Shoot & Edit week 25:edit

I'm a little late today on getting this posted. I have to say I learned a lot from Ashley's lesson this week. I didn't know about the red channel so that was great to learn about it!

My photo was not all the interesting this week so I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I decided to just do a little bit of darkening and then add a texture from Kim Klassen. Not all that interesting but it works.

Also don't forget to check out my giveaway for a a camera buddy HERE

Quarterly top 5 April - June

I had a hard time choosing 5 photos..... so I picked a few more than 5. Whoops.

This was one of Addison's first times playing in her little kiddie pool. She was a little hesitant at first but by the end she was all for it!

This photo isn't technically one of my favorites, but it is one of my favorite memories, Addison's first time on a horse! If you don't know I LOVE horses and right before Addison was born I had to put down my horse due to cancer so I was thrilled when we got the chance for Addison to experience horse riding. She WILL be taking lessons when she gets older, she doesn't really have a choice.

Another fun pool shot, I just love all of her crazy faces!

This is probably by far my most favorite (which is why it is my header too). I just love it. Period.

Addison's first trip to the beach (which is sad since we live in a beach town). She had a blast, actually enjoyed it more than I expected her too!

From her first birthday. She was very into her cupcake!

I love her expression in this one too, she had dropped her toy over the edge of the tub and was looking for it.

Check out my giveaway for a camera buddy HERE!

Photography giveaway!

So this past week I reached 200 followers! I know this isn't a lot for some of you bigger bloggers but I am pretty excited about it. In honor of this milestone I have decided to host a giveaway for 2 of my wonderful followers.

Since most of my followers are photogs like myself (at least I think so) I figured a photography accessory would be a good thing. I saw these little camera buddies on Pinterest and figured it couldn't be too hard to make a few. It was actually really fun a I have a few more in mind. If I get them finished by the time the giveaway ends I will add them to the ones you can pick from when you win.

SO here is what you can win. 

A super cool, made with love by me, camera buddy!
They work great to get kids to look at the camera, and we all know how hard it can be to do that. So far it works like a charm on Addison, she thinks they are so funny.

So far I have a bird (the red one), a plane (the blue one), a monster/dinosaur (the orange one), and then an over sized fish (the white one), a spider (the black one) and then a multicolored monster (the white one).
So I am going to give 2 of these away to 2 separate people, just a little thank you for following my blog! Once the giveaway is over I will let the 1st person pick the one they want and then the 2nd winner can pick from the other ones.

All you have to do to enter is answer the following question in the comments:
What is your favorite camera accessory (not included your lens)?

Of course you have to be a follower of my blog (on the right sidebar) to win since it is a thanks for following giveaway.

If you want more entry options you can follow me on
Twitter
Facebook
 my NEW photography blog
 and/or you can share this giveaway on any social media outlet. Just leave a separate comment for each entry completed.

So again THANK YOU for following my little old blog.
Giveaway will end on Sat the 9th.

Giveaway closed: winners have been notified.

Clicked it up a notch

So I had quite a few photos that I really liked this month but I ended up choosing this one. I just love Addison and her daddy experiencing the beach for the first time together.

Bath time fun!

So I was just thinking earlier that I had absolutely nothing to post and then I decided that I hadn't taken any shots of Addison playing in the bath recently. So I figured it was high time. Luckily she was in a great mood so I got some good shots! 

She loves putting her hands in the faucet when I am filling up the tub, she thinks the water splashing in her face is hilarious.

She loves all of her squirty ducks and we recently bought her a fish basketball thing and she loved throwing the toys through the hoop.

She also thinks it is quite funny to put her toys on the edge of the tub and either squish the water out and watch it go everywhere or drop it over the edge so I have to pick it up. She loves to throw things and watch me pick it up.

She also has this new thing that she learned at the Little Gym. She has been walking around the house and throwing her arms in the air and yelling TA DA. It's pretty darn cute.

entering the above photo in shutter love.

and the end of bath time!

Also check out my giveaway for a camera buddy HERE

Shoot & Edit week 25 sunrise/sunset: original

This weeks shoot & edit theme is sunrise/sunset. This is not exactly "sunrise" but it was the earliest I can manage with a small child that needs my full attention first thing in the morning. Not to mention I need to get my coffee fix before I am functioning enough to properly work my camera.

Also my photo was picked as one of the top 30 at Paper Mama. You can click on the link below and vote for our photo. Thanks!

Paper Mama top 30!!!

My photo was picked in the top 30 over at The Paper Mama! You can vote for 2 photos, and there are some other amazing entries so go on over and take a look. We would love it if our photo was one of the 2 you voted for :)  

Click on the button below to vote. Voting is at the bottom of the page! Thanks everyone!

Oh and also a heads up I am going to be doing a thank you giveaway for my followers (I'm almost at 200!). I will be posting it later this week but I will tell you it is going to be great for all you fellow photogs, especially those with kids (or who photograph kids)!!!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday ~ 6/26

Windows/Doors ~
This is a bird house in the yard of a lady that I cat sit for. One day I decided to take my camera with me and walk around her yard. She is very much into flowers and plants and is part of our local horticultural society.

Eyelashes ~
I wish I had these long lashes!

Paint ~
Paint chipping off the bird bath.

Leaf Veins ~

Faceless Portrait ~

The cat that I take care of, Toby. He loves to lounge on the bed.

Shoot & Edit week 24 Father's Day: edit

So this week is just a basic edit and a black and white conversion. Easy enough! Here was my SOOC shot.

My clean edit. I just did a general clean edit. Nothing fancy.

Then I used Nelly Nero's Classic B&W edit and tweaked it slightly to my liking.

Simple is great sometimes!

Beach morning

We decided it was high time that we take Addison to the beach, seeing the we LIVE at the beach (well in a beach town the actual beach is 15 minutes from our house). So Tuesday morning we packed up the car as soon as we all got up and headed down the street to the beach.

Addison was a little apprehensive at first, I mean its a big place with a lot to take in.

However she loved it! Way more than I thought she would actually. She wasn't scared at all and she kept trying to run away toward the water.

Just look at the excitement on her face.

(entering above photo in challenge)

(entering above photo in something cute challenge since nothing is cuter than chunky baby legs and reflections in the water!)

She loved the splashing and the waves. She loved all the people that were there to look at and of course the dogs and birds.

She did fall down because she was so eager to explore on her own but she actually didn't freak out or cry she thought it was pretty funny.

Then she wanted to walk down the beach and chase the dogs that were running loose.

It was a great way to spend a morning and we will defiantly be going back to the beach a lot this summer!

What a wonderful way to spend Father's Day (well at least the day we celebrated it) introducing Addison to the beach for the first time and just spending time as a family.