Great day
Had a great first day of the year with R and L. R has been in such a great mood the last several days, it makes everything more enjoyable! I have been working, which is why I have been slacking on the blogfront.
There are many blogs out there challenging people to do a once a week or even once a day photo challenge for 2012. I sadly was not able to keep up with my simple beauties blog challenge so I have decided not to “commit” to anything. But I figure when I can, I will participate and post some pictures. Since the biggest obstacle seems to be getting to my computer, downloading pictures from my camera and then uploading to WordPress, I will probably be adding alot Of pictures taken from my phone! Better than nothing, right?
So here are my pictures for today – they are of R thoroughly enjoying chocolate muffin…or at least the chocolate icing on it. I indulged her and let her make a mess with her hands because I figure – how much longer will she actually get enjoyment from that?!
A glimpse from our holiday card
We have some great pictures of R this year as she blossoms into a smart and beautiful girl!
Thought I’d share a couple of my favorites!
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A great teacher’s gift idea!
Thought I’d share an idea for teacher’s gifts this year:
Personalized Journals!
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I ordered one for each teacher (from http://www.minted.com) with their name on the cover and the year.
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Then on the inside cover I put a picture of R, wrote “To Ms. ____, Love R” and then put an inspirational quote about teachers!
You can find lots of quotes on line – just do a search and you’ll be overwhelmed!
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Well I think they were a big hit….so if you are looking for something to get, try this!
Photo Tip of the Week (PTOW): Experiment!
Many times I find that I take a picture during a photoshoot, and when I look at it on my computer, I’m not completely impressed.
But then I play around and experiment a bit – trying different filters, different color temperatures (and cropping!) and other cool effects and often find a version of the picture I really love!
BEFORE: 
Just like with this picture! The top one is a cute moment, but the colors are distracting, as is the window. Since I knew that it was the feeling of the moment I wanted to capture, I changed the picture to black and white and it completely changed the entire image! I did a couple of other adjustments, but perhaps the other one I use the most is “Post Crop Vignette.”
AFTER: 
I vignette the heck out of my pictures and I think it makes a really dramatic effect which people love.
So, if you have some “not so great” pictures you have had a hard time bringing yourself to delete, play around and see if you can turn them into something you love!
And of course, have fun!
IHeartFaces: Furry Friends
Here is my “furry friend” when he was just a wittle baby! He is a BIG BOY now, but I love looking at his pictures when he was this age and full of energy!
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Check out some other great entries here!
Friday Freebie – Picture Day!
I have Italy on my mind today…
would LOVE to go have a capuccini and some pasta and some gelato and some capuccini…
Well, at least I can look at my pictures =)
Feel free to right-click and download the picture, and use it for your computer background or other personal uses!
Enjoy!
Please note: This picture is copyright protected 2011 JAS Photography LLC, you may use it royalty free for personal applications. It is not for commercial use. Thanks!
The countdown is well underway
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I managed to get my advent calendar up in time for Dec 1st this year….just a little late in posting about it!
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R has been getting a kick out of it. I think it is giving her a lesson in patience too, because she sees things poking out of some of the other bags and wants to open them right away!
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I just strung a piece of red yard between two picture hangers on my wall, and then put a little santa at the end (and a snowman at the beginning) to mark Christmas Day!
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I used regular old clothespins. My original plan was to pain the clothespins…that didn’t happen in time…but we did paint some a couple days ago – so once they are finished and dry and up on the wall, I’ll post them up too!
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The bags are just small silver bags from India that I had in the house – I love using things I already own (i.e. all of it!)
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Here are some pics from the from the first few days of opening the treats!
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Someone could barely contain her excitement!
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She had fun trying to reach for them too!
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This one was a little hard to get out…but she managed =]
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And in case you missed it, I put up a free download of the numbers I made for the calendar – here it is!
Enjoy!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Waiting
Here is my entry for this week’s photo challenge on The Daily Post: Waiting
Love his expression =)
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Photo Tip Of the Week (PTOW): Games for Little Ones
I had a fun photoshoot this weekend, with two beautiful children! The 2.5 year old had fun with the pictures for about 5 minutes and then was DONE. She didn’t really want much more to do with it, and that made things challenging!
So finally I came up with the idea of trying to play games with her to get her to have fun and relax in front of the camera. She had a new hat that her grandma made for her and that she loved, so we decided to play peek-a-boo with the hat!
At first I ketp my focus on AIServo so that it would focus with heras she moved, but I found that I was missing the shots as I had only a split second and the camera wasn’t focusing fast enough. So I changed to One Shot focusing mode, put the camera on high speed mode, focused on where her eyes would be, and then as soon as she started lifitng her hat I just kept the shutter speed pressed so I could get a good shot!
It worked pretty well, I think! Although she is not smiling in this shot, I like the expression on her face…it is…real.
Hope that helps with your photos!
Check out Sweet Shot Tuesdays below!
IHeartFaces: On Your Feet
This week’s photo challenge on I Heart Faces is “On Your Feet”
This is one of my favorite pictures – it just captured a really cute moment of this little one looking out the door and wondering what else is out there in the world!
Check out some more great entries here!
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