HELLO 2011!

Well hello 2011....where in the world did 2010 go? This girl has been BAD, BAD, BAD about posting - shame on me! Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive! I still have a few 2010 photos updates to post - a few pics from a fabulous wedding we went to in Napa and some holiday pics with the fam. Also, closing the loop on a few 2010 goals that may or may never have been achieved. Woopsy! 2011 is the year to improve my photography....so as it always starts out right? :)

Oh Christmas Card....

I contemplated maybe not doing a holiday card this year for pure lack of creativity. I didn't have a cute pic of Ryan and I, we don't have precious children that make holiday cards sparkle with cuteness no matter what they're doing in the photo, among many other lame excuses.

I decided though to embark on a little holiday card photo shoot adventure with our dearly beloved yellow labrador, Mr. Wyatt. While he was wiggling and avoiding me just enough to not be able to capture the perfect shot, toward the end I have to admit I think he was enjoying it. The amusement with mommy snapping the camera at him though wasn't enough to get him to look at me and make a cute "holiday card material" face.

Yesterday I was disappointedly browsing through the photo shoot pics and decided to play around with one in Photoshop. After several hours of tweaking and editing, I accidentally stumbled upon a final product that I have to admit I was kind of excited about. I hestitantly showed ryan, because I knew if he didn't like it, it might diminish my chances for a 2010 holiday card. O.k. I exaggerate a bit...let's be real here, guys don't really have a say in these matters! :) Anyways, he was kind of impressed and agreed we could order them. Woohoo!! Below is the final product. This was all by pure chance and luck that I was even able to come to this somewhat acceptable rendition of our 2010 holiday card. I'll post instructions on my post-processing steps soon. It may take me awhile to remember exactly what I did. :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Others from the photo shoot - hehe I love all of his holiday outfit changes :)

Seriously mom, get the camera away from...

DPS Weekly Assignment - Repititions and Patterns

So as some of you may remember from older posts, one of my fave photography resources is Digital Photography School. They send out a daily newsletter with info on products, post proscessing (editing), various photographing tips on tons of different subject matters, etc. They have a weekly assignment and I ALWAYS say I'm going to do it for practice. AND, of course, I never do. This week though the subject is "Repitition and Patterns" and I had a photo I took over the weekend that I thought would be fun to post to the weekly assignments forum. Not to be confused with any sort of contest, because this gal's photos are not ready for anything along those lines. But it's fun just to post pics, view other posts and maybe even get some feedback and tips on my photos.

Sooo...FINALLY, I submitted a pic. It was a crisp fall Thanksgiving Day when I took this so it gives me a fun fuzzy reminder that fall is in the air. Which is my absolute favorite time of year. You can check out comments and other posts for the DPS Weekly Assignment at: http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/digital-photography-assignments/139928-assignment-repetition-patterns-nov-17-dec-1-a.html.

Baptismal Affair

Hooray for double blog posts for the Meserve family! I had the priviledge of attending AND being their psuedo "photographer" for darling Carter Meserve's Baptism over the weekend. A huge thank you to Kaylen for letting me capture such a sweet moment in their precious baby boy's life, and practice my photography skills all at the same time.

I rented a lens for the baptism and was thoroughly impressed, not necessarily with my photos, but with the ease of the lens, the local shop I rented is from and the lens they picked out for me. I'll add a post soon on all the lens deets soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the precious Meserve family!

The Meserve Fam

The Baptism Ceremony

Annie helps out during the ceremony

Godparents, Ryan Parker and Annie Salem (of The Now Stylebook) and The Meserves

The Meserves with Monsignor Zimmerman


The Meserves and McCurrys

Kaylen and Annie and an I'm over this Carter :)

It's a Boy!

Who doesn't love a fabulous baby shower with decadent treats (homemade cupcakes at that!), ohhhs and ahhhs over super precious baby gear and gadgets and lots of fun girlie chatter? I sure do! Here are some pics from my friend Kaylen's baby shower. Congrats to all of the fabulous hostesses who helped throw Baby Carter a shower prior to his arrival.

Most fabulous mantle ever - I love the understated and chic decor the girls put together

The hostesses with Kaylen and the amazing Tiffany's present they got for

Baby Carter.

The theme of the shower was Tiffany's and was tied in

by the adorable gift and teal hanging paper bouquets

Kaylen with Hostesses Annie and Katy

Bebo and Amy

Amy and Kaylen's Sweet Grandmother

Peter Lik Landscape Photographer

While strolling the Lahaina art galleries in Maui this summer, I came across my FAVE new landscape photographer, Peter Lik. I could spend hours in his cozy yet breathtaking gallery analyzing every focal, dimensional, color and balance detail in his photographs. Peter is an Australian photographer with a true gift for capturing beauty in our natural surroundings in a creative and inspiring way. Being an astute businessman, it was difficult to find his images online, but here are a few to give you an idea of his style. I'm obsessed....I mean these don't even look like real places!

More Hawaii Pics - last ones!

Here are a last few Hawaii pics as promised to some of you who asked for them. So sorry for the LONG hiatus as well. I've been traveling like a crazy woman for work, and a little for fun too! Now that the weather is fab and my bags are unpacked until 2011, I promise to post new photo updates so stay tuned!

my sweet hubby!

ahh the Kuaui beach - I so miss it!

A sweet dad and his little boy taking a walk at sunset

our heli ride

me

Ryan