of this scale in 2 weeks, dependent on weather.  The mural at Anderson High School is hers, along with a 64ft by 20ft mural at West Valley High School in Cottonwood.

Not only does she do commercial buildings, but specializes in home interiors as well.  There was one home mural imp articular that she showed me of a tree with flowers all around it...beautiful.  Currently she is working on painting a concrete floor with acrylic paint in her home.

She has always been into art, over 19 years, but in the last 7 years she has concentrated more on painting.  Raette in an illustrative emotional artist.  She has been accepted to Chico State to major in Fine Art and minor in Business.

Be sure to check out her website for more information.  Thank you Raette for taking time out to talk to me about your passion.  I so enjoyed walking through the Vintage and enjoying all of your beautiful paintings.  I have to also say that the Vintage was a blast!  Full of life, live band, artist in the corner painting, people eating, laughing, and having the perfect night.  Again, we are all lucky to have local businesses like the Vintage to host different artists.


Like I said earlier, I am a very honest person.  After I left the Vintage I had full intentions on going to Tapa's for their featured artist.  But, when I got out of my car I heard live music coming from Oregon Street Antiques located at 1261 Oregon Street.  This music was beckoning me in, so I quickly forgot about Tapa's...sorry, and strolled into the antique store.  I followed the music and found the featured artist, Shaun Smith who creates Visionistic Art.  His art was amazing, so much emotion behind it.  The colors are nothing like what I captured on film, they are way more vivid in person. 

Shaun told me that a couple hours before the Arthop that he asked his friends to come down with him and play some music.  Shaun has been playing guitar for 15 years and painting for 10 years.  The singer of the group was Devin Johnston, who is local to Redding.  The sax was played by Tyler Spencer, who is local also.  The three of them playing together was really nice, and filled  the whole HUGE antique building with music.

Shaun feels inspired to paint since he "can go where ever he wants with his paintings".  His paintings definitely have an island vibe and intensity to them.  Shaun is a self taught artist, full of great talent.  Be sure to contact him to check out his amazing paintings at smittysan@hotmail.com or call him at 530-646-5814.

Thank you Shaun along with your friends for letting me ask my questions and admire your art and music.  Another thanks needs to go out to one of Redding's biggest buildings I have ever been in...Oregon Street Antiques.  This place is amazing!  If you are looking for that special item, you need to come here.  Casey has been the owner since 2007, and her Mom became partner last May.  There are 86 dealers there, each with their own unique space that they are allowed to fill with their treasures.


This last little group of pictures were from downtown Redding as I was walking from place to place and some from inside of Oregon Street Antiques. 


To close...I had so much fun going all over and so look forward to doing it again next month.  Thanks for taking the time to check out my little blog and have a good rest of your day!  Oh!  And be sure to go to the next 2nd Saturday Art Hop of Redding on February 12th, you will have a great time.  As my good friend Kelly would say, "Do It!!"

Balanced or Not So Balanced Toddler....

Here is today's 365 photograph of my three year old in some leg warmers.  In Tracy Clark's Inspirational Picture Winter Class the prompt for the day was  "Balance".  I bribed my little one to let me paint her toes, throw on some leg warmers and balance on a wooden stool in our bathroom.  Why the bathroom?  I liked the light shining through, so went ahead and gave it a shot.  There were some tears, of course!  She fell once as the stool tipped and I wasn't fast enough to catch her.  But, we got the shot and she got a spoonful of chocolate fudge ice cream topping. 

On a different note, I went to the 2nd Saturday Art Hop this weekend and had a great time!  I will hopefully post the pictures and information tonight.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Crazy Risk Taker....

This is one of those pictures that I will most likely be the only one that actually likes it. The story behind it is what makes it interesting to me.




Last night was my first night to go out on the town and visit different local businesses that were sponsoring some very talented artists of different mediums. My job was to photograph these different people and their works, then blog about it.

Well, I went to this antique shop and was just walking around taking all sorts of pictures, more than just the artist and his works. People kept asking me if I needed help, maybe I looked crazy or something, and I said "No, thank you" and just continued to walk around shooting more random stuff. Come to find out...no photography was allowed in this place! Signs posted on the door apparently and who knows, maybe all over. Whoops! So after I was told and on my way to speak to the owner and apologize...and possibly delete all my pictures. I snuck this self portrait walking down the steps in a very old and dirty mirror. Guess I am just a crazy risk taker!!! :)

I ended up being told that it was okay since I was with the Art Hop with a legit cause to take pictures. The owner did take my name and said she would remember what I looked like if there were any problems....

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Changing Photoshop's Workspace Background to Any Color

This is a picture of my oldest walking down the train tracks yesterday after school.  We stopped at the Starbucks for Hot Cocoa and an oatmeal cookie, part of my bribe to get the girls to help me with my 365 Photography Project.  It was a fun way to start the middle of the day together!

So, this is an easy fix or change for your workstation in Photoshop.  Some how when I was editing pictures a little while ago my workspace went black from grey on me.  I knew I could switch it and was just too lazy to get my book out and look it up.  I just found it and switched my workspace back to grey and here is how I did it.  Watch out!  This is so crazy difficult...that is why I lived with the black workspace for so long!  Start by opening a picture into Photoshop (control-O) for PC's, that is O like in Open.  Then right click on the workspace behind the picture.  A little dialog box pops up and gives you the the choice of Black, Grey, or Custom.  If you click on Custom it will bring up the color picker box and you can select any color you want.  In Scott Kelby's CS5 book, he said to go with Grey since it is neutral and won't throw your eye off when editing different colors. 

Which is spelling is correct? Grey or Gray?  As far as I can tell, the net said both are?  What?  Strange!

This Really Has Been My Week.

Holy Cow!!!!  I was featured on MCP Actions tonight!!!!  So stoked!  Click HERE to check out the picture they selected!!!!  Wow!  I am crazy excited right now, but I must remain calm if I am to get any sleep tonight.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

"Cracked" was the Inspirational E-mail Today from Tracy Clark's Picture Winter Class.

Today's prompt from Tracy Clark's Picture Winter Class was "cracked."  She mentioned that it could be taken literally or emotionally or any other way imaginable.  At first I was brain storming about different ideas that work for this assignment.  I thought of cracked eggs, cracks in streets, butt cracks, cracks in windows, taking some paint and letting in dry on Kya's face causing cracks, Jesse's recently fixed cracked tooth, and you get the point...lots of different ideas were floating around in my head.  Then I started to try not to take it so literally and came up with how I felt inside about my late Grandpa McCarthy.

This picture is a representation of how I feel right now when I think of him.  I am sad.  However, when I think of him good thoughts flood my mind.  For instance, when I would call up to his house he would always answer the phone, "Yello, Kid...what do you want?" in a gruff voice.  Even typing this up right now makes me smile thinking of that voice of his.

He was a BIG man, not overweight big, but just plain ole' BIG.  Another thing that I love to remember about him is the way he would hug me when he saw me and when we were parting.  Let me tell you, the best bear hug I have ever received in my entire life.  He had crazy powerful arms and I could just feel his love for me through his embrace.

The reason I chose to take a picture in this chair, is this chair was his chair.  It is actually deformed now from his great mass sitting in it all the time.  Now, when I cuddle up in it remembering him, I can feel his hug in a strange sort of way. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Day 5 of 2011 365 Project - Daily Routine

Here is Day 5 of my take a picture every day in the year 2011.  Ignore my crazy bed head!!!!  Does anybody out there know what this is called?  I wanted to find a tutorial online and post the link.  For this one I just used multiple layers with different pictures and then added an adjustment layer to each photo and brushed myself on with a soft brush via the adjustment layer mask.  I am sure there is a better way, but this was the only way I could think of how to do it without knowing the name of it.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

365 Day 4 - Redding California Child Photography

My daughter helping me out with my 365 project.  Currently, I am taking Tracy Clark's Winter Photography Class and today's prompt was let the sun shine essentially.  Here was my take on her inspirational email, glitter shimmering in the sunlight on a chilly afternoon after school let out.  Thanks Kya for your help and your beautiful little face.  I love you!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Editing is Getting Faster These Days...

Edits are getting much faster these days.  Partly because I am creating actions of my favorite processing steps, which helps with speeding things up.  I also want to look into how to create a function key action...I read about it in Scott Kelby's CS5 book, just need to not be lazy and get it out to read it again.

Anyhow, here is a picture of a young girl who has the most stunning eyes.  Flecks of blue, green, and brown...so pretty.  Thanks again for letting me practice on you!

Featured on Shutter Sisters Blog...YES!!!!

I am super excited....one of my photographs has been featured on Shutter Sisters' Blog!  I am so stoked right now, which is great, but bad.  Why bad you ask?  Well, it is 12:30am and I was just getting ready to stop looking up how to light paint and go to bed, but now I am wired!  Here is the image I submitted for the Daily Click over at Shutter Sisters!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Eskimo Kisses and Tears.

Nothing like Mommy asking the little ones to stop playing for a second so she can capture an adorable Little Eskimo Kiss.  Then tragedy strikes, the youngest thinks it would be a great idea to jump up and continue playing with the oldest, but miss calculates and causes big crocodile tears.  I hurry to my oldest to comfort her and tell Isa, the youngest to get in the corner...that she hurt her sister.  Now, Isa is sobbing because she realizes that Kya is hurt and she is responsible.  A few moments pass by and the situation is under control.  Tears have slowed a bit and the youngest is released from the corner to apologize to Kya.  Everything is better and off they ran to continue playing.

Somebody commented on my flicker account that, "my momma always said....laughin leads to cryin.  we did a lot of both. : )

I can't agree more!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Photographic 365 is My Goal.

Happy New Years!  So, I thought it would be a lot of fun to try to do a 365 for the year 2011.  Hmmm...can I do it?  I have tried a photo a day in the past and FAILED...but I am willing to give it a go yet again.  To help myself out I did enroll in Tracy Clark's Picture Winter Class that started today.  It costs $30 dollars for a daily prompt for one month to motivate and inspire.  Plus, you get feed back from your classmates.  For one buck a day, I thought it was a good value and something fun to do.

I most likely won't post my 365 each day here on my blog, but I will on my flicker account.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that I don't totally flake!

Here is the first picture for 2011 and I thought it was a fun one.  It will be special to me since my oldest daughter helped me out.  We sat in the car in the driveway, and fogged up the windows with our breath so we could draw on them.  Also, the bokeh in the background is special to me, since it is caused by my husbands Christmas lights he hung for our family. 

Thanks for checking this out and hope you have a great New Year!!!!