iHeartFaces Photo Challenge

This week at iHeartFaces, the challenge is Photojournalism. Which means its a photo that tells a story. You can enter one photo or a collage of up to 5 photos. I chose the collage this time.
Every time it rains, my daughter can not wait to put on her rainboots and head outside. She loves to play LEAF BOATS. Her Dad showed her one day of putting a small leaf in the stream of water and watch it float down the street. One day, it was floating so fast that she couldn't catch up to it. Well it floated into the drain. She didn't understand that once it went in there, it was gone. She got so upset.
It didn't take long before she got another boat. But this time, she liked watching it go down the drain. KIDS!!!

Fix It Friday #68

I am a big fan of iHeartFaces. Every Friday, they post a picture to fix. It gives everyone a chance to add their own personal edits. I always 'heart" looking at all of the other photos but I've never had the courage to add mine. It's amazing how just 1 picture can look so different.
Well as of today, I will be playing along every Friday. It's fun! And you can follow along too. Just visit ...
http://www.iheartfaces.com/


This photo was taken by Angie Arthur, not me. I am just editing it my way. Here is the before and after...

Here's what I did...

~Straighted the photo

~MCP's Bag of Tricks - Midtone Lifter, Fake Blue Sky actions

~Whitened the eyes

~Adjusted the levels, burned in a few spots

~Took out some red

~Sharpened

So how did I do on my first try???

Taking out the trash {Land o Lakes Photographer}

Every once in a while I take the trash out. Usually, my husband does it. And I am glad he did it this time!!!
He called me to come look and I knew it was something I didn't really want to see just by the way he asked me. So I went outside & carefully tilted my head to look inside the trash can.
I WILL NEVER TAKE THE TRASH OUT EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!
Inside was an orange snake crawling up the side. GROSS! The pics I took are not sharp because I was grossed out and didn't want to get anywhere near it to where it can leap out at me.  But here it is IN WRITING... I will NEVER take out the trash again. It is OFFICIALLY my husband's job!

Putting the Treadmill to good use {Land o Lakes Children's Photographer}

I was looking around the house for P. Her favorite game is hide n' seek. But after I looked in the same 3 spots she ALWAYS hides in and she wasn't there I called out for her. I heard this little movement noise coming from the other side of the room. So I tiptoed over to have a peek and there she is, LAYING on the treadmill eating her lollipop that Dad had gotten her from the Zoo the day before. So that's what the treadmill is for? Have I been doing it wrong all this time? She certainly looked like she was enoying it way better than how I use it!

So of course, I had to quickly get my camera before she knew I "found' her. I asked her if it was good, "uh huh! Want some?" she asked. "No thanks" I said, knowing I have to use the treadmill my way later. I like her way better though :)

Birthday Beach Party

Michael's parents invited us to the beach to help celebrate Michael's 2nd birthday. It was pouring early in the morning, but it cleared up to be a nice day. There was a slight breeze and it wasn't super humid. It was nice.
They brought their jet skies for everyone to ride. We just sold ours in the beginning of the summer, so we were missing riding ours! They even brought a few water toys to be pulled. It was fun watching them, because of course, I won't do it! The kids had fun just sitting in the tube being pulled in by hand. They didn't know the difference :)  All in all, it was a good birthday party! Happy Birthday Michael...

Alli {Plant City Photographer}

Alli was really cool to shoot. She knew how to pose and it made photographing her so easy. She is a make-up artist, so she works with models and said she just watches them pose. So if anyone out there needs a make-up artist for a wedding or special occasion, let me know and I can have her contact you.

And my try at some OCF...

Swiffy {Land o Lakes, Photographer}

My sister's cat isn't doing too good. His name is Swiffy, but I have always had my own nickname for him, Stupid. My sister would always get mad when i called him that. 

She asked me to come by and take a few pictures of him before he goes. He wasn't feeling very well and just wanted to lay down, so I did the best I could.

This was pretty hard on me because it wasn't even 2 months ago that I had to put my cat down. It still breaks my heart that I had to do that. I really miss him.

I'm glad that I was able to take some good shots for her to remember him by.