Week 43 in Pictures

It is Monday evening.  Hurricane Sandy is upon us now.  It has been raining almost non-stop since yesterday.  The strong winds are just arriving and we are bracing ourselves, praying we don't lose power (or if we do, we don't lose it for long).  Since we are in Western Pennsylvania, we don't expect to have too much damage - at least not nearly as much as our neighbors to the east. But the powers that be are predicting wide-spread power outages due to trees pulling down power lines.  The kids have a two-hour school delay tomorrow and are hoping school gets cancelled altogether.  We are keeping all those affected by this hurricane in our prayers!

On a lighter note, my new laptop is almost up to speed.  There are still some things I would like to transfer from my old laptop, if I could only get it to turn on.  I try it several times a day - no luck yet.  But I'm not giving up.  One of these times it will work.

Aside from having a cold this past week and really starting to feel human again on Thursday, not much happened around here.  The weather was gorgeous all week, which made it even harder to be sick.  Thankfully I was able to get out and enjoy the warmer temps and sunshine on Thursday and Friday.

Here's what last week looked like in pictures ...
{Sunday}

My new laptop was delivered on Saturday, but I was on my way out the door when it got here, so I didn't get a picture that day.

{Monday}

Even though I wasn't feeling great because of the cold I had, the kids and I went to a local park where I managed to get a picture of them together.  It's not the greatest, but at least it's something.

{Tuesday}

After we played in the leaves for a while, Alex posed for me with his pumpkin.

{Wednesday}

Picked up some Indian Corn and mini pumpkin candies today.

{Thursday}

Starting to feel human again so the kids and I went to a local farm.  We had fun playing in their corn maze.  Keira took this pic of me to prove I was there.  :)

{Friday}

I went to Living Treasures to get one last peek at the baby leopards before they get moved to another zoo.  I didn't get to see them since they were hiding, but I did get treated with some up-close views of the lions.

{Saturday}

The only photo I took this day - for yesterday's Scavenger Hunt.

I almost forgot to include my favorite photo for October.

I really had a hard time choosing a favorite for October because I took LOADS of pictures, but I kept coming back to this one.  This is totally not my normal style, but I love this hazy photo of Natasha.  Especially since I was able to achieve it IN CAMERA, not in post processing.

That's it for me.  I will really have to push myself this week to take pictures.  Cold, rainy weather zaps me of my photo mojo.  :)

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Looking for Beauty

The kids had another snow day today because of an ice storm we got overnight.  I don't think the kids will have an Easter break anymore.  :)  

We were supposed to get 3-4 inches of snow, then ice, then rain, then more snow.  I didn't see any of the snow, but we've got plenty of ice and rain.  I think the other snow is yet to come.

I was determined today to find some beauty in the midst of all this yucky weather, so I ventured out this morning with my camera.  I was pleased with what I found.

This one is also featured on my Project 365 blog as my photo of the day.

(Edited with Coffee Shop's Velvet Truffle action)

My popsicle of a car.  

Thankfully we don't need to go anywhere today.  Since school was cancelled, Keira's basketball game is also.

I don't have a macro lens for my camera, so I did the best I could to get some close up shots with my 18-105mm lens.

We are hoping we don't lose power because of all this ice.  It is about 32 degrees right now and everything is drippy and melting, so I don't think we will.

After I was done photographing all the ice, I joined the kids in a snow ball fight ... girls against boys.  Girls won!  We had a blast!  And what a good workout!  We were all soaking wet by the time we came in the house.

This afternoon will be filled with movie watching and game playing.  And maybe even a little Wii.

Happy Tuesday, All!

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I decided to play along this week with Scavenger Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk.  I forgot about it until last night, so all the pictures are very fresh (ie. I just took them this afternoon).  :) I'll try to remember to do them ahead of time this week.  That way they might be more creative.

{1} Texture

This fleece has been waiting to be sewn into a scarf to match my coat I bought last winter.  I finally broke out the new sewing machine earlier this week so I can learn how it works and get busy making my scarf before summer arrives!

{2} Fog

This is not at all what I envisioned for my fog photo, but here it is.  Alex loves to draw on the storm door.  It fogs up every time we open the front door.  If you want to see the photo I was trying to get but wasn't thrilled with, click here.

{3} Button

Buzz Lightyear has lots of annoying buttons.  :)

{4} Beverage or Drink

A hot cup of tea on a cold, winter day.

{5} Seventies

I pulled out a bag of fabric scraps I had in order to play around with the new sewing machine.  This one was in the bag.  It really reminds me of seventies because of the colors.

If you want to play along, head on over to Ashley's and hook up.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else came up with this week!  

Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

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Photo shoot with Laura

My friend, Laura, called me this afternoon and invited me to go on a photo shoot with her. We will be taking a photography class together in November from Big Picture Scrapbooking called "Get Great Photos with Any Camera" and we have a homework assignment to do before class begins in November. We need to take photos of the following:

1. Someone you love
2. Two people you love
3. Your favorite food
4. A flower, tree or plant in your yard or nearby park
5. A landscape picture
6. A person or pet in action (i.e. a child riding a bike, someone running, etc.)
7. A candid photo (try not to let your subject know you’re photographing them!)
8. A self-portrait (you can hold the camera out in front of you, take a photo of yourself in the mirror, or use a self-timer.)
9. A favorite object in your home

10. A group portrait.

So we thought we'd get a little practice in and get some of the photos we need for class at the same time.

Here are a few of the pics I shot.

Landscape unedited

I use Picasa to organize my photos and I don't usually do much editing. Maybe just red-eye and auto contrast. Occasionally converting to black and white or sepia. But tonight I discovered Saturation. I love it! The not-so-colorful fall leaves turn vibrant with a little saturation (see below)!

Landscape edited

Leaves unedited Leaves edited (increased saturation)

Keira unedited Keira edited (auto contrast, increased saturation, and slight soft focus)

Keira was funny. She was getting tired of being photographed. What did she expect coming along on our photo shoot? I was glad to get some shots of her because I take way more photos of Alex than of Keira or Nick. They are in school all day and Alex and I are home together. Once they get home, it is homework, then dinner, then baths/showers, then bedtime. Not much time for photos it seems.

Anyway, I got off topic ... Laura is a really great photographer. Hopefully she'll post a few of her pics on her blog so you can see what I mean. She is going to come out one day when we can get ourselves together and take some family photos. We are in dire need of a good recent family photo.

Until next time ... God bless!

~Kimberly

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