Jacob was super crabby and didn’t want to do it (like usual) and Elle was sweet and cooperative (like usual) so it was pretty awkward at times.

It was snowing SO HARD when we were shooting!  Just kidding - it really wasn’t snowing at all – it was WARM (like almost 40) so almost all the snow was melted and I had to even clone in some snow.  Hardly any snow in MN in December when I would actually LIKE to have some snow for once?? Figures!!

But Florabella came out with a FREE snow overlay download, so that’s what’s on here – #6 at about 80% or so. You should try it! Pretty fun! And hey, it sorta looks real, right?  The outdoor trees I had planned to shoot in at the first lot had been moved indoors, so we went to the next lot. This is where they told me they both felt really dumb because everyone was looking at them, and why would teenagers be shopping for a Christmas tree anyway? (((deeper sigh))). But I got them to do a few shots at the lot before we headed to “the woods”.By then my “hot chocolate” was lukewarm at best. Then Jacob spilled his on the blanket when trying to sit down. Nice.  ;-) Well…………there was my attempt at a Christmas tree lot photo shoot. Totally NOT what I had in mind, but it is what it is. What’s a person to do, right?

• backdrop stand from National Camera (the cheapy one – like $79)
• clamps from Home Depot
• white fleece from JoAnn’s fabrics – it’s about 4 yards long
• white fuzzy pieces from TJ Maxx & Wal-Mart
• white tree from Target (got it on clearance for $5 a few years ago!)
• icicle lights from Target – clamped on to the backdrop stand
• ornaments from JC Penney – on clearance a couple years ago
• Nikon D700
• Nikon 35mm f/1.4 lens – btw….I have literally not taken this lens off my camera since I got it a few months ago. I LOVE it!  I used to shoot primarily with my 24-70mm f/2.8 which I still love, but I think this lens is just a tad sharper and it’s a focal length that I find very comfortable.  :-)

camera settings:  aperture 1.8, shutter 1/200, ISO 400, auto white balance Isn’t she a sweetie? Yes she is! Tammy is such a good mommy and is so cute with her.

Now you may wonder why I did this shoot when I just “retired”. Well…I will continue to take on “personal projects” (aka usually for FREE!) when and if I feel up to it and when and IF I get a fun idea. Or I may volunteer my services for a good cause here and there if time allows.  We will see.  :-)

who:  Jennie and her new little guy Enzo! (age 11 days)

when:  Thurs 8/25/11 around 7pm

where:  various areas of BP/Champlin

what:  Jennie and I were trying to scope out some new locations, so of course we had to bring sweet little Enzo along!  What a little cutie pie!

I followed all her steps for the most part, but I used an existing photo I had of sky/clouds instead of using a brush.  And then some of the other instructions I changed up a bit too. Here’s how to do it!

1)  Open the photo that you want to add a sky to.

2)  Open a sky/cloud image and use the “move” tool to position it on top of your photograph. (p.s. I have gone outside and taken 10+ photos of skies.  If you are interested in having them, let me know by leaving a comment and I can e-mail them to you….)

3)  Turn OFF the sky/cloud image by clicking on the little eyeball to the left of it in the layers palette.

4)  With the image layer selected, go into “channels” and click on the blue channel layer.  Duplicate it by dragging the layer down to the “create new channel” icon to the left of the garbage can icon.

5)  Working with the blue channel copy layer, go “ctrl-M” to get into curves. Slide over as instructed on the video (or see my image example below) and click OK.

6)  This is where my instructions change from the tutorial:  With the blue channel copy layer selected (which is now totally black and white), take the magic wand tool and click on the white sky.  There will now be “marching ants” around your white sky selection.

7)  Click back on your layers and click the sky/cloud image layer and click the “eyeball” so it’s visible.

8 )  Create a layer mask by clicking on the layer mask icon (the little icon to the right of “fx”).

9)  Un-link the sky/cloud image and the layer mask – then you’ll be able to move it around and re-size it in step 12.

10)  Don’t worry if it looks like crap right now – you are going to fix that.  :-) With a soft BLACK brush (50% opacity, 50% flow), paint on the “horizon” or where the sky/clouds and the horizon/subject meet.  Paint, paint until you think it looks pretty good.  Don’t worry if you removed too much – if you did, simply select the white brush and paint where you’d like to ADD more sky/clouds.  Remember that black CONCEALS, white REVEALS.

11)  Then this is the COOL part – change the opacity of the sky/cloud image down to like 45% or where you think it looks good.  You can also CLICK ON THE SKY/CLOUD IMAGE directly (NOT the image mask) and go “image”, “adjustments”, “hue/saturation” and slide your color, saturation, and lightness around until you are content.  You can also try changing the blending modes of your sky/cloud image – try multiply, darken, lighten, overlay, etc. at varying opacities to get the look you want.  I just used “normal” though.

12)  You can also click “Ctrl-T” to “transform” your sky/cloud image (remember to click on THAT, NOT your image mask) and you can resize it!  (hold the shift key down and resize from a CORNER – very important so your image doesn’t warp).

13)  Once you are all done, flatten your image (“layer”, “flatten image”), save as a jpeg and you are ready to print!

Here’s some example photos.  Follow along and try it yourself! I’d love to see your results!

left = before/ right = aftersame photo, different sky & clouds.  :-)  Plus changed the hue/saturation. For my next tutorial, I’ll show you how to add rainbows and rainbow flare to a photo.  :-)

when:  Sunday 6/26 and Tuesday 6/28 – around 7pm

where:  my favorite field in BP

what:  more to come.  I took so many that I really like a lot!  So as I have time I’ll add more here.  Working on a slideshow too!  I was excited because she actually cooperated pretty well!  OK and yes, it cost me another $20 and a lunch at Culver’s, but I’d say it was worth it.  :-)

The kids (well, mostly Jacob) found some milkweed with caterpillar eggs on it and they raised four caterpillars! On Friday 7/1, the first butterfly came out. The transformation is truly a miracle!  wow!I thought it would hang around for a while since it was “newborn” and all, but it flew away super fast! In fact, I was using my Nikon 60mm macro (on manual focus, manual settings) so I quick had to switch into auto-focus and aperture priority! By the time I did that, it was already flying over the empty lot next to us! geesh! Here’s one of the ones that wasn’t “born” yet – you can see it inside! Pretty cool!
This morning two MORE butterflies were born! I was up late last night (past midnight) and they weren’t out when I checked. When I came downstairs a little after 7am, they were “born”! The wings were still wet so they weren’t flapping around. The kids let them go when I was at work – bummer! But at least I got a few shots before I went to work.

There’s ONE more left yet to hatch!Then yesterday before work, Amber looked so cute sunning herself in a patch of light. Of course by the time I got the camera out, she moved! Brat!  I was trying to get her attention and Mr. Jealous (Buddy) had to snoop and see why I was paying so much attention to her!
What about MEEEEEE!!!  I’M the cutest!!  :-)I have been thinking…………..what should be my new obsession once I’m done with photography? I’d love for one of those “hobbies” to be decorating! So I’m *trying* to get better at putting together little “collections” here and there around the house (much to the DISLIKE of my hubby!)

I got the mustard yellow “H” and the black sign with all the words/sayings from the General Store in Minnetonka (totally inspired by Shelley! LOVE her decorating style!!), and the number “4″ and shelf from the Front Porch in Anoka. The camera I got from Craig’s List (as part of a HUGE buy – like 10 cameras – a couple years ago) and the little “yesterday, today and forever” is from TJ Maxx. The frame is from Pottery Barn (old again – I’m trying to re-use and shuffle around stuff to make it seem “fresh” and new!). Family photo by the wonderfully talented Melissa!I got this COOL little picture collage from Target!  $19.99!! The window from an antique store, and the candle stick & frame from TJ Maxx (a LONG time ago though). The camera was my grandpa’s! The saying I got from an antique store in Anoka.I couldn’t decide between the COOL pictures at Target, so I got this one too for the laundry room. The other little laundry sign I got at the General Store in Minnetonka. The four 4×4 frames Scott got from work (they were throwing them away!) Photos from www.melissalouise.com.  :-) nighty night!

We did go out of town for a couple days for my sister-in-law Kristy’s 40th birthday party (more to come on that!) and we stayed with my parents on their little farm.  Here’s Sugar!  My dad said that he and Sugar were having a talk the other week and she was saying how much she’d like to have a boyfriend.  So he put an ad on Craig’s List asking for a boyfriend for her and in no time at all, they had Willie over for a “date”!  It was apparently successful and Sugar should be a mama in about a year from now.  My dad doesn’t like keeping boy donkeys around (they try to ‘get with’ almost everything that is female and has four legs), so Willie was out of there as soon as he served his purpose.  ;-)Then Shadow had a talk with my dad and said that it wasn’t fair that Sugar got a boyfriend, but he didn’t get a girlfriend!?!  So they went and bought a girlfriend for him (also from Craig’s List!) Meet “Sunshine!”  She’s soooo adorable!  She looks like a mini palamino!So in about 11 months or so, these two will most likely be parents!  :-)btw….this was Shadow almost three years ago when they first got him – he had been so badly neglected/abused.  He’s changed so much!  Lost all his fuzz too!

So my dad’s “hobby” is the animals and taking care of them….that and fixing up old cars, etc. So what does my mom do when he’s busy with that?  She’s a Master Gardener and bee keeper of course!  Here are some of her beautiful flowers that happened to be in bloom (or almost in bloom!) when we were there.

{her current FAV!} btw….all the animal photos were taken with my 24-70 f/2.8.  The flower ones/mom were with my 60mm f/2.8 macro – all on manual focus.  :-)

It’s actually my parent’s 45th Wedding Anniversary today so Happy Anniversary mom & dad! I love you both very much!

where:  Tater Daze – Brooklyn Park

when:  Friday 6/17 – around 7pm

what:  I’ve been wanting to do a shoot at the fair for a LONG time now!  In fact, I’d LOVE to have our family photos taken there, but it didn’t work out for several reasons this year so I was feeling pretty bummed Friday night… But then Elle came over looking so pretty and I said, “Heeey!  How would you like some photos taken?” and she was totally game, but Jacob was NOT (plus he really needs a haircut!) but we sorta forced him into it and he was a good sport once we got there.  :-)

For the photogs that care, I used my Nikon D700, my Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens primarily and my 85 f/1.4 lens on a few.  Used florabella’s ‘vintage summer’ on almost all of these – at varying opacities and added some totally rad ‘flare up golden’ here and there.  Also used some textures on some.

where:  my favorite areas of Brooklyn Park.  :-)

when:  Thursday 6/2/11 around 7pm

what it cost me:  $20 – so she could buy a yearbook and an Oreo Blizzard.

where:  Brooklyn Park, MN

when:  5/26/11 – mini session – 9am

what:  Logan was also supposed to come to my minis on 5/19, but he had a little accident and got a bruise on his face right under his eye – so I was glad to see he was pretty much healed up a week later!  He was so good for his photos!  What a cute family, huh?  Thanks for coming again guys – it’s been great working with you the last year +!