Kristie's Photography blog

Mya had a busy week

2008-07-17T00:24:00.004-04:00

She had her very first dentist appt. on Monday and she was so brave. I was so proud of her. Now she keeps asking Mommy why she doesnt have to go. I don't have any real answers for her because I am not going to tell her I am deathly afraid of them.
The dentist came walking in after she had them polished and cleaned and said "oh Mom has a camera" Why is that a shock? Of course MOm had a camera, it is her first appt I want to document that. Is that wrong? I used to be to scared to take pictures. I always was afraid of what someone would think of me, but Now I think I am over that. Anyway here is a pic of my brave girl.
Then today she had her 4 year well check up. Poor pumpkin had to get 5 shots and her arms are so sore. She did so well though and only shed a few quick tears. The PA said she loves when we come to see her because the girls are so well behaved. God that feels good when someone tells ya that. I hear it a lot to. YES I AM BRAGGING. lol! so the girls were rewarded by going to the candy store:) slushies are always good after shots.

nothing much today

2008-07-12T00:34:00.002-04:00

just one for tonight. I was playing with my 50 1.8 today to see if I really need the 100 2.8. I cant really decide. My poor baby had a rough day yesterday and now has a black eye :(

Starting to almost feel ready

2008-07-11T00:26:00.005-04:00

to get a portfolio. I have been practicing so much lately. I am trying to get images for my portfolio. Some will say I am ready, others I am sure will think I am not. I may do this soon, or I may wait a LONG time yet. LOL. Time will tell I guess. So here is some of my recents :)

I know her skin tones are off, but honestly I kinda dig the way it is.

Went to a stunt show This is Kevin. He is the owner of STARBOYZ. Check them out at www.starboyz.com

my lovely bff of 26 years and her awesome family

(HAD TO MAKE THIS SO SMALL BECAUSE IT ISNT SHOWING IT RIGH ON HERE)

I was trying to get a Self Portrait yesterday. I put the cam up on the tripod and ran back and forth from the couch 72 times. Funny looking I am sure, but at the same time FRUSTRATING!!! SO I decided to make a funny sign and ask for help. That was probaly the most exercise I had in months. Maybe I should commit to the self portrait 365 days in order to get the much needed exercise in!

family collages

2008-07-07T23:53:00.005-04:00

Thanks to some awesome ladies on my message boards for offering these wonderful templates free. My friend Amber was here visiting recently and I fixed up this collage for her using these wonderful templates. These are just the rough drafts, but I am really pleased with them. Here are some of the photos from our recent shoot.

Fireworks

2008-07-04T01:20:00.003-04:00

I have been so awful with keeping up with my blog.
We went to see some fireworks tonight and I wanted to practice shooting them. They are OK, but not great.

THE GIRLS THAT MAKE MY HEART SING

2008-05-18T22:46:00.003-04:00

These girls are such blessings! They are what my life is all about. Even the days that they make me want to pull every hair out of my head, I go to bed and think about how lucky I am to be their MOM!

Ahhhh........Time for a bath. YES!

2008-04-30T19:04:00.004-04:00

Bill had off work today and I didn't have to take my 10 second shower. I really did take a shower, but I pretended to take a bath for my Water shots. HAHA! I am really hoping that you can't see body parts in a bubble or something. That would be my luck. Don't spend to much time trying to see either. I know you want to try since I just pointed that out. Then just for good measure, I did another drippy shot! Again, Thank you for the comments. They actually make me feel like I am getting somewhere. Maybe I actually can do this for a living sometime :)

Dew drops, Ice cubes and dripping water

2008-04-29T20:31:00.003-04:00

This "WATER" topic is killing me. I can't come up with the creative shots that I thought I would. This morning I thought I would go put water drops on my flowers outside, but that idea didn't work because the flowers were closed:(
There was still dew sitting on the leaves so I tried to capture them, but I didn't get those huge beautiful dew drops that I had hoped for. So I racked my brain some more through the day and made some Ice cubes. I haven't done that in a LONG time. Sure made Mya happy. So it wasn't a total worthless cause. Of course I had to do some more drippy faucet shots. I only got one DECENT shot. It isn't in total focus though. I loved all the comments last night. THANK YOU!

Day 2 of Water

2008-04-28T21:43:00.004-04:00

Today has been such a crazy day. My computer is on the FRITZ! Not a good thing. I am going to be in Huge trouble if it completely stops working. The weather was so nasty today and so we had to spend another day inside:( That makes for some CRANKY kids. I had some ideas in my head, but when I tried them, I realized I am clueless how to get the look I was going for. Maybe tomorrow. I am pretty happy with some of these though. I have room for improvement for sure. SHooting these without a tripod is not an easy task.

This weeks theme is "WATER"

2008-04-27T23:27:00.008-04:00

This weeks THEME is WATER. Not sure just how creative I am going to get with this, but these are what I came up with so far. The first 2 are just a drippy faucet using my Macro. THen of course the last one is obvious. You have to have water for the bubbles. CHECK out that HUGE bubble. I know that background is distracting, but I still like the shot. Feel free to give HHCC. Thanks to those of you who have been leaving me comments. THey are much appreciated. :)

an oldy

2008-04-27T00:36:00.003-04:00

this is a picture of my friends son that I took in October. I just edited it tonight though. He is just so Handsome. :) I just found out that I get to see them in June. I am so excited. His Mom and I have been friends for 26 years. I will also be taking more pictures when I see her.

WHat a beautiful day

2008-04-25T22:06:00.008-04:00

Once again, I just had a great day with my girls. I started the afternoon off by taking them to the candy store, but didnt take the camera. That just may be an idea for the future. I am sure I would get tons of smiles out of them there. I busted out my 75-300 lens (that I used to think so highly of) and found out it is not really a favorite of mine anymore. I think I need to find a better zoom. The pictures are not crisp at all. I am just on love with the 100 mm. THat could be my problem. I also played with my 50 1.8 today. We blew bubbles, ate candy, drank Blue Raspberry Slushies, Jumped on the trampoline and also did some swinging.

Just me and the Girls today

2008-04-24T22:19:00.006-04:00

This first image is looking to cool for me now that I have it loaded here.

Wish that I didnt cut off her foot

Bill had to work today and so I took the girls outside all day. We went on 3 walks and I took the camera. Mya was so cooperative . I actually found a cute little spot to take pictures and it just may become a favorite place for me. It has a funky blue color metal door and a great Brick wall. I went nuts . My skills were lacking a bit today, but I did still get some keepers. I have had a lot of compliments on my photography this week which make me feel FANTASTIC. I just wish I was good enough to be bringing in the money. Hopefully my day is coming. So here are some shots from today.

still working on yesterdays shots

2008-04-23T22:56:00.006-04:00

I didnt take any pictures of the kids today. I did do some macro shots that I have to still get off of the camera though. So I am just going to add some of the shots from yesterday. There are still more that I have to go through, but these are some of my favorites.

Suprise

2008-04-23T00:47:00.008-04:00

I decided to do my blog. :)

I am so happy that it is finally nice enough to take the girls outside. They were really getting cabin fever. Bill and I took them to the Park today and I took over 200 pictures. For the first time in a long time I was enjoying my camera. Out of the 200+ that I took, there were only a few that I needed to trash. It is going to take me forever to edit them all. So here are the few that I did get through so far.

What am I doing wrong?

2008-02-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

I don't know if it is my camera, my lens, or the operator. My pictures are terrible lately. Sometimes my lens will NOT Auto Focus and I have to take it off and then put it back on. The focus is never Tack Sharp. Maybe it is because the sensor is dirty? I don't know, but it is driving me crazy! Please ignore the composition in these and that my girls need their hair brushed. Of course they were wanting their pictures taken before getting dressed for the day. HARD CC is appreciated. I need help and adly. The color is off I think. Thanks!

It's been a long time

2008-02-02T09:10:00.000-05:00

I have totally slacked on this blog lately. I have had so much going on health wise and kind of got depressed. SOme of you already know whats been happening with me so I am sorry to bore you with the details again. LOL! I had to go to the OBGYN last week, She said she could feel a cyst on my left ovary, but it did not really concern her. Being on the safe side I have to go have an Ultrasound done this coming Friday. WHile being there, my heart was beating very irregular and so she made me make an appointment with my Family Doctor. I had blood drawn, and an EKG. The EkG proved that I have Tachycardia. On Tuesday, I have to go back for an Echocardiogram. I could be anemic, have Thyroid problems or I may have Mitrovalve Prolapse. Mya had to have some personal things done to her, but is much better now and Every single one of us are sick with the same cold that keeps coming back! GRRRR.
On a good note, my WONDERFUL Mother bought my fake floor for me that I have been wanting FOREVER, but I do still need to get the baseboard. I can't wait to take some pictures using it. Though My camera is still acting like a piece of poop and I am still having a hard time parting with it.
So the picture that I included today was of the ice that formed on my Lilac bush. We had a ton of Ice fall yesterday. It looked beatiful, but I am so glad I didnt have to go out in it. Hopefully I will get back on track now and be able to keep up with my blog.

still in theme before and afters

2008-01-16T22:46:00.000-05:00

Before
just resized and saved for web

After
defogged>soft light layer>USM>cropped and saved for web

Pretty simple tonight.
THanks for looking. Thank you all for you comments and advice yesterday. CC always welcome. Good or bad. I CAN TAKE IT!

photoshop before and afters

2008-01-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

before

AFTER

brought the midtones up in curves to 160 since I underexposed

defogged

soft light

usm

Then ran Multiply Vignette action twice and cropped

I am so behind. This has not been a very good week for me. Mya woke up on Sunday with symptoms of a UTI. My little sweetheart was so miserable. We both did a lot of crying, but thankfully the antibiotics are doing there thing and she is getting back to normal. Today Laken woke up with a slight cough and I have a feeling by tomorrow she is not going to be feeling so well. I hope that I am wrong. I just cant get a break from the sickies in my house. I had a cold, then Mya had one, then just as she is getting better had to get the UTI and now Laken is getting sick and I think I have a few sniffles myself. Also in quite a "FUNK" with my photography skills once again. It is so upsetting to me to see people that started around the same time as me doing so much better. I just want to be so much better and it isnt happening fast enough. Anyway I am using an old picture just because it makes me happy. Not quite happy with the edit, but that is what this is all about right? Feel free to give CC.

Silly me

2008-01-12T22:02:00.000-05:00

Last night I was thinking it was the last night for focus, but then found out today that I was wrong. Again it took me all day to figure out something. Then I seen my idea as Bill (dh) was sitting on the couch watching his favorite team playing football. He had his beer in his hand and focused on his game. Annoying the hell out of me I must say. Surround sound turned up, yelling and screaming at the tv as if these people really hear what he is saying. I am sure I was annoying the hell out of him telling him how I wanted to take his picture and telling him to hold the beer bottle this way and then he wanted to take a drink and I was telling him, I am not done yet. All the while he is trying to stay focused on his team. So this I guess is how I end the week in focus!

The last day of FOCUS

2008-01-11T22:19:00.000-05:00

This has been an interesting week. Focus can be taken so many different ways. when the week started, I was thinking up everything I wanted to do and each day I seen that my ideas were also ideas of others. Making me think harder so that I was unique. I guess that is the whole idea of doing this blog. Getting the creativity flowing. I like the others want to focus more on my family, focus on my health and focus on my friendships. Those will come first. Then after taking care of all of that I realize one thing that I would LOVE to have time to focus on would be to have time
To actually shave my legs. Being a stay at home Mommy to two daughters and having a husband who works crazy hours makes it super difficult to find time for this one simple task. Thank goodness for being able to wear pants right now.

to end the week of focus I decided to :

Take a picture out of focus!

Thank you again for all of you leaving me comments!

OH what a day!

2008-01-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

Today has been an exhausting day with my girls. There has been a lot of naughtyness (IS THAT A WORD?)today. Crying, yelling , screaming and fighting. My brain is fried and I am tired , so tired that I couldn't think of anything for today. I could share the pictures of my girls moments, but I am not comfortable posting full pictures of them. So I chose to be as corny as I could. I wish I could FOCUS on 2peas. LOL. I am such a goober sometimes. Well, I am off to get the kids in bed and then ahhhhh I am having a wine cooler! CHEERS!

Another day of Focus

2008-01-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Who can focus if they have poor vision?

I am still on theme, but the ideas are running out!

Day 3 FOCUS!

2008-01-08T18:21:00.000-05:00

Mya has had a cold for a few days now and the only thing that seems to help is Vicks. Today she went to her room to watch a movie and was really coughing so I went and rubbed some Vicks on her chest. On my way downstairs a light bulb clicked in my head for todays post. This is what I came up with for today. I have to focus on getting her feeling better so she can have fun playing with her toys.
Settings were:
ISO 400
f/1.8
1.125

Focus day 2

2008-01-07T18:45:00.000-05:00

Oh what a beautiful day we had here today. I think I heard it was around 70 degrees. That is my kind of weather. I actually was able to get the girls out to play . It was wonderful getting a breath of fresh air and not having to freeze while doing it. I can see that I have been getting way to much practice in doors because when I got outside with my camera I was so uncomfortable. I didn't do a CWB and WOW do I have regrets now.
So for today's theme, I took My Awesome photography book found the definition for Focus and took a picture focusing mainly on that word. It was kind of hard to get a super good close up with my 50mm, but I tried.

Manual - ISO 100- f/1.8- 1/640
Then while I was outside I took a snap of the berries on my hedges. I think this is pretty good focus if I do say so myself. LOL!

Manual- ISO 400- f/1.8- 1/1000
yes I screwed up the settings. I was holding my camera, holding Laken and pushing Mya on her bike! That is multi -tasking if I ever seen it. I am sure I looked like a goof trying to get a picture of berries on a dead hedge. Wonder what my neighbors think when they see me with my camera outside taking pictures of things other then people. I guess the same things I used to think when I would see someone taking pictures of the same type of things before I got into photography. They will really talk this summer when they see me on my head trying to get that perfect shot of my kids playing. LOL.
Thank you all for the wonderful comments each and every day.. I love them and look forward to them.

POTD "FOCUS"

2008-01-06T22:35:00.000-05:00

This is going to be short and sweet. I didnt get to technical today. Seeing how the title of the week is "Focus" into 2008, this was my first thought.

AND the usual.

Shopping for shoes

January 5th

2008-01-05T21:48:00.000-05:00

Today I was taking the tree down and took pictures of my ornaments with the "HATS". I know someone did this yesterday, but I really fried my brain this week trying to think of things and I have one idea left and it is being used tomorrow.

Manual ISO 400- f/ 2.2- 1/80
I wish it was a bit more in focus

Manual - ISO 400- F/2.2- 1/80

The shoes again! I think it has become my trademark for now!

2008-01-04T23:14:00.000-05:00

Today we took the hats off to put the Princess crown on.

Manual- ISO 800- f/2.5 - 1/125
bumped midtones in curves>defogged>curves adjustment>color balance>USM on the eyes only>USM for the entire picture>cropped and saved for web

I ran LinnaBlkWht conversion on this one. I think I really like it.

This one, my Shutter speed was a little to slow, but I think it still worked out

Manual- ISO 800- 2.5- 1/60

And what would my blog be without any of Laken and her shoes?

Manual- ISO 800- f/2.5- 1/125

Manual- ISO 1600- f/1.8- 1/160

January 4th

2008-01-03T23:22:00.000-05:00

My ideas for the "Hats off" theme started off Lame to begin with, but now I am in so much trouble. I find myself laying in bed at night thinking of something cool and interesting, but my mind draws a blank. Then when I do think of something, I find I totally can't do what I had visioned in my head. I thought of "copying" one of my friends pictures. She had a cutie picture of her legs crossed and her feet were holding a hat. Such a cute idea, then I tried and realized my legs are not sexy...unless you consider hairy snake skin sexy. I also thought how cute it would be to have my hubby and I kissing and holding a hat out, but Bill is totally not into me taking pictures. So again I threw that idea out the window. So I was stuck with taking a picture of me to stick to the theme. I am not into being in front of the camera that is why I am the one behind the camera. So this is what I came up with. I know I blew out the hat, but I was shocked to even do a self portrait and it actually be in focus (well almost in focus)

Manual ISO 400 - 2.0 - 1/125

That is all I came up with for the theme, but I can't stop my blog entry here because I am totally addicted to blogging now. Never in a million years did I ever think I would have a blog, but this is FUN!
While I was trying to get a semi decent picture of me in my "HAT" I caught one of my eyes that I really liked. I really like the fact that if you have not been to have your UNIBROW waxed lately that you can fix it all in photoshop. I do need a wax job, but it wasn't quite a unibrow yet.

Moving on. Here is more pictures of Laken with her shoes this morning and Jammies again.

Manual- ISO 200- 1.8- 1/100

Not sure I like the conversion here, I cant even remember how I did it. I do know it was one of my thousand actions. I do like the lighting coming through.

and this last one is just a sweet moment I captured on New Year's day. My Mom and Daughter playing "STORE"

Manual ISO 1600- 2.0- 1/200

That is all for today. Thank you so much to all of you who have been leaving me comments. Feel free to give HARD CORE CC as well. I appreciate all feed back.

sticking to the theme today

2008-01-03T00:33:00.000-05:00

It is officially Jan. 3rd here so I am doing my blog entry now. I think I will have an easier time keeping up with my themes if I can do them at night when the kids are in bed.
These were taken under a flourescent light in my kitchen. I did a CWB again. I I will be doing a CWB for every shot from now on. These are not going to be very exciting, but I wanted to be sure to try to stick to the theme.
This is a gift my Brother in Law bought for Mya

Manual- ISO 800- 1.8- 1/100

Another gift from my BIL

Manual- ISO 800- 1.8- 1/400

and without the hat

Manual- ISO 800- 1.8- 1/125

This one has nothing to do with the theme, but I am so proud that I have to share. Bill and I have been trying to teach Mya how to write her name. Today she went into the playroom with her magnetic drawing board and a while later returned saying to me, "Mommy, look what I drew for you" All on her own she made MY. Just one more letter to go.

Snowy Cold Day

2008-01-02T18:59:00.000-05:00

It is so cold here today. We woke up this Morning with about 5 inches of snow on the ground. Mya and her Daddy went out and shoveled the walks. Well...actually Daddy shoveled and Mya ate the snow. We made sure the snow was all white. I took all of these pictures throught the window. Also I did a CWB. I think I am falling in love with doing that. It has made such a difference in my pictures. I thank Desiree for reminding me of that.

I blew out the whites a little to much here I think.

Manual 6.3- ISO 100- 1/250

Here is her snow Angel. Not sure you can really tell that is what it is though.

It was way to cold to take Laken out so she watched them from the window. The picture is a little crooked, I have not figured out how to fix that in Photoshop yet.

Manual ISO 100- 2.2- 1/160

and here is one of Laken trying to get her sisters shoe on. She loves shoes. Every morning we wake up and she cries for me to put them on. SHe doesn't take after me. I am all about NO SHOES.

Have a wonderful night.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

I didn't get the chance to post yesterday. I did take a few quick pictures. I have had a cold since Christmas day. Yuck! Walking around all day with a tissue in my hand or shoved up my nose. I am telling you, it such a beautiful look. So I decided to take a picture of sick Kristie. LOL! You have to have the comfy clothes. Thank god for Photoshop to because My belly that I grew over the holidays found a way to sneak out of my shirt. Had to clone some extras in.

For now I am just posting a quick Happy New Year to all! I took a few pictures today so far for my POTD challenge and I will post those later tonight. Be safe everyone!

ok so today started a little crazy. Waking up this morning I really wondered what I was thinking letting my 3 year old try to stay up until midnight last night. I didn't think she could really do it. It was around 11:00 and I could hardly keep my eyes open, Mya was still full of life. I did make her go to bed then and it was a good thing because I would have not wanted to see her be anymore crabby then what she was. She was hungry, her finger hurt and the list continues.
She had major bed head this morning so I snapped a picture. I think this proves how rough her night really was. LOL!

Manual setting-1/125- 2.2 and ISO 1600

so onto the picture of the day "HATS OFF" I sure hope I learn to get my creativity flowing better then it is with this project or I am in BIG T~R~O~U~B~L~E

Manual 1/100- 2.2- ISO 200

my settings were a little off here
Manual- 1/80- 2.0- ISO 1600

Until I can get to POTD

2007-12-30T00:05:00.000-05:00

I will liven up my blog with my favorite pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Here is the milk and cookies that Mya left for Santa. I helped her pick out "SANTA'S" (COUGH..MY) favorites. Never Mind the old looking carrots. I promise "Santa" didn't eat them, they were for the deer.

Santa's letter and crumbs

I did have more exciting pictures, but I removed them so that I can make my blog for all to see