I {heart} Flower Fotos...

My friend, Pat, invited me to go to a local park with her this week and I was soooo glad she reminded me to bring my camera.

I just LOVE practicing my fotography techniques by taking fotos of flowers!  These are two of the fotos I liked best, so I thought I'd share.

I decided to get a bit fancy with this one while trying to remember how to use some of the tools I learned in the Photoshop class I too 3 years ago.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to figure out how to get the gradient tool to work the way I wanted it too...after a few tries, of course.

 

My next foto was a close-up that I just LOVE.  I have a lens that can get up really close to my subject and does an awesome job of letting me practice on my in and out of focus fotos.

 

 

I really didn't do much to this foto at all.  Don't you just LOVE the way it turned out?

Just a few artful fotos

Wow!!!!  I can't believe it's already the end of February, 2013.  I have to say, I've taken MANY fotos since my last post in May, 2011....but alas...they've either remained on my camera...or "crashed" with my computer crash in October, 2012...

I'm starting 2013 out creatively and want to share some random photos I took while spending an artful day with friends at our lss.

I'm really trying to take fotos of more than my peeps, so here's to an ARTFUL 2013!

 

These are my friend Monica's brushes as she washed them after our "ARTFUL" playdate.  It was actually her idea to take this picture and I just love the way it turned out. 

 

Thanks for the great idea, Monica!!!

 

Here is another frugal foto of her cup of brushes.

 

 

I decided to "play" a bit with Photoshop today and used the color picker to use in my type.  I chose a color from the yellow pen top to the left of my typing.  I just love this shade of yellow...so buttery and sunshiny.

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:)