Spending some time with "the boys":)

Today, Billy and I took Dominic, Shane and Alex to the Wild West Fest at Leo Carillo Park in Carlsbad.  The boys had alot of fun and went from decorating their own cowboy hats, to riding ponies to getting a picture taken with the Wild West actors and more!

Shown below is a great picture of Shane sitting on some bails of hay.  I just love his expression.  He is such an adorable little boy!

Next we have a cute picture of Alex sitting against one of the walls while we were waiting to decorate cowboy hats.

I also took some really cute shots of Dominic and Shane as they were decorating their hats.  I just love close up fotos and how they focus on what they are doing.

Dominic also rode a bull while we were there.  He did such a great job!

Next the boys rode ponies.  I love this picture because even though the focus is on Dominic, since he is turning around, this foto draws you into his brothers behind him.  Even though they are a bit our focus, they still draw you into the foto.

I'm so glad we found out about this event.  We had alot of fun and the boys were able to experience a bit of the "Wild West".

enJOY:)

Great Frugal Fotos from Texas Trip

My husband and I met some family members in Texas a few weeks back and had a GREAT time!  I've been able to go through just a few of the AWESOME fotos I took, so I thought I'd share them today...can't wait to get to the rest of them!  Sometimes, life just gets in the way, right?

Jayden and Alayna got cowboy hats while we were in Texas and fit right in when we arrived at the "dude" ranch (actually a guest ranch since the ranch did all the work and we had all the fun).

In the foto above, Jayden is patiently waiting on the porch for the wagon to take us to the horses so we can go horseback riding.

Below, Jayden and Alayna are modeling their new hats outside of the Marketplace in San Antonio.

One last foto below is of Alayna and Jayden sitting in a tree outside of our place at the "dude" ranch.

I can't wait to have some time to post more pics:)

A few random pics

As I download some fotos, I smile...we DO have AUTUMN here in Sunny Southern California...in JANUARY:)  I just LOVE my new Tamron 60mm lens!  I'm sure there are things this "baby" can do that I don't even know about yet, but for now...I'm in awe of it's capabilities!

And beautiful sunsets...in JANUARY:)  I was trying some manual settings on my camera and took this frugal foto, realizing afterwards that is severely underexposed...but oh so kewl!

enJOY:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAN!

My husband and I just spent a WONDERFUL day with our oldest son, Dan and his beautiful wife, Stephanie.  It was Dan's birthday, so while Dan and Billy watched the Eagles lose their game:(, Stephanie and I went for a great walk...up and down hills...and then up and down more hills, lol...as I continue my resolution to get into shape:)

I thought I'd share this picture with you since my son, Dan, RARELY smiles in ANY picture I take of him...even though I think he is one of the MOST photgenic people I know:)

Can you count the fingers we're holding up to figure out how old he is?  Thanks, Stephanie, for reminding us of this fun family tradition that we'd long forgotten about:)
enJOY:)

Lori M.

Lookin' back at 2010...

As I sit here and try to determine the BEST way to sort my "millions" of frugal fotos...I ponder, and wonder if I'll EVER find a good way to sort and "file" my frugal fotos...now, I know there ARE some great products out there that help with the sorting function...but REALLY, I ask...is it REALLY that hard?...since ORGANIZATION is definitely NOT my strong suit...I ponder....and wonder....what's a frugal fotografer to do?

While I'm doing that, I have come across some fotos that "speak" to me from 2010...they are not really ABOUT anything...they just SPEAK to me...so I thought I'd share a few...

This first shot I'll categorize as a portrait, kinda, sorta....in any event, the colors, expression, and just plain composition are just really KEWL...this is Tyler...who used to be one of my son's neighbors...he's since moved to another state...bummer about that because I could fotograph him all day...just love his expressions, unique style, and great personality.  Maybe our paths will cross again...

This next frugal foto is of one of my favorite subjects...flowers!  I was practicing my depth of field capabilities and love the way the foreground AND background are out of focus, but the mid ground (is that a term?) is in perfect focus...

This next foto...yes, it's another flower, lol...is really kewl because initially I took it because it was growing out of a rock...but now I just love it because even though it was unintentional, I just love the "sepia" feel of the background.  I also think the blur really worked well in this frugal foto...

Ok, that's enough for now...back to figuring out how to organize these frugal fotos of mine!

enJOY:)

Another amazing day with friends:)

In true New Year's tradition, we started the year out with a nice bike ride as our way of saying...o.k, this is going to be the year to get into shape!

Billy and I drove down to Ocean Beach with friends and hoped on our bikes and rode the San Diego river trail.  We started at Dog Beach and rode to Hotel Circle.  I'll have to map it out to see how many miles it is each way (I'm sure it's much less than my sore legs are tellin' me it is, though, lol).

There were many interesting things to see along the way...from birds to ducks to flowers and plants along the way.  There were also things that tend to bring more awareness to our surroundings...we passed two or three homeless camps where the homeless set up camp under the freeways.  We also saw a few ball fields with debris hanging 3-4 feet up on the fencing...a reminder of the flooding the San Diego area just experienced.  I didn't take any pics along our ride (although I really wanted to) since the ride was more for exercise than for frugal fotography.

Once back to Dog Beach, we rode into downtown OB and had breakfast near the OB pier.  We then took some leisure time and checked out the tide pools.  At this point, I did take a few pics to share:

This is a pic of the tide pools as the waves crashed in.  The OB pier is in the background.

I thought this post was really cool...you can see another in the background...these are the remnants of what used to be in OB...back in "the day" OB was a resort town (think 1919 or so)...where there are now tide pools, there used to be buildings and decks and dance halls, and hotels for the wealthy...



Below we have Mark, Diana and Billy resting before heading back to our bikes and back home.  One of the locals is also hangin' out.

This is a kewl mural at OB on the beach.  Diana and Mark were kind enough to pose for a frugal foto.  Thanks, Mark and Diana:)

All in all, it was a GREAT start to the New Year's exercise routine...Wow, it's ALREADY Jan 2nd and I haven't broken any of my New Year's resolutions yet...that may just be a record, lol!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

My first New Year's Resolution, lol:)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

As I awoke this morning, took a deep breath, and considered this year ahead...one of my thoughts was "hmmmm...it's time for those New Year's Resolutions again"...now I know many of us has looked at New Year's Resolutions with various emotions over the years...

I've decided to take "some" of the pressure off this year, but just cannot pass up the opportunity to VOW to do SOMETHING better this year...well, unfortunately, my New Year's Eve came with some realizations...I really need to continue to study my Frugal Fotography, lol...

Every year since I've moved to Southern California, our tradition is to put our feet in the Pacific Ocean right after midnight...which we did last night...and this is all I got...

Pretty crappy, huh?  Well apparently this Frugal Fotographer needs to learn a few things about taking night time pics:

1.  When using your "good" camera, if you take the lens cap off, you'll be able to see those awesome friends you want to fotograph.
2.  Before giving up, thinking it's just too DARK to take a pic with your "good" camera, check to see if the lens cap has been removed first (if you can see your friends through your point and shoot camera, SURELY you can see them through the viewfinder of your "good" camera, right?)
2.  Your back-up plan, your "old" point and shoot camera is just NOT meant to be used to take pics...at the beach...at night...when there isn't even a moon to illuminate the area.
3.  Now that your in your 50's (and so are your friends), you don't have an hour to figure out you just needed to remove the lens cap from your "good" camera...it's cold, you're cranky from staying up so late, and no one is in the mood to pose for frugal fotos at this hr, lol.
3.  Practice taking nighttime pics BEFORE the "big" event, so you're prepared with how to take the BEST pics in low light.
4.  Practice using Photoshop so that you can "fix" those "not so great" pics and be able to salvage them.

The moral of this story?

REMOVE THE LENS CAP FROM YOUR CAMERA

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

THERE'S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR

AT SOME POINT, I'LL LAUGH ABOUT THIS (WELL, I'M DOING THAT ALREADY, LOL)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!