We went back to the zoo today.

We bought season passes, so we're able to just go for an hour here or there, and so it's been a lot of fun. I love not feeling like I need to get my money's worth in one day, you know?

Anyway, so, we went. Again, I didn't take any pictures of animals. I just stink at those...I need a longer zoom, but that's not on the top of my list right now. So, I just don't take them. The only one I got was of this nasty looking spider on his nasty looking web. I shot it through glass, so I had a difficult time getting focus. I think the web's sharper than the spider, but oh well. And, yeah...I didn't pay attention to what kind of spider it was, so don't ask! :-) Haha!
Also, let me just go ahead and get this out of the way. I've been challenged to be IN more pictures this coming month. So, be expecting that. I can't exactly say that I'm too thrilled about it, but I guess in a way I am. I mean, when you're always behind the camera, or when you think you're carrying a few extra pounds, you tend to not be in a lot of pictures. But, I know that it'll some day be just as important to my girls for ME to be in pictures as it is for me to have pictures of them, you know? So, though it's still March, I went ahead and let Curt get some practice shooting. Here's just one...that I don't love. (I mean, he did a good job, but...well, you know what I mean.)
On to the fun stuff! Some of these pictures are going to be fairly repetitive, but I just couldn't decide which one(s) to share so I'm sharing them all. What a treat! (<---------please note the sarcasm.) So, what's with Maya & old, chipping yellow painted buildings/windows? Haha! We found this spot at the zoo the first time we went. Remember the picture of Summer standing here? So, I plopped Maya up in the window, and, to keep her busy, I gave her a lollipop. That did the trick.
Does her big ol' out of focus foot right there in the front bother you in this one?
And, I know the lighting is kinda weird here, but I loved how the sunlight just caught the top of the lollipop. I wish she'd had the lollipop turned right towards me, but oh well. Which crop for this one?

And, I just ADORE this next set. I love that they have this little nook that you can crawl into & check out the water creatures. Seeing the girls in there reminded me of being a child. Man, the carefree days... Anyway, when I was little, I remember seeing things that would spark my imagination, and I would just daydream for what seemed like forever. I had this metal Disneyland lunch box, and on the bus I would just stare at it. My imagination would put me there, in the scene. Everything around me just faded away momentarily.

When I see my girls in this little nook snackin' on lollipops & checking out the sea creatures, I just hope that their little minds have taken them to another place. That's what childhood is made of...imagination & whimsy.



And, for fun...what do you think of this crop with all the dead space?
And, finally...here's a snapshot of Curt pushing SERIOUSLY lazy-bones-jones-Maya in the stroller & Emma walking. (Maya REFUSES to walk. Ugh.) Anyway, this is a BUSY shot, thus the heavy vignette to try to pull the focus to Curt & the girls. But, I thought it was kinda cute. Plus, Curt & Emma are walking just exactly the same way except Emma's got a little more hip action! Haha! :-)

Well, since I didn't skip yesterday, I really was gonna skip today.

I really, really was. I'm SO stinkin' tired today, plus it was a preschool day, plus it was SO stormy this afternoon. And, yet, here I am.

If you read my post from a couple days ago, you know that I'm trying to be more deliberate in my photography. Well, maybe that's a bad way to say it. I guess I already am deliberate. I mean, I don't know, aware of the moments that I overlook. I'm trying to be intentional about capturing their daily "stuff." So, when I saw Maya being the epitome of "preschool day Maya," I thought I should just grab the camera & snap.

Let me explain "preschool day Maya." Maya still needs a good, long daily nap. She falls right to sleep at home. But, at preschool, someone refuses to nap. I send her favorite blanket...nothing. I send "Muckey" (her favorite monkey)...nothing.

Now, if Maya doesn't get enough sleep, she's like me...overly emotional and sensitive. So, inevitably, every preschool day evening is...hmmm...somethin' else with this one. I mean, the crying kicks in almost immediately after she steps foot in the door. I'm serious. Heck, we're lucky if it doesn't start up on the car ride home. Haha!

Today's first crying fit started because Emma wouldn't let her watch Dora. Which, honestly...Emma doesn't control the TV, so why oh why does Maya let this get to her? But, Curt & I were in the kitchen talking, and we don't let our kids interrupt, so we were unavailable to save the day right away. (Eye roll here...) She just cried. This isn't so much a fit with screaming and all that...just that really hurt cry. You know...the one that is accompanied by the random and uncontrollable sniffle?

I looked over at her, and I just couldn't help it. I had to get the camera out. The sniffle thing is kinda cute. :-) Plus, we see this pretty much on schedule, so why not document it, right!?! Look at that little tear & pouty lip. What was it that grampa used to tell me about a bird landing on my lip? Hahaha!!! :-)
So, then, not 30 seconds later (in fact, I've still got the camera up to my face,) she looks up with this face (after she's wiped her tear with a LEAF that she's been carrying around! Ay yi yi!)

I thought to myself, "wow...what changed? She NEVER smiles for me!" And then I hear her proud little voice say, "mama, I bewpd in your camera." (Bewpd=burped.) Ah, and NOW I know. She's quite pleased with herself. (Another eyeroll.) Man, I've got a couple classy girls here.

But, whatever. I'll take the genuine smile however I can get it! :-)

I was actually going to take the day off today, but...

Heather's family stopped by unexpectedly! Before they came by, my only photography plan for the day was to take passport pictures for a student. Though he's a good looking kid, and he'll probably take offense to my next statement, I don't think you would find them interesting. Haha!!! (Sorry JRay.)

But, Cam my man (see the previous zoo post) had a doctor's appointment not far from here. So, on their way home, they swung by! Now, Heather's family has been living in the dark ages until a few days ago. Yeah...they JUST got internet at their house. Can you believe it!?! Anyway, so they've been having a hay day with this blog of mine. They love to read all the comments, and Summer (my niece) has even managed to figure out how to leave a comment of her own! She's a smart one, I tell ya! What's it been...a few days & she's already got this internet thing figured out!?! :-) Ha! Anyway, when they got here, she told me she REALLY wanted to get on my blog again so she could leave herself all kinds of fabulous comments! And...she's probably going to KILL me for saying so! Hahaha!!! Who's too cool for school now, Summer!?! :-) (Love ya!)

So, yeah, I couldn't resist. Here are a few quick snaps of Summer out in the front yard:

And, one of the crazy red-headed maniac child. <-----I call him that affectionately, just so we're clear. :-) And, though she's SURELY going to kill me for posting this, here is one of my beautiful sister. She & I are always pretty goofy with the camera trying to see just how unflattering of a picture we can get of ourselves. You know, if you kind of press your chin down & into your neck, you can give yourself about 42 double chins! Hahaha! We've got a few doozies. But, this one, I think is really lovely, and no where near goofy! So, please don't be mad at me, Heather! (Plus, you know mom will want to see it!) :-)

This is quite possible the world's longest blog entry. Seriously.

Well, I took some photos today that I just LOVE. But, before I get to that, I wanted to say thank you again to all of you that visit & leave such wonderful, really, really nice comments. Seriously...I'm a little embarrassed (in a good way) about how sweet you all are to me.

So, the least I can do is take a little time to answer the questions some of you asked in your comments. Please know that I want to answer you guys, but sometimes I don't know how to do it. Should I answer in my own comment section or in a new post or on your blog (if linked?) I just don't know the right way to do it! :-) But, today I'm just gonna answer right here in the beginning of this post!

**Technical stuff starting here:

Chantale (and Lulu)- I've always liked photography and wanted to learn, but I only really made that happen just about a year ago. I got my first DSLR on April 13, 2006. :-) Before that, I had started learning the photographic triangle, but I was limited with my Canon point & shoot. My first camera was a Canon Rebel XT with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. I had a kit lens for a short time, but I ended up getting rid of that and opting for a vertical battery grip instead. I think you can do FABULOUS things with the XT & the 50. In fact, that's all I had for a long time. :-)

I've since acquired a bit more equipment, but my list is never ending! Ha! Now, I shoot with the Canon 30D, any my hubby (Curt) uses the XT. I have the 50mm f/1.8 still, an 85 1.8, 30 1.4 and 28-75 2.8. My absolute favorite is the 85. I love, love, LOVE to shoot at wide open apertures, so that's always the leading factor in what kind of lenses I buy.

I'm self taught, sort of. I mean, I never did any formal education aside from one photography class in college for fun. I do, though, have to credit all the great photographers on ILP that are so willing to share their knowledge. I learned OODLES there. I read, and read, and read everything I could get my hands on and still do. I practice with whatever is around me. I've got at least a billion pictures on my computer of water bottles or tennis shoes or whatever was laying around when I felt the need to practice what I was reading. That's been THE single biggest learning tool for me. I think photography is never ending. There will NEVER be a time when there's nothing to learn. As it is now, I feel like I don't even know a quarter of what there is to know! It's INSANE! So, yeah, I still read, read, read.

I'm not in business at this point. I thought I might want to be, but I've since decided that I jumped into it way too soon. Photography is my passion, my "thing", my outlet, and I found that doing it in a business setting made it almost unenjoyable. So, I backed outta that REALLY quickly. Haha! :-)

Oh, and I don't know how I get full body shots in focus at wide aps. :-) I mean, I guess I just obsessively push the back button (I use back button focusing) about a billion times before I actually take the shot. I try to snap the shutter as quickly as possible after focusing. I know that's not as technical as you were probably looking for, Lulu, but I guess I've just never given it a lot of thought. At first, when I started learning to shoot wide open, I practiced ENDLESSLY on just headshots so that I could really gauge the sharpness by the eyelashes. Once I felt like I had that down, I started shooting wide open for full body shots. I like to take baby steps. :-)

And, Angela - YEP! I most DEFINITELY take a bad picture. In fact, I take LOTS of them! Ha! :-)

**And ending here. :-)

Okay...so, on to today's post. Tonight I set out to really capture my girls playing...just in the moment. I don't want to leave those fun, portrait type photos in the dust, but I started to feel like my photos are all really leaning that way. I started to realize that, yes, I have cool photos of my girls in cool locations, but I have less of them just in their day to day. Their day to day is what I need to remember as a mom. So, yeah, that's what I was gonna do tonight.

When I started to upload the pictures, my heart started to feel full. I could tell that I'd captured the essence of Emma. I'd captured a moment that, in the past, I would have consciously told myself, "DO NOT FORGET THIS. It's so special that I never, ever will forget." Ummm...yeah right. Who am I kidding!?! I told myself that I would ALWAYS remember what my babies smelled like right out of the bath. Nope...that's gone. I've done that at least a billion times, and, though the memory is vivid for a few days, it quickly fades no matter how hard I try to hold onto it. So, when I saw that I captured one of those moments on "film," it made me feel fulfilled & grateful. And this is why I love photography. :-) Now, I'll always remember what Emma's bare piggies look like dancing through the grass. I'll remember the adoration I felt for her as I sat three feet from her & watched her twirl in the sunset. I do wish I could stop time. It saddens me to think that one of these days will be the last day that she does that...she'll outgrow it at some point, just as she outgrew the baby smell. But, at least I have photos.





And a few of the girls together:




And, because I do so love them as well, here are a couple of those more portrait-y type photos. (I'm betting that's not really a word. Anyone wanna take me up on that!?!)


And, in typical Maya fashion, here is what I got from her. (Man, I love this kid & her SASSYness!) She was mad at me for asking to take her picture. :-)

And, FINALLY, just for fun, here is one that Curt wanted me to take for the yearbook that he's working on.

Playing in the rain...in a bikini.

Haha! :-)

Well, while the girls were supposed to be cleaning their room today, they noticed that it was raining. So, the most obvious thing to do in this situation? Put on bikinis & beg mom to go outside & play in it. Obviously.

They hadn't cleaned their room, but how could I refuse those two in their little bikinis?!?

These are all taken from the same safe spot under the porch. I wish I could have gotten into the middle of it all, but yeah...my camera would NOT have thanked me. I did the best I could. :-)

It's been a while since we've seen a headshot, right!?! :-)

I know the crop is kinda funny on this one, but there is a bike immediately behind Emma. I wasn't about to run out & move it!


And, just for fun. I know this one could be lots better, but I thought it was fun given my limited experience with water drop pictures! :-) (I do have one other water drop picture, but that's the extent of it...haha!)

Trying out some new locations today...

So, we decided to scope out some new places for photos today. We loaded up the girls, loaded up the cameras & hopped in the car. I think this is the first time we've set out to do something like this.

It was pretty overcast, so I wasn't too concerned about harsh sunlight, but I still had some trouble getting light into the eyes. I need to figure out the best time of day for these locations. I plan on going back now that I know what's there & what to expect.

Anyway, here's the first location:


Curt took some shots, too. In this next set, you'll see the shot Curt took of me taking a shot of Emma, then you'll see the shot that I was taking at the same time. Fun, huh? :-)

And, the next two are both shots that Curt took! He's coming right along!!! :-)

On to the second location... This little building was SO crooked. The windows were crooked, the roof was crooked, the foundation was crooked. I love it!

And, this is the third location...just a little alley of greenery between a couple buildings. Just one shot...
And, here's the last shot just for fun. This is one Curt took of me while at the first location. I gotta say that I'm happy to have a picture of me doing what I love! :-)

What a way to follow up! Haha!

Well, first just let me say thanks so much for all your kind words on my blog. You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself! :-) I appreciate all of your comments & visits.

**Warning: the next paragraph is SUPER boring unless you're interested in post processing! Feel free to skip it! Haha!**

For those that asked about post processing on the photos in my last post...this little paragraph is for you. I've been slowly developing my own workflow lately in PSCS2. These are my steps: defog, use sponge tool to saturate background at about 10-15% opacity, duplicate layer & set mode to soft light & lower opacity to taste. Flatten image. Burn edges. Now, in the second photo, I added a step between the flatten image & burn edges steps. In this one, I created a copy of the same image, changed mode to grayscale, then changed mode to duotone. When the duotone window pulled up, I set the first color to a navy & the second color to a bluish-grey color & click okay. Then, I dragged the duotone image directly on top of my other post processed color image. I then changed the duotone layer mode to hardlight. It's this last step that gave it the really stormy, gray look. Flatten image. I think that's pretty much it...probably a little tweaking here & there.

So, anyway, I did take pictures today. However, I don't really have permission to share the photos. I took a few shots of the board of directors for the place Curt works (for those of you wondering.) Anyway, while I was waiting in the lobby where I was to be taking the photos, I sat down on a little couch. Directly across from me was a glass door. I saw my reflection and thought, "hmmm...self portrait?" :-) So, yeah...that's what we've got here. Though it's definitely no masterpiece or work of art, I kinda like it. Please just ignore the push bar on the door which happens to run directly through my head. Let's pretend it's not there, okay? :-)

My somewhat accidental self portrait:

Just two...

Well, we went out for a walk tonight after dinner. The weather has seriously been PERFECT here lately. It's been overcast, and before photography, I wouldn't have called that perfect. But, now...yeah. :-)

Anyway, the sky has been really interesting. Tonight on our walk, the sky was white & the clouds were a dark blue. It makes for a really great backdrop. I really, really like the shot of Maya from tonight. I need to say, though, that I'm not sure I would have "seen" this shot without the inspiration from Anna Jones over at Indie Art Photography. This set up is pretty much a straight rip off of one that she did and I always loved.

The one of Emma...I like the idea of it, although I would have liked for it to be more interesting. I'm not sure that a 4 year old in a sundress is the right subject for this particular shot, but I'm working with what I've got! :-) I've been looking at oodles & oodles of wedding photographer websites lately looking for someone to learn from, and so I think that's what inspired me to take this shot. I really see it with a bride, but, alas...no brides on my walk. Ha! Oh well... (Oh...and I did some stuff in Photoshop to give it that stormy look, although the clouds really were storm clouds.)

So, yeah...that's that.

Happy Birthday to CRAIG!!!

Well, I want to start off by wishing Craig a big ol' Happy Birthday! I wish we could be there with you so that we could harass you about your old age in person, but I guess we've always got next year, right!?!

Anyway, the girls have a couple little "somethings" for you. And, just so you know, I didn't wipe their faces before sending these smoochies your way, so they are nice and slobbery/snotty smoochies! Haha! I knew you'd love that!!!


The girls had THE BEST time doing this for you! They were giggly the whole time! Although, they didn't quite "get" how we were going to give this to you. Emma kept asking me, "but, Mommy, how are we gonna put it IN his hand?" Anyway, we love you & miss you much! Oh, and also, the girls told me to tell you that Simon says to have a crazy fun happy birthday! (That and to act like a monkey...ha!)

Okay, so, on to the rest of the afternoon. It's really amazing what a difference a little green can make. We spent the evening in the front yard, and as the leaves start to grow in & the grass starts to turn green again, it's just CRAZY how different I'm seeing my own yard! As the girls were running around the yard tonight, Emma just happened to stop in just the right place to have the greenery framing her perfectly. And, I happened to be in just the right spot to notice! I've never noticed this before. So, I snapped a quick picture, but she was just as quickly on her way. This photo isn't the greatest, but I wanted to share my excitement about my new little spot in the front yard. I'm planning on setting up some shots there soon...

Here are a couple more of Emma. The girls just LOVE to walk along that curb. (Watch for a picture of Maya doing the same thing later in the post.) And, the second one...well, I don't just love it, though I like the idea of it. This is another split second Emma decided to stop somewhere. I had to move quick to get the picture, and I had been shooting at 1.8, so I didn't have time to change my aperture. I think there is a tad too shallow depth of field there in the foreground. (Wait. Did I just say that!?! Am I complaining of too much depth of field!?! Ha!) But, yeah, this time I think it's too much.


And, on to crazy-busy, never-sits-still Maya... She's just nearly impossible to catch when we're outside. So, yes, I cut her foot off, but I'm thinking I'm pretty darn lucky to have gotten the picture at all! :-) I just loved her silly expression when she looked up, and I just happened to catch it!