Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Welcome to my Scavenger Hunt Sunday post. I could seriously cry right now.  I created this post earlier this afternoon, posted it and went on my merry way.  Fast forward to 8:30 p.m. and my husband burst out laughing because I had a ridiculous typo that he found funny.  So I grab my iPad and try to fix the error but instead some how I ended up deleting my entire post.  Grrrrr.  So for a second time.

1.Facial Feature

Many people tell me that my daughter looks a lot like me.  Sometimes it is hard for me to see the similarities because of her red hair, which is by far her most prominent feature.  One thing is for sure, she has my nose.  I used to hate my nose...but I think it looks pretty cute on her.

2. Shadows

When it comes to photography I tend to avoid shadows.  This prompt reminded me how beautiful shadows can be.

2. Spicy

Spicy food is a must have in my world.  I grew up eating it and so have my girls.  This little dish was my breakfast.  Eggs, salsa fresca and fresh corn tortillas.  Mmmmmm.

4. Gold

I don't really wear gold jewelry anymore.  But back in the day I did.  This gold chain and heart locket are probably the only piece I have (besides my wedding rings) that still make an appearance.  This was the first Valentines Day present that my husband ever bought me so it makes a yearly appearance on February 14th.

5. Fabric

I honestly had nothing for this prompt.  That is until I set the plate I was using for the Gold prompt on top of some fabric that I bought for a project I will be working on this weekend.  There you go, fabric...not particularly exciting or creative but I like the color combo.

PS: to my husband...if you read this and find another typo, I don't want to know about it. :)

Playing with free photoshop actions

If you have Photoshop it is more than likely that you have heard about actions.  You have probably bought a few for yourself or downloaded some of the freebies being offered up on various websites.  If you haven't, then what in the world are you waiting for?  Seriously!

Haven't heard of actions?  In a nut shell, actions are the recorded steps you take in photoshop to create a special effect on your photo.  They are in two words....total awesome!

Cruising around on Pinterest I found more than a few pinners mentioning sites offering free actions so of course I jumped right on it (because laundry can wait when there are freebies to be had).

I have fallen head over heels in love with this Polaroid Generator 3 Action from Devianart.com.

 

These fake Polaroids make me really bummed that I ever put that Polaroid camera in the goodwill bag.  Sniff!

Moving on with my current obsession with all things vintage I also downloaded this Vintage actions set from Deviantart.com (they have 100 free sets currently being offered up).

Whenever I buy or download free actions I like to create collages showing what all of the actions look like on one photo.  One thing you will find when using actions is that not all actions work well with every photo.  So while I wouldn't necessarily use each of these actions for this particular photo it gives me a good idea of what the actions look like.

Here are two more sites for free actions that I use: The Coffee Shop Blog and Pioneer Woman.  Do you own actions sets that you L-O-V-E?  I'd love to hear what you are currently loving?

Linking up with Wordful Wednesday with Seven Clown Circus, Parenting by Dummies and Project Alicia.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I so look forward to the weekly Sunday Scavenger hunts over at Ramblings and Photo's. Here is what I came up with for this weeks prompts.

1. Strike a pose

If there is one thing that my youngest daughter Kate knows, it is how to strike a pose.  No matter where we are, no matter how many people might be looking, she will give me her best model pose.

2. Footwear

My sixteen year old begged me to buy her these heels.  When she wears them they boost her 5'8" self to 6'.....giving her the chance to see eye to eye with me. 

3. Hobby

Taking pictures is by far my most favorite and long running hobby.  Second to that would be scrapbooking.  I don't get a chance to do it as often as I would like but I still love it. 

4. Shiny

I just thought this fire hydrant sticking out of the building of a downtown fire station looked neat. 

5. Color me green

My neighbor brought over this huge flat of sprouts for us.  So yummy and oh so green!

I am looking forward to see what everyone else came up with this week.  Cheers and thanks for looking.

Project 365 - 1 month down, 11 to go!

One month into the 365 project and I am still hanging in there. Finally, I can say that taking a picture everyday is starting to feel more like second nature than something I have to do.

January 26

Cutting and deseeding tomatoes for this most delicious pasta recipe that I discovered on Pinterest. I have found so many yummy recipes via pinterest that I might have to start a weekly post about what I have been cooking. 

January 27

Do you have a Five Guys burger joint near you?  If you love burgers and fresh cut fries, then you are missing out if you don't give this place a try.  There burgers are delicious.  Our local Five Guys recently installed these Jetson like Coke machines that make drinking disgusting soda oh so much fun.....for the kids.  If I drink soda it is plain coke or pepsi for me.

January 28

I bought a photo reflector a few months ago and this Saturday I finally got the chance to practice with it.  There is a serious learning curve to figuring out how to angle and bend the reflector to get the lighting just right.  We blinded our test models more than a occasions!  The few times we got it right, wow....just look at the catch light in Kate's eyes.

In this shot Kate was completely being back lit by the sun.  We used the gold reflector to bounce light back onto her face and into her eyes.  I was shooting directly into the sun which explains the haze effect. 

January 29

When the weather man predicted the temps over the weekend would be in the mid to high 70's my Dad invited us over for a BBQ.  You can't really tell from this picture but the amount of meat on these ribs were insane.  They were more like Dinosaur ribs than beef ribs.  But dang, they were gooooood.

January 30

Yes, another food shot!  When I don't have anything exciting going on or wait until the end of the day I resort to taking pictures of food.  These baby bella mushrooms were waiting for yet another pasta dish.

January 31

At the beginning of the summer Reid's phone was falling apart so she asked if she could have an iPhone.  I am one of those parents that doesn't think a 16 needs an iPhone, but I told her that if she got a 4.0 on her first semester report card that I would get her the coveted iPhone 4S.

Well, that carrot was big bright a shiny and Reid followed through and earned a 4.3 GPA and an iPhone 4S!  The iPad is my new toy. 

February 1

Met up with a friend this morning to go walking.  Took the dogs.  Both dogs.  However I didn't know that my friend invited another friend (and her dog) to join us.  This little terror does not like other dogs.  Grrrr!  Where is Cesar Milan when you need him?

Happy shooting and thanks for looking.