It's been awhile so get ready for a bunch of photos

I have been slacking a bit on updating my photos, it doesn't mean I'm not taking any. I have been really busy with it lately I just haven't been around on the weekends to post my pictures like I usually do.

I was really excited about this first one. I got 1st place with it and also received my highest score to date. The challenge was "Country Music Titles" and was expert editing, which means you can combine multiple photos as long as they were taken by you during the challenge dates. This shot consists of 4 different photos, one is the main background with me in it. The second is the clock, the third is the moon and the fourth is a picture of a topiary multiplied and re sized several times. Everything was taken during the daytime but editing to look like night, I even added a few stars to make it more convincing.

Title:

Walking After Midnight

These next few of Kaylee were not used for a challenge except the last one of the set which is in black and white. I just loved them so much I had to include them here.

This is the one I used for the challenge, I had to use black and white because it was basic editing and I couldn't do much to it. The colors just didn't look right without help of more advanced editing techniques. So I converted it to black and white. The challenge was to make a six word story with a picture.

Title:

Storms of Life Come...Just Smile

This next set of Sydnie were taken for the high key challenge. She was not very happy during the shoot I was just going to give up but I decided to take a few of her crying and thought they turned out kind of cute.

This is the one I went with:

align="center">I managed to get 1 before she started throwing a fit, but I didn't use it because the focus wasn't sharp enough.

My kids and I took a field trip to the copper mines for this challenge. The challenge was to take a photo that might appear in a National Geographic magazine. I was a little surprised at how well this ended up doing. The wind was blowing so hard I could barely hold the camera still even on a tripod. So I was happy to see I got one usable one.

Title:

Turning a mountain inside out, 150 years of mining copper.

And this next one may look familiar to some of you. The challenge was to re-take a challenge photo and make it better. I decided on this one because I thought the first one was a great idea but I just didn't have the know how or the equipment to pull it off last time. This time I improved my score by a whole point and got an honorable mention.

Title:

Rosie the Riveter

This was for a challenge called "Sepia" you had to take a picture that would benefit from using a sepia tone. This did fairly well, I really like it though and may print it out to hang in my house.

This was my free study entry for June. I was in love with this photo. It did fairly well but not as well as I would have hoped.

This last one was for a tripod challenge. You had to take a photo that made it obvious you used a tripod. Which basically means a long exposure. I went back to my favorite place on the lake and got this one. I did pretty well with it and got in the top 10.

Finally this one I didn't end up using for a challenge, I was going to use it for sepia but my peer group thought the gourds would do better. I still like it though.

Challenges

This time all I have to post are challenge entries. I have actually been really busy with paying photo shoots but I don't have them ready to post yet so you will have to make do with my challenge entries.

This first one is one of my favorites. I had so much fun putting it together, its actually a combination of 7 photos taken by me. The challenge was to create something that no one has ever seen. Don't ask me how I came up with this idea but it was fun figuring out how to get the idea out of my head and into a photograph. Brianne was my main model for this one. She got to pose climbing a ladder, and laying sideways in a bathtub. Kaylee helped me by dropping a rock in the wine glass to get a shot with a splash.

"Swimming in Wineglasses"

This next one I took in California, I actually have a couple I like better than this one but I may use them for an upcoming challenge so I will wait to post them.

"Still"

This one is kind of silly, not really my favorite, but others seemed to like it. It scored well.

"Our Family Tree"


This one was for a Calendar Challenge. We had just come home from an 11 hour drive from California. I only had a couple hours to think of something shoot it and edit it. Luckily I had these props on hand and bribed my model with bubble gum. I was trying to go for an "Anne Geddes" look. I was in such a rush it didn't turn out quite how I wanted but it did fairly well anyway.

"May Flowers"

This one I had fun with. It was for a challenge called "lighter that air". I had kaylee jump on a small trampoline I hid in the weeds. We had to do a ton of takes to get one that looked right. The balloons just wouldn't cooperate. But Kaylee seemed to have fun jumping on the trampoline, so for once my model didn't complain.

"Take Off"

This one was for a challenge called "Honey" it did okay, not my favorite shot to do, but I learned a lot about lighting.

"Honey in Still Life"

Oh Baby!

So this week I got to do an infant photo shoot. They always take a lot of time and patience. It took awhile to get this little 2 week old little girl to sleep but when she finally did, I got some cute ones.

Here she is with her mommy:

I took a bunch more but these were my favorites:

This one I took on my way to photograph something else, I saw this view and had to stop and photograph it.

And I suppose I should include this one since I won a ribbon with it. I don't know how, I think its kind of a weird and boring shot. I guess everyone else just did worse than me. The challenge was "what is in your fridge" I won 3rd place with this spectacular shot of my fridge.

Title:

"What I wish the inside of my refrigerator looked like."

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