Day 273

Crockett got a new toy last and he took LilCrockett for a spin tonight.  These two are going to have loads of fun with their new wheels.

Day 197

This morning, I scheduled a photo shoot with the H Family, taking GothGirl along as my assistant.  You may remember the mom-to-be from my double maternity shoot back in June.  I wanted to include the rest of the family in some shots and today was one of rare times that our schedules jived.  Unfortunately it was hot and the sun was glaringly bright which made for some challenging photo scenarios, especially as the family only recently moved into this home which has little landscaping.  Despite the challenges, I wanted to do this shoot at their house so that the photos would be more personal to them.  It also allowed us to get some shots with the dad-to-be’s beloved tractor!

Thanks for a fun photo shoot, guys! 

Day 158

I thought I’d share a little before & after with you.  Even professional photographers don’t get a perfect shot every time.  And since I’m a self-taught beginner, I DON’T get it right most of the time.  So, I have to rely on a little help from Adobe Camera Raw & Photoshop.

Here’s the SOCC (straight-out-of-camera) shot.  I needed more light in this photo, but didn’t want to use my flash or I’d end up with some horrible glare.    

So, I used Adobe Camera Raw to increase the exposure and change the White Balance.  I also increased Blacks and Contrast.  Next, I opened it in Photoshop where I ran The Pioneer Woman Lovely and Ethereal Action which softened her features.  I used the clone tool to remove her wispy strands of hair and the edge of the framed photo in the upper left corner. 

The bones of the photo  (composition, pose, styling, etc.) were good but I needed some help in other areas.  These edits took all of 5 minutes and made a world of difference.  Gotta love computer technology!

I wasn’t feeling good today, so I called off sick.  I was struggling with bad allergies and some kind of virus with the following symptoms: headache, tight chest, shortness of breath with activity, etc.  The kids stayed home from summer care too.  Besides the fact that I knew they would be sad about Kenai, LilCrockett was suffering from similar symptoms and I wanted him to have a day of rest.  Well, by afternoon he’d had enough and was itching to do something.  The neighbor girls were babysitting some other neighbor kids and they using their small slip-n-slide.  I told them they could get out our big one and they were very eager.  They played on that slide for several hours, but at one point I made them pose for a group photo.  GothGirl isn’t in this shot because she had went to a friend’s house for part of the day.  I was glad that both of them had a little distraction from the sad circumstances at our house with Kenai’s absence. 

The kids came back inside later in the day and before long, I came across this scene on the couch:

I debated on waking him up since it was too late for a nap and too early for bedtime, but I knew he needed some sleep.  He slept for about an hour and a half and then woke up super cranky.  This boy has never been able to wake up happy….it’s like he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, after falling out of bed, and then being stepped on by an elephant.  It’s not pretty.

So, we went over to the neighbor’s house for another distraction.  Pretty soon, with the help of his buddy Lupa, LilCrockett got out of his funk.  It probably helped that Crockett came home with this new toy as well…a Honda Ruckus!  He’s been wanting one for quite awhile and he’ll use it to tool around the neighborhood and such.   

Day 131

No time to take pictures yet again today.  After school, I had to pick GothGirl up and take her to guitar lessons.  Then I came home and walked on the treadmill while she finished up some homework.  We both grabbed a quick dinner in the kitchen and then went down to my craft room to stamp some paper sacks.  My Girls on the Run group has to complete a community service project and they chose to make treat bags for all the teachers and staff at the school.  I volunteered to bring in the decorated sacks, which the girls filled with candy, office supplies (markers, pens, post it note pads, clips, etc.), and granola bars.  They also made a flower pen to put in each bag.  After the bags were filled, we delivered them throughout the school.  All of the teachers were gone for the day, so they would see their surprises first thing in the morning.  Photos taken with my phone.

Due to the lack of photos for today, I’d like to wrap up with the final photos taken on Sunday at the orchard.   The theme for this year’s Team Quest finals was Route 66.  The organizers brought in an old Chevy Impala convertible for the event and housed it in one of the barns.  The kids were told some things about the car and then were later tested on the material that was covered.  At the end of the day when the kids were all occupied with other events, I got the chance to take some photos of the car by itself.  Since classic cars have such neat features, I knew there was the possibility of getting some good photos.  Luckily I shot a few at some great angles and I love how they turned out after final editing.