Branching Out

While I do take a lot of pictures I do not usually mess with them too much.  This includes doing anything creative with them, even if a particular series of pictures might lend itself to a fun pictorial adventure.  This week I Heart Faces challenged folks to create a collage.  I came up with this...

It's a little late on the final day, so I'm not sure that it will be included in the choices, but it was fun to play with the pictures and come up with different scenarios.  As I was experimenting I realized that a collage is a sweet idea for a gift for someone, or for a special area that you want to decorate with photos.  Wouldn't something like those pictures of Eliana be cute in a bathroom?

Visit I Heart Faces to be inspired by other creative takes on the collage!

Well...I went to add my link and it's closed!  So...this is what I would have done.  I thought you could add your post until 9pm PST.  Now I know!  Until next time...

There's Always a Place for Drama

At I Heart Faces this week, they are looking for dramatic black and whites, pictures that are sensational or moody.  That is interesting.  Most of the pictures I take are of my kids, and while those three are plenty dramatic and moody, I am not sure that it's the kind of drama and moodiness that is being called for in this challenge.  That being said, I did take a picture last week that I thought captured a certain something and I figured it was worth a shot.  So, here goes...

When I do take my camera along with me, I take a lot of pictures.  Michaela is quite used to me clicking away, whether it's in Target or on the soccer field, in our dining room or in our yard.  She is always ready to smile.  It's hard to get a picture of her not smiling.  Of course, there are always the silly faces.  (I don't know where she gets that!  Ha!)  But most of the time, she sees the other side of my lens and immediately grins. 

At Christian's soccer game the other day I caught her with the zoom, so she didn't know that I was taking her picture.  I remember snapping this shot quickly and then going back to the game, so I didn't really know if it would turn out or not.  I also didn't know exactly what she looked like.  Once I saw it on the computer I was so happy.  I love it...I love her hair (the girl has such pretty hair), the tilt of her head, the way she has her lower lip caught under her top teeth.  I wonder what she's thinking.  Or what has captured her attention.   I like the negative space; to me it shows that there is something in the distance that she has her thoughtful eye on.

The color version of this picture is pretty, too.  I'll show it to you someday. 

There are an insane amount of photos entered into this challenge already...I am very curious to see what photo the guest judge, Tara Whitney, chooses as her favorite, as well as the runners-up.  Black and whites are so lovely, and there are so many different ways to convert (I'm assuming most of the pictures are digital).  Have fun perusing over at I Heart Faces, or get dramatic yourself and add a photo to the challenge!

What's Your Angle?

This week at I Heart Faces they are asking for angles.  You can see so many different takes on this theme here.  I personally think it's fun to get direction like this...give me a way to go and I'll head down the path.  I subjected Michaela and Eliana to a little photo shoot this afternoon since they were home and I took a couple of pictures that were meh.  I tried hard to get something great of their eyes but I didn't go outside, so of course the light wasn't quite right.  Then I tried the angle from above.

I don't really know what makes a good picture.  I thought this was interesting.  It certainly shows off her beautiful dark eyelashes.  Her eyebrows are just like her dad's, as well as her Grandma Diana, and in this photo the line of her brow is quite noticeable; it comes up to a point rather than curves around like an arc.  You can see the scar on her nose, just a little, from an accident she had when she was almost 11 months old.  I don't really have a word for her mouth...I'll just say it's lovely.  This picture takes me to Wonderland. 

She is a sweet girl.  And a willing photograpy experimentee.  And she's much less wiggly than her younger sister.  I love her. 

(Not that I don't love wiggly little girls just as much.)

Ready or Not...

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is challenging, all right.  This is ironic considering they are asking people to submit their "Hilarious Outtakes".  The challenge lies not in the capture, but in the choosing.  I could enter 150 pictures.  I debated whether or not I would have a contest for readers to vote...but I couldn't narrow it down to a reasonable amount of photos.  I have pictures that are funny for so many reasons...my kids make silly faces, or no one is ready for the picture when I take it, or an obstruction enters the picture from elsewhere.  For this challenge you are allowed to enter five pictures...and even with that generous allowance I still have so many!!  I might do a post later this week with the ones that I didn't choose to submit.  I need a little bit of light and funny around here, so that will be something fun to look forward to (at least for me).

And now for the pictures that almost were...

This photo is one of the first pictures I took of Eliana in the hospital.  It was just the two of us and I had a lot of fun watching her for hours.  This was an accidental pose, but my mom liked it because it looks like Eliana is saying,"Watch out, Michaela and Christian, here I come!"  My little Rocky Balboa...

Now, here is a picture that every mom wants to have of their precious baby girl...filling her diaper with a lovely gift for me.  Definitely one to save for the wedding reception. 

I think that the talent displayed in the following picture is amazing.  Not only does it show how tricky Michaela is that she can make her neck and her tongue look identical, but I was able to capture the image forever.

This next picture needs no explanation as to why it is so awesome...

I'm hoping she was removing something, rather than inserting.

This final picture is also of Eliana.  I obviously love taking pictures of her, and one gorgeous fall day we were outside playing in the leaves and I asked her to look at me and show me her eyes.  So...she did.

Oh, there are so many more!  But I have to stop for now.  I will show off some more of my excellent photography skills in another post later, and hopefully give you some laughs as you look over them.

There are so, so many funny pictures over at I Heart Faces...go check it out, it'll be good for a chuckle.

Hands On, Take Two

In true Christina fashion, I entered a photo in the I Heart Faces challenge that is actually not legitimate for me to enter.  I got so wrapped up in looking for pictures that had to do with hands, and told a good story, that I forgot that I am supposed to have taken the picture.  While I will say that I got through Eliana's birth fairly easily, I am not so tricky that I was able to take a picture of Mike, Eliana, and myself just after she was born. 

I went back to my choices and decided (and it was hard, I might do a post on the other pictures as well...they are all sweet) on this one...

Not only could Mike and I not wait to get our hands on Eliana, her big sister couldn't wait either!  She wanted to hold her all the time from the moment she saw her, and still loves to spend time with her little sister.  I also chose this picture because not only has Michaela loved to hold Eliana, but she has also been so very hands on with her.  She is always willing to spend time with Eliana, and loves to play with and care for her.  Michaela is a tenderhearted, loving girl, and she adores Eliana.  I'm so glad that they will have each other for life. 

There are so many lovely pictures people have shared at I Heart Faces...check it out.