My Capture

I don't know how many of you watch the news - or for that matter - WOWT, Channel 6. No, I'm not endorsing any specific channel (nor do I watch any other newscast except channel 6!) But anyway.... Channel 6 is having a contest and for the next 8 weeks I am attempting to enter. The contest is titled "Picture Perfect" and it is a photography contest.... see how it caught my attention! So the first week was sports and considering I'm not a big sports fan, I didn't have any pictures worth submitting nor the opportunity to take a picture. This week, is pets. We are a house with three dogs, a fish and a fake lizard, I think I might have a fighting chance!! Here are the four pictures I submitted, keep in mind, not all these animals call my house a home.....

Mess with the bull....

You get the horns!

We went out this weekend with my family - and by family, I mean aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, siblings.... It was a good turnout and something we should definately do more often! It was fun to actually hang out with my cousins, it's neat to know that we have gotten old enough where age doesn't matter as much and we can just hang out and have fun. We went to the "Stumble Inn" and some of us were brave enough to ride the bull. Yes, I rode the mechanical bull (twice) and would do it again - it is so much fun! Here are a few highlights from the night.

The first one is me and the bull - - I'm the one in the black shirt (ha ha ha!). I have decided that if your going bullriding, you shouldn't be the same size as the bull. This picture really opened my eyes to the word... DIET. Yikes!



This next one is my Uncle "F"... He and his wife, "S" are the reason we all got together in the first place. They should plan these things more often. Sunday is their wedding anniversary so, Happy Anniversary Guys!!



This is my cousin, "S". All I can say is this girl can ride!! I was thoroughly impressed with her bull riding ability. Her brother also rode and apparently bull riding skills run in their family!



Here is my younger brother, "J" - I have to say, I was surprised to see him hop on the bull. He did a good job, I think he rode twice also.



Finally, I saved the best for last. This is my cousin "R", his sister is pictured above.... His face in this picture is priceless, I wonder if anyone told him that the bull was not real, he looks a little frightened!

DUMPED! Shoot

I had to share this with you because honestly, it looks like so much fun. I stumbled upon this blog, A Little Sussy, through another blog that I frequent. I like to get ideas and inspiration for my own photography - - it's a great way to challenge yourself.
As disgusting as it may have been for some of these models, the images turned out pretty funny! Check these images out to "tide" you over until I have some of my own new work to share!

CHECK OUT THE MESSY SHOTS HERE....

Welcome to the World

My cousin L, just had her second baby. Another beautiful baby girl, Mia. I was thrilled when she asked me to do the baby announcements for her and I think they turned out pretty darn cute! The pictures were provided by her and converted to black and whites by myself. Take a peek at precious baby, Mia...

Handsome Little Devil

As promised, here is my "photo session" with my nephew, S. Handsome as can be at only 9 months old, give him about 10 years and he will be stealing hearts left and right! Without further adou, I leave you with these.....

Super Sneak Peek

I took pictures of my nephew, S, a few weeks back and I am just getting around to processing them (I know, slacker!!) Anyway, this is a sneak peek of his pictures, although this image didn't actually come from our "session". This was taken a few weeks earlier at my younger brothers house. I felt I better give something to look at and hopefully soon, I will post a massive amount of pictures of this handsome young man.



It's a nice image of a grandfather giving his grandson his first driving lesson. Very fitting as my dad is a professional truck driver, although very rarely does he take his doubles off-roading as you would in this jeep!

Please stay tuned for more images. I swear, I have a whole bunch of stuff to share with everyone!

Preschool.... First Day

This year my daughter, L, started preschool. Apparently, she was under the impression that she was heading off to the University for Preschool Rockstars. Being as independent as she is, she insisted on getting ready herself. The basic outfit was supplied by yours truly, however she added her own special "touches".



Check out the fancy rolled pants, nice, huh! And yes, her outfit wasn't complete without her pageant sash from Libby Lu and her Hannah Montana microphone / headpiece. You never know when you'll need to break into song!

After much discussion, a little persuasion and some begging, I finally got her to leave behind her rockstar look for the more traditional preschool style.



She did wonderful, her teacher actually said she was "fabulous"! The worst part about this is my baby girl is growing up! It seems impossible that I have a child in school already and even worse, my son - - the baby of our family is right on her tails.

Another Assignment

This weeks assignment for DPS was Product Photography. This is my humble attempt - somewhat thrown together but it works!! More to come....

The Eyes Have It

So I didn't get my images posted by the end of last week like I had hoped. However, this kind of works out well because I decided to use one of the images from last weekend for the DPS Assignment anyway. The assignment this week is "The Eyes Have It" - there are a ton of goregeous eyes posted for the assignment so I decided to take a different approach... I'm reaching so bear with me! My entry for the assignment are the "eyes" that lead you down a dark and winding road.



This is my younger brother, J, and his wife, T's Galaxie. They've put alot of heart and soul in to this car and it is beautiful. Someday, maybe we'll have a car like that. Here are a few additional pics of J & T's car along with a few of my aunt and uncles car.

Multi-Purpose Post

This past weekend was chock full of good fun: we celebrated my moms birthday on Saturday and went to a local car show with the family on Sunday. Hopefully, by the end of this week, I will have had time to work on posting more images but for now, you get my multi-purpose post.

Purpose #1: My assignment entry for DPS
(Yes, I actually made it in before the deadline!)

Purpose #2: A before and after showing the work I put into my images.

Purpose #3: A sneak peak from this weekends activities


This weeks assignment for DPS was Auto Mode. Me and "Auto" are good friends, I haven't mustered up the courage to stray very far, but nobody has complained yet. I decided to show a before and after image of my Goddaughter, E. The image on the left is taken in Auto mode and uploaded straight from the camera (no enhancing). The image on the right, I put a little work into: brightened the colors, rotated the image a bit, etc... Either way she's a doll, but she really "pops" in the second image.



I love to see how a good image can turn into something great with just a little work. I love taking pictures, not only do you have to have an eye for capturing the image but you have to have the talent to take it all the way. Every image I take gives me a little more practice and makes me that much better for the next.