I Love Pictures

Pretty in Pink

2011-10-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of my little girl. And I love that I wasn't even looking through the camera when I took it :)
Be sure to visit I heart faces for other great entries!

Fix-It Friday 52

2010-04-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

It's Fix-It Friday time! I am currently editing while my son watched TV instead of eating breakfast....hmmmmm...I probably need to get my priorities straight :)

Here is the original photo:

With my first edit I tried to do something creative...I don't really love how it turned out, but I spent time on it, so I figured I'd post it anyway :)

My second edit was a black and white edit.

And then a sepia toned:

I think I 'over burned' the edges...but my kid needs breakfast, so I had to stop playing...

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other great edits!

Smiles!

2010-04-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

This week at I heart faces is a 'smile' challenge. My little boy is ALWAYS smiling when we're playing outside :)

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other GREAT (way better than mine...) entries for this week's contest!

Fix-It Friday 51

2010-04-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's fix-it Friday! Here is this week's shot:

And my edit.

I tried for quite a while to make a 'scrapbook-y' looking thing on photoshop (elements 7) but I couldn't make it look right...I was trying to figure out how to round the edges...any tips?

Head over to I heart faces to see other great edits!

"Collages" Photo Challenge

2010-04-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

This week at I heart faces they are doing a collage theme for their contest. I could resist putting this collage I made for Abuela this past Christmas. She's got some cute grandkids!

I'm amazed at the collages that have been posted so far...head on over to I heart faces to see some beautiful work!

Fix-It Friday #50

2010-04-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

It, once again, has been awhile since I've participated. I just finished my first trimester of my second pregnancy...so I'm REALLY hoping life will return to normal and I will be able to participate more often :)

Here is this week's photo:

And my edit:

I opened the picture in Camera Raw and adjusted the exposure, temperature, brightness and saturation a bit.

I smoothed out the face a little, burned the edges, and adjusted for skin tone.

I played around a little with the saturation, but it was making everything look crazy :)

I can't remember what else I did...

Now I just need to go work on the hundreds of pictures that I have 'to be edited' of my own... :)

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other great edits!

Fix-It Friday #42

2010-01-29T05:02:00.000-08:00

It seems like it's been FOREVER since I've been able to participate! This morning my son woke up in a foul mood...so I put him back to bed (which actually helped...) and I sat down to work on this while he worked out his tantrum :)Here is the original: (beautiful as it is!)

And my edit:

We were challenged to use textures...I used this one from here.

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other great edits of this beautiful picture!

Fix-It Friday 35

2009-11-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

It's Friday! My parents are in town (yay!) and I have a ton to do...but I couldn't resist playing with pictures :)Here's this week's original photo:

My first edit: Most of what I did for this one was done was when I opened it in camera raw. Just brightened it a bit and warmed it a bit. Once it was opened in photoshop I 'adjusted for skin tone' and cropped. I also sharpend the eyes just a bit...not much-they don't need much!

And then my conversion to B&W. I just used photoshops B&W conversion, and then brightened a bit.

What a pretty little girl! I tried to get creative, but it looked RIDICULOUS! I was trying to do some 'scrapbook-y' things, and, oh my...it was not good. SO, I will spare you :)

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other amazing, creative edits!

Fix-It Friday #33

2009-10-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd take a break from editing my baby's pictures to work on this little cutie!Here is the original picture:

And my edits:

For this first one I opened it in camera raw and warmed it up a bit...didn't do much in camera raw. The I opened it in PSE7 and selected the girl, feathered my selection and 'adjusted for skin tone'. I also used the 'unsharp mask' on her eyes, and bumped down the yellow in her eyes a bit. Then I did a square crop (my favorite!). I also used the eliptical tool, selected around her, selected inverse, feathered, and adjusted the levels to lighten the edges.

This next edit I just took the previous edit and put a pink layer, adjusted opacity, and then a pink textured layer, adjusted opacity.

And then I converted that one to black and white.

This was fun! I think the second is my favorite, but this little girl's photo is fun to play with!

Be sure to head over th I heart faces to see other great edits! Okay...I gotta go get my baby outta bed...

A couple more!

2009-10-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

I just keep pluggin' away when I get little breaks :)

Finally getting some editing done...one down 20 to go...

2009-10-28T04:27:00.001-07:00

Halloween Dress up!

2009-10-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

This week at I heart faces is 'dress-up' week!

Here's my little pumkin :)

Head on over to I heart faces for other great 'dress-up' shots!

Family

2009-10-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

I love my family...

Fix it Friday #33

2009-10-23T06:03:00.001-07:00

This week is a quick edit-I have 4 dozed sugar cookies to decorate for my sister-in-laws baby shower tomorrow :)

Above is the original

And my edit. I got the texture from here.
Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other great edits!

Fix-It Friday #32

2009-10-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Another Fix-It Friday! I was so determinded to do something different this week!

Here's the picture to edit:

And here is what I did:

This wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I thought it turned out alright. I want ot know how to make the pictures different shapes...so I'm not just putting rectangles into a document (does that make sense?) Any tips?
Be sure to head on over to I heart faces to see some other great edits!

Excited!

2009-10-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Nothin' gets my baby excited like a 'tubby' :)

Be sure to head on over to I heart faces to see other great 'excited' pictures!

Trying something...

2009-10-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

Fix-It Friday #31

2009-10-09T08:04:00.001-07:00

The quest to do something unique with these pictures continues...I try, but I am just not that creative :) So, here are a few fairly 'normal' edits. I just spent way too much time for 3 pictures that look about the same...

Anyway...here is the original picture:

And my edits:

Head on over to I heart faces to see other great edits this week!

Happy babies!

2009-10-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

These little kids are super cute! The picture above is the shot SOOC...

...and below are a few edits to the picture

What a smile!

My baby

2009-10-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

Just a few shots from the other day.

Love this one :)

'What you lookin' at?' :)

Constructive Feedback Friday!

2009-10-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

I love Constructive Feedback Friday! I love getting tips on what to do with pictures, and learning from the contributors at I heart faces!

I took this picture right before we returned from our vacation. We took a quick trip to the nursing home to see grandpa one more time before we left. This picture is so precious to me! I'm so glad my little boy got to be held by my grandfather-We never know how many more times he's going to be able to do this, as my grandfather's health is not the best.

I like this picture a lot, but it's kinda dark, and the colors are kinda funky. The only lighting we had was my grandfather's lamp he had in the room.

Picture info...I took the shot with my Canon 'point and shoot' camera...it was in auto mode...but I do have the settings...:f/2.8 ISO 250 shutter 1/60. I have been trying to mess a bit with the auto mode on my camera, but have had NO luck. I KNOW I need a better camera to get the pictures I want, but this is what I have right now, so I'm just trying to do the best with what I've got :) Oh...and I use Photoshop Elements 7

Any tips would be great!

Thanks so much for any advice you can give-I've learned so much from you guys already!

Fix It Friday #30

2009-09-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks since I've participated...but i skipped my run this morning to work on this :) I had fun working with this-gave me some ideas for some underexposed 'stuff' I have.

Here's the shot SOOC

And my edit
Let's see if I can remember what I did...I opened it in camera raw and adjusted the exposure and lighting...a lot.

I created a hue/saturation layer and adjusted the reds

I did a couple of other layers, but I don't think they really affected the picture much.

cropped

Selected the boy and the hand, did the inverse, and blurred the background a bit-it was looking really grainy.

I lassoed (is that a word?) a few more red spots on his face and brought the red down a bit

I added a texture from here (got that from the last tutorial on i heart faces.)

And I was done.

This was a fun one!

Head on over to I heart faces to see other great edits!

Green Grass

2009-09-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

On our recent trip to Michigan I snagged my sister's awesome camera and took some pictures of my boy. Here's the shot SOOC.

And my edit.
My little cutie!

Completely candid

2009-09-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

My niece just had her 3rd birthday party...so there were bunches of kiddos there to take pictures of :) This little girl was not posing, believe it or not :) She was just thrilled to have a spoonful of chocolate frosting in her hand! She was decorating a sugar cookie-one of the activities my sister-in-law had for the kids.

Head on over to I heart faces to see other great candid shots!

Pretty girl...

2009-09-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted...or really edited pictures in general to be honest. This little girl captured my attention, though, and I couldn't resist playing with the shot :) Above is the picture SOOC...

And my edit. Those eyes are amazing...

Fix-It Friday #26

2009-08-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

It's Fix it Friday again! I've waited until the end of the day to work on this one :) I've got the Baseball game on, and I'm playin' with pictures. Life is good.

This week's picture is of a beautiful little girl.

I was SO determined to do something creative this week, and feel like I failed miserably...It's not that I don't like my edit-I do, but I feel like anyone could come up with this...oh well. I keep trying. I DID learn something new...I used the 'burn tool' for the first time and thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. I had no idea I could do that on Photoshop! YAY! So, it wasn't all a loss :)

Be sure to head on over to I heart faces to see other great edits!

Fix-It Friday #25

2009-08-21T04:32:00.000-07:00

It's Fix-It Friday again. This morning when my alarm went off, I was about to crawl back in bed, and then I remembered, 'I get to mess around with a picture!' so I stayed up :) Above is the picture to be edited...

And here is my edit. I really tried to work with layers more, because they intimidate me, and I want to learn how! I don't remember exactly what I did, but I know I opened the picture up in Camera Raw mode and adjusted it there a bit. Then I made an adjustment layer and used the eye dropper tool to select the red on his face to try and bring it down a bit. I used another layer...a filter layer I think? I warmed the picture up a bit. I was really tempted to keep it really 'warm'...it looked kinda cool, but pretty unnatural :) I then flattened the layers, played with his eyes a bit, lassoed his ears and bumped the red down a bit, and selected his lips and bumped the color up a bit. Then I used a square crop. I'm really stuck on square crops lately...I wish I knew how Andrea Riley did that crop all crooked...maybe you can't do that on PSE7.

Anyway, that's what I did! (I think...)

Be sure to head on over to I heart faces for some other great edits!

Which one's bigger?

2009-08-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

Playing with layers today...here's my shot SOOC

And my edit. I did a fill layer and an adjustment layer. Really starting to like layers...gotta learn more about 'em!

Lashes

2009-08-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

My beautiful baby boy...

Something New

2009-08-17T04:47:00.001-07:00

I thought I would try something new. I found this site that lists weekly menu plans, and I love planing out my menu! I thought I could get some new ideas too :) The site is: orgjunkie.com. Go check it out!

Anyway...here's my plan

Monday: Colorful Chicken Casserole
Tuesday: Chicken with Southwestern Salsa
Wednesday: Honey-Dijon Chicken
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chicken, & Arroz con Gondules (hey, my husband is Puerto Rican...we have to have rice & beans at least once a week :) )
Saturday: Pancakes
Sunday: Chicken Noodle Soup with home-made noodles

Head on over to orgjunkie.com to see some other great ideas!

Fix it Friday #24

2009-08-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

I love Fridays! Here's my fix it :)

Above is the original

And my edit. Hop on over to I heart faces to see other great edits!

Crazy, Silly, Funny Face!

2009-08-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here's my 'funny face' picture. My little cutie just started making this face, and now he does it all the time. It cracks me up!

This is my 'pets' entry. I loved this picture from our vacation!
Be sure to head on over to I heart faces to see other great pictures!

Fix-It Friday #23

2009-08-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

YAY! It's Fix-It Friday!

Here's the picture...practicly perfect SOOC...

Here's my edit. I opened it in Raw and played around with the color there. I got it to 'almost black and white' but left quite a bit of color still in it. Then I opened it up in PSE7. I cropped it, used Pioneer Woman's technique for eyes, and darkened the edges. I also bumped up the color of the petal he was holding in his hand. Fun!

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see more great edits!

Peace

2009-08-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

I love being on vacation...

Fix-It Friday #22

2009-07-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

YAY! It's Friday again! I really didn't think I was going to be able to do this one this week because we're on vacation...but my baby needed a nap, so I was 'stuck' in the hotel room with nothing to do...sounds like a great vacation to me :) Here's the original picture.

And my edit. I basically followed the steps on PSE7 for making an old fashioned photo-under the guided section. I did adjust the hue/saturation more than it automatically did, and I darkened the edges a bit by following 'McMama's' steps.
This little girl is such a cutie!
Be sure to head on over to I heart faces to see lots of other great edits!

Figuring out a blurring edge...

2009-07-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Gettin' wet

2009-07-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Today 'e' and I went to the splash pad, and had a lot of fun getting all wet. Here's my shot SOOC

And my edit. I'm playing around with understanding layers and such. I have a ways to go, but am having fun learning!

Who's the strongest of them all?

2009-07-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of my niece 'C' and nephew 'B'. They are so much fun! 'C' is laughing so hard you can't even see her eyes :)

This is my 'beaches' entry for I heart faces. Be sure to head on over there to see other great entries!

Love!

2009-07-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

*sigh* I love this boy!

Fix It Friday #21

2009-07-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

This week's fix it Friday was of a super cutie! I ventured into black and white...scary, but fun!

Here's my edit. Be sure to head on over to I heart faces to see more GREAT fix its!

A focus on the foot...

2009-07-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

This week's I heart faces challenge was to get a good shot of the foot. Mine...well..not even really worth linking, so I probably won't. I kinda did this last minute anyway...The lighting wasn't good, and I was at a funny angle.

Here's my pic SOOC. It was a little grainy, so in my edit, I increased the 'graininess' to make it look intentional...not really sure I pulled it off. I got rid of the mosquito bite on the arm, and made all the wall colors match. I increased the glow as well...I'm kinda stuck on that look lately. Makes my kid look 'heavenly' HA!
Here's my edit.
Head on over to I heart faces to see some REALLY good foot photos!

An entry for my sister :)

2009-07-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this counts or not, but I thought I'd enter this super cute picture of 'C' for my sister. She doesn't have a blog, but took this picture of 'C' lovin' on a kitty. I did nothing to edit or alter this photo-it is the shot SOOC. Any comments left will be directed to her! Her name is Randee-I put her name on the McLinky instead of mine :)

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other great entries!

Sweet kitty

2009-07-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

Back on the farm there seems to always be a batch of kittens running around. 'A' loves them! This is a particularly fun batch, because they don't seem to be scared of people :)

This picture was taken by my sister. This is the shot SOOC.

And my edit.

Constructive Feedback Friday

2009-07-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to participate in 'Constructive Feedback Friday'! Hopefully I will get mine linked quickly enough! For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, this is when the contributors from I heart faces give feedback on what in the world I could do with this photo :)

This is the original picture. I have a Canon PowerShot SX110. It is pretty much a 'point and shoot', but you can adjust quite a few of the settings. I really love taking pictures, but am completely a beginner. I don't generally make any setting adjustments...I just put it to 'auto' and go to town. However, I do have the data on the picture: f/2.8 1/60 sec. ISO 250 6.0 mm

I can adjust most (if not all) of these settings, but have never really messed around with it. I don't really know what direction to take with it, camera-wise.

My photo editing program is Adobe Photoshop Elements 7, and I have only scratched the surface when it comes to learning the program.

This is my edit. I have no idea what to do with pictures that are so dark. We were at the aquarium, and I did my best to get a good shot, but the background especially came out so dark. I tried messing around with it in Photoshop, but every time I would try and lighten it, it would just look ridiculous. I brightened the eyes a bit, and tried to play with the color of the fish, and of course, cropped it.
Please, please, please, tell me what I can do (other than get a better camera ;) That's in the works...but not for a bit...)

Too much?

2009-07-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

'A' is such a sweetie! And she loves great grandma's kitties :) This picture was also taken from my sister's camera.

Here's the shot SOOC

My edit. I think it might be a little to bright...there is too much 'glow'. I like how it frames her face, but the white on the cat is too bright. I was trying to just isolate the white on the cat, but it made the picture look funny. I wasn't quite sure what else to do, so I just went with it :)

Never leave home without a friend

2009-07-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

My nephew 'J' loves his 'duckey'. It goes everywhere with him. It's a bit tattered, and not quite as yellow as it once was, but J is so cute with it! My sister 'R' took this shot with her new camera-I'm so jealous! Here's the picture SOOC...

...and my edit. J is just too cute!

A Happy Independence Day

2009-07-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July started with a fun trip to E & L's pool. We swam together and played. My little boy is loving the pool more and more!

Nothing says 'summer' more than sunscreen in the hair...

Look! Red, White, and Blue :)

A 'quick' family game of Monopoly

Brother's and Sister's clownin' around.

So what do these pictures say about Independence? I think it is amazing that I get the chance to live in a country where a family can spend a day together, talk about everything from religion to politics, laugh, play, eat (and eat, and eat...) with no fear.

As my husband and I were driving home, we noticed a flag pole that once held a Confederate Flag, and now was waving a 'Betsy Ross' flag-with the 13 stars on it. We talked about the fact that though the confederate flag was controversial, it was amazing to us to live in a place where you were ALLOWED to wave such a flag.

Let me just say, I am pretty conservative, but I love that this country allows for all voices to be heard. I think it is a true sign of freedom that people are allowed to voice their opinion and not be sent to jail, or persecuted. To me, that is freedom, and I am so thankful that there are people RIGHT NOW fighting for that freedom!

Fix it Friday #19

2009-07-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I feel like kind of a dork, because it shows how little I know about this whole process, but why is it that when I go to Flickr and download it, the picture doesn't load to photoshop well? It is SO pixelly (is that a word? and if it is, I'm sure it's not spelled right...) Any tips?

Above is the original.

...and my adjustments.
I am SO an amateur at this! But I'm learning!

Just for fun

2009-06-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm totally a beginner at all of this. Any tips would be great!