Team-Up Thursday: Vacation

Jody and I decided to pick the theme of "Vacation" since she just got back from a spring break getaway and I'm down here at Disney right now. I love the little drink umbrella sticking out of the bacon in Jody's shot. She said her daughter did it one morning on their vacation at the breakfast table. I wanted a general shot to represent Disney so I decided to use the shot I captured of the Mickey balloons at the park's entrance. I love the reflection of people in all of the balloons. Wow, is it crowded here! The bus driver told us that they had to stop letting people into Magic Kingdom around 2:30PM for the past 2 days for a little while until some people left because the park was at it's maximum capacity. I think I was the only one who didn't mind the crowd. But after all, I am a devout Black Friday shopper!

Check out Megan and Melody to see more Theme Thursday shots.

Team-Up Thursday: Happy

I didn't have a lot of time this week to capture this week's theme since we only decided on it yesterday. Luckily, I had something in mind right away. I have always been an extremely happy person and all of my friends know it takes a heck of a lot to get me angry. When I was younger, I was one of those kids in school where everyone asked, "Are you OK?" if I looked remotely serious because it was so out-of-the-norm for me not to be laughing or smiling. Everyone thought it was appropriate that I had a smiley face collection because it matched my demeanor and they would always think of me when they saw one on their travels. Therefore, I thought I'd break out one of my mugs from the collection for this week's "happy" shot since it has always made me smile.

I love the vibrant colors in Jody's shot this week. My shot was initially bold, but I chose to tone down the colors and go for more of a "muted" look this week. Even though our shots are very different, it made me laugh that once again we angled our shots in the same direction; both slightly to the left.

Check out Megan and Melody to see more Theme Thursday shots.

Team-Up Thursday: Close-Up

Jody and I decided to go with the group theme this week: Close-Up. I must admit - I thought it was going to be really easy to capture a close-up shot, but it ended up being a bit of a challenge. Originally, I was thinking of taking a close-up of something with a lot of detail or texture. I took a few shots, but they were all indoor so I wasn't happy with the outcome. Since the weather has been so beautiful lately, I decided to pop on my macro lens and go outdoors to try to capture the beginning of Spring. You'd think with the warmer weather the past few days I'd find a blossom of something. I searched a couple nearby parks, but everything was still pretty lifeless. I couldn't even find a tulip breaking through the ground. Anyway, I did find some nice color in this little bush I found. I have no idea what type of plant it is (my plant/flower loving mom would be ashamed). But hey, cut me some slack...I'm a photographer, not a gardener! Haha

It looks like Jody and I were on the same wavelength this week because she also chose to step out into nature to snag her beautiful flower shot. I like how both of our photos are angled in the same direction again this week and are in the same color family (pink/red). By the very direct lighting, it looks like Jody's shot was taken more midday, whereas my shot was captured towards the evening.

Check out Megan and Melody to see more Theme Thursday shots.

Best Shot Monday: Getting Ready for Softball

Since the weather has been warming up a bit, we decided to play a little "catch" with Emily to warm up for her upcoming softball league. She is catching the ball so much better than last year, and you can tell by her expression in the photos that she is thrilled with her performance too!

For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Tracey's Blog

Team-Up Thursday: Sign

I had to laugh when I received Jody's picture this week because we had the same idea. Our theme this week was "sign." I tried to get Emily to sign "I Love You" and Tyler to sign "Peace." Easy task, right? Yeah, not so much - Haha! Emily did her part perfectly, but it was impossible to get both of their hands signing in the same shot. Tyler would wave his hand around, signing "Peace" for what seemed like an eternity. But, never fail...just as I would pick up the camera to get the shot, he's stop completely!! So I just thought it was funny how we both tried to think a little outside the box with our theme. Jody nailed a beautiful shot in her attempt. Who doesn't adore close-ups of little hands?

Since the signing didn't pan out, I decided to seek inspiration once again throughout the streets of Philadelphia while walking to the train home. After looking at hundreds on street signs, traffic signs and retail store signs, I decided to snap a shot of the Hard Rock Cafe sign. I just love how the musical-themed restaurant has a guitar-shaped sign - clever! I also decided to kick it up a notch by putting a cool preset on the photo while editing in Lightroom.



Check out Megan and Melody to see more Theme Thursday shots.

Best Shot Monday: Gaze

Finally a beautiful and rather "warm-ish" weekend. Everyone else in my family shed their coats and just had sweatshirts on while we were at the park, but I still had to wear my peacoat. I'm always cold! All of the snow we received a couple weeks ago is just about gone and the ground is a muddy mess. Emily and Tyler had a blast running around the baseball field at the park, watching their feet slowly sink in the ground. Emily pretended it was quicksand. The grass wasn't quite as muddy, so we practiced hitting and fielding a little with Emily since she signed up for a proper softball team that starts the end of April. By "proper" I mean that they don't use a Tee anymore to bat; the coach pitches to the girls. And I thought last year's games were long...haha! We'll see how it goes. Tyler was running around the park randomly as we were playing, picking up a ball here and there or kicking the soccer ball. I managed to capture a shot when a group of puppies across the field caught his attention enough to stop him in his tracks.

For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Tracey's Blog

100th Day Celebration

After being cancelled twice due to all of the snow we recently got, Emily finally had her "100th day" celebration at school. I had never heard of such a celebration, but I didn't ask and just went with the flow. Emily had to decorate a T-Shirt with 100 objects to represent the 100 school days they've had so far. I thought it was a crazy regional thing, but I've read other blogs that talked about it as well so I guess it's done all over - who knew? Anyway, my mom came down to visit last month so I gave this task to her so she could have a little creative bonding time with Emily. Below is a picture of what they ended up with after all the gluing, sewing, etc.

The shirt isn't the only highlight of this picture, though. Notice the little "tuft" of hair in the middle of Emily's hairline. No, that's not extra-long "baby hair"; that's the result of Emily taking a pair of scissors at her after-school program and cutting her hair. I asked her, "Why on earth would you cut your hair, Emily?" She answered, perfectly calmly, "Because it keeps going in my face." Logical, right? I could have strangled her! Now she keeps complaining that "it looks weird when I wear a headband" and "the kids are going to laugh at me." I just keep nicely reminding her that she is the one who cut it. I'm going to call the hairdresser to see what can be done, but I'm sure we'll end up having to get bangs cut all around (or "fringe" as my British hubby calls it). She's never had bangs before, so who knows how it will turn out. To make things worse, Emily is the flower girl in a wedding coming up May 1st. There's never a dull moment...