Camera Phone Part 4 - In the Moment

One of my greatest wishes in life would be to have a camera behind my eyes so that when I did my special blink the image would be saved and I could download it to the computer later. (This and having little flashlights in my fingertips so that I could just 'snap on' a quick light whenever I need it but that's another story.) My camera phone was about the closest to this wish I'll get in this life and that was probably the thing about it I liked most because then those moments when the few seconds it would take to grab my camera would have been the difference between getting the shot and losing it.

 I've noticed that a lot of these shots involve Samuel...it's because babies move so much and don't really care whether or not you capture their antics on camera (slightly inconsiderate if you ask me ;)

 This also seems to be true for dogs too...The above shot is one of my favorites. I was making dinner and turned around to see both of them staring at me like this. Boys and dogs - they will be where ever the food is to be found.

 And then there was the time Samuel's little play mat went all Venus Fly Trap on him. I walked around the corner and there where his legs just hanging out there. I laughed, took a picture then peeled back the play thing to see his slightly bewildered expression. (Once again wish I had camera in the eyes so I could have showed you that picture. *sigh*)

Camera Phone Part 2 - Clever Product Use

One of the things I loved about having my camera phone was being able to take pictures of ideas, items or store displays that I thought were fun without looking like a complete dork. I mean I'm sure I looked like a dork standing there with my phone buy I could almost pull it off like I was reading a text right? Anyhow here were a few of the things my phone and came across that we thought were fun.

'Cause who can pass up a giant teacup with tulips? The moment I saw this I wanted to somehow use it in my craft room as an organizational tool...alas I couldn't think of how and at the time I saw it we were living in a tiny one bedroom apartment so I didn't really have a craft room. ('And I don't really need a duck...' yeah it was one of those moments...) Long story short I never got it and even if I had I'm still not sure what I would have done with it. But I still think it would have been fun.

This little idea was in a catalog that I was skimming while getting the tires changed (so funny that I remember exactly where I was reading it but forget things like taking dinner out of the oven or putting soap in the washing machine - my brain functions like no one else I've ever met...) and it looked like a fun festive thing to do with the girls. I still haven't but I've thought about it a lot.

The commissary always has these awesome soda box murals set up above where one would get a cart. They've done things for movie releases, local sports teams, major sporting events and of course holidays. I'm always impressed by the marketing people behind these things.

This also caught my attention. It's not that I'm really that into football but I thought the idea was clever.

Bonnie this is for you. Close to your 18th birthday I was looking around for a great present for you and I cam across this purse which I thought would be absolutely perfect...until I picked it up and looked at the price tag at which point I had to put it back. But then I thought if I took a picture I could send that to you instead and you know that at least I was thinking about you (only we both know how good I am on follow through when it comes to that...but that's a different story ;) Anyhow - Happy Birthday!

I have also taken pictures of many book or movie titles so I would be able to remember what I was looking for either online or at the library as well as taking pictures of crafty/marketing ideas I thought would be fun to try out.

Camera Phone

My deepest apologies for the long absence. It's not that I've forgotten how to long into blogger or decided that blogging just isn't for me it's just been insanely busy the last few months (year(s)...) Aside from trying to pull my life back in order from a very busy summer and having to deal with a few home malfunctions I suddenly found myself in the midst of a couple of large and unexpected projects. (I take full credit for one of them but the other I'm blaming Mycal for entirely...) We also enjoyed a family trip back to Utah but nothing make time disappear faster than a vacation so alas my poor blog has been neglected. However in a valiant effort to break that streak I thought I'd at the very least post one picture tonight.

Perhaps a little explanation is in order. My phone died. More accurately Sam-Attack got the better of it. In any case it's ability to make and receive calls is no more and almost as sadly as that is the fact that it is also no longer able to take pictures.

The camera on my phone was an invaluable resource always handy to take those pictures that would have been lost without it. At first I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get some of my pictures off of my phone but yesterday when I experimentally plugged it into my computer I was blessed with a file chock full of pictures that lit up my day with fond memories.

So in honor of my valiant phone that survived the drool of not one but two children, many drops, a few encounters with unknown elements and many other perilous hazards in order to always be at the ready when I needed to make an imperative call (some days just hearing an adult voice can be a true sanity saver) or take a random picture I wanted to post some of my favorite pictures taken on my phone over the next couple days.

Some of these pictures will need no explanations:

And some of them might:

Some where the only way I could capture milestones:

Or remember information I knew I would need later:

The thing about each image I will post is that each one makes me smile every time I see it and the only reason I have it is because of my camera phone.

Blossoms, Blooms and Dandelions

I apologize in advance for the number of pictures in this post - especially since they aren't adorable snapshots of the kids up to some insane new antics. While looking through my pictures for another project I remembered I had these pictures and thought they were kind of fun. While looking at them I thought they would be the perfect candidates for playing around in photoshop (even picking up a technique or two...yay for me!)

Ladybug on Dogwood Blossom I

Ladybug on Dogwood Blossom II

So it turns out that the tree shading my craft room windows whose leaves turn a beautiful red in the fall is a dogwood tree. I was thrilled to discover this fact when it started to bloom in April. I love dogwood blossoms. I don't know if it's because of that little bit of purple/pink on the tips of the petals or the fact that they have four petals instead of some reasonable odd number like every other flower. I don't know I just love them. So of course I grabbed my camera and set to work. I didn't intentionally pick the above blossom just because it had a ladybug on it - but was excited to see it there. It adds the perfect bit of color to these photos. As you can see I haven't quite decided which shot I like best yet. They are different enough that I can't just delete one because I've got 'two of the same'. They each have different merits so I constantly find myself going back and forth. Your thoughts? 

Dogwood Blossoms - SOOC

Dogwood Blossoms - Vintage Mod

I played around with the above shot quite a bit, trying to find a look that suited it just right. The first shot was exactly how I took it - straight off of camera. At first I was trying to playing around with the goal of making it look better but soon came to the realization that I really liked the way it looked right off the camera. So then I was looking to see if there was anything fun or 'artsy' I could do with it that I liked. Really not a whole lot. While I do like the Vintage Mod look because of the beautiful purple tone the whole shot takes on I think I'm still hooked on the original. I'm not going to lie I love that the shot came out perfect when I took it. Makes me feel like I'm getting better with using my camera correctly.

Dogwood Blossoms - Soft and Faded

This was another shot I really loved because the angle was so interesting. Still it was a lot easier to play around with this one because something about the original wasn't as exactly perfect as the last one. Anyhow The shot makes me think of something out of Anne of Green Gables - something Anne would be completely taken in by which influenced my treatment of the shot. I wanted to romanticize it even more hence the softening of the image and adding the white vignette around it. Speaking of which when I added added this particular vignette I screamed causing all sorts of concern throughout the house. I screamed both because I was so excited by what I had managed to figure out all on my own - namely put a dreamy vignette around the picture which finished it perfectly (In my humble opinion) and because it looked just the way I wanted it too. (Something that can be easier said than done in photoshop.) 

Vintage Tulips

After photographing my dogwood tree I moved onto my neighbors beautiful tulip garden. Seriously their garden was gorgeous and I loved to look out at it and sighed longingly every time I drove past it when coming home. It was incredible. I was a little surprised at the direction the above photo's post processing took. The picture is of red tulips and as you might know I'm addicted to color especially red so for me to favor a look that takes red out of the picture really says something about what it does for another aspect of the shot. By making the shot monochromatic it really brought out all the details on the petals, the different shades and textures.

Purple Tulip

White Tulips I

White Tulips II

White Tulips III

Those are actually three different shots of the white tulips and I haven't really decided which one I like best. When all is said and done though I think that I prefer the white tulips in color. While the black and white once again help bring out the details I think that the white tulips are already subtle enough to enjoy those aspects plus the traces of green and yellow add a little bit of extra interest.

Warmed Tulip

I love this shot - not my favorite mind you but I think it's a very interesting shot. I did play with it in photoshop a little to make it a little more warm which I felt really recreated the sun and lighting better. It's a funny thing when playing photoshop when you hit something and suddenly the picture is just right and even if you spend time tweaking later you end up going back to the way it was when it was just right. That actually happened with a good number of the shots I played with. Likewise I could play with a shot for a while and always feel that the shot just wasn't right - and playing with it in photoshop wasn't going to fix what I didn't like about it. Now that I write about it I think I get those kind of gut feelings a lot when making/doing something. I get an small brief feeling that I've struck on exactly the right thing. I just need to trust that in myself more because it would save me a bunch of time.

Soft Tulips

The post process work on this one was purely for the fun of it. I'd tried most of the techniques I'd wanted to try but still had this picture hanging out in photoshop so I thought I'd play around with it a little. I liked this look. Soft and romantic. (Yes I am a member of Hopelessly Romantics Anonymous)

Dandelion Seeds color

Dandelions Seeds black and white

After taking a bunch of shots of the blossoms and blooms I thought 'hey it's not all that hard to get a great shot of a tulip - they always look great...how hard would it be for me to get a good picture of something not so pretty...like a weed' So off I set to find some dandelions. Turns out it's not too hard to take a good shot of those either as they are actually very interesting subjects. The above shots where my biggest surprise of the bunch as I was certain I would like them a lot more than I do. I think my problem is that the I didn't get in close enough to the seeds so they kind of get lost in the grass. (And for whatever reason it didn't really occur to me to try cropping them in photoshop...yeah I'm a thinker. ;) Point being I'm often surprised by the difference between what I think I'll love and what I end up loving.

Dandelion Sunshine

I love this shot because it lended itself perfectly to a post processing action that I don't normally feel works on my pictures but I've really been wanting to use called Sunshine. It was fun to use and I love how it turned out.

Dandelion

I really enjoyed the above shot because of all the visible detail but mostly because with the right combinations of effects it becomes this:

Dandelion Glow

Which to me suddenly looked much more interesting and exotic than a run of the mill dandelion. To me it looks more like the flower on an Amazon lily pad.

Dandelion Burst

The above shot and the two following where definitely my favorites of the dandelions and among the top for me over all. Something about the intricate details of the seeds - that and dandelions are rather showy for a weed. ;) 

Dandelion Burst II

They're like fireworks only they don't disappear into the night so you get to sit and stare at them for as long as you want to.

Seeds on Edge

I hope you enjoyed some of the pictures. Let me know what you think.

On Clubhouses

It seems as though clubhouses and children go together like me and food. The girls are constantly searching out and making their own little clubhouses. Said clubhouses usually entail a blanket draped over a chair and if they are lucky something else - adequate but only able to fit one person comfortably. So this spring there were a pretty fair number of fights over the fact that Emmuska would make a clubhouse to which Liberty would demand entrance, which demand was met with a flat no as there wasn't enough room, which refusal was met with an ignoring ear as Liberty tried to get in (because she wants to be in the cool clubhouse too) which would all result in a fight.  Finally in one of my moments of inspiration akin to the finger painting episode I said something to the effect that I would make a clubhouse big enough for both of them. (Yes I'm still working on seeking out help as regards this disorder of volunteering for insane projects...) Said clubhouse turned out like so:

Not too shabby eh? Actually it was a pretty nice clubhouse but quite naturally took a bit more work than I had anticipated (most of my 'brilliant' ideas do :D). In my head I saw me whipping this thing together and it just staying - wind and old cloths pins had different ideas.

Of course once the clubhouse was up it had to be decorated. Here Liberty seriously surveys the surroundings to best determine aesthetically pleasing blanket locations.

Yes. Right there will work just fine.

And there you have the interior of our well constructed and perfectly decorated clubhouse. Take a moment and note the snack 'table' on the bottom right corner of the picture. Because no clubhouse is complete without snacks.

Liberty - off to retrieve something else that the clubhouse needs to function properly.

Cheese sticks, apple sauce, graham crackers and yogurt. A veritable feast of clubhouse foods. - Time to dig in and fill those tummies left hungry from a days hard work.

I was pleased by how much the dogs enjoyed the clubhouse as well. It's always satisfying to see one's work appreciated by so many.

Of course the wind picked up so by the end of the day the clubhouse was once again in individual pieces waiting for our next attempt. Still it was a lot of fun and now we have a trampoline to aid in our clubhouse making. Next time we make one it will surely be a breeze. ;)

Priceless

As many of you know I was recently in Tennessee visiting with Mycal's immediate and extended family. It was great being able to visit with everybody - most of whom we hadn't seen since we made the move from Utah to Missouri over a year ago - some even longer.  Less important and enjoyable than being able to catch up and spend time together but still a huge bonus was the fact that other people where taking pictures - which means that pictures of me were taken. More specifically the following pictures of me where taken:

The kind of pictures I love to take of others but never have of me - candid shots of relationships and personal interactions.

And as tempting as it is for me to sit and over analyze every detail of how I look and whether or not I'm making a goofy face (because that's just the kind of person I am...)

I just can't get past how much I love them in order to do a really in depth critique. The sheer fact that I have them make them some of the best pictures I've ever seen. (Not to disregard the quality of the image - many thanks to either Jennifer or Kelton for taking such wonderful pictures. They are beautifully composed and focused.)

Each shot just makes me ridiculously happy. 

Many thanks again to Jennifer and Kelton for taking these pictures and preserving these valuable (and generally hard to capture) moments.