i love this face!

fall in florida . . .

 . . . the weather is getting cooler here (it's down to the 70s!) . . . 

. . . the days are getting shorter . . . 

. . . the acorns are falling from the trees . . . 

ahhhhh, fall!

. . . b/w conversion

i made my first action!  it has taken me so long to get a b/w that looks the way I would like it to look, with dark chocolate on the black and a creamy vanilla on the white, that I played around a little and made my own action . . . 

sooc:

opened in RAW and made a few adjustments:

ran one of my favorite actions of all time (Catherine Halsey's Fog Lift and Edge Burn):

used the ruler tool to draw a line across the sofa arm and rotated it with an arbitrary rotation:

cropped:

sharpened her eyes:

ran my actions, here are a few examples:

i'd love to hear what you think!  and, i'm happy to send you the action {for photoshop} as a gift, as long as you show the results on your blog with a link back to mine showing where you got it.  just leave a comment, which sends me a message and i'll get it emailed to you.  

❀~❀~❀~❀~❀

ENJOY!  

. . . collecting shells

ahhhhh. . . floridahhhhh . . .

well, we've moved again and we are all praying that it will be the last move for some time.  we are now in florida, in the tampa bay area.  i am so excited to get to live this close to the ocean and experience all it has to offer.  here are a few snapshots from our fist walk along the beach.

enjoy today

. . . up-close

over at Kim Klassen Cafe, they are focusing on the fact that "beauty is in the  eye of the beholder."  so, we are to find something that most people wouldn't think is beautiful and shoot it up-close so that others can see it's beauty.  

this little guy meets me in the morning when i take the trash to the large curb can.  from far away, not a pretty sight, but up-close, i think it is quite spectacular!

hope on over to Kim Klassen Cafe to see some more up-close beauty!

. . . sleepy baby "b"

this little guy was simply the sleepiest guy i've ever seen . . . a complete dream!  

i know his mama is proud and for GOOD reason, he is absolutely precious, adorable, and wonderful!

enjoy!

what a divine way to spend a morning . . . 

wish i could have kept him

although, i do enjoy my sleep, quite well.

. . . simply gorgeous!

i must be the most blessed photographer on the face of this earth as i have so many simply gorgeous clients . . . they make ME look good.  HA!  i'll take it though.  

case-in-point, look at the last session i shot. . . .

gorgeous . . . huh?  

all i had to do is show up; well, perhaps a little more, but not much!

. . . i ❤ faces (from a distance)

on april 30, 2011, riddled with cancer, my father took his last breath as he passed from this world into heaven.  this picture was taken less than 10 months ago and is the last time our boys were able to play and be rambunctious with their papa.  although i miss him and still feel like he is "hiding" somewhere, i will always treasure pictures like this that remind me what a vibrant, loving, fun, happy and a truly wonderful man (i could go on. . . and on) he was on this earth.  i am so blessed to have had him as a father and that my children were able to have this precious time with him.  

the rate at which the cancer overtook my daddy's flesh is astounding . . . take pictures, take LOTS of pictures, you just never know what could happen and that moment you just captured, with that one little click of your camera, can never be relived, never.

to see more pictures "from a distance", head on over to i ❤ faces, where you will see a lot of wonderful pictures! 

Enjoy!

. . . eye of the beholder

think of it, you are meandering through the produce section at your local grocery store when you spy this:

4 lbs of strawberries for $3.97!  smokin' deal, right?  and, they were in the field a day ago, now they are in front of you in the grocery store.  

you might see those little cherubim faces of yours eating bowls of delicious delicacies by the bowl full!

however, i see this!!!

and this:

mmmmm

looks like summer . . . 

enjoy!

oh, i'm giving away some prints on my facebook page . . . come join the fun, i hope to see you there!

. . . sweet memories!

. . . one shot, 9 different ways

textures are fun!  look how they can change the look of a single picture:

(sooc)

(cool)

(cool and creamy)

(damask)

(warm and vibrant)

(warm and worn)

(cool and worn)

(raggedy)

(vintage)

(warm linen)

what do you think?  have a favorite look?  i'd love to hear it.