Let it Rain!

It has been raining nonstop for the last week. We now have a giant mud puddle in the lot behind us. Our little neighbor boy was having a blast throwing the mud in the air. I had to run outside and sneak a couple shots.

While I am sick of the rain, I really love the photo opportunities it presents. Rain means rain clouds and dramatic skies for photographs. I have gotten a few really great shots this week with the awesome rainclouds.

This first set I am thinking of entering in May's free study. I haven't decided which one I am going to use yet. I think they all turned out cute. I had seen this field full of dandelion puffs the day before and thought they would make a really neat picture. The next night around sunset the skies were looking awesome so I rushed home and threw a dress on Sydnie curled her hair a bit and told her we were going to a huge field of "wishies" She had fund just sitting in the tall grass playing with the "wishies" while I photographed her.

These next three I took for specific challenges. This first one is for a challenge called "Color on Color. We were suppose to photograph something with the same color background as our subject. Kaylee reluctantly agreed to be my model. She did not enjoy this photo shoot, she said the feathers were itchy. I liked how the picture turned out, it hasn't started judging yet, so we will see how we do.

This one is currently in judging, I am doing quite well with it. I'm a little surprised because I didn't think it was quite right. I won't ribbon but I'm hoping for a top 10.

This last one is for a challenge called "flowers in the field or garden" My tulips had already gone so I had to use my neighbors flowers for this shot. I thought it turned out well but it is only doing average.

These two are outtakes I forgot to include when I posted my photo for the bank challenge. I liked them both but I am glad I went with the one I did. Because I ended up getting a ribbon out of it!

I Have A Lot Of Catching Up To Do

I have been super busy these last two weeks trying to get ready for my dance recital. Now that I finally have that over with I have time to update my blog. Including pictures I took of my dance students before the recital.

Here is just few examples of my cute little students. They were much more cooperative that my little Sydnie was, and I was able to get some really cute shots.

A group shot of my 3 year old class. I was so rushed for time I didn't have time to do Sydnie's hair or make-up before pictures. Oh well, luckily I got some cute ones with her all dressed up a few days before. This little class was very hard to pose, I ended up pasting about 3 photos together to get one decent one.

The older class was much easier to pose, I found one that worked without having to cut and paste.

I borrowed my cute little neighbor with great big blue eyes for a challenge entry. It was called "Light on White" here are some of the outtakes:

Now for challenge entries. This first one is for a challenge titled "Gold" I found this mask at a party store and thought it would be fun to pair with Kaylees golden hair. I did pretty well with this photo. I finished 7th out of around 100 entries.

And this next one won me another ribbon. I was a bit surprised to get it because I entered it at the last minute and didn't really have high expectations for it. But others seemed to like it and I won third place.

This next one was for a challenge called fences. I really liked this photo, but it only did a little above average. Oh well sometimes you just have to enter the ones you like and not worry about the score.

Here are a couple other "fence" outtakes, in hind sight I probably would have done better with one of these.

Dance Photos

I am doing a quick post to show some examples of the dance photos I am going to be doing before the recital this Saturday. Sydnie does not like her costume, even though I think it is adorable. I had to bribe her with make-up, sparkles and bubble gum, to get her to pose. She did pretty well, hopefully I will get some cuter smiles and poses on the day of the recital.

Building My Portfolio Back Up

I had the opportunity to get back out there quite a bit this week. I got some great new pictures and re-shot some of my favorites. It made me realize that even though I lost some of my favorite photos, there will be new favorites to replace them.

Here is one of my newest favorites. I have it entered in a challenge that doesn't start until tomorrow, but I have high hopes for it. This was shot for a challenge called "square crop" I thought of this location immediately, I had done a photo of this before without a person in it and I knew I wanted to do it again. The location was beautiful, tulips blooming everywhere. I promise I didn't pick them, I brought some with me from my house. But I was so nervous someone was going to stop me and accuse me of picking them.

Title:

It Takes Courage to Walk That Path

Here are a couple outtakes:

This one I took of Sydnie on Easter. The background was really distracting and it took me a long time to figure out how to edit it out and still leave the bubbles showing. Here is the B&W version of this shot:

This week I got the chance to go out a re-take some of my favorite photos. One like these won me a blue ribbon last time and honestly I think these turned out even better. This first one I have entered in this months free study. So far it is doing really well. With 300 entries I won't have a chance at a ribbon, but I am just happy to be getting a good score in a free study, it doesn't happen very often.

Title:

Stormy Night

This is the one I wanted to enter, but there was a big clump of grass in the middle off the water, I had to clone out. The rules on cloning are kind of vague and I was worried about getting disqualified. So I decided not to use it. But I still really like it.

Another out take for free study. I liked the sky in this one but the landscape was a bit boring.

And one last outtake for free study. I liked it but not as much as the one I entered. That is Mount Timpanogos in the background.

I almost didn't include this one. I am looking very lovely in this photo. The challenge was titled "Seven Deadly Sins" I chose Envy. I don't particularly love the photo but everyone seems to be getting a kick out of it, and I am actually doing quite well score wise. I guess it pays to make a fool out of yourself.

Title:

Green With Envy