HokeyFamily

i heart faces: smirk!

2010-09-20T18:54:00.001-07:00

I haven't entered a photo in the i heart faces contest recently- summer seems to have slipped away from me!

But when I heard about this week's theme, I thought of this photo I took of my daughter on her first day of preschool. I love her expression! She loves preschool and it's fun to see a 4 year old in action meeting new friends...

I even converted this from a color photo to black and white- I'm trying to learn a bit more about photoshop and the i heart faces website is a great resource.

Check out other smirk photos this week at http://www.iheartfaces.com.

i heart faces: collages

2010-04-18T20:51:00.001-07:00

The challenge at i heart faces this week is to create a photo collage. I had a lot of different ideas for this project, but settled on these older photos because they are some of my favorites. I actually took them with my film camera (just added a bit more contrast with PS). Lillie was acting silly and I remember feeling frustrated because she wasn't cooperating with my agenda- but in the end it made for some great candid shots.

I was excited to use my new Compositor to make this collage- once I figured out how to install it on my computer (well, I guess my husband did it for me), it was very easy to use. I will use this new tool a lot!

Check out other entries this week (and tips for creating collages) at: http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

Black and White Conversion

2010-04-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

Here is my first attempt at converting a color photo to black and white. I think the photo is not very crisp to begin with, but this is what I did using the Channel Mixer function in my CS4 program.

I like the contrast between her light dress and the dark floor- but now I need to figure out how to lighten her skin tones to give her face a bit more brightness.

Photoshop!

2010-04-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hey-

I made my first collage with Photoshop!

I have finally downloaded the program to my computer, read a few online tutorials and am signed up for a community ed class. I think I have a lot to learn!

Some goals for the next few months:

Take more photos using manual mode

Create fun collages (I am kind of tempted to get that compositor tool I read about on i heart faces)

Learn how to edit my black and white photos so they don't look so gray.

I hear it's a pretty steep learning curve!

i heart faces: angles

2010-03-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

This week's theme at i heart faces is angles...it will be very fun to see how this is interpreted by all of the creative photographers out there!

I took this photo of Emily in her baptism dress- the dress looked so pretty that I thought I'd see what it looked like from above. I took it with my digital camera and have not added any post-processing to it (I have CS4 in the box still- just not very much extra time on my hands these days with 3 under 4). I probably also used the Normal Program mode since I've only just begun to experiment with Manual. I have a lot to learn!

Check out other photos this week at: http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

i heart faces: bundled up!

2010-03-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

We spend a lot of time bundled up here in Minnesota...we were "up north" at Grandma and Grandpa's house in this photo and it was snowing a bit. Sam enjoyed tractor rides in the snow this week and Lillie tried out her new snowshoes. When you live in Minnesota we embrace winter because it tends to last for quite a few months!

Check out other fun "bundled" entries at: http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

i heart faces: i wanna dance

2010-02-15T05:14:00.001-08:00

i heart faces: i wanna dance

This week's theme at i heart faces is dancing...I took this photo of Lillie with her new tutu (a Christmas gift), boots and Superman shirt. We had lots of fun dancing, although my favorite shot is of her back. I think we've entered a phase of not liking to have our picture taken- it's either that or a cheesy smile most of the time these days. But she was digging her new outfit here and we had fun. We also like having "naked dance parties" and I made a CD for us. Lillie likes the "fast" songs (think OutKast "Hey Ya" and Justin Timberlake "SexyBack"). Little brother gets in on the action, too.

Check out other great photos at: http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

i heart faces: texture

2010-01-24T19:11:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of my daughter when she was 3 months old...I have not added any texture to it, as I do not have Photoshop (plan to buy it soon!).

BUT, if you look closely you can actually see some "texture" in the rolls of fat on her tummy.

This girl has always been a lover of food and a hearty eater. We are thankful for that and her healthy constitution.

Check out some great photos using texture at i heart faces: http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

i heart faces: family

2010-01-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

The theme for this week at i heart faces is family...I took this photo of my Grandma Ruth meeting her great-granddaughter (Lillie Ruth) for the first time. I've had 2 more children since this was taken (we've had a busy 3 years), but this photo is special to me. My grandma's health has failed recently and she is less able to enjoy the little ones. She has always loved babies and despite years of working as a nanny, she always says to me "Am I holding her okay?"...

I took this photo before I had a digital camera...I kind of wish it was in sepia (there is just something special about deep wrinkles and sepia tones), but it's sentimental nonetheless.

Check out other photos of families at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.

happy birthday i heart faces!

2010-01-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

i heart faces is celebrating their first birthday! it's been fun to check out lots of beautiful photos each week and i am amazed and motivated to keep taking more pictures.

this week we were asked to submit a favorite "best face photo". here's my little guy- about to turn 2 this week. i'm feeling sentimental so wanted to submit a picture of him (taken during our christmas photo shoot)- i love his wispy hair and big eyes. it's quite an accomplishment to catch him still for even a few seconds!

check out more face photos at: http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

and happy birthday i heart faces!

i heart faces: blue

2009-09-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

This week's theme at i heart faces is blue...Looking back through iPhoto I found this one of Sam last winter...I like this one because I think his brown eyes are "smiling" (and I've maybe been accused myself of having "smiling eyes").

Reminds me that I can't remember where that snowsuit is- we'll need it soon here in MN!

Check out some other shots at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

i heart faces week 29: crazy, silly, funny face

2009-08-11T18:25:00.001-07:00

It's crazy and silly face week at i heart faces...lucky for me, since Lillie is all about silly these days (we call her Silly Lillie). It's gotten a bit difficult to catch the kids in a nice shot, since Sam is constantly on the move and Lillie is quite goofy. But thank goodness for baby Emily, who just lays there and cooperates with me for whatever shots I want. Now I just need to get a good one of all 3 of them together!

This is one of my shots of Lillie on her 3rd birthday- I do a photo shoot each year at the Rose Gardens in South Minneapolis to commemorate her special day.

Check out other fun entries at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

i heart faces: patriotic edition

2009-07-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Our 4th of July baby...

Due to arrive July 12th, Emily Marie decided to make an appearance on the 4th of July, just as many of your were celebrating at picnics and parades.

We are thankful to welcome this new patriot to our family...weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces she's the littlest peanut in our family and is doing great. We feel so blessed to have a happy and healthy baby.

i heart faces: let's hear it for the boys (week 24)

2009-06-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

This week's contest at i heart faces is entitled "Let's Hear it for the Boys!", in honor of Father's Day...Here's one of my favorites of Sammy, taken right after his 1st birthday. I love his big brown eyes!

Check out all of the other entries (there are tons of them!) at: http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/

i heart faces: sepia (week 23)

2009-06-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

This week's contest at i heart faces encourages us to submit one of our favorite shots in sepia tones.

I actually took this shot with my film camera a few weeks after Sammy was born. I can't remember if I used the C-41 color processed film, or the more traditional black and white film (I use T-Max 400).

Regardless, I love this shot. I think this was about the time Lillie realized that Sammy was with us to stay- I'm not exactly sure what she was thinking here, but she looks a bit ambivalent (or maybe she's pooping?).

Now we await the arrival of #3- Lillie is all prepped and ready to be a big sister again, but how will Sammy react? That's the question of the hour and we will find out soon enough!

Check out other entries this week at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/2008/01/week-23-kids-category-sepia-toned.html

i heart faces: birthdays

2009-05-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired by my friend Sonja to enter a photography contest for a website called i heart faces...I love taking photos of my kids, so why not share some of my favorites?

Here is one of Lillie on her 2nd birthday...I have a tradition of having the kids wear a birthday hat during their party and so far I've been fortunate that they've kept them on for some photos. Lillie can be contemplative at times and so I like this expression (she really did have fun at her party, it just maybe doesn't look like it in this photo).

Be sure to head over to i heart faces website to check out all the entries for this week http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/.