Feeling random...

I took the girls to the park on Friday evening! I don't like shooting at our park. I don't like the colors & tones around our park and am always annoyed when I edit shots from there. So I almost left my camera at home. But I was feeling creative and actually wanted to shoot! So I brought it with the intention of leaving my lifestyle/storytelling/overshooting ways at home and go with my peaceful random mood that I was in! And I'm SO glad I did!

I just shot what moved me. I worked slow, I was relaxed and looked around...observing! It's the most fun I've had shooting in a while now! I didn't shoot the girls much. I think I needed a break and needed to shoot some non people, and non traditional shots! This fed my soul. On Facebook I wrote this under one image and it's so very true for me that I thought I would share it here...

" Random details & creative edits feed my soul! A soul I didn't even know I had until I picked up a DSLR!"

This was much needed and made me very happy and excited about shooting again. My edits are all over the place on purpose! I let my heart guide me on each image!

Most images were edited with Lilyblue (Waterplay & Simple Set), TRA (Boutwell Magic Glasses) and Michelle Kane (Bland to Brilliant, Bloom & See Things Clearer).

Haylee....my baby...getting so big and turning into such a beautiful young girl, inside & out...



This was my 365! I swear this was the exact.same guy that goes by our house...3 miles away and we live uphill...


My little dreamer dreaming away on the swing...


Shooting in full sun at sunset! What a release and change...


The sand park shot with my Tokina 16-28...


Hello wide angle...


Hello beautiful mountains...


This is what I needed...different...


A little girl left this! I found it exactly like it is in this picture. There were no kids on this side of the park so I let Avyree keep it! No kids came for it or I would have had her give it back. She's actually playing with it as I type this...


Random, creative edit....I'm so happy...


Hello big big tree...


Hello yummy light...


Hello yummy light, & starburst sunflare....I love you...


Not sure I love this but o'well...


It's the small details that we often miss and are the most peaceful...




I truly.love completely OOF shots! They soothe my soul and give me some kind of odd inner peace. I did these on purpose and Lilyblue's Rose & Sweet Water gave me the perfect tones to the blown out sky...


Hello crows & pretty clouds...


Teehee...I love this shot! Shot with the Tokina & edited with my Momaziggy's Golden Backlight action that I shared FREE HERE ...


Shadows & depth...I love them and don't shoot them enough...


And lastly...same shot zoomed in & out and my Tokina...


Thank you so much for looking. This was EXACTLY what I needed & could not have come at a better time!

I will be gone for about 2 weeks and just wanted to let you guys know! We are leaving very.early Wednesday morning to board a plane to Northern Idaho where my dad & grandma live! I'm very excited, with the exception of the flights! So I won't be able to post on my blog until I get back! But boy will there be a lot of posts after I get back! Ha! I will have access to my email via my cell phone, but won't be responding much since it's a PITB! And I will have no photoshop...which makes me a little sad! Lol! But I'll be taking TONS of pics and my 365 while I'm there, so I won't miss a beat! Last year I shot the whole story of our trip! It was like 6 blog posts and I took thousands of pictures! I'm not doing that this time! Ha! I'm going to approach it more like this post...random, peaceful and whatever moves me to shoot it! That will also help not being too overwhelmed when I get back! :) I love my lifestyle/storytelling style and it's who I am as a photographer. But sometimes it's overwhelming because I shoot so many shots to get the story and have to edit and share them all to tell you guys the whole story. So sometimes I need to go random & peaceful. And now you know why I keep referring to reandom shooting as peaceful! Lol!

Hope everyone has a great two weeks & I'll see ya'll when I get back! :)

365 190-196...

Here are my shots for the week...


Haylee rockin her guitar...


I hate this bush in my front yard and am always trying to find a way to shoot & edit it so that it looks prettier...
The girls having fun in the backyard...


Shot at 1.8...I love me some bokeh...


I have no idea who's cat this is. But it's such a beautiful cat & when I spotted it in the ivy of my front yard I knew I had to take a picture. I wish I knew who's cat it was so I could email them this picture...

Haylee finally got an iPod Touch and boy does she LOVE it...


And my beautiful little Nugget sitting in our front yard tonight at sunset...


Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Chuck E Cheese...

Hi all! Last Friday I took the girls to Chuck E Cheese & I finally got them all edited and loaded up! So here they are...it's a big post...

Edits vary but these are the three different color combos I used...

*Michelle Kane Bland to Brilliant, Bloom, my Ziggy Licious Strawberry Cream

*MCP Fusion ~ Passion

*OTSS Tilt a Whirl from her Carnival set {this was shared on CM a long time ago}

Black whites were...

Lilyblue Just BW & Soft BW

Haylee sorting out the tokens for her and Nugget...



While Haylee was hard at work, Nugget was attacking Barney...


Some wide angle shots with the Tokina 16-28...



Nugget having fun...



Details...


She still doesn't realize that this one isn't the real Chuck E...teehee...


The water race...


Food details...


I did get TONS of really strange looks from customers and workers while I was taking these! Ha...


Haylee hard at play...


Making fun ID cards...


Sigh..I love her, this light and this edit...

Nugget crushing over Chuck E...


Haylee ready and waiting to catch the free tickets...


The girls waiting to catch free tickets. I love the center shot because it shows just how much she loves Chuck E...she's a little shy and embarrassed around him! Teehee...


My lunch...


Only a few left...


Haylee loves the bubble pop game...


And if you've ever seen any of my Chuck E posts, you already know that this is Avyree's FAVORITE thing at Chuck E Cheese! She rides it over and over and has a love/hate relationship with it. She's scared of it but loves it at the same time. Each time she's a little less scared! But she gets so lost in the ride I always get the most fun expressions from her...


My big girl taking a break by nice window light {that I scoped out for good light}...


So..this is Nugget! She is loud, crazy and last but not least...expressive...


and I adore her...


Lola stayed home today and Rose came out to play. She relaxed next to the nice window light...


Nugget really loves the clock ride too! I love the top right shot! So proper my girl can be...


And then she goes from proper to...this...


Haylee enjoying her ice cream...


I love you Haylee! Please stop growing...


Then it was time to cash in the tickets and get the heck outta dodge. If you have kids and go to Chuck E Cheese....have them get the goody bag. So much faster and easier...


Thanks for looking! I still haven't shot my 365 for today so I probably won't get my 365 post up until tomorrow because my girlfriends are coming over for drinks tonight! :)