Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Today is officially my one year blogoversary!
{hence the week of giveaways...be sure to enter the two going on already!}


And because my week is insanely busy {I joined a new mom's group, Seth and I joined a new small group Bible study, I'm getting ready for my first paid photo session on Saturday, I still have posts to write for the 31 Days series, I have orders to fill from my Etsy shop, etc, etc, etc.} I'm sharing a few random shots from the arboretum...

The Softer Side of Vegas

How many of you expected me to come back from Vegas with shots filled with neon and slot machines?
And how many of you expected me to come back with exactly what you're seeing?

I definitely went the other direction with my camera and from my perspective I captured the softer side of Vegas. We stayed on the strip the entire time and surprisingly it's not all gambling, cigarettes, and sin....it's mostly those things, but not all.




This bright pink gate was in the conservatory/wildlife area of the Flamingo.




The Bellagio had the best non-Vegas features, such as this carousel.
And the art installations....oh my...gorgeous stuff! I'll share shots of those soon.




There was also a newer store on the strip called the Sugar Factory.
It was a mix of super pricey candy, sassy tee shirts, I think they might have even had a makeup counter?, and an attached restaurant.
{I could easily see a playboy bunny shopping there}

Classics

I'm guest posting at Amber's Articles today!
She asked if I'd share my faith journey and of course I said yes.
So grab yourself a cup of coffee then head over there asap.


...Now on to our regularly scheduled programming...

*****

I originally had only planned to go to the Iowa State Fair on one day during our visit, but since we really had nothing else to do on Friday we went a second time with my mom and stepdad.

Much to my surprise there was a small classic car show along the Grand Concourse.
I love classic cars. I know absolutely nothing about them, but they're shiny and pretty and that's enough for me!
Thankfully my mom was more than willing to take the kids while I took photos.
{Grandmas are the best, aren't they!? And our kids have three spectacular ones!}



I have no idea what kind of cars these are, but they are beautiful!




So shiny...




so sleek...



with loads of get up and go under the hood!

A Wordless Tuesday

{PS. Don't forget to visit Nancy at A Rural Journal & Jeska at Living Our Love Song for a chance to win a $30 shop credit to my Etsy store!}

 

Propriety of Winter

Obviously, this was not taken at the height of summer.
But I did edit it within the last week.

With the temps well into the 100's {and that's actual temperature, not just heat index!} I haven't really been in a "go out and photograph" kind of mood.

But I'm going to have to get back in the swing of things...and fast.
This weekend I'm shooting my BIL's family portraits, next week I'm going to the Iowa State Fair, and the week after that Seth and I are headed out to Vegas!

At War with Elements

Oye.
Y'all would not believe the morning I've had.
{well, maybe you would.}
PSE 8 and I went to war last night and this morning.
It started out with a simple problem of not seeing what I should see in my effects window, despite installing my new action properly.
Long story short, Elements pretty much jumped out of my computer, came to life and was somehow skilled in ultimate fighting.
{'cause that analogy makes sense, right?!}
But thanks to this guy, I was able to stop the program from crashing as well as fix a few other annoying things.
Now I'm able to see and use all of my wonderful actions that I'd forgotten about!
:)

{awesome tip of the day: do not use subfolders within your photo effects folder. seriously. quit it.}


Anywho, after all that I needed a super simple edit. And here it is...

Before:

After:

As you can see in the sooc shot, my white balance is all sorts of outta whack.
Thankfully, I shoot in RAW mode and don't have to worry about that as it's easily fixable in post processing.

Given the dark frame of the door against the white bathroom fixtures, I knew I wanted this to be converted into black and white. So I ran Nelly Nero's "Ain't Life a Peach" action on it and whalaa!
{I can't remember which set this action is in, so you'll have to dig to find it I'm afraid.}


 

Lonesome Poppy

I don't have much to say about these, so I'll let them do the talking








 

Blushing of Autumn

This is actually a photo from spring.
It has been sitting in a folder waiting to be processed...I just couldn't get the right feel for it until a few days ago.

I'm really happy with how it turned out and the fact that I had enough patience to wait three months to edit it!


 



And just for fun, here it is using my Vintage Polaroid set.
{you can get the free download HERE}

Country Living

I have so many things to share with y'all!!!

* First, be sure you visit Mountain Mama to enter her giveaway for any 8x10 print from my Etsy shop!

* Second, if you have any desire to get to know me a little better go to Yours Truly to read the interview I had with Jess!

* Third, if you haven't yet participated in the June Quarterly Top 5 link-up you have only one day left to do so...and then you'll have a chance of winning an 11x14 print from my shop or one of two other fab prizes!

* Fourth, did you notice my new watermark?! It took me a while to get around to it, but I'm pretty happy with the look.

*And fifth, if you participate in Sweet Shot Tuesday and read what Darcy writes did you notice anything really super cool last week? Like, I totally won the awesome shop credit to Paint the Moon?!?!?! I'm still a bit giddy. I got the Moxie Set and you can rest assured that you will get to see all 26 gorgeous actions in...well, action.

Oh, and I have to tell you this funny story...so, while I was looking through the before/after gallery trying to pick out which set I'd get, my husband came over, looked over my shoulder and asked why I'd want to win pictures of other people...oh yes, he was serious. Anything photography related is completely lost on him...I'm sure he feels the same way about me and sports.

...there's also one more totally exciting thing going on, but I'll wait to share that info until it's done...

*****

We spent the holiday weekend with my husband's family. His parents live in a small town and his brother and family live on the farm. We spent a good part of Saturday at the farm: harvesting several acres of wheat that Grandpa set aside especially for the kids (shots to come), swimming, cooking out, shooting off some fireworks and once the kids had gone home with grandma and grandpa, my husband, BIL, SIL and I played Rock Band! Talk about unexpected fun...we had a blast! It's weekends like this that make me wish we still lived close to them. God certainly blessed me with amazing in-laws and I am so grateful for that...I know too many people who can not boast this same thing.

This is about the extent of the fireworks shots that I got. We didn't watch any 'real' fireworks shows....next year, by golly, I am going to a big show...by myself or not! 

We did watch the huge and amazing fireworks spectacular that was aired from NYC. Talk about breath taking! While we were watching, my son told me that I should go get my camera. LOL!

(for the record, I almost did.)

 



And here's one for Touch Up Tuesday.
I love country views and old red barns!


Before:



After:


My edit reminds me a bit of The Wizard of Oz...but, I am in Kansas after all!




Step 1. Splice in a blue sky photo - the original sky wasn't doing it for me.
Step 2. Run Paint the Moon's Tilt action.
Step 3. Run Paint the Moon's Heart and Soul action.
Step 4. Add a rainbow using this tutorial.
Step 5. Straighten image.

Me, My Girl & Iris

...did anyone get that title?!
It was supposed to be a spoof off of the movie title "Me, Myself and Irene".
Anyway, on to the photos!!



This was taken by my 5 year old son with my dslr.
I think I did a pretty good job hiding my nervousness!
;)







And here are the irises.
Normally I have such difficulty photographing these particular flowers, but for whatever reason this day was a good one!

 



Before & After:


I wanted to brighten up this shot and give it a touch of seventies.

Jelly Beans

Short and sweet.
:)