One of my favorite faces…

I have four favorite faces.  These four favorite faces belong to the four people I love most in this world.  This is one of them…

Last week was spring picture day at my kid’s elementary school.  As a rule, I tend not to purchase spring pictures because #1) I’ve already purchased one set in the fall, and #2) I take enough pictures of my kids on my own that purchasing an overpriced set from school seems unnecessary.  When I told my daughter, K, that I would most likely not be purchasing her pictures, she was somewhat upset … until I suggested having our own little photo shoot at home.  That satisfied her.  Hooray.  Disaster and drama averted.

I absolutely love taking pictures of K.  She is a beautiful model.  Her only problem is that she has a hard time keeping her eyes open in the bright light.  I have to get creative about how I position her, how I shoot and what time of day we do it in.  I wanted to do her pictures when she was all dressed up for picture day but knew that by the time she got off the bus at the end of the day, we might not have the same look going.  So we decided to do it quickly before school.

As I got set up, K gave me this advice … “Just take a bunch of them really quickly, mom, and hopefully you’ll get one that works.”  So I did and after weeding through 99% of the shots I took, getting rid of the ones with her eyes closed, I found that I did, indeed, get one.  This one.  I love it.

But mostly I just love the face in it.  And the heart.  And the sweet spirit.

Tiptoe through the tulips…

I’ve always been afraid to plant tulips in my yard because of the number of deer that visit my flower beds.  Since deer love tulips I fear planting them would just invite snacking at my expense!  My mom, however, has several planted at her house so when we were there for Easter I was delighted to see them in bloom.

I ran a clean edit in both ACR and Elements 9 and then added Kim Klaussen's Serendipity texture.  I kept the texture subtle because I wanted to keep the vibrant reds and yellows intact.  For the final touch, I added a black frame which I think makes the colors pop all the more.  I really like how this one came out.  It says “drama” and “spring” all at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh spring where are you? [Sweet Shot Tuesday]

It is cold (upper 30’s), rainy, and windy here today and it doesn’t feel like spring.  When I look at these pictures, though, I’m reminded of bright sunshine and warmth.  If the weather won’t cooperate, I’ll just have to resort to using my imagination.  Now if only I didn’t have to be all bundled up in several layers, furry slippers and a down blanket while I write this post!

To see more sweet shots, visit Sweet Shot Tuesday @ Life With My Three Boybarians.

Buds & Bees

Spring is such a fun season to capture.  Nearly everyday I can go outside in my front yard and find something new sprouting and growing.  And every time I find something I get giddy with excitement.  It’s such a season of promise … a season of life.

I added texture to each of the bud pictures #1 because there was a lot of dead space in each of the pictures and #2 because I just like playing with textures!

The bees were fun to try and capture – even when one chased me down the driveway when I got too close for comfort!

A spring favorite

My all time spring favorite is the hyacinth.  I love how it looks, I love how it smells and I love how it always blooms early in spring.  The hyacinth speaks of hope.  Hope that after a long, cold winter, there is something better.  There is life and beauty and sweet fragrance.

In my Bible’s dictionary/concordance, the word “hope” is defined as, “confident trust with the expectation of fulfillment.”

The season of winter may seem long and arduous at times – especially during the months of January, February and March – however, no matter how long and difficult it seems at the time, we always have the confidence that eventually spring will come.  It always does.

And when it finally arrives our hearts and spirits are renewed by new life, new smells, new beauty, new warmth and the assurance that, once again, we made it through a season of darkness and cold.

Hebrews 11:1 … What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.

Faith is what brings us through a season of winter (whether that be the literal months of cold and snow or simply a season of difficulty in life) … it’s what gives us the assurance that eventually spring will come.