Scavenger Hunt Sunday - Finally joining in again YAY!

Architecture

 (I already shared this one, but this is a new edit.  I had to use one from the archives because this is about the only architecture picture I have.)

Rimmed with Light

 (Ok, so I know this is a stretch LOL... this is more like blown out with light ;0))

Toes/Feet

I love those tootsies!

My Favorite: smile, girl, time spent...  I love her.

I don't know if you read it, but my previous post eluded to the fact that my baby loves rocks... well, I got this smile from putting a rock on the camera and asking where the rock was.. "It's there momma" (silly momma doesn't know where she put her rock)   yeah, she loves her rocks!!!

Shade

 Check out more here:

Sunny Saturday

Today we went out with a great friend of mine.  I was able to take some pictures of nature (just a few) and of Emma.  I don't really like most of the shots I got of Emma.  I don't know what I'm doing and I am shooting in manual.  My family thinks I'm crazy because I either get really great shots or really terrible ones...  Oh well, this is how you learn... right?   I really am loving my camera.  I can't get enough of it.  Here are a few of the shots I took.

SOOC

  Emma is just fascinated with gravel, rocks... dirt.. well most things on the ground.  It's hard to get her to look up when those things are around. 

SOOC

This picture was all blown out.  I really like my edit on it, but I'm not sure if it would print well. 

Thanks for stopping in!  Hope you had a GREAT Saturday!  I sure did!

Becky

Just stoppin in

Man, I haven't been blogging very long and I sure did miss posting!  I kept reading other's posts and having photo challenge envy!  I missed entering them.  Then I learned a very frustrating and valuable lesson.  I took Emma to the park yesterday after work.  We played some and I got a few good pictures of her.  I got home, hooked my camera up to my laptop and went to uploading them... Picasa updated in the middle of my upload and since I had chosen for Picasa to delete all the pictures after uploading... they are gone.  I also had a picture of a Rainbow from the other night after the horrendous storms... Which incidentally, I was going to enter into Jennifer and Nicole's "Theme Thursday" photo challenge "signs" as a sign that the earth would never be flooded again. 

I spent the rest of the evening trying to recover the deleted photos from the card on my camera just to realize that it's not going to happen.  I don't know why it's so hard to let a few pictures go like that.  I can take them all over again.  I'm sure they weren't great, but I just keep seeing them in my mind.  I know, I'm slightly crazy lol.

Anyhoo, I've got one test down, 2 to go and this semester will be done with.  I am taking this summer off.  I don't know if I told you guys or not, I am going to school parttime for Medical Office Systems Technology.  Without my husbands help there is no way that I can support both me and Emma on one job.  So with this major I can get certified in Medical transcription and medical records and billing.  That way I can possibly have a 2nd job that I do at home.  Or I can chose to manage a medical office  (which I still don't think would pay enough to support us both).  I hate the thought of working so much that I never see Emma.  I know that is not what God intended. 

To tell you the truth, I thought school would be easier for me now that I'm older, but I didn't take into account that I am older and work full time and have a child...  My first full semester I took 13 hrs...  I don't know what I was thinking, it about killed me.  This semester I only took 9, it was much better, but still hard.  I am worn out and ready for a break.  When I went in to take my test today I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders! 

I hope this isn't boring.  I will post some pictures from my past photo excursions that you may not have seen.

I edited this one because I wanted Emma to pop, but you can see the lines where I edited it around her body. 

 I think I may have used too much texture on these...

Thanks for stopping in!  I will post more later.

Becky

Goodbye School Year!

Hey guys, if you stop in and I'm not here it's because this is the last week of my classes and I am working on getting all my stuff done.  Lots of studying and stuff so I will be back full force by next Weds.  I was also having problems thinking of what to blog about last week.  So I will have to get with it and figure this stuff out. :0)  Thanks for being so patient!  And may I add Thank you so much for being one of my 15 followers!  I can't believe how quickly that number is going up!!!! YAY!  I LOVE FOLLOWERS!!!



Thanks again!
Becky

I heart faces - Pets

I had Emma outside today.  It was absolutely beautiful so I slathered on the sunscreen and we went out.  The whole time we were out our lab , Honey, followed her around.  It was adorable!

Check out i <3 faces for more pets pictures:



Learning to do Textures

So if you have been reading my blog, you know that I'm pretty new to photography.  I really am falling head over heals for it.  I never realized that it was such an art.  I guess I never really thought about it.  I am learning how to edit pictures and I'm not really great at it, but I recently stumbled across a blog that is just awesome. Check out:   Kim Klaussen Cafe'  Not only does she make textures and offer tutorials on how to use them, she gives them away for free!  I joined her "Texture Lovin List" and I immediately received an email with 5 free textures.  Then I ran over to her site and watched her tutorial on how to use them.  She suggests if you don't have PS that you download the free trial, but I just followed along on Gimp.  The two programs are similar, obviously PS is better, but I was able to figure it out on Gimp thanks to her easy instructions.  I highly recommend checking out her blog if you are new to all of this like me. 

Here is my SOOC

Here is my Edit:

I used one of her free textures and I really like it. 

 I don't know if it's great because I really don't know if I have an eye for this stuff yet.

Anyhoo, my point is that now I know how to use Textures.  I know how adjust the layers and she also shows in her 10 minute tutorial how to easily erase the texture from an area using a mask (which I had no idea what or how to use before this tutorial).  I am excited!  Can you tell??? :0)

Thanks for stopping in!  Hope you have a Blessed Easter!

Theme Thursday - Shadows

I am tired.  I need to be in bed... but instead I am here blogging because I just finished my quizzes for the week.  That stress is over for the moment and now I am ready to blog.   I thought I'd share some other shots from Sunday.  I haven't picked up the camera since then.  I have been busy/tired and busy again. 

I also wanted to link up with Nicole and Jennifer  so here is my "Shadow" entry... well actually I am going to post the sooc first and then the edit will be my entry.

SOOC

I took this back in Feb right after I got my camera.  I didn't really know much about it at the time.  You may have seen this photo before, I had edited it but I didn't know how to remove the people at the top.  So I have re-edited it :0).

Here's my new edit:

 Hope you like it!

See more shadow photos here:

Have a Happy Thursday!  Oh yeah, It's My Friday!!! YIPPEE!!! :0)

Sunday Evening Shots

I had a great time taking some pictures after church tonight.  We had choir practice and while the quartet was practicing their song for Easter I stole away and took some pictures of the Dogwood flowers and a few of the kids.  I ended up trying out using the flash  with the sunlight in the background (I read an article about doing this...) with the shots I took of the kids so they have the pin light thingy in their eyes.  I need to get something to diffuse the flash, but I haven't yet.  It really urks me when I try something out and it doesn't work... I know that's called learning, but why can I not get it right the first time??? :0)  Here are a few of the pictures. 



all are SOOC (Well, I did change the white balance on them before converting... guess that isn't technically sooc)

Have a HAPPY Monday!!! :0)

Scripture and a snapshot

Texture...?

I don't really know if I like my processing on this photo.  I was so proud of the shots I took of these flowers because I actually produced some bokeh in the background.  I knew it would be hard with my lens that I have and it made me smile when I loaded these onto my computer.  I do not, however know what I'm doing when it comes to texturizing (is that a word?)  I wanted to give it a soft fragile old look, but I don't know how and I could sit here all day long just trying to figure it out so I will just stop at this and move on.  I would love to sit here all day and work on this, but I just don't have all day... ya know what I mean? ;0)  Hope you guys like it.  Oh and today ended up being to icky for a trip to the lake so I have a while before I have to decide whether she gets to swim in it or not.  Yay!  Thank you , Lord, for answered prayer ;0).

SOOC as requested (it is dark and noisy)

I'm linking up with:

Just for your viewing pleasure here are a few more of the shots from that day:

I wanna say these were SOOC, but I can't remember what I did with them LOL...

I know the difference in them is the white balance though.  I was playing around with it to get different looks

I'm linking up with Flowers on Saturday too for the first time!

This one is SOOC

.

Have a GREAT Weekend!!!

{Finally, Fabulous Friday}

Have I told you how much I LOVE FRIDAYS?!?  I do, I love them so much.  It's the way I anticipate them all week long.  I can't wait to feel the freedom of the end of the week. 

Monday I remember what Friday felt like. 

Tuesday I can't wait till Wednesday gets here so I am 1/2 way to Friday. 

Wednesday I can smell Friday right around the corner. 

Thursday it is soooo close I can taste it.

  FRIDAY!!!! 

I get up knowing that today is my last work day of the week.   8 hrs and I am free to lounge, hang out with Emma, go to the park, do WHATEVER I want. Friday nights are my time for "me time".   I feed Emma, play with her a bit maybe give her a bath and then it's her bedtime.  Then comes ME time.  :)  I usually watch a Netflix movie and eat something that isn't good for me.  It's the best.  Saturdays are great too, but Saturdays are just a reminder that the weekend's almost over... I know, I'm a mess!  This is how my brain works all week long ;0). 

Here's my fabulous friday shot.  This is my favorite shot of the week:

In all sincerity, I try to enjoy all the time I have with my Emma.  I hate to wish the days away because they go by so quickly on their own.  Emma is quickly turning from my baby into my little girl right before my eyes.  Every day there is something new that she has learned to do.  She's so smart and bright and beautiful.  I thank God for her ever day and hope that I can be the mom to her that He planned for me to be.  Thank you for reading. :0)

I'm linking up with:

Theme Thursday - Transportation

Is it Thursday again? Already? I can't believe how quickly life passes by. This week has been ultra busy so that does help it along. Here's my Transportation picture for Nicole and Jennifer's linky.  Oh, and they were kind enough to chose my Spring themed shot to be winner for last week!  I am so happy, that totally made my day!  My very first award!:

Nope it's not mine. :0)  I took the picture out of my car window a while back.

Tonight I have ladies meeting with the women at church then Saturday morning I am taking Emma out to her aunt's boathouse. She's never even been near a lake or river or even a pool for that matter. I took her to the duck pond the other day and she didn't know what to think. I don't know if I will let her get in though... I just get sick inside thinking of the things that could happen. Yes, I am that mom. I worry. I try not to because I know that God is in control, but I have reason to be concerned. I mean, I have a bathing suit/life jacket for her, but what if she's floating along and falls out of it???... is that even possible? I was seriously worried about this. This lake is very deep, it freaks me out.  What do you guys think?  Would you put your not yet 2 year old into a lake??? (I bet I know your answers)  If she doesn't swim, what would she do?  I think it will be a hot miserable time for her.  We shall see. Thanks for checking out my blog.  Check out more Theme Thursdays here:

Wordless (sort of) Wednesday

I wanted to blog today since I am trying to get in the habit of doing so, but I know if I don't do it now then I won't have time to do so... (work, church and tests for medical terminology - after work) So this is my sort of Wordless Wednesday.

This is my attempt at editing in Gimp. I am learning more and more each day about that program. I can't wait till I have the money to splurge on pse or lightroom, but until them I will learn what I can about Gimp. I didn't do much in gimp on this shot except lighten her eyes a little so that they would pop. I warmed up the shot in Picasa before hand. You can really do a lot between these 2 free programs. I will post more of what I have learned later.

Okay, so this Wordless Wednesday was not wordless at all!!! LOL! Thanks for stopping in and Have a Happy Wednesday!


(I was linking up with wordless weds and then I found this linky :0) that works!!!)



PS... Now that I look at the shot on the blog it looks like I lightened one eye more than the other... oops. I will have to work on that later.

i heart faces - Shadows

I took Emma to the Park on Saturday and I've shown you guys a few of the shots I took, but here's one for iheartfaces' photo challenge "shadows" 

I love how Emma kind of disappears in the shadows from the trees.  Hope you guys like it too!  :0)