"I wear my sunglasses at night..."

Ok, not really. I do, however, love to enter contests over at I ♥ faces. This week, the theme is "I've got to wear shades", and the minute I saw that, I knew *exactly* what picture I would be entering!! About a month or so ago, my good friend Matt and I went out for my usual every-day picture taking expedition. While we were out, we found the coolest bridge. My friend, being the great model that he is, immediately scaled said bridge and let me shoot till my heart was content. (I have the greatest friends!!) Here is my favorite capture from that shoot. To me, this photo says "I'm a real man-kinda-man. I eat raw steaks, and shave with broken glass, and do.....all kinds of other man stuff." (yeah, that's all I've got; I'm totally a little-sissy-girl.)




For more great sunglasses-filled photos, click the button!

I &hearts Faces; Celebrating Teens!

This week over at I ♥ faces the theme revolves around teenagers....The minute I saw this, I knew EXACTLY what photo I was going to enter. A few months ago I was looking for a teenage model; one who wasn't a cookie cutter giggly, bubbly teenager, and boy did I find that in Emmy! My boss's daughter is smart, and pretty, and interesting, and a billion other thing, but one thing Emmy is not is typical. She was willing to give anything a shot, and this perticular shot was captured with only a little bit of danger. She climbed a fire escape on an abandoned building for me!



I'm thinking that in a few weeks when it's teens only week, I can get Emmy out to shoot with me and see what SHE comes up with when I hand her a dslr. ♥ To see more amazing teens head over to I ♥ faces or just click the button below!

I ♥ Babies!!

Baby animals, especially! When I saw that this week at I ♥ faces the challenge would be "Babies", I was SUPER excited, and I began sifting through the TON of pictures I have of various stages of babyhood. It was tough, but I finally settled on these sweet little baby birds...



Ok, maybe not cute, but you must agree that they are babies in the truest sense of the word...these little birds are about 3 days old in this picture. My little humans and I have been watching since the momma and papa bird built their nest above the light on my mom's toy shed. Today, these little birds have all left the nest, but less than a month ago, they looked so fragile and teeny-tiny. To see more great 'baby' pictures, please click the camera below!

Just playin' around....

This week's theme at I ♥ faces is play. This, at least, is something we're pretty much professionals at around here. We are always making everything more fun with little games and rhymes, and all kinds of other little tricks, but my photo choice this week doesn't really need to be "more fun"....bubbles are a blast with out anything extra!



To see more great playful photos, head on over to I ♥ faces, or just click on the button below.

Good day, sunshine!

This week at I ♥ faces, the theme is 'yellow'. I don't know about you, but when I think 'yellow' I think bright, sunshiny days, and lots of happy smiles....with that in mind, my entry this week is one of the best parts of summer; the very first swim. Friday was a beautiful, warm day, and once my mom got home from work, the kids and I made tracks to her house, and most importantly; her pond! Here is my sweet, bright girl, enjoying both the beautiful hot day, and the beautiful cool water.



For more amazing, fun, yellow photos, please click on the link below:

"Whenever I see your smilin' face..."

"...I have to smile myself."

It's I ♥ smiles week this week at I ♥ faces, and when I saw this challenge, I immediately knew who my picture would be of this week. A few weeks ago I literally bumped into my friend Matt and his daughter while I was out taking my 365 pictures for the day. Well, we'd been trying *(unsuccessfully)* for a few weeks at that point to get together so I could shoot his daughter for him. So I seized the opportunity, and we had a great, if short, mini-shoot. This is one of my very favorites out of the bunch; every time I see it, I am just captured by the wistfulness on her face. I love the way it looks like she's smiling about some little secret....you never know, maybe she's got the secret to the world in there...



To see more amazing smiles, head on over to I ♥ faces!

Drama, Drama, Drama!

This week's challenge at I ♥ faces is "Dramatic Black and White", and if you have a daughter, you're well aware just how much drama they bring into your life! Mine is 5 years old, and most likely a super-hero(!) She is always full of drama, and getting her to play model for me is usually a huge struggle. The other day I finally begged and pleaded enough to get her to agree, and promised a fun location to boot! Off we went to the beach, where she cooperated for about 3 minutes, then wanted to run and play and throw rocks. Now, I love that part of her, but I had a very specific vision in mind for this shoot...needless to say I only partially captured it. I'm sure you'll all agree that just the look on my Amelia-mazing's face makes this picture 'moody', but I also love all the different shades of gray in this image, and the way her face is shadowed by the hat.



Please click the button below to see more AMAZING "Dramatic Black and Whites" at I ♥ faces!

What's my angle?

I've been asking myself this question for the past couple of days, all the while trying to catch my kids with a natural smile on their faces. (Yeah, right!) Anyway, as I searched and searched through my lens for a great angle, I finally realized that maybe I was going about this the wrong way. Maybe what I needed most was a still model that I could move around. With that in mind, I give you the guy my son calls the 'Bouncy Dragon' every time we pass. Now, I'm not entirely sure that he doesn't have a name of his own, but I am so intrigued by him. *And it's not just him....there are many, many amazing creations by this sculptor, all from what most would consider 'trash'. I'm guessing that this guy is soddered together from wheel-springs and a plethora of other 'found' objects.*

All that said, here is my entry for this week's theme at I ♥ faces; "Focusing on Angles"



To see other amazing entries please visit I ♥ faces by clicking on the camera below!

♥ Bundled Up ♥

This week at I ♥ faces, the theme is Bundled up. When I read that the other day, I immediately thought of this shot. Last month we had some really nasty, bitter cold weather. After nearly 2 weeks of that, we had a few nice days (meaning it was in the high 20's and not so terribly windy). We celebrated by going out to the lake so the kids could get a chance to try out some ice! My daughter handled it like a pro, but my poor boy! Imagine, if you will, how Bambi looks the first time he gets on the ice....that was poor Toes. FINALLY, with Daddy's help, he found his feet for a moment, and that moment was perfect! ♥



Also? Just in case you're curious...yes, he actually has a mohawk under the mohawk hat. ♥

♥ For more AMAZING 'bundled up' photos, please visit I ♥ faces! ♥

"I wanna dance!"

This week on the I ♥ faces blog the contest is all about dancing.....I, personally, have a little dancing queen! We signed Amelia up for dance class last fall, and she wound up hating it (it wasn't a traditional ballet class like she was expecting, I guess). What she did love, though, was the tutu's! For my entry this week, I wanted to share my pretty dancing girl, spinning like a top right here in my living room. Happy 5th Birthday Amelia Mae, I hope you're always this free inside.



((And to see more AMAZING dancing photos, click the button below! Thank you))

I ♥ Faces Photography Challenge

This week the I ♥ Faces photography blog/community's challenge theme is "Best Face" photo. My entry is one of my sweet boy this past week. We took a walk in the snow, and this face was also recently a part of my 365, but I loved it so much that I had to share it again here....

Now, the thing about my son is that he loves the idea of having his picture taken, but the minute I point the camera at him all I hear is "Nooooo....don't cheese me!" (and it's always in his deep, husky, tough-guy voice) Here is my sweet toes giving me his angry face.
{Photo taken on 1/6/2010}