Spring Portrait Practice

Thank goodness I have a girl who likes to dress up and play model, lol. The rest of my clan is pretty tired of having their pictures taken. This little sweetie obliged me with some portrait practice yesterday, for all of about 5 minutes before she was off to the playground. But hey, I'll take what I can get!

I love the way these turned out. Hard to believe she's only six though (going on 16).  ;)

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Shoot. Edit. Submit. - Swinging into Spring

Here's my pick for favorite photo of the week. I shot this one last evening when I took the kids up to the neighborhood park to play. I love the carefree feel of it. It's just what I was hoping to capture ;)

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And I was so excited to see that my dogwood macro made last week's top five!  Congrats to all the winners! There are so many gorgeous shots in this weekly link up. I always find lots of inspiration. Be sure to visit Kim and Misty to see more entries or enter your own favorite shot of the week.

Quarterly Top 5 2012

March is coming to a close and that means it's already time for the Quarterly Top 5. Wow, one quarter of this year is gone?? Seriously?! That's hard to fathom. 

I've taken about a bazillion photos over the past three months, so narrowing them down to five favorites is a tall order. After much deliberation, I managed it however, and here they are:

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I can't wait to see your favorites too!

Let the Sun Shine Down

I have been wanting to take the girls downtown for a Spring shoot for a couple of weeks now. Unfortunately, the weather, and other scheduling conflicts, have prevented me from being able to coordinate a golden hour shoot. So, tonight, as we were rushing around getting ready to spend three hours at soccer practice, I saw that delicious light out back and ran them over to the neighbor's yard (the house is vacant) for a quick shoot. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. Little Miss had her own agenda and kept wandering off. The big girl tried to be helpful, but it was rather chaotic, as the boys were also yelling for help finding cleats and water bottles. I only managed a couple of salvageable shots. Hopefully one day soon, before the blooms all wilt, I'll make it downtown before sunset.

 In the mean time, here's what I did manage:

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Linking up today at Deb's place:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pink Dogwood Blooms

Last week we were graced with the splendor of the white dogwood. This week her pink cousin made an appearance. I love the way these blooms just dapple the landscape with beauty and light.  I look forward to them every Spring.

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Tutorial Tuesday - Making a .GIF

I'm linking up again this week for Tutorial Tuesday with 

Sarah and Ashley, who have posted a fun tutorial on how to create a .GIF. I shot these photos last weekend and the series worked out pretty well for this assignment.  I don't know my way around Photoshop very well and it was fun to learn something new today! Thanks for the inspiration ladies ;)

For more info, be sure to check out their post about how to make a .GIF by clicking on the button at the bottom of this post.

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Photo Feedback - Week 7

Here's my photo for this week's edition of Photo Feedback. To learn more about Photo Feedback and how to get really helpful critique of your shots visit Mom Tried It.

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This was shot with my Nikon D5000 and my 55-200 mm lens in mid afternoon on a sunny day. I think there was a thin cloud cover passing over as I shot this one. 

Thank so much for your thoughtful comments!
 

Project 366 Rewind - Week 13

Last week was full of fun. We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and spent a lot of time outdoors. I also took a tons of pics. With the burst of pollen though, I think it's time I took my camera in for a cleaning. The thought of it gives me anxiety pangs; however, I'm sure I'll have a serious case of withdrawal. Hopefully, it won't take long!
This week we won't slow down, we have a birthday for the biggest boy this weekend, as well as our neighbor's wedding to attend. Lots to prepare for...and lots of photo ops ;) Hmm, guess that camera cleaning might have to wait.

Daddy snuggles are the best:

 Watching the Spring rain:

 A rare quiet moment captured:

I tried some panning shots:

Making a bee line for the swing set:

 Soccer games:

 Watching the world Spring to life:

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Linking up with Gina and Sarah today for:

What have you been up to?  Thanks for stopping by! Make it a great week ;)

Simple Things Sunday # - Sisters

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of.  You know whatever you do, they'll still be there."  ~Amy Li "A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."  ~Marion C. Garretty

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday #12

This week's hunt includes the following prompts:
Whimsy:

Create - Individual Pizzas - yum!:

Dust - we had quite a shower of pollen this week and it collected on everything, including this spider web:

Seed or Sprout - I snuck into my neighbor's yard for this one:

Swing or Drop:

Be sure to stop by Ashley's place for more Scavenger Hunt fun! Thanks for stopping in. Have a beautiful day!