Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I'm BACK! I've been MIA due to the end of school, but the year is behind us - I now have 8 weeks ahead of me of hanging with my boys and snapping some fun photographs. I've really missed these challenges! I've done a few here and there... maybe I'll post a catch-up blog entry to share some of them.

As always, visit Ramblings and Photos to see everyone else's shots!

1. EYELASHES: I didn't even bother taking a self-portrait for this one, but not because of my insecurity behind the lens (although that's there too!). No, I just happen to be blessed with the world's sparsest, shortest lashes - so a photo of them would hardly be interesting. Instead, here's what I use to try to make them a little more apparent:

2. WINDOWS/DOORS: This shot makes me laugh. I posed my youngest on his toy box, promising him that a deer was coming and he should watch (don't judge - you know you do it too). Instead, I snapped this at the exact moment he dropped his goldfish; if you look carefully, you can even see one that hasn't yet hit the floor:

3. FACELESS PORTRAIT: This is a horribly blurry, sit-in-front-of-a-dirty-mirror kind of shot. I almost didn't even post it, but whatevs. One of my goals for the summer is to work on my set up skills and actually USE the remote control I have for my camera.

4. PAINT: As soon as I saw "paint" on the list, I thought my little bottles of polish. I used to be a twice-monthly manicure kinda girl, but 2 kids and a full-time job don't really jive that with that notion. Bummer. Instead, I sometimes treat myself to a new bottle when I'm at Target; these three are the ones I took out a couple of days ago - decisions, decisions...

5. LEAF VEINS: These are from our "Yoshi fruit" tree. I was getting frustrated because the breeze kept messing with my shot, but I kind of like this one:

Hiatus

It is the end of the school year (3 more days!) and I'm drowning in final exams, book fine slips, and portfolio evaluations. Once the dust settles next week, I'll be back on my game and participating in challenges and workshops.

In the meantime, enjoy a shot of my nearly-two-year-old (!!) as he eats his morning yogurt with both a fork and a spoon.

Shoot and Edit, SOOC: "Looking Up"

I adore this shot of my youngest "looking up" - he was checking out the "ahh-panes" in the "siii." This was a fun one to edit - see you Thursday for the finished version!


Click here to see everyone else's submissions!

Scavenger Hunt "Sunday"

Not only am I late this week, but I haven't participated in 2 weeks! School is kicking my ass right now, but in a few weeks I'll be free of essays and grading, so hopefully I'll have more time to devote to this blog (um, and my other 2 equally neglected blogs).

1. ON THE FLOOR: This is a fun shot of my son's new ceiling fan. When we moved into our house last summer, his current room was occupied by a teenaged girl. We painted over the pink walls immediately, but her girly flowery fan stayed up until just a couple of weeks ago.

2. SELF-PORTRAIT: I hate self-portraits. Of myself, I mean - I love looking at others'! Well, I guess I don't specifically hate self-portraits - I just hate shots of me in general. ;)

3. LINES: I opened up my notebook to take a picture of a clean sheet but turned right to my Scavenger Hunt to-do list!

4. FRESH: This is a shot I took to use for my food blog; I turned fresh pita pockets into crispy pita chips to serve with hummus.

5. CLASSIC STILL LIFE: What says "still life" better than a bowl of fruit? (And an onion?)

Check out Ramblings and Photos to see everyone else's findings!

Shoot and Edit: Rain

I have been waiting all week to be able to post this shot. Actually, even longer; I've always wanted to do a rainy-day photo shoot, so I was thrilled when this past week's "Shoot and Edit" theme was rain. I was even more excited to see that rain filled the forecast.

Of course, it's never that easy.

I never.ever.rained while I was home with the kids. It would POUR on my way home from work. It would be a near-monsoon as I loaded them into the car in the daycare parking lot. And then, when we'd get home? Nada.

Finally, with the shoot-and-edit deadline in the past, I decided today was the day. It was barely drizzling, but we were going for it.

Here's my SOOC:

And the finished product (after some cropping, contrast, and a smidge of saturation):

I'm not 100% sold on the composition. Like you can see, I cut off the top of his head in the initial shot. I purposely didn't want to boots to be centered, but I wanted you to be able to see the reflection, so I wasn't really sure where to cut that off. Suggestions?

Shoot and Edit, Edited: Mother's Day

I just loved my special Mother's Day breakfast and thought it was a fun shot to use for the Mother's Day prompt for Shoot and Edit.


I didn't really do too much to this, actually - adjusted the contrast and saturation and called it a day. I thought about cropping to put the focus on the plate, but I kind of like the way this is composed.

Funny sidenote: the coffee mug? Yeah, it's empty. My husband put it out for me but I had to make it myself since he has no idea how to make it. :)

Scavenger Hunt "Sunday"

I'm a little late this week with my scavenger hunt! I had panicked about getting finished on time, but then I remembered that Ashley always says that she leaves it open until Tuesday nights for us slowpokes. Whew! :)

1. SOOC: I used this same picture for my weekly Shoot and Edit; check back on Thursday to see what I've done with it!

2. LAZY: I am very anal about my meal planning. Every weekend, I sit down and go through my cookbooks, blogs, and mental repertoire to come up with a menu for the week. I usually stick to it, but tonight I was feeling pretty lazy and just had some leftovers from when we went out to dinner the other night. Yum!

3. SMELLS LIKE SPRING: My husband bought this old-school push mower when we moved into our home last summer. I've always loved the smell of freshly cut grass, but I swear, this mower makes it so much more awesome. And I love how "green" it is, both literally and figuratively - now, with this mower, I ONLY smell grass and no gasoline!

4. SPROUTING: I received this adorable little plant as a Mother's Day gift and knew instantly that it would make a great entry for this item.

5. ISN'T IT IRONIC...: Isn't it ironic that the English teacher can't figure out what to photograph for an irony shot? ;)