Our Independence Day...

...which also happens to be my husband's birthday! Every year, I get to listen to him tell all of the kids whereever we are, "You know they do this just for me, right?" Hilarious. I also got to play around with my camera & tripod at Lake Loveland this year. This first one was actually a *mistake* ~  I was just playing with the settings on my camera and happened to catch it. :)

This one was just another really pretty one I shot:

This one really shows off the 'star' filter I had on the lens. :)

The last is a storyboard of the remaining fireworks I shot:

Happy July 4th!!!

~Jen



iheartfaces Photo Challenge ~ Let's Hear It For The Boys!

The title of this week's challenge immediately made me this of this photo:

So I had to enter it in the iheartfaces challenge this week! I took this picture of my son shortly after he had the chance to ride at the National Western Stock Show for Mutton Bustin' - as the announcer said - "If you slap your child in a grocery store, child services is all over you, but if you pad them up and stick them on the back of a sheep to hold on for dear life, it's call entertainment!" He had a blast doing it, and all of the participants got trophies:

~Jen

My "Pick 6" Photos...

For the last week's assignment in my photography class, we were asked to "pick 6" of our favorite photographs. Well, one thing I've learned in recent days is that while I love taking pictures, I think my true favorite photographs that I've taken are landscapes... hmmm. I wonder if it's because they don't move? :)

I also didn't want to choose some of my older favorites because they were all taken before I "knew what I was doing" (ha, ha). I wanted to choose more recent photos that I took as I learned manual mode on my camera and really focused on my technique, rather than shots I took but just got lucky on, if that makes any sense...

So, here's what I came up with:

A picture of my son taken in the doorway of my office with texture added...

My first 'real' photo shoot - a good friend's daughter for Senior Photos...

Another Senior Photo shoot with a good friend's son...

My adorable niece taken in my office...

My daughter at Christmas...

My daughter on her 12th birthday this year...

Our feedback from the class is supposed to help us decide what our style is... so I am very excited to hear what people say about my pictures. :)

~Jen

We interrupted this blog for...

Walt Disney World last week! I am exhausted... you know, one of those "I need a vacation from my vacation" weeks. So, I'm way way way behind on my photography class which is making me sad. Today was my day to try and catch up, and while I haven't completely caught up yet - I did catch an amazing sunset over the mountains last night, which I decided would be cool to try and HDR-process... I think it's a little dark, but very true-to-life.

*Edit: I actually continued to play around with this picture in Photoshop and settled on another version - a much more saturated photo:

~Jen

Modern Bird Studios contest on Facebook...

Here's the picture I've entered into the Modern Bird Studios contest:

Please vote for me by clicking below:

You have to first "like" Modern Bird Studios, then go "like" my picture!! Thanks!

~Jen

Week 1 ~ Additional Photos...

I truly didn't think I'd end up having the time/energy/kids to get another shoot in this weekend, but I got lucky and picked up our oldest and got some shots in Boulder. These are my favorites:

~Jen

Maggie Holmes' Advanced Photography Class Assignment #1

First of all, if you are interested in Maggie's classes, here's the link. I took the Beginner's class last fall, and now I'm taking the Advanced class. I thought I'd post my assignments here as well as on her discussion board.

This week was about choosing a location. The goal was to find a place that could have several different 'feels' within a short distance from one another. I just happened upon some fireworks shops that were painted really brightly and decided we should try there.

Here are my favorites:

I just absolutely loved the last one... I used Maggie's Sun-kissed Action in addition to a texture, in addition to the toy camera frame ~ it just turned out exactly as I pictured it when I took it. :)

~Jen

Trying to get creative again!

Well, I've spent my month trying to finish up some half-done projects... and instead I went ahead and started more! LOL. I've also become quite addicted to these online classes... Here's a few I've signed up for:

4x6 Love
Creative Retreat
Embrace Imperfection
And hopefully... Advanced Photography - I haven't signed up just yet... trying to justify the cost, but I took the Beginner's class from Maggie and LOVED it. I have never learned so much in such a short time!!

I'm officially done with the Picture Winter... and yet, I have 3 prompts that I haven't done. I just haven't been feeling it this week, and struggling with the prompts while also trying to get this photo slideshow done for my aunt's memorial this weekend.

~Jen

Picture Winter... cont'd

I just barely got caught up today! I was struggling on a couple of the prompts and with my traveling, surgery, etc.... it's been a little crazy! So here we go...

Center of Attention

Different Kind of Story

Frosty

Winter's Pull

Centerpiece

High Strung

Obscurity

The Magic Machine

A Beautiful Mess

Give Yourself a Hand

Details of Winter

By far, my favorite is the "High Strung" - the color was perfect, and I love the composition. I'm sad that the class with be over soon, since it's really gotten me out and creating some great photographs!!

~Jen

More Picture Winter ...

I am updating mainly to add the latest pictures I have taken for this class... however, my aunt died on 1/15/11. While I would love for this blog to be about my projects, I have come to realize that either way, my life will affect those projects and I better just talk about it rather than ignore the obvious connections. For one, I would not have had this many pictures taken in Oklahoma if it weren't for my aunt's battle with cancer... I would not have been out here or be out here 3 times in 6 weeks which is what it will be come Super Bowl Sunday... onto the pictures!

Beyond the Chill

Cooling It

Wrapped Up

Stark Raving Magnificent

I have truly loved this project, if nothing more than to get my creative juices flowing... the funny thing is that one of the challenges this week was "A Different Kind of Story" and all I can think of is my aunt and her battle with cancer and challenge myself to see if I can convey it somehow... wish me luck!

~Jen

Picture Winter update...

Well, apparently, I didn't realize that my pictures weren't actually uploading to the Picture Winter website until tonight! I guess there is a size limit, but I never got an error ... odd. Anyway, on to the latest pictures from this last week of prompts...

Quiet Beauty

Texture Seekers

Bundle Up

Seeking Balance

Warm Your Heart

Signs of Life

Controlled Chaos

I am really starting to enjoy this class and loving the prompts to get me outside taking pictures! It's also been amazing to see what the other students are doing as well. And now the goal is to keep it updated daily!! Now that I am back from Oklahoma and settled in, I'm hoping that will be a little easier. :)

~Jen

Happy New Year!

I've started a new photography class called Picture Winter - the link at the bottom right hand of the blog. I thought I'd start posting some of my shots for the class here:

Looking Out

All the Possibilities

A Little Sunshine

Meant for Every Day Use

Cracked Open

~Jen