Outtakes!

With 3 kids, and specializing in child photography, its surprising I capture anything BUT outtakes sometimes...lol This week, over at www.iheartfaces.com they are focusing on hilarious outtakes. 5 entries are allowed this week, and I had a hard time narrowing my post to 5! Here they are, in no particular order...

'The boys' they did so well for me and I captured a variety of awesome photos for their mom :0) Then, it happened, the little guy hit.the.wall. He was done...can you tell? lol

This one may very well be my favorite...me and a photog friend of mine went out on a walkabout photo shoot. She was engrossed in getting the shot and oblivious to ALL else...and of course *I* had to take the shot ;0)

My girls, last years Christmas card photo shoot. We had been at it for a little while and my baby was getting restless...AND silly! This one made the front of the card last year :0)

My nephews, God love 'em.

OK, I lied...I think this is my favorite. My baby and my middle one, playing dress up. Big sis was smooching her and I captured it...LOVE how squishable my baby used to be, I miss those cheeks!!

So there they are, my top favorite outtakes...come on over to www.iheartfaces.com and check out all the other awesome entries...while you are at it, enter your own!

A house is not a home without a pet...

And this week we are celebrating all our wonderful pets over at www.iheartfaces.com

I realize alot of people will look at this picture and think 'that's not a pet' but it is....just not a cute and cuddly one! My girls all love snakes, lizards, salamanders etc. This is a baby ringneck snake that they caught outside under a rock. I let them keep him captive for a while and then we released him back to the wild.

I think he's even smiling a bit in this picture ;)





If you love animals like I do, you need to come on over to see all the entries in this weeks 'Pet's' competition!

Lullabye..and goodnight...

Its time for sweet dreams over on www.iheartfaces.com! This weeks competition is all about sleeping people pictures! I have photographed lots of sleeping babies, but I think this one by far is my favorite...



This is my neighbors grand-daughter Chloe...is she not the sweetest little thing! I just want to snuggle up to her!

So, come on over to www.iheartfaces.com and check out all the other little, and big snoozers!

I love tooshies....what???

I seriously thought I had the BEST photo for this competition....then I read the rules...dang....no nudity...ugh. So I told hubby to forget about it and put his britches back on.... JUST KIDDING, lol Not that he doesn't have a cute toosh, but he would NEVER bare all for a picture being posted on the internet...Even though he married me, he does have some morals ;)

So, here is my toosh pic. Its not MY toosh, obviously, its my baby girls' toosh :0) Much cuter then my own toosh, I promise. Baby butt crack has always cracked me up, and this is a serious case of baby butt crack if I have ever seen one!



Anyhow, if you love this tooshies, you ought to come check out all the other tooshies at www.iheartfaces.com The competition should be fierce this week, contestants battling away cheek to cheek, you won't want to miss this crack shot match...no BUTTS about it!

I got a flare for this sort of thing....

Sunflare that is! I have 'set up' many sunflare shots over the years, but this one is by far my favorite. This one was caught, by chance, and I am in love with the whole feel of it! Can you feel it?

Late afternoon...its hot...late springtime, funtimes at the ballpark watching my oldest daughter's team in their championship game! They huddled up, put their hands in the middle and then lifted their hands and cheered...'Go Team'! I can almost hear that cheer again when I look back at this picture.







Come on over to www.iheartfaces.com to see some amazing sunflare pictures entered into this weeks competition!

I love Fall!

Fall in the South is a wonderful time...We are finally out of the sweltering heat of summer! It takes until November or so for the temps to finally become 'fall like' so most years we don't have spectacular Fall colors like they do in the the Northern states...however, our leaves still fall off the trees!

So, what says Fall to me is....big ol' leaf piles! And just what do you do with those piles? Well if you're a kid, there is only one thing to do....JUMP!!!

Here is my oldest, with my middle girl looking on...and the dog was watching too, see her way in the back there? lol They had a blast jumping into the leaf piles this day.




Come on over to www.iheartfaces.com and check out all the awesome entries this week! Autumn Beauty...what does it mean to you?

Balloons!!

So over at www.iheartfaces.com they are having a competition for 'Balloons!' I immediately thought of this picture when I saw the title :)

My baby girl, when she turned 1, gosh it seems so long ago but at the same time it seems like just yesterday. She was such a character, so funny! She hasn't changed much since then, except gotten a tad meaner...as mean as a snake this little one is...don't let the innocent face fool you, she is like a snake in disguise! I know you don't believe me, I know you are saying to yourself 'oh my goodness how cuuuuttttee!!! Yep, she is cute as a button, does not change the fact that she is seriously devious...she just hides it well ;)

So, come on over and check out all the awesome entries!

Pets love Halloween too!

Especially over at http://www.iheartfaces.com/

My friend's dog is a clown, seriously...he is the best dog, the sweetest golden you could even meet....and had endless patience with us as we dressed him up in old Halloween costumes...give a big cheer for David the Golden Retriever!! Good boy!

BOO!!!

It's time to dress up for Halloween, and time to enter those dress up shots over at http://www.iheartfaces.com/ The weekly competition this week is for Halloween Dress up and I just had to share this adorable picture of my baby girl dressed up as a screaming chicken.

My baby girl, :sigh: I love her, more then life itself, so how can I say this delicately...she was a screamer. From the moment she was born, up until she was nearly a year old, she screamed...ALOT. She screamed from colic in the beginning, then she screamed every single time we went for a ride in the car. No matter how short the car ride. Trips to Walmart became a true test of my nerves as she screamed and my older two complained about her screaming. She also screamed alot for no other reason then she was mad about something. On this day, she was pretty ticked off about being put into this chicken costume. :sigh: Those were the days....so, needless to say I have many pictures of her screaming ;) She's still pretty loud to this day but at least this has stopped.... Precious isn't it? Yeah, its technically not the best picture, I took it with a point and shoot 3 years ago. However, every year when Halloween comes around I can't help but think back to this photo....this is the one I will display at her wedding...Yes, that is when I will reap the reward of enduring all the screaming trips to Walmart ;)

I am a big fan!

And fan of the week! Thank you www.iheartfaces.com ~! I really enjoy your blog, your competitions, your friendly advice and challenges, what an awesome blog!! Then to be chosen as fan of the week....that just made my day :)

I would like to invite everyone who loves photography to come on over and check out this awesome blog!

Pink week!

Over at www.iheartfaces.com in honor of Breast Cancer awareness. I have photographed Relay for Life, which is for all cancer survivors...but survivors wear purple at the Relay. I have never attended a 3 day though I would like to some day.

So here is my pink entry, my oldest girl. I always have such a hard time getting her to look natural for pictures. She is at that awakward stage where its either a fake goofy smile or a scowl when I bring out the camera. So, trying to get these was a challenge! I was saying all sorts of silly things trying to get her to crack a genuine smile, and instead I was blessed with this genuine belly laugh. I can't help but smile every time I look at this picture of her. I hope it brings a smile to your face too!

So come on over and check out all the great 'Pink' pictures this week at

I'm so excited!

And I just can't hide it, lol Over at http://www.iheartfaces.com/ this week, the theme for the competition is 'Excited'! So here is my entry, my middle girl, I took her down to the abandoned railroad tracks to snap some pictures of her for her 6th birthday...wait, did I just say she is turning 6!!! Eeek, where has the time gone? Crazy how fast the years the years fly by...

Anyhow, here she is, my little girl who is growing up way too fast! She loves getting alone time with mom, she LOVE LOVE LOVES modeling for me, and her excitement just bubbles over in this picture of her. happy almost 6th birthday baby!

Soooo Blue!!!

Yep, over at www.iheartfaces.com the theme for this weeks competition is Blue!

So check it out...one of my favorite little models in the whole world...she was almost blue from the cold but luckily her warm coat kept her nice and toasty! We were watching the Christmas parade that our town puts on every year and my baby girl was bundled up against the cold. She has a great time watching the parade and can't wait to watch it again this year!

So come on over to Faces and check out all the awesome entries this week!

Can I be candid with you?

Come on over to www.iheartfaces.com and see all the great entries in this weeks competition...'Completely Candid'!

We are having floods here in Georgia this past week so I am a little off in getting my post in this week. I hope you enjoy....I snapped this picture of my baby girl playing on her swing. I love the look of excitement on her face!

Fix-it-Friday

Come on over to http://www.iheartfaces/. for fix it friday! this was an adorable picture but looked awkward to me because of her arm placement. I went for a tight crop, popped the colors, adjusted the levels and sharpened. Oh. and cloaned out the bit of rainbow sunflare on her face. Hope you like it!

Here is the original....


and here is my 'fix'

I also really love it in BW...

Feeling Contemplative?

Then come on over to www.iheartfaces.com and check out all the great entries this week in the competition 'Contemplative'.

I have some pictures that fit this catagory that are sad...some very, very sad...but I wanted to go with something more wistful, thoughtful....this one of my baby girl makes me smile whenever I look at it. It also puts me in the mood for the up coming holidays, my most very favorite time of the year.

Can you guess which book and movie she was obsessed with at the time? Yep, 'The Polar Express'! She found this bell at the bottom of her toybox and was convinced beyond a doubt that it had fallen off one of Santa's Reindeer.

She would hold it near her ear and give it a gentle shake...I love this picture of her, so innocent, so ready to BELIEVE in magic :)

...the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.

Can YOU hear the bell ring?

Back to School Time!!

Over at http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Come check out all the awesome entries this week in the back to school contest! here is my entry, a very pretty 'senior' girl...bet you would have never guessed that on your own huh? lol

I did so many great pics of this pretty girl but the ones done in front of her 'Senior' sign are some of my favorites.

Before and after...

Well I wasn't going to do this post just because I haven't been around www.iheartfaces.com very long. I have learned things, fun things mostly, like how to make a camera strap cover...now that was an awesome tutorial! lol Faces is a great place to share and learn and grow and I wish it were around when I was JSO....

However, I have had some AMAZING mentors over the years! I belong to a couple little private boards where I was blessed to have one of the top children's photograhers in Alabama guide me in my journey to learn.

I know I am continually improving... every time I go out and shoot. So, I really wanted to see how far I have come. I also wanted to show others...there is hope, if you shoot shoot shoot and read read read, you WILL get better :)

This was taken 3 years ago! I had a Kodak with manual capabilities...I practiced so much with that camera and I was pretty proud of myself with this picture of my girls...





This was just a couple months ago...with my Nikon



In the beginning, there was desire and hope and a bulldog sense of 'never give up'...I just needed time and practice...ready?

see if you can tell the before and afters....

There is no rare disease that turned her orange, I promise....

thinking I may have been color blind at some point in this journey.....cause I know she wasn't bluish....

She's not supposed to be red either is she.....and, what do you mean I chopped her hand off? I was a limb chopping ninja in the beginning, lol


You can't tell at this size, but this was is terribly OOF...another of my 3 girls that I was so proud of! I had it hanging over my mantle.

And seriously, take my advice on this one...you can NOT trust friends to tell you the truth about photography. I had people asking me to take pictures of their kids when I was at this point in my learning journey....seriously, and wanting to PAY me! Luckily I had some good online photographer friends who were honest with me, giving very gentle CC...making me see my screwups without making me feel bad about it,lol

So here I am, its been nearly 3 years since I bought my first DSLR...probably a good 5 years or so since I seriously became interested in photography. I have always had some slight interest....even way back in the dinosaur age of film I was taking photography classes in high school and learning dark room development...fun times!

Photography has become much more fun with the age of digital, much more affordable too! This has been a blessing to those of us in it for the love of a good shoot. Unfortunately it has also managed to breed a whole new group of photographers...you know the ones I am talking about. They go out, buy a bottom of the line DSLR and put a sign out front offering a session for $20 including a CD of all images!

Off my soapbox....

Just have to add....
Its been a fun journey for sure and I have made some great friends along the way! Photography has opened up doors for me. My local photography club is my refuge where I can go and hide out with grown ups a few times a month...grown ups who are as camera crazy as me!

Here are some of my recent shots....I am branching out a little, breaking some of the 'rules' trying more vintage stuff, more textures, and loving every minute of it :)

So, moral of the story...if you have the desire to become a great photographer, never give up!