~Tabasco~

Since I really want to blog about my Mexico trip but don't have a 100 hours to do it, I figured it would be easier to make some phot collages and go through each event quickly. (I could probably talk about it even longer than 100 hours!)

Some members of our church visited this area in Mexico around 15-20 years ago and built a church in a tiny town called Tabasco. We were able to visit this church last Sunday and meet Alfredo, the pastor, his wife Connie, and daughters Melissa and Kayla. They were so welcoming to us, I think we all fell in love with them immediately! So this collage is from Sunday the 22. (Click on the collage to see it larger.)

Still Processing

I am still in a processing mode. Its amazing how differently I have begun to view life. This is my fourth trip to Mexico (as a short term missionary) and my first as a real "adult" :) But the affect has been the same. I still don't have words to share my experience, but I am processing it all and hope to have something soon. So for now, just some pictures.

This first one is a collage of the 23 hour trip south.

A few shots from the orphanage that we stayed at. They have amazing facilities and amazing kids there! (Check out the link in my previous post.)

Settling back in

I'm home. I am trying to settle back in to normal life, but it doesn't feel "normal". I think there is a new normal and I'll have to find it. CARING HEARTS MINISTRIES

I ♥ Faces ~ Fix it Friday ~ ....and, big news!

I wasn't gonna say it this week, but just can't help my self...I love Fix it Friday at....

Here is the original shot....adorable already! Look at those dimples!!

So first I just lightened the shot a tiny bit and sharpened it. The rest of my changes are based off of this one.

You might recognize this action from Pioneer Woman....its called Heartland. It is one of my favorites, but is sometimes hard to get just right because I usually want to tweak the layers a bit to get it looking how I want it.

This one has a color boost as well as a black and white layer over it...I changed the black and white layer to an overlay and that is how I got the dark contrasts on it.

I think this last one is my favorite. There is something about black and whites and kids....its just classic. I love how this one pops out the contrasts too!

On a totally different note....big news!

I am heading off tonight to Mexico! Ahh...2 days notice just is not enough. But I think I will be fine. I am going with 2 high school students, and 3 other adults from church. We will be driving down...around 18 hours and should arrive tomorrow afternoon in AZ. I am really excited about it and can't wait to go to the orphanage. That might be my favorite part of the trip (already!) but it might also be the part that kills me. I don't know if I can leave any of the little ones there! :( We will also be visiting a church that some of the congregation built around 20 years ago. I am really excited about the whole trip. I am sure I'll take lots of pictures and I'll post them sometime about 10 days from now.

See you then!

A New Favorite

For years my favorite flower was a lilac. I especially liked the dark purple ones. (And I still love them, especially how frangrant they are.) Then I fell in love with hydrangeas. Mainly the paper white or green ones, but I also loved the blue. (Basically any but the pink kind!) And I do still really like those as well.

Well, I have found a new favorite! The layers of petals on these blooms have captivated me. They are absolutely gorgeous! What is it?? It's called a Rannuculas. (I love the crazy name almost as much as the beautiful bloom. What can I say, I am easily entertained!)

I ♥ Faces ~Week 10~

This week at I ♥ Faces the theme is "Green" in honor of St. Patricks Day. Adult Entry

Kids Entry

Author~Karen Barnett

I was priviledged enough to photograph Karen Barnett today. She is an author of Christian fiction for teen and pre-teen girls. I really enjoyed hanging out with her and getting to know her a little better. As I was loading the pictures onto my computer I saw a shot that I thought captured her really well. I made myself wait and process all the pictures before that one. (It was towards the end of the shoot.) When it finally came up, I immediately quit processing the rest of the raw files so I could go play!

Fix It Friday

Its another "Fix it Friday" at I ♥ Faces. My favorite day of the week! Someone submits a picture to I ♥ Faces and then we get to play with it!!

Original Shot (Its already a great one which makes it hard to play with!)

This version is sharpened, and the saturation and contrast levels are adjust a little bit, then cropped.

This black and white is a fun one, though I can't take much credit for it since I just ran some actions. I first ran an action from "Coffee Shop Actions" on it called "Powder Room" it gives the skin a really even tone and makes the eyes sparkle. Then I used an action from Coffee Shop called "Coffee With Cream" this really lightened up the image. My final step was to run one of my favorite black and white actions called "Ally's B&W".

This last one is super fun...I added a grungy texture over the edited image. I pasted my grungy pattern onto the image, and then chose "overlay" for that layer. Then I partially removed it with the history brush across the face. I think this one might be my favorite this week!

Another Card Design *edited*

*So Jennifer...is this close to what you pictured? I kinda went crazy with circles on the last one, but didn't know which one looked better. :)*

Welcome to the Woods

I had the opportunity to photograph Kurt and Beth and their daughter last fall, and this past weekend I got to photograph the extended family too. They are all so much fun. I can see how much they love and care about each other.

A few more~

I just wanted to post a few more pictures from the session on Saturday. I finished them up yesterday (I think that is a speed record!) and hope to deliver them today.

Adorable "Miss M"

This little girl is so cute, I just couldn't get enough of her. She did such a good job at her first photo shoot on Saturday. This is one of my favorite shots from the session. I'll post a few more tomorrow as I get them edited. I couldn't decide which version to post, so I posted them all...which one is your favorite?

Spring Special

Since I had so much fun with the card giveaway, that I chose TWO winners, I decided also to post a spring special! So go check it out! You can choose from 3 Spring or Easter cards and personalize them with your images and wording. Check it out...here and click on $5 Spring Special.

And congrats to Michelle and Momma_Teter! I'll post a version of their cards in the coming weeks!

I have been working on a few more cards...and having so much fun. Its great to love what you do!

Fix it Friday~ I ♥ Faces

I can't get enough of Fix it Friday! It is my favorite day at I ♥ Faces!! I decided this week that I could ONLY post 2 pictures. (Since every week before I have been posting 4+!) So this week I only worked on 2 (which turned into 4! But I narrowed it back down to two!) I am using Photoshop 7 to edit my pictures.

The Original

Lightened, warmed and converted to black and white, then rotated a bit and cloned in the background to create a larger space around the face.

On this one I lightened it, and warmed it up. I then cropped it to a horizontal angle and cloned in the background to create a different look. I would take any suggestions on how to fix the cloned part...I feel like it has some obvious "rows" or lines.