Michael Ray & Kim

It was as if they were doing an engagement session all over again.  He was mesmerized by her.  And she was totally into him.  From enchanting porch to mosquito infested road, these two couldn't be phased by anything.  

We had some unexpected ambient music at the park thanks to the Great Falls Orchestra...later in the session there was comical relief from the nastiness of the skeeters provided by my awesome sis AKA. Whitney.  She flailed her arms frantically in the air...complete with eye patch.  Kim couldn't stop laughing...I can't tell you how many of those pests I had to photoshop out of the awesome silhouette shot.  There was even one that was attached to Michael Ray's arm!!!  

So, here are the sneak peaks for your viewing pleasure...

Second shooter training

After church today I was feeling confident about how I looked so I asked Dave if he was ready to take some pictures for me.  I need a good updated picture for my website and he's been buggin' me about getting my pictures taken anyway.  He was up for it then,  but I bet now he doesn't want to be my second shooter.  

I was trying to explain to him how everything works and let's just say that I probably expected too much from him and gave him input overload...poor thing.  But, I think out of the 200 some odd pictures that he took, we got a few keepers.  

By the way, if you don't know how to shoot pictures other than in Auto, I HIGHLY recommend Me Ra Koh's DVD Beyond the Green Box...she explains everything so it makes sense.  This is how I started out.  She offers exercises and tips.  If you want something less expensive than a photography class, I would get the DVD for 30 bucks plus some shipping and handling.  

I usually don't like pictures of myself but after a little editing and yes, I'll admit it...some photoshop trimming on one image, I think they look ok.  Now for me to get down to a size where no trimming is needed...

I found this sweet chair in an alley and had to use it...

This next one is me squatting next to a dumpster near my house believe it or not ;)

My first retouch project...

David's Grandparents and myself had a fun time talking via our i Macs and taking over each others screens...They just bought their Apple recently and they learned alot today.  Kudos to them for taking the time to learn new technology :-)  

Grandpa B was interested in my photography software after showing him my website, so I shared my screen with him, and he was able to view my desktop on his computer.  It's amazing that even though we are in Montana and he is in Florida, I was able to show him how I work my magic on images like he was right in the room with us.  

After seeing how amazing CS3 was, he asked me if I would take a stab at retouching an old photo he had of an airplane he flew...he called this airplane his "friend."  I didn't know how I could help, but I spent about 45 minutes on the picture and I must say that I am pleased with how it turned out.  I already emailed him the retouched version and thought ya'll would like to see the before and after photos.  

This could actually be another aspect of my business...some people can make 30-50 dollars an hour retouching old photographs.  It's something that I may consider in the near future.  I tried to keep everything about the photo as true as I could.  It was badly damaged from a deep fold/crease down the middle and mold all over.  I restored some color to the sky and sharpened the airplane...the clouds look a wee bit different, but I think it turned out pretty darn good.   Tell me what ya'll think.... (you can click on the image to make it bigger)

Before:

After:

Liberty Adventure

Happy  5th....I would say Happy Fourth but that was 16 minutes ago.  Our day included sleeping in, going to bio life to donate, being rejected to donate because it would have been our 3rd donation within 7 days (we can go tomorrow though), going to the river to hang out with some church family, heading over to Michelle's to grill my famous steaks...they were a hit.  After that we cruised on over to the Johnson's to shoot off some fireworks.  

This is where the adventure took place.  The night was so much fun.  I had bought a whole bunch of morning glories from a firework warehouse on our way back from the TN trip last year, so I was glad to see some kids having fun with them finally.  It had been drizzling a little. We were graced by a beautiful rainbow and a hot pink sky before nightfall.  

The kids were lighting bees and blooming flowers and I had some fun tanks and a chicken that pooped out an egg.  

Mr. Matt is a little kid when it comes to fireworks.  He has made this contraption out of pipes and carefully places each mortar thing in with fuses going from pipe to pipe.  It was all quite fascinating actually and brilliant.    It's a system.  He goes to light, sparks start, and he runs away with this big grin on his face.  So, with no limbs lost, I was thinking everything was going quite well.  

Until...towards the end.  Somehow as he was lighting the first fuse, the mortar ball came out and and all I see is Mr. Matt running away with no grin.  I was already bent down lighting something else and see Parker in front of me approx. 15 feet from the ball.  It happened so fast but in slow motion at the same time.  Has that every happened to you?  My first inclination was to get him out of the way.  These are the bigger fireworks mind you.  So as everyone else is ducking and running, I run into a beautiful blue cloud of sparks to shelter my kid.  Parker was crying with no injuries, but I was impaled at my hairline by one of the blue beauties.  Thank goodness my hair didn't catch on fire.  I was a little singed but mostly shaken.  It wasn't anyone's fault...just an accident that happened when my kid decided to be too close.  If anything, I probably should have been watching him closer...

Other than that little scare we had a blast.  We continued on and Parker sat in Mrs. Jolene's lap for the remainder of the night.   We laugh at it now, but I am so thanking God for His angels who watched out for my little boy.  I think next year we're gonna make the kids sit down farther back and not let them run around.  

We now are going to watch some Season One Heroes and intend on sleeping in tomorrow too :)

DavLee-licious!

No, I'm not being unprofessional with a client, just proclaiming how hot I think my husband is. 

I highlighted Dave's hair about 4 days ago.  Dave's hair was virgin...no chemicals had ever touched his silky strands.  So, I had to make sure, sure, sure that he wanted to do it...no pun intended.  Anyway, I got the kit that I always do.  The Revlon Frost&Glow Kit my mamma always tortured me with when I was a little girl (she always wanted to be a hairdresser - love you Mamma).  I put the cap on his head and Ashton immediately was concerned for his daddy.  He looked worried, as if I was going to suck Daddy's brain out and replace it with the left over noodles we had the other night.  Daddy quickly assured Ash that this was simply his Power Ranger hat.  Wheew!  Relief!  So, I pulled the strands through...went way faster than when I pull mine...but I must say he was being a baby about it.  Flinching every time I poked the hook through the holes.  

After mixing the blue goo and applying, I had so much left over.  I usually have to use 2 boxes to cover my mane!  Being the "never-waste-anything" person I am, I generously applied the left overs to my own head.  Cap you ask?  No.  I just attempted to separate some strands...so when we washed our hair out, he had this gorgeous sun kissed melon and I had goldy-locks just on the top of my head.  No worries, I will have roots in no time :-)

Anyway, all that to say that Dave's mother requested some pictures of his new bay watch babe do and around town running errands today, I decided it would be fun to snap some "professional" pictures of Dave.  We would be driving and I would say. "STOP!!!!"  He would then precede to slam on the brakes, get out, and I would do my thing.  4 hours of editing later, I present to you

DAVE LEE-LICIOUS!!!   My amazingly wonderful hubby and his sweet head of hair...

  

I'll let you in on a little secret....this hottie wants to be my second shooter :)

The culprit...

I spent the last hour and a half dusting my furniture, sweeping the whole downstairs (1400 sqft of hard floors) and mopping.  I have a headache from fumes, and a sweaty sore back.  I try to keep a clean house...truly I do...but with husband working 60 hour weeks, dirty summer kids and a 150 pound mastiff, it's hard to keep up.  So, I normally don't do all that in a day.  On a normal day I would vacuum...(I do vacuum just about every day - I think it's one of those OCD things) clean the dishes and if I'm feeling ambitious, do a load of laundry.  Why would I go beyond the norm  you ask?  Because IT is stinking my house up.  I don't exactly know what IT is, but I am determined to find IT.  Every day for the past week I have stepped into my home with a whiff of "Ughhh" in my face.  Could it be my massive mucky mastiff?  Or the remains of a sweaty child on my couch?  Perhaps a dirty diaper that lost it's way from bum to bin...I don't know.   So, I've dusted, swept, mopped, cleaned kitty box, bathed kids, and Sam is next for a bath.  I am burning approximately 241 candles to get rid of the stench.  I have an older home...over 100 years old.  I love my home and I worked so hard to get the "old people" smell out of it.  So, who knows what or who the culprit is...but I will find you...and smother you with the aroma of a Bath and Body Spice oil in no time flat...

Oh, and I had to show you some faves of my last few sessions I did...if you've already seen these on the website...sorry...I'd like to hear some feedback on how you like my site.  Also, did you notice that I made a nifty new banner for the blog???

Skin babies, Fur babies, & Feather babies, oh my....

This last Saturday I didn't have any sessions so Dave and I took the kids to the theater.  We have been waiting impatiently for Wall-E to come out so that is what we saw.  The kids got free watches with their movie tickets and earlier last month Grandma Brown had sent them Wall-E T-shirts.  All decked out in Robot attire, we saw the show.  It was so good.  It was cute, funny, and had a great underlying theme...

Which brings me to my largeness.  I don't know if it's because of my photography stuff, but I have not been working out like I need to.  It seems that when Dave goes to work at night and I get the kids to bed, I get right to my editing.  So I start around 8:30 and end when Dave gets home and tells me I need to get to bed.   Usually that is almost 1 am.  Either I get done with the proofs or I have to finish them the next morning before my day job.  

So, I'm thinking that it's in my best interest to block out some time where I can run a couple miles and dance or something.  Just take some time to move and get my heart pumpin'.  

I made a baby step today...I got my workout clothes on.  I don't intend on sweating in them today however...but at least I got them on right?  So, I'll have to keep ya posted on how I'm progressing.  Maybe I'll get my clothes AND sneakers on tomorrow.  

On a more pensive note I am sad that I haven't kept my running up.  I was up to 4 miles and just quit cold turkey after I went to Canada for my sister's wedding.  THAT'S IT...It's all Whitty's fault for getting married.  

Anyway, thought I'd post some photos of the kids in there Wall-E gear.  They were so happy about finally getting to see the movie...

 

Showing off his new watch

This is Parker's "mom I'm tire of the camera" pose

I love my skin babies...

...And fur babies (I need to get a good picture of Sophie - my kitty)...

...And feather babies...

...yes, these are my "girls" diggin' for worms.  They are so funny.  The only good picture I can get of them is their butts because they're always pecking away at the soil...