I Heart Faces - "Yellow" Challenge

For this week's "Yellow" challenge over at I Heart Faces, I immediately knew exactly which picture I wanted to use. I took some pictures of my daughter in a field of yellow wildflowers on Mother's Day this year {originally blogged here}, and this was one of my favorites.

The memory of the warm, sunny day spent with my little angel was captured perfectly with the beautiful yellow backdrop of the flowers.


Head on over to I Heart Faces to check out all of the other "yellow" entries this week, or submit your own!

I Heart Faces - "Faces and Flowers" Challenge

I took this picture of my daughter on the San Antonio Riverwalk this weekend (more about that trip later), and I thought it would work perfectly for this week's "faces and flowers" challenge over at I Heart Faces since she has that ginormous flower in her hair.

When I bought that headband, I don't think the lady believed me when I told her I was going to put it on my 3-year old because of the sheer size of it. Believe it now, honey. When it comes to hair accessories, I pretty much think the bigger, the better!


Head on over to I Heart Faces to check out all of the other "faces and flowers" entries this week, or submit your own!

I Heart Faces - "Collage" Challenge

The theme for the challenge over at I Heart Faces this week is "Collages", so I couldn't resist using this one that I just created of my little monkey in the bluebonnets!

Check out the other collage entries or enter yourself over at I Heart Faces!

I Heart Faces - "We Heart Kisses" Challenge

It's been a while since I have entered one of the challenges over at I Heart Faces, but in honor of Valentine's Day, this week's theme is "We Heart Kisses", so I couldn't resist. . .

This is a picture of my daughter kissing the son of one of my best friends since we were in the 7th grade! You might remember him from this post last year.

These two just love each other and play so well together. I figure this will be a good shot for the slideshow at their rehearsal dinner one day :)

Go check out the rest of this week's entries to feel the love this Valentine's Day, or better yet, enter one yourself!

I Heart Faces - Photo Challenge

"Contemplative" Photo Entry:

I love this picture of my daughter Anna from a recent post! She loves to sit (and jump!) on our bed, and this was a rare moment when the bed was actually made. The natural light coming in through the windows was hitting her so beautifully that I couldn't resist getting a quick shot.

---

"Pets" Photo Entry:

This picture of my friend Ashley's dog Sophie also showed up in another recent post, but it was so cute that I couldn't pass up using it for this week's challenge. The "free to good home" caption was a joke for Ashley because Sophie has been peeing in their closet for attention lately, and Ashley is tired of cleaning up the mess!

Enter yourself or check out all of the other entries for this week's challenge over at I ♥ Faces!

I Heart Faces - Fix It Friday

It's Fix It Friday over at I Heart Faces again! It's been a while since I've played along, but the photo this week was too precious to pass up. Thanks to Awdrey from Sweet Art by Awdrey for letting us play with this photo she took of her friend's son this week! He's definitely a cute little guy :)

Here's my edit:

Brand New

I had been wanting to change my blog design for a long time, but I just didn't have the time or the know-how. Then, I saw this I Heart Faces tutorial on how to change your blogger template last week. It addressed so many things I had been having difficulty figuring out and made it so easy that I just had to take the plunge!


I think the one thing I am the most excited about is the big pictures :)

A big thanks to I ♥ Faces, and I hope you enjoy the new blog design!

I ♥ Faces - Fix It Friday

It's Fix It Friday again over at I Heart Faces! Here's the fixer upper for today called "Pretty in Pink." It was submitted by Becca from The Stanley Clan, and I have to agree that she is indeed a pretty little thing!

I decided to have some fun with actions this week and go for a more nostalgic kind of look, so here is my fix. . .

I didn't write down all of the steps this week, but I used Photoshop CS4, Imagenomic's Noiseware Plugin, MCP Actions & Eye Candy Actions.

If you want to see how other people fixed this photo (or try your own hand at it!), head on over to I Heart Faces and check it out!

I Heart Faces - Week 23 "Sepia"

The theme this week over at I Heart Faces is "Sepia", so I just had to convert one of Anna's peony pictures.


If you're interested in seeing the other entries and/or entering a photo yourself, head on over to I Heart Faces now!

I ♥ Faces - Fix It Friday

It's Fix It Friday again over at I Heart Faces! Here's the fixer upper for today called "Sweet Grin." Isn't he a cutie?

And here are my fixes. . .

I used Photoshop CS4, MCP Actions & PW Actions , and here's what I did (roughly):

1. Basic exposure fixing
2. Cropped in a little closer
3. Cleaned up complexion & eyes with the healing brush
4. MCP Light Fog Fixer
5. MCP Eye Doctor
6. MCP Magic Powder (25% Opacity)
7. PW Soft & Faded (Color Fix Only)
8. PW B&W Beauty (B&W Fix Only)

If you want to see how other people fixed this photo (or try your own hand at it!), head on over to I Heart Faces and check it out!

I ♥ Faces - Fix It Friday (It's Anna!)

Wow! I am usually right on top of the Fix It Friday feature over at I ♥ Faces, but for whatever reason, today I spaced it. And wouldn't you know - It's Anna! I am so excited I cannot even think straight.

I feel all naked and exposed since I typically edit most pictures before I post them on my blog, but this is the SOOC Shot that's posted for all the world to see and play with on I ♥ Faces this week. . .

I used this picture of Anna a couple of weeks ago for a Constructive Feedback feature, and shortly after I was contacted by Angie, one of the co-founders of I Heart Faces. She asked if she could have my permission to use it for an upcoming Fix It Friday, and I quickly and excitedly agreed. She warned me that they had a good 20 pictures lined up for upcoming Fix It Fridays, so I really didn't expect to see Anna's picture featured so soon. But I have to say it's pretty cool!

It is so amazing to see the potential of this less-than-perfect shot through other people's eyes and talents. Please do go check it out HERE to see what people have done...and don't be afraid to give it a go yourself!

Here are some of my favorite edits that I've seen so far (in no particular order). . .

• Jodi from MCP Actions
• Angie, Co-Founder of I Heart Faces
• Sarah from Maddie Dean Photography
• Kerry from Kerry's Ramblings
• Shae @ The Daily Photo (Fix 1)
• The Pineapple Princess @ The Love Shack

Thanks again, Angie! And a huge thanks to everyone who participated - I have LOVED looking at all of your edits!

I Heart Faces - Fix It Friday

It's Fix It Friday again over at I Heart Faces!

Here's the fixer upper for today. . .
And here is my fix. . .

I used Photoshop CS4 & MCP Actions.

First, I cropped and stretched the canvas and background to get some more negative space on the left. Then, I cloned out the distracting dark items (sofa?) in the picture. And finally, I used MCP's Basic Exposure Fixer, Eye Doctor, and Rocky Road Ice Cream B&W Conversion with the texture removed.

If you want to see how other people fixed this photo (or try your own hand at it!), head on over to I Heart Faces and check it out!

I Heart Faces - Week 19 "Blurb Book"

This week, the I Heart Faces contest doesn't have a specific theme. It's simply to pick your best face photo and they are looking to put together a Blurb book using the winning photos. My entry is for the amateur division (obviously):

I love this "face" because it just SCREAMS, "I am two and I get what I want!" And she does. Most of the time. I was even told by a friend that she looks like me in this picture. I don't know what that's supposed to mean because I would *never* make a face like that (ha!), but it makes me smile because usually she's such a clone of her daddy in both looks and behavior.

If you're interested in seeing the other entries and/or entering a photo yourself, head on over to I Heart Faces now!

As required per the contest rules:

"I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."

I Heart Faces - Fix It Friday

It's Fix It Friday again over at I Heart Faces!

Here's the fixer upper for today. . .

And here are my fixes. . .

you want to see how other people fixed this photo (or try your own hand at it!), head on over to I Heart Faces and check it out!

I Heart Faces - Week 18 "Laughter"

Every week, I Heart Faces has a contest. This week the guest judge is Ree, the one and only Pioneer Woman, so I figured it was a good time for my first entry since I devour every blog entry she writes every day. (Hi Ree!) The theme this week is "Laughter", and I am entering in the "Kids" category.

This picture captured my favorite laugh in the whole world. Anna was giggling her little head off as her Daddy was throwing her up in the air over and over again. I can almost hear that wonderful sound all over again just looking at this picture, and that's why even though I am an extreme amateur, I just love taking pictures. Like hearing an old song or smelling a familiar smell, just one look at a picture, and you can be right back in that moment.


I apologize to all two of you that actually check this blog regularly since this series of pictures was in a relatively recent post, but it was just too perfect for this week's theme for me to not use it.

If you want to see the rest of this week's entries, mosey on over to I Heart Faces and have a look! Some people are hobbyists (or less) like me and others are professionals, but all of the pictures are so fun to look at regardless. Tell me you couldn't use a smile! :)

I Heart Faces - Constructive Feedback Friday

Today is Constructive Feedback Friday over at I Heart Faces!

I decided to participate because I'm a newbie to both photography and photoshop, and would love some constructive criticism. I really enjoy *trying* to get natural light shots of my daughter, but I'm not always lucky enough to get the exposure right so I usually wind up trying to correct/improve in photoshop.

I love using MCP Actions and the free actions so generously provided by P-Dub, so please do check those out! I'm horribly addicted to both of their blogs as well. Very talented ladies.

So, back to business...

Here's my submission for this week. Anna was hiding behind a shelf in her playroom and playing peekaboo with me. When she would stick her head out to say "boo", I just loved how the light from the window was hitting her face so I grabbed my camera. This is the best one I got between the natural light and the fact that she was moving so fast. Not a lot of time to focus and get the shot. Fire away! (But please be gentle!)

SOOC

Canon Digital Rebel XT

50 mm Lense

f/2.5

ISO 1600

MCP Actions: Basic Exposure Fixer, Snap, Eye Doctor, Color Flair, Light Fog Fixer

MCP Vanilla Ice Cream