Ugh I can't stop using this chrome B&W, it reminds me so much of the old photographs. Next time I'll try my best to use some other B&W edit.

Stop by Amy's blog to join in on the Color Splash fun!

I didn't notice my husband and brother in law in the shot until I was editing it later, but I am so glad I didn't do a more shallow depth of field!

He was smiling at me, BIL was smiling down at his girlfriend and Kodak was asking a very appropriate question. Guess we know the answer to that one. =)

(click for larger view)

And hooray for funnel cakes! 

Check out more yellow @

I try to remind myself of this every single day. Most days I forget, but the days I do remember turn out to be phenomenal. 

Here's to the power of mind over matter and the little piece of paper that inspires me to think, be and do more.

Link up @ Amy's site and let us know what inspires you!

This past weekend we took a road trip to Rochester, NY for my brother-in-law's graduation the Lilac Festival!!! Lucky for him, his graduation just happened to coincide with this VERY important event so we attended that as well.

Lilacs are the reason I want a house. I wanted to plant a lilac bush right outside my bedroom window, and wake up every morning (in May) to the beautiful aroma. Then I read that lilacs attract A LOT of bees. Ever since being stung by a bee on my 14th birthday, I start hyperventilating whenever one is in close proximity. So maybe I'll plant that bush further away from the window.

But back to the festival... and the graduation. 

500 varieties of lilac, 1200 bushes... I was in heaven, albeit a very cold heaven. Having been promised 65 degrees and sunshine I was not dressed for the 50 degrees, clouds and wind that greeted us. But that did not prevent me from going picture crazy and I got hundreds of great shots.

Here are two that are perfect for the theme this week:

(click on the photos for larger size)

And here's one of the proud graduate. Or rather his side/back.

And while we're on the subject of photography, does anyone have any experience with bubbles in your lens? I found 2 tiny ones while cleaning the back end of the lens, contacted Canon and they want me to send it in for repair. I can't picture myself without a lens for 2-4 weeks. Google brought up several forums where people say one or two bubbles are perfectly fine. Any opinions?

Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous mothers! 

After a few weeks of life getting in the way, I am happy to be back among all of you super creative individuals, and back to Lightroom, Photoshop and my camera.

Amy is having us capture food for this week's challenge, or rather she had us capture food. I've had plenty of colorful food this week, but unfortunately did not get to check out her blog until today... the day that we go food shopping and do dinners at my parents'. 

Good thing photographed food does not spoil (unless you get a computer virus and don't back up regularly that is) because I'm pulling this one out of my archives.

Having gotten my education in holistic medicine and nutrition, I'm a huge proponent of salads. At our house, a salad is our side dish more nights than not. They're quick to make and clean up is a breeze! Just think, one less pot that needs to be scrubbed. 

And with the recent lettuce recall, it's easy to omit it and substitute other veggies. Just please wash them all thoroughly.

And now, to whet your appetites:

See? Simple. =)

Stop by Amy's blog to participate and share some of your favorite colorful foods.

Okay, so today is technically Monday, but time (once again) got away from me this weekend and I'm entering late. =\

This was one of the first shots I took using my dslr. I love it in full color, but once I isolated the yellow, the photo took on such a different mood. Now I don't know which one I like more!

Visit 




for  more color splash fun!

Drama! 

Today certainly promises to be a potentially drama filled day; with all the rain, 4 hours of sleep and a dinner party I'd rather not be going to.

But I'll try to not send too many of these looks my mother's way!

Head over to 

for more takes on drama!

What a beautiful little girl. I had fun 'fixing' this one because I could really enhance the eyes, and open up the shadows on her face. (When I try to do that with my son's photos, he looks too girly!)

So here are my contributions.

We were supposed to do something out of the norm this week. Different angles, different heights, holding the camera tilted or whatnot. As long as you're out of your comfort zone!

Usually, I like to take photos of Allen from either his eye level, or lower. This shot was purely 'accidental' because I was just playing around with settings before getting down on the floor, but I love it!

So here's my unusual (for me) angle of my sleepy little man.

And as usual, head over to

for all of the other wonderfully weird angles.

Yum. Even though I'm not a huge tomato fan, that one looked so delicious I was ready to eat it on the spot. Unfortunately I couldn't because it was growing in The King's Garden of Fort Ticonderoga. But I was free to snap a shot of it. It looked especially tempting surrounded by it's still green siblings. 

Join Amy in capturing (and isolating) some beautiful colors at

Next week's color is yellow!

Winter is finally on it's way out (!), however over at I Heart Faces, we're celebrating all the wonderful (bundled up) moments it's given us to capture. 

I haven't ventured much outside with my camera this winter. A two year old that wants to run ever where and get into all sorts of trouble does not make a great model when you're walking on busy city streets and trying to hold his tiny hand in an iron grip. Since there are no green parks around us, and daddy doesn't get home till late, that's where most of our walks take place. 

We did get some nice shots during the first BIG snow storm. My husband got the day off of work, and we ventured out as a family, with mommy free to do her thing. *(No yellow snow has been consumed during this photo shoot.)

for all of the warm and snugly entries!

I thought about the many books with red in them, toys, clothes, jewelery, but at the last minute settled on an old Betty Boop statuette. 

I used to be a bit obsessed with her when I was younger, but that flame has died down in the recent years. And since I'm trying to get rid of as much excess junk in anticipation of moving into our new and tiny condo, I figured I can kill (proverbially of course) two birds with one stone; enter Amy's new meme, and get some shots so I can throw this baby up on eBay!

So here she is, in all her 'red' glory. Marabou feathers and all.

Make sure to stop by Amy's blog to join in on the fun!

Ah, quiet, how I long for it towards the end of the day. When Allen's sweetly sleeping in his crib, my husband is passed out on the couch, and I have an hour to myself to do with as I please (quietly of course!). 

Beth has challenged us to capture quiet this week, and lucky for me, my quiet does not consist of silence, but instead of quieting the mind of worry, silly thoughts, and stress. I have many reminders scattered around the house that always seem to catch my eye just when I need them most.

Meditation is wonderful, when I can convince myself that I don't have anything more important to do for the next half hour. But just focusing on breathing in and out for a few minutes works wonders for quieting the mind.

Head to to join in on the fun!

 

I didn't think I would have anything to enter for this week's challenge. The weekend was busy, and flew by way too fast. Allen can't jump high enough for me to capture, although it is very cute when he does, like a tiny bunny hop.

Looking at some older photos, I came across a few that I was able to clean up however. Back then I loved taking photos, but didn't really focus on composition or angles and they were always taken on full automatic. I don't even think my point and shoot has any manual options.

But while these aren't phenomenal or creative, they do capture my husband's joy. He's a basketball nut, and ever since meeting me, hasn't gotten to enjoy it as much as he used to (every day!). 

So here are two shots of him catching some air while playing ball with fellow resort guests. I do hope that our son picks up on the game by summer time so I can get some great shots of them playing together. (Now that I know about shutter speed and am incessantly bugging him for an SLR.)

See all of the great entries on

Allen's hopeful moment this week consisted of 'hoping' to fit into his favorite box. Meanwhile I was busy hoping that he would not fall out of it and hurt himself.

I was also hoping that as he gets older, and his attention span gets longer, we'll have more quiet moments like the one above.

Last Friday he had experienced the repercussions of being a carefree little boy who's not as stable on his feet as he thinks, and mommy probably got her first gray hair. 

He cut his temple pretty deep and when he turned around to show me his 'booboom' ... well lets just say my first instinct was to call in the top specialists from all over the world to help stop the bleeding.

Luckily a few minutes of pressure with a cold washcloth stopped it, and he was back to his carefree self within moments. 

Wish I can say the same for myself.

Is it really THAT wrong to stick em in a bubble?

Head over to to participate!

"HIGH or LOW" (Photos from a different perspective, Photos from the top or bottom of Buildings, Mountains, Towers, Underneath...)

guest fan judges want to see all of our funny shots. Be it funny faces, hilarious poses or whatever else has given you a laugh when you looked back on it.

The photo on the challenge page is worth a look all it's own, my coffee almost came right out through my nose when I saw it this morning. I can't wait to see the other 700 or so entries when this challenge wraps up tomorrow!

Here are some of mine. I don't usually hang on to less than picture perfect shots, but I'm glad I kept a few of Allen's unintentionally funny faces now.

Here, he was trying to give me his best cheeeeeese face, while also trying to close his eyes at the perfect moment just to hear me make a grrr sound. That's his favorite. =)

This year, we got him this singing hamster card for his birthday (in addition to toys of course), and as you can see, he went nuts over it. It plays the Hamster Dance Song.

And here are a few of my husband, from our vacation in Curacao. 

He became obsessed with coconuts, and a large chunk of our trip was dedicated to him hunting them down. He threw things at trees, jumped off of chairs, tried to chew through the outer shells,  cracked them on cement patio corners and in our shower... it even went as far as bashing a poor coconut over and over with a stick. I wish I had my camera for that one, he looked like a cave man.

Teeth vs. coconut.... teeth FAIL

This was a ton of fun, and a work out and a half!

This week is about shapes. And since shapes are EVERYWHERE, this is a very open ended challenge.

I didn't do much snapping this or last week due to the slow and painful recovery after a tonsillectomy, so I'd like to share one of my favorite shots from Valentine's Day.

We were driving back to our B&B after an afternoon of sightseeing and shopping, and passed this amazing tree house. My husband, who never stops the car when I'm ooohing and aaahing at the scenery, actually offered to pull over! My exclamation of adoration must have been particularly enthusiastic this time! (I should really perfect the technique for use on shopping trips.)

Or maybe something from his childhood sparked inside. Either way, I got a few great shots. Here's my favorite one.

So don't forget to look up at the trees, you might find a few surprises!

This was taken during my son's first haircut, last summer. We were so nervous as to what his reaction would be, but thanks to my husband's long time barber, our little man had fun! 

He got to watch other men getting haircuts for a few minutes. Then out came a bowl FULL of lollipops. This was before he knew what they were, so he was just content to pick through all the colors. The barber even let him turn on the buzzer a few times! What's not love?

As soon as the weather warms up, our little shaggy headed monster needs a return trip. I can only hope it goes as smoothly as the first. 

Do you have any tricks for getting little ones to sit through haircuts?