Self with Family and WOW Eyes

Yep... That's US! Using that good old trusty tripod and 10 sec timer! ;D

Guess that's how goofball on the end got away with his fake mustache...

Well, it's staying! ;p

Theme: Self

Theme: Love

Theme: WOW EYES

This is a couple I shot for their engagement and wedding.
Definitely AMAZING EYES!

Theme: Eyes Like Yours

Macro Flower in Yellow and MUSIC

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Theme: Music

Listen... My Favorite Santa Shot ;D

This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE Santa shot with my boys!! Disneyland, of COURSE!!  ;D

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This week's Theme:  LISTEN

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

This top image was Christmastime in 2004! Look how LITTLE my boys are!! This was shot with one of those little point and shoot cameras and spifffed up a bit in PS-CS3. This is STILL my favorite Santa pic! I absolutely LOVE how the boys are listening so intently to what Santa has to say! 

We have other great ones, too! Like the Santa at CA Adventure the next year! But I have to leave SOMETHING for holiday time! LOL!! Needless to say, we MISS having annual passes to Disneyland when we lived in SoCal!! It was AWESOME!! We had Southern California resident passes which were good through the week (No weekends/holidays... blacked out most of Jun-Aug) and we DEFINITELY got our money's worth out of them!! We didn't mind the times that were blacked out because those were the crazy busy days, which we didn't care for anyway. We got pretty spoiled going on slow days when we mostly waslked onto everything! *sigh*  ;D

WHOOPS, Edits, Random, and a Sunset Silhouette! Oh MY!

This is the best I could do with THIS WHOOPS! I tried to make it look ARTSY!  ;p

I didn't show it to her at first. She asked about it because she remembered me snapping it. It wasn't a posed shot, I had the wrong lens and settings, but thought it was cute and snapped it quick, anyway. Even completely blown out she wanted it so I told her I'd try to make it better. I think the original file is on another external drive. If I find it later today, I'll upload it so you can see the difference.

This week's Theme: WHOOPS!
(aka The file never intended to see beyond the trash folder...)

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Ashley Sisk pointed out yet ANOTHER photo challenge. LOL! Here's the SCOOP!

Brent Riggs recently took a trip to Colorado and thought he'd offer a challenge and reward for all of those who participated. Here's the deal:

1. Download this original landscape photo he took by clicking here…
2. Do your own version of improving, enhancing and otherwise putting “wow” into this image
3. Put up a post on your blog displaying your enhanced photo, and explaining what you did
4. Come back to this post, and enter your photo and blog post on the Thumbnail Linky 
5. Then, Brent Riggs will do a private online demonstration of what he does to get his outdoor photography to come alive, and send a link to every person who participated by following these instructions and entered the Thumbnail Linky list.

Original Photo by Brent Riggs :

Original Edit by HJ/Pix Plus:

Final Edit by HJ/Pix Plus:

The first edit was a bit too rich, so I duplicated it, turned off the 100% layer and reduced the duplicate of it to 66%. I turned off the previous process layers so the final reduced opacity would blend with the original to make it more realistic. Yes... I get OCD about these things... THIS is why I have to limit my projects. LOL!!

I did a screen shot of my layers and tried to label each step. As you can see, I use layers and play them off each other regularly. I usually go more for a clean edit unless I have a specific goal in another direction. Hope this makes a little sense.  (((HUGS)))

... and the Photo Roulette lands on Folder 6 photo 14

(OR Folder 12 photo 14... must choose before looking.)

This was during our snow storm in MAY!!!
YES!! I HAD to get a picture of our tulips with the house in the background and the ridiculous SNOW!!

This is from my current bride that is getting married NEXT WEEK!!  ;D

Don't you just LOVE a pretty sunset?? I DO!! Our city has the BEST!!

Kona Palm Trees in Black and White

These were shot in Kona, HI

I lied on the ground and shot up! It was a cloudy/moody day and it was just screaming for a 

black and white silhouette treatment!! I don't know if anyone else loves it, but I do!!  ;D

Theme this week: TREES!

Also a submission for:

and assignment:
A tree branch from the ground up.
from:

Perceptive Perspective Win: Nature - New Challenge: METAL

I am SO EXCITED!! I got a WIN in the NATURE contest last week!!

WOOHOO!!

With this photo/edit, which I DO LOVE!

This week's theme is: METAL

My favorite image is in my gallery at BetterPhoto.com

I am not finding it on my computer at the moment, but when I do, I'll substitute it here.

It doesn't have to be entered, as is...

But it's pretty COOL and you might want to check it out.  ;D

Mindy Gledhill in Concert Photo

Theme is: PINK

NO EDITING ALLOWED!!

So this first image is

SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera)

AND has a lot of PINK!!  ;p

This is the edited version!

The 2 images are for Before and After

The 2nd Image is also for:

Sweet Shot Tuesdays

Touch Up Tuesday

& Communal Global

This was taken at Mindy Gledhill's Release Concert of her AWESOME new album Anchor!

She was adorable, whimsical and PHENOMENALLY TALENTED!!! 

I already loved the coloring and magical set up, so I just boosted the hue/saturation and sharpened a bit. 

Gave it a slight ethereal feel... 

Although I thought they did an excellent job of creating that with the lighting and stage decor!

If you're not familiar with Mindy, let me introduce you!!

This is a fun little video she did from her new album (before it was released).

Some of the best songs of her album can be heard in their entirety at OurStage

This album is whimsical and FUN!! Just check out her album cover!

Her previous album, Feather in the Wind is kind of like the soundtrack to my LIFE! LOL!!
Of course there are a couple that would do my latest chapter with my sweet hubby from the new one, too!
Feather in the Wind has got to be MY LIFE SONG! So if you have a couple minutes, ENJOY!!  ;D

In case you can't tell, Mindy is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE artists!!

To see my review of her concert and LOTS more pictures from it, 

CLICK on over to my post at Diamond Potential!

Dragonfly Macro